This Article: (7 Pages)
- 1. The Fig Tree
- 2. Adam and Eve and the Fig Leaf
- 3. The Messiah and the Fig Tree
- 4. The Fig Tree and Israel
- 5. What is Generation X?
- 6. Israel's 'summer' has arrived
- 7. A conclusion
6) Israel's 'summer' has arrived
In the summer of June 1967, Israel captured Jerusalem and became an established national identity. Summer, literally and figuratively and prophetically had arrived for the nation, and the leaves on the fig trees would have been growing in profusion. Forty years have passed since Israel regained its traditional capital of Jerusalem and the generation which witnessed that event are probably now living on borrowed time. A Biblical generation is frequently given as forty years, but there can be variations to the length of a generation as evidenced by the genealogical record in Matthew chapter 1. The prophecy of Matthew and Luke state that this generation would not pass until all was fulfilled and the Messiah had returned. With forty years having elapsed since the summer of 1967, when Jerusalem was freed from Gentile domination, and the times of the Gentiles fulfilled, each year brings the Messiah closer.
The Harvest
The first day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar marks the new civil and agricultural year which occurs in late September or early October. This important Holy day is the only one to be heralded by trumpets. Leviticus states;
“Ye shall have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.” (Leviticus 23: 24)
Ten days later is the Day of Atonement, followed a week later by the feast of Tabernacles, which marks the in-gathering or harvest.
The crucifixion occurred at the time of the Passover, but there has not been an identifiable event to parallel with the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles.
It is recorded that our Lord several times referred to the time of harvest as a symbol for the gathering of the faithful. The time of the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Sounding of the Trumpet
The time of the Feast of Tabernacles, heralded two weeks earlier by the sounding of a trumpet (Heb. Shofar) on the first day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, could prove a most significant time for Yahshua's return. There are a number of passages in the Bible that connect a trumpet with the return of the Messiah and the resurrection of the faithful.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet (Heb. Shofar) shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship Yahweh in the holy mount at Jerusalem.” Isaiah 27: 13
“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch be yet tender, and puts forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near , even at the doors.” Matthew 24: 31-32
“Behold I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Corinthians 15: 51-52
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4: 16
All of the feasts point forward to a real event. They were a lesson acted out to show in symbol the real event to occur in the future. The Passover was to both remember the deliverance from Egypt and to point forward to the deliverance brought about by the real event of Messiah's death and resurrection. The Feast of Tabernacles teaches much more than thankfulness for a good harvest. The following is a suggested as the parallel.
Nisan (Abib) is the beginning of months pronounced in Exodus 12:2
14th day of Nisan is the Passover – the death and resurrection of Yahshua, which is the beginning of salvation.
Then Shavuot 50 days later, a jubilee celebrating the first fruits. Yahshua raised to glory is the firstfruits (1Cor.15:23) as are the first crop of the faithful (James 1:18, Rev. 14:14).
There is a long gap with no feast at all (approx. 113 days) – which represents the patient waiting of the saints.
The new year 1st of Tishri is a new beginning heralded with 2 days with the plaintive sounding of the Shofar trumpet significantly requiring a confession of sins and 10 days of repentance- Salvation requires repentance and 10 is the number of perfection.
The 10th day is the day of Atonement – The end of the work of becoming one with Yahweh.
The 15th day (5 days later) is the Feast of Tabernacles, or harvest or in-gathering, to remember when Israel was brought out of Egypt, out of the nations – it may represent the time when the believer is taken out of the nations.
Therefore, as Yahshua was crucified at the time of the Passover, it is possible the real event that the Feast of Tabernacles is pointing forward to, the second taking of the people of Yahweh out of 'Egypt', may occur at the time of this Jewish feast.
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