The Parable of the Fig Tree

MATTHEW 24:32-34
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

We are usually taught that this means that within a generation of Israel (the fig tree) becoming a nation again, the end will come.

But the text says, “When you shall see all THESE THINGS, know that it is near.” What are “these things”? They are the “things” Jesus talked about in the previous verses.

These things, far from describing the restoration of Israel as a nation, described precisely the opposite: great tribulation for Israel, including wars, famines, pestilences, siege, false Christs (antichrists) and destruction.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, all these things were said to be only the “beginning of birth contractions”, and the culmination would come when the believers saw the abomination that causeth desolation standing where it ought not, that is, standing in the Temple (as Daniel said). “When you see this happen, then flee the city,” Jesus warned them. And it came to pass that not one stone of the Temple was left standing on top of the other, as Jesus said.

The disciples were amazed at this prediction about the Temple, so had asked Jesus, “When shall this be? And what shall be the sign when all these things shall come to pass?” The Olivet discourse is largely Jesus' answer to their question about the temple. The “signs” Jesus mentioned were the signs that the destruction of the Temple was imminent. As Jesus said, “All the blood of righteous men and the prophets shed since Abel to Zecharias, would be required of that generation”.

So this is not to say there may not be other Scriptures which describe Israel’s place in the purposes of God, just that in the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24, there doesn’t seem to be a strong case for the teaching that Jesus must come again within a generation of Israel being declared a nation again in 1948. Instead, the parable seems instead to be talking about the troubles leading up to the final destruction of the City and Sanctuary, which Daniel also foresaw, which occurred in the first century and ever since which “Israel has been trodden under foot of the Gentiles”. And Israel's troubles didn't end there, and may extend into the future. But it doesn't seem conclusive that these Scriptures indicate our generation as the terminal generation. No-one knows the day nor the hour.