Fig Tree and Figs in the Bible
The Fig Tree and Figs in Jewish Environment, Life, and Culture.
Of all the fruit trees found in Israel, the fig tree carries central significance in Jewish life and culture. It has been an integral part of the diet, customs, and landscape of Israel. There are a myriad of references to it in Biblical writings and Israeli literature. The ubiquity of fig trees and figs in Jewish culture, along with olive tree and vines, assures that when these are used in God’s messages, the concepts are easily understood. They can illustrate fertility, bounty, abundance, prosperity, well‑being, and sweetness or conversely scarcity, poverty, unhealthiness, and Here are some examples from scripture.
- “God is bringing you into a good land — a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills, a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey … and you will lack nothing” (Deuteronomy 8:7‑9, NIV).
- In Jotham’s parable (Judges 9:10‑11), after the olive tree declines to be their king, “The trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’ But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?” (NIV).
- “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness … your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree” (Hosea 9:10, Berean Study Bible).
- In contrast, Jeremiah describes the calamity of exile. “There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither” (Jeremiah 8:13, NIV).
PECULIAR CHARACTERISTICS
The fig tree is native to South West Asia, Palestine, Egypt, and Israel. It grows 30 to 35 feet high reaching trunk diameters up to two feet. The tree has wide spreading branches and wide leaves. It is adaptable to various soils, even rocky soil. Though it can grow wild, it does best when cultivated. It takes time to culture and nurture, so when mature, the gardener would have spent some years. It is then that they produce good fruit. It is long lived, and valuable both for fruit and shade (John 1:48‑50).
Fig trees are prized for their fruit.
In its annual growth cycle, fruit buds appear first, and then leaves. Consequently, when the leaves appear, there should be fruit on the tree. The first crop is ripe in June or early July. These early figs can easily be shaken from the tree (Revelation 6:13, Nahum 3:12). In August or early September, a second crop of figs ripens.
BIBLE LANGUAGE ABOUT FIG TREES AND FIGS
The first reference to figs in the Bible is in Genesis 3:7, “The eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” In Genesis, the fig is the only tree specified by name in the garden of Eden.
Figs were primarily used for food, often dried and pressed into cakes (1 Samuel 25:18, 30:11‑12). They were also used as medicine, for example as a poultice to cure Hezekiah’s boils. “Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered” (2 Kings 20:7).
God’s prophets often evoked feelings, concepts, and messages using analogies related to figs. They were familiar, accessible, and thus effective in suggesting hope, prosperity, stability, peace, righteousness — or disapproval and impending calamity. Here are some examples.
- “They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree” (Micah 4:4).
- Sennacherib, king of Assyria, used the expression to urge Israel to give up the “Hearken not to Hezekiah … come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig trees” (1 Kings 18:31).
- “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon” (1 Kings 4:25).
- Jesus evoked the image of a righteous man with God’s peace, when speaking of Nathaniel, he said, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathaniel said to him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered … Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee” (John 1:47, 48).
CONVEYING NATIONAL CALAMITY AND WARNING
Jeremiah 5:15‑17, “I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation … Their quiver is as an open sepulchre … they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities.” Psalms 105:33, respecting Egypt, “He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.”
EXPRESSING WEAKNESS ANSD SUSCEPTIBILITY
Nahum 3:12, “All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the first ripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.”
Isaiah 34:4, “All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.”
AS A SYMBOL OF ISRAEL
Hosea 9:10, “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time.”
Jeremiah 24:1‑9, “The Lord shewed me … two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty [or bad] figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad … good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten. … Like these good figs … I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them. … I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. … As the evil figs … So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem … to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse.”
Joel, Habakkuk, and Haggai, all warn that God would bring destruction and crop failure in judgment against Israel, speaking of empty, bare, fruitless fig trees. They use the fig tree as a barometer of the health of Israel. A flourishing fig tree is about restoration and blessing. A barren or removed fig tree is about punishment. Thus, Jesus cursed the fruitless fig tree, Mark 11:12‑21. “On the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever [“till the age”]. And his disciples heard it” (verses 12‑14).
Joel, Habakkuk, Haggai
This action by Jesus was unprecedented. The tree projected an image of fruitfulness because of its foliage, but it had no fruit. This act was in the context of addressing the evils of hypocrisy and squandered privilege, exhibited by the Israelites.
“In the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away” (verses 20‑21).
Other trees in the area might have been fruitless also, but without foliage raising disappointing expectations. Gentile nations were devoid of God’s ways and had no relationship with Him. Without light and hope, their figs were not yet. However, the barren tree with pretentious foliage was a fitting symbol of Israel, professing allegiance to God, favored by Him, and self‑righteous above others.
The Jewish faith, with its temple, its sacred altars, its priests and sacrifices, was outwardly grand, but excelling in hypocrisy, lacking humility and love. Israel had received great blessings from God. They were accountable for the lack of fruitage. “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required” (Luke 12:48, ESV).
Cursing the fig tree signaled that the privilege of the Jewish nation would be removed. This stands as a warning to us as well, not to squander God’s grace, and our privileged relationship with Him through Jesus.
PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE
“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down’ ” (Luke 13:6‑9, NKJV).
This parable is analogous to the parable of a vineyard in Isaiah 5:1‑7. However, the parable in Luke is specific to Jesus’ ministry of 3½ years. Jesus sought fruitage among the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In this parable the caretaker requested that the owner give the tree the entire 4 years to bear fruit. (A planted fig tree takes three to four years before it bears fruit.) The number 4 appears often in the Bible, usually associated with testing, trial, or judgment. [1] Israel had ample time to reform. So had the human race: roughly 4000 years, from Adam to Jesus.
END TIMES
Jesus again drew an analogy from the fig tree for a sign to Christians of the end times (Matthew 24:32‑35, Mark 13:28‑30, Luke 21:29‑32). “Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise … when … these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled” (Luke 21:29‑32). The fig tree in Luke refers to natural Israel. The rebirth of Israel, the fig tree, and many new nations, all the trees, was a sign to mark the end of the age.
The fig tree is also used in Revelation 6:13, during the sixth seal, in a modified way. In Luke, the fig tree refers to natural Israel. In Revelation, its use is in the sixth period of the Church. There the fig tree represents nominal Spiritual Israel. Christendom was “shaken of a mighty wind” during the French Revolution.
THE BUDDING FIG TREE – ISRAEL’S RESORATION
Many Christians see that Israel has a significant role in God’s future work, based on the lesson above, and on Romans 11:25‑27. Here Paul speaks of a time when Israel turns to Jesus as Savior. “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins’ ” (NIV).
Accordingly, the reestablishment of Israel and gathering of Jews from all over the world draws well‑deserved attention. For more than a century past, starting with the Zionist movement, the Jewish people have been gathering back to their homeland. The fig tree is “budding.” The leaves of the tree, a visible testimony, may represent the reestablishment of Israel as a nation, from 1948. Here is a resume of Israel’s progress, from 1878 forward.
Below is an historical and chronological time line respecting the fig tree, Israel, in its restoration. Ultimately Israel will deliver fruitage that they lacked during the First Advent of Messiah. Notice the pattern of 70 years, spanning an average Biblical generation[2]— a midpoint between 40 and 100 years, which are other Biblical definitions of a generation.[3]
FUTURE – ISRAEL RECOGNIZES MESSIAH
The actual crop of figs belongs to the future, after Israel’s blindness is removed, the nation turns to God, and in humble submission recognizes Jesus as Messiah. This is the fruitage God desires and patiently awaits.
They shall look unto him whom they pierced.
What an exciting time to be living as we watch the budding fig tree, Israel, fulfill the words of Jesus. “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand” (Luke 21:31).
Christians of the 20th and 21st centuries have been privileged to see the miracle: of Israel’s reconstruction. They have returned to their ancestral land despite centuries of exile and persecution. This fulfillment of fig tree prophecies is faith‑strengthening testimonies for contemporary Christians.
— Based on a discourse by Br. Tom Gilbert
[1] Whether as 4, 40, 400, or 4000, the basic number 4 often connects with trial, testing, or judgment. (a) The rain of Noah’s day continued for 40 days, sweeping away the old world, Genesis 7:4. (b) Abraham’s seed would receive the land of promise “in the fourth generation,” after 400 years of waiting and development, and 40 years in the wilderness, Genesis 15:13‑16, Numbers 14:33. (c) Moses waited in exile 40 years before leading Israel out of Egypt, Acts 7:23, Exodus 7:7. (d) Moses was 40 days in the mount, a test of faith and patience for the Israelites (Exodus 24:18). (e) For disobedience, God permitted Israel to be oppressed by the Philistines for 40 years (Judges 13:1). (f) Israel was taunted by Goliath for 40 days (1 Samuel 17:16). (g) God gave Nineveh 40 days to repent, John 3:4. (h) Jesus was tried in the wilderness for 40 days, Matthew 4:1. (i) Jesus’ ministry lasted approximately 3½ years, shy of 4 years, as Jesus proved his fidelity to God beyond doubt.
[2] Psalms 90:9‑10, “All our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
[3] A generation in the Bible is primarily the age of a man when his first male child is born; but secondarily, the age of a man at his death. The Bible rounds the span of years in a “generation” to be 40 and 100 years, but on occasion “70 years” — which is the average of 40 and 100. This allows the three‑time frames to work in numeric harmony, producing the numeric symmetry found in the Bible. The 100‑year generation predominates prior to Moses, when men lived longer, but 40 years after Moses.