Chapter 5 - Grace
I will Come Again and Receive you to Myself
“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”[1]
Jesus had made a promise to return again, to receive His followers and to take them to where He is. Jesus spoke openly about His return. Jesus, when asked by His disciples, “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”[2] Jesus did not reply, “Sorry, boys that’s a secret, next question!” No, Jesus replied with a lengthy teaching of signs that would signal His return. We head into an examination of His teaching and the signs He said should signal His return.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was not the first person to say, “I’ll be back!” General Douglas MacArthur was not the first person to say, “I shall return!” Two thousand years ago as Jesus was preparing to go to the cross, He sat down with His disciples and said, “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”[3]
Jesus had no problem talking about His return. In fact, regarding His return Jesus uses words like, “Watch… Be on alert… Wake up… Look!” But a lot of Christians are paralyzed into thinking, “Everything will pan out… When it happens, it happens… I can’t look or watch or be on alert.” The reason is because “No one knows the day or the hour.”[4]
The biggest obstacle to “Watching and being on alert and waking up and looking” is this passage which says, “No one knows the day or the hour”. The context of this phrase is that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”[5] Heaven and earth will pass away as described in Revelation 21:1, but of that day and hour no one knows.
No one knows when heaven and earth will pass away; it is described in Revelation as taking place after the 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ. I believe there is some very prophetic meaning in this statement which says, “of that day or hour no one knows.” We will examine this statement more fully in the coming chapters. But for now, let’s do what Jesus said. He said to, “Watch… Be on alert… Wake up… and Look.” So let’s do that!
Learn the parable of the Fig Tree
The first step to watching and looking is to begin learning. Jesus said, “Now learn the parable of the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.”[6] Jesus says, “Learn.” Amazingly, the Greek word here means, to learn or gain understanding. If we are going to watch and be on alert and wake up and look, then the first thing we have to do is learn what we are looking for.
Once we learn the parable of the fig tree, then we can answer questions like. Are we now in the season of His return? Is His return near, even right at the door? The only way we can know as believers in Jesus is to learn the parable of the fig tree as He instructed. The question then becomes, what is this parable of the fig tree?
Jesus cursed a fig tree
I firmly believe this parable is contained in scripture. However, the only scripture there was at the time Jesus walked on the earth, was the Old Testament. But before we just jump right into a search of the Old Testament, let’s see what Jesus said about the fig tree with both His words and His actions.
A few days prior to Jesus telling the signs of His coming and the end of age, it is recorded in the gospels that Jesus cursed a fig tree. Matthew’s gospel records this amazing event regarding this fig tree. He wrote concerning Jesus; “Now in the morning when He returned to the city, He became hungry. And seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it, and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered. And seeing this, the disciples marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”[7]
No fruit and that fig tree was “toast” so to speak. If the Son of God is hungry and the tree won’t produce fruit, then the tree is useless. However, when we turn to Mark’s gospel, we get some additional information about this incident.
Mark records this same event however we have the added detail that Jesus; “found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.”[8] The following day Peter makes a comment regarding the fig tree; “And as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. And being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, behold, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.”[9]
The details that strike me are that a fig tree is to give fruit and though there were leaves on the tree, it was not the season for figs. Yet even though it was not the season for this tree to produce fruit, the Lord cursed it. Luke gives us further insight as to why Jesus would curse this tree out of season when he recorded a parable that Jesus told about a fig tree.
“And He began telling this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why without finding any, Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.”[10]
Decoding the fig tree?
I am not fully convinced that this is the parable that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24. I truly believe the parable comes from the Old Testament, but I am also convinced that his parable is important. Jesus said, “Learn”. So let’s examine this parable and learn. There are two characters in the parable. There is a certain man who planted a fig tree in his vineyard and there is the vineyard-keeper. Let’s discuss who these two men are in just a second. First, let’s understand who the fig tree represents and this should help us understand who the two men are.
In the 24th Chapter of the writings of Jeremiah the Prophet, we learn who figs represent. Verse 5 of that Chapter says, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah.”[11] The Lord uses good figs to refer to, in word picture, the good captive of Judah or the good Jewish captives.
Then a few verses later the Lord does it again saying; “But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness – indeed, thus says the LORD – so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and the ones who dwell in the land of Egypt.”[12] Then the Lord uses bad figs to represent those Jews who remained in Jerusalem or dwelt in Egypt.
So figs definitely represent the Jewish people as shown by the Lord God Himself to the prophet Jeremiah. The question is what do fig trees represent? Figs represent the Jewish people, then what does a tree represent?
In the 4th chapter of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar writes that he had a dream of a great tree. Daniel would explain how that tree represented him and his kingdom. So Daniel saw this great tree as the nation of Babylon.
Ezekiel also saw trees as nations. The Lord God spoke to Ezekiel that He would “take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar” and “I shall pluck from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one and that “on the high mountain of Israel I shall plant it.”[13] This sprig of a branch grows into the greatest of trees, prophetically describing Jesus and His kingdom, which shall have no end. Then the text says, “And all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD.”[14] All of the trees of the field represent all the nations.
We can thus decode that figs represent the Jewish people and trees represent nations, so the fig tree is the nation of the Jews. The parable Jesus tells here about a fig tree in a vineyard. It is a parable about the nation of the Jews who have been planted among all the nations of the earth in His vineyard. The two men in the parable, the owner of the vineyard and the vineyard-keeper, are the Father and the Son of the Godhead.
Jesus wept over the fig tree and prophesied calamity and destruction, because “you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”[15] Jesus told the Pharisees and Sadducees, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, “There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.” Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?”[16]
When the children of Israel failed to recognize the time of the appearing of our Lord, the vineyard-keeper, Jesus, He wept over them as they were cursed to calamity and destruction. The Lord caused the fig tree to wither until these last days when the fig tree spouts again putting forth leaves and its branches again becoming tender.
What the prophet Joel saw concerning the fig tree
The prophet Joel prophesied many things concerning Israel. He even saw a fig tree in its destruction as told by Jesus in his prophesies. He wrote, “For a nation has invaded my land, mighty and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness, it has made my vine a waste, and my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; their branches have become white.”[17]
This is exactly like the splintering of Israel at the time of the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. Rome was the teeth of a lion and the fangs of a lioness as it made waste the great city of Jerusalem. The entire first chapter of the book of Joel describes the desolation that came upon that generation of Israel. Joel saw a land laid bare and a fig tree splintered and dry.
The destruction that came upon Israel was really just the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Yes, Israel did fail to recognize the time of the visitation but they also rejected the prophets who prophesied His coming. Jesus laid out seven “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees” and at the end of this rant Jesus says to these leaders of Israel, “may the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the alter. Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.”[18]
Jesus condemns the fig tree to a total striping, a splintering like Joel prophesied. Jesus then laments over Jerusalem. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD!”[19] From 70 A.D. until this last century Jerusalem has been desolate as has all of Israel. But the Lord God would not leave it this way.
Joel saw, like many of the prophets, the restoration of Israel. Joel prophesied, “Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, and will have pity on His people… Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, for the LORD has done great things. Do not fear, beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, for the tree has borne its fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.”[20]
The Valley of Dry Bones
This desolate land that the prophets said would be restored, laid in waste for nearly two millennia. Just a century and a half ago Mark Twain made a visit to the Holy Land in 1867. He described what he saw in his book ‘The Innocents Abroad’. Here is some of what he saw, “A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds… Desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action… There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country… We never saw a human being on the whole route…” And of the few spots of greenery, Twain said, “(they) seem mere toy gardens set at wide intervals in the waste of a limitless desolation… (The land of Israel) sits in sackcloth and ashes.”
Isaiah prophesied this desolation that would come to the land of Israel because of the people had hearts that were insensitive, ears that were dull, and eyes that were dim. The Lord showed Isaiah this would take place, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are without people, and land is utterly desolate, The LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.”[21] Twain was not the first to see and record this desolate place.
Isaiah saw what Twain did not live to see, the restoration of this desolate land. He prophesied, “The wilderness and the desert will be glad. And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it will blossom profusely and rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy.”[22] This land, after 1900 years of exile and desolation, were reborn. The land of Israel today is the “bread basket” of the Middle East, producing fruits and vegetables for the entire region. In fact, no other land on the planet produces more food per square mile on the entire earth.
The Rebirth of the Fig Tree
Isaiah also saw the rebirth of the nation of Israel which was brought forth at once, in a single day. He prophesied, “Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be brought forth all at once? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.”[23]
Without one shot being fired to declare independence, before Israel travailed, Israel was miraculously reborn as a nation. Normally a nation is birthed out of war. The wars take place first which parallels a woman in travail, then comes the birth. But in this case Israel is born first, and then she travails with wars and battles. I love what Isaiah says about all this, “Who has seen such things?”
Nothing like this has been seen in the history of the world. Never before had an ancient nation which was completely destroyed and all its people scattered been reborn. This all did happen all at once on May 14, 1948, when a United Nations mandate ended British control of Israel. Within 24 hours the Jewish people declared independence for Israel. That same day both the United States and Great Britain issued a statements recognizing Israel as a sovereign nation.
This generation shall not pass away
Jesus said, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”[24]
This parable regarding the rebirth of Israel shows that we are in that final generation that will not pass away until all these things should take place. The question for many becomes how long is a generation? Well, one guy thought a generation was 40 years, so he wrote a book giving 88 reasons why Jesus is returning in 1988.[25] I don’t have to tell you that his book is not selling very well today.
I don’t know where this author came up with a 40 year generation. Maybe because Israel wondered in the wilderness for 40 years and the bible says, “He was indignant with that generation.”[26] The psalmist confirmed this when he wrote, “For forty years I loathed that generation.”[27] However, it does not say, “I loathed them for a generation, forty years. Instead the passage says, “I loathed that generation for forty years.” There is a big difference.
The same Psalmist saw the generation of man as containing seventy years and possible eighty years if due to strength. Moses wrote, “LORD, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations… As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years.”[28] When Moses says the days of our life, he is writing on behalf of the nation of Israel.
That being said a biblical generation varies throughout the bible. At the time of Abraham the Lord told him, “Your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.”[29] Then the Lord tells Abraham “Then in the fourth generation they shall return here.”[30] We can deduce from the writings in the book of Exodus that the great-grand children of Abraham were not captive their first thirty years in Egypt. It is written, “And it came about at the end of four hundred and thirty years to the very day, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”[31]
If Abraham’s seed spent 430 years in Egypt and they walk out in their fourth generation, we find a generation here is slightly longer than 100 years. Throughout the Bible there is no specific set number of years that defines a generation. Sometimes the simplest explanation becomes the best. Jesus said, “This generation shall not pass away until all these things take place.” The simplest explanation is that not every person that was alive at the rebirth of Israel on May 14, 1948 will pass away until all these second coming prophesies take place, including the return of the Lord.
So rather than try to calculate a date for the return, like Edgar Whisenant did who wrote the book with his 88 reason. What we should do is examine more closely what Jesus said. He said, “When you see these things, you know that summer is near.” The rebirth of Israel gives us the season of His return in which we know that “this generation shall not pass away until all these things take place”.
We can’t build an entire calendar around a date for the return of our Lord based on the parable of the fig tree. All we know is that we are in the season of the Lord’s return. It’s like have a calendar with four pages, no days, no months, just four blank pages that say, “Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.”
Now imagine a calendar with no dates, just blank pages titled with each season. Someone says to you, “Check your calendar when is Independence Day?” and you answer by looking at your calendar and saying, “Summer”. It’s like could you be a little more specific, and it like, “No, my calendar just says summer.”
We have a biblical end time’s calendar for the return of the Lord, but it does not have days on it or years or months, instead it only has seasons and we do now know. This is the season. There is no hope of accurately decoding any date for our Lord’s return on a calendar which only has seasons.
Right at the Door
Now we know the season of the return of the Lord, by learning that when the fig tree puts forth leaves and its branches are yet tender, “you know that summer is near; right at the door”. This theme of a door is very much tied to the return of the Lord and the next prophetic event on the Biblical calendar called the rapture. Chuck Missler calls the rapture the most preposterous and absolutely ludicrous teaching in Christianity, saying; “the only thing it has going for itself, is it’s what the bible teaches.”[32]
The Bible makes reference to a door and ties the door to the secret return of the Lord called the rapture. Jesus told a parable of ten virgins which is about the return of a bridegroom returning for his bride. All of which are awaiting the soon return of Jesus. In the parable Jesus says, “Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.”[33] Sadly, those who were unprepared got shut out.
John the revelator was shown a door in heaven which precedes the seven year tribulation described in the rest of his writings in the Book of Revelation. John wrote, “I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, Come up here.”[34] Of the seven letters written in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 only two of the seven churches are commended for their faithfulness to the Lord. One of them the church of Philadelphia, Jesus speaks to them and encouragingly saying, “I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”[35]
I am the Door
Jesus does not merely point people to a door. But instead, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door.”[36] Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.”[37] Jesus tells people that if they do not enter through him, then they are thieves and robbers. Jesus instructs people saying, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved.”[38]
Jesus is the door; there is no other way by which men find salvation. Those who enter through Jesus, shall be saved. We also know that there is a door in heaven and John saw this door open before the seven year period know as the tribulation which is fully described in the book of Revelation chapters 6-18. Theologians almost all universally agree that the last event preceding the second coming of our Lord Jesus is the seven year tribulation.
We have entered the season of the return when we see the fig tree putting forth leaves and the branches are yet tender. The rebirth of Israel as a nation tells us that summer is near, even right at the door. Believers in Jesus wait for Him. Many believers wait for the rapture and a door in heaven to be opened.
There is a Proverb that says, “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts.”[39] What is amazing about this proverb is the context. When we examine the context we see “the man who listens to me” that ‘me’ is Jesus. Proverbs 8:22-29 describes how Jesus was with the Father from the beginning, from the establishing of the heavens and the earth. Then in verse 30 it says, “Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight.”[40]
Jesus who created all things, the delight of the Father, says “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts.” Waiting for a door in heaven to be open, at a shout, at the trumpet of God, with a voice of the archangel, which says, “Come up here!”
Shut the Door behind you
The Lord God desires that we enter in to the door which He has prepared for us. Isaiah the prophet saw the day when the heavens would open and Jesus would come for His people. His prophecy reads, “Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while, until indignation runs its course.”[41] This indignation which is to run its course is none other than the seven tribulation which is fully described in chapters 6-18 of the book of Revelation. Just look at the very next verse that Isaiah wrote. It says, “For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth will reveal her bloodshed, and will no longer cover her slain.”[42]
This door is like an escape hatch from the wrath to come upon the earth. Theologians debate whether the event known as the catching away of the church, which has been given the theological term “rapture,” will take place prior to the tribulation, in the middle of the tribulation, or at the end of the tribulation. There is even another group which call themselves, “pan-tribulation,” because they believe everything will just pan out.
However, it is clear by the passage from Isaiah, that this open door is a “secret coming” for those ready believers is to provide divine protection while the Lord from heaven pours out his wrath on an unbelieving world. Paul wrote to the church in Rome warning that those who where stubborn or with unrepentant hearts for “you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”[43]
Amazingly, this revelation of the righteous judgment of God is what is described in the book of Revelation. Some almost forty years before John penned “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” Paul makes a reference to it by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The entire book of Revelation is an unveiling of Jesus Christ and God’s righteous judgment of stubborn, unrepentant people. Lovingly God pulls his righteous believers off the planet earth before pouring out His cup of wrath.
Jesus describes the door as a “narrow door” and says “once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, I do not know where you are from.”[44] This door is for those who know the Lord Jesus. The ones who enter intimately know the Lord. They do not merely know facts about him. It is an intimate know Him in a way compared to the way a husband intimately knows his wife.
This is all confirmed in the parable of the ten virgins. Jesus tells of the coming of the bridegroom and those who had oil in their lamps enter into the kingdom. Then Jesus tells us what happens to the foolish virgins who did not have enough oil for their lamps. Jesus said, “And later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.”[45]
This door provides an escape, a place of “concealment” is the way Isaiah described it. However, Isaiah was not the only one in the Old Testament to see this hiding place at the time of the Lord’s wrath. The psalmist David saw it like this, “For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.”[46]
Come and Enter In
The Lord opens a door in heaven and says, “Come up here.”[47] Isaiah saw this same door of heaven open and heard a voice like a trumpet say, “Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and close the door behind you.”[48] We understand that Jesus is coming, but when He does He says to His people, “Come!”
This theme of “come and enter” is hidden throughout the Bible in reference to the “secret return” of the Lord. This secret return is an invitation to a party that is out of this world, also known as the wedding supper of the Lamb. We find hints of it revealed in the parable of the talents. The parable begins, “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves, and entrusted his possessions to them.”[49]
The man going on a journey is Jesus, He has gone to prepare a place for us. While gone Jesus called his servants together and entrusted them with His message of Eternal Life. This message is good news to the entire world, and that what “gospel” means is “good news.” According to the parable each servant is entrusted with a measurement of His special message according to their ability.
The parable uses the word talents. A talent is a measurement usually of gold or silver or something of great value. The three servants described in the parable are given varying measurements of his possessions based on their ability. The word translated here for ability is the Greek word Dunamis which is used throughout the New Testament to describe the power of the Holy Spirit. This Greek word Dunamis is the word from which we derive our English word dynamite. So these three servants have been given measurements according to their dynamite power which they received from God.
The parable goes, “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.”[50] So the servant that had five measurements (or talents), he brought five more. While the servant who had two measurements (or talents) he brought back two more. Each of these good and faithful servants was put in charge of many things and heard the words of their master, “Enter into the joy of your master.”[51]
These servants had been entrusted with the intimate knowledge of the Lord. These servants then go out and share his message and invitation to an intimate relationship with God to a lost and dying world the “good news” or gospel of Jesus Christ. Sharing what the Lord has done for them and how they too could have a personal relationship with the Lord. They did all of this based on the Dunamis given to them and because of their faithfulness. They then enter in to the joy of their master.
Isaiah saw these servants entering in to the joy of their master. He prophesied, “Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, the one that remains faithful.”[52] The Psalmist also saw the same gates. He wrote, “Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous will enter through it.”[53]
God does not pour his wrath upon the righteous. He provides a way of escape, a place of provision at the time of wrath and judgment. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, “How you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.”[54] What “wrath to come”? The wrath described in the book of Revelation which makes readers crap their pants and say, “I’m not reading that anymore.”
Believers in Jesus wait for the Son, whom will deliver them from the wrath to come upon the earth. Jesus, Himself, points us to the greatest prophetic parallel in the Old Testament of coming judgment and righteous men being delivered from that judgment.
As the Days of Noah
Jesus pointed us to the story of Noah and the hidden parallel to righteous men being delivered from wrath. He said, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.”[55]
Many people will not understand until it is far too late. The “secret return” of the Lord, where He opens a door and carries off the righteous that shall be hidden in the day of wrath, is paralleled in the story of Noah. Let’s examine the days of Noah paying special attention to the phrase “come and enter in”.
The hall of fame of faith reveals that, “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”[56] Noah was warned about things not yet seen. Our world today has not yet seen anything remotely close to the wrath in which God is about to pour out. Jesus calls it “great tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world.”[57]
Then Noah after being warned by God prepared an ark. God commanded Noah to make the ark out of gopher wood, the only thing we know about this wood is that it is an incorruptible wood. Throughout the Bible wood represents humanity and the only human being that was incorruptible was Jesus. Peter describes, “You have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable.”[58]
This incorruptible wood represents Jesus. This wood is then used not only to build the ark but also to prepare rooms in the ark. The Lord God told Noah, “You shall make the ark with rooms.”[59] These rooms become the place of hiding during the deluge. Remember Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are (many rooms or) dwelling places.”[60] Isaiah prophesied about these rooms which are in the Father’s house saying, “Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while, until indignation runs its course.”[61]
The ark was covered with pitch, which the Hebrew word Kopher, which means to ransom, a redemption price, and the word used throughout the Old Testament for atonement. Those in the rooms are covered by the atonement. This is the same Hebrew word in spelling to describe the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.
The ark has one door and Jesus is the one door to the Father.
The Lord God then says to Noah, “I will establish My covenant with you and you shall enter the ark.”[62] The covenant established by God allowed Noah and his family to enter the ark and hide themselves from the indignation that was about to come upon the world. Then the time comes for the deluge of water and “Then the LORD said to Noah, Enter the ark.”[63]
The word enter or entered appears in the text six times in the story.[64] So Noah and his family entered the ark for the salvation and the LORD closed the door behind him. Remember a door was open and then it is closed. Exactly paralleling what is to take place at the end of days. Then as we continue reading we find that “the ark was lifted up.”[65] This is exactly what will happen with the saints of God.
Paul described this catching away or lifting up of the saints of God like this; writing, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”[66] The saints of God are literally lifted off the earth, meeting with the Lord in the air, just as in the story of the Ark.
The most amazing part of the prophetic parallel in the story of Noah concerns the dove. Noah’s new life began when the sent out dove returns. “The dove came to him toward evening; and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf, so Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.”[67]
Prophetically a dove in scripture represents the Holy Spirit. Remember “the Spirit of God descending as a dove”[68] on Jesus at His baptism. The dove which represents the Holy Spirit is carrying an olive leaf which is also symbolic. Paul wrote of the symbolism of an olive tree which he wrote was God’s holy people.[69]
The olive leaf in the beak of the dove then represents God’s holy people being carried off by the power of the Holy Spirit. This may in fact be why the wise virgins had their lamps full of oil in the parable of the ten virgins. The lamps where made from pottery. Pots or pottery throughout the bible represent man’s earthen vessel, while oil is another biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit.
In the parable of the ten virgins, five are called wise because they have clay lamps that are full of oil. In parable form this means that these virgins were full of the Holy Spirit, while the five foolish virgins were not. Noah’s dove, representing the Holy Spirit, may be the power that lifts righteous believers off this planet to meet the Lord in the air.
There is even more to be gleaned from the story of Noah. It says, “the dove came to him toward evening.”[70] Throughout the New Testament the coming of the Lord is constantly referred to happening in the evening. In the parable of the ten virgins, it takes place at about midnight”[71] and other places Jesus returns “as a thief in the night.”[72]
Amazingly in the story of Noah the dove returns carrying an olive leaf on the very day of the next prophetic biblical feast which is still unfulfilled. This took place “in the first month, on the first of the month.”[73] At the time of Noah, the first day of the first month fell in the fall on what is today the feast of trumpets or the secular New Year’s Day for Jews.
According to what the Bible teaches in Leviticus 23 and the writings of Paul, Jesus has fulfilled on His first coming four of the seven biblical feasts. He fulfilled Passover as the sacrificial Lamb of God, Unleaven Bread as the sinless offering, First Fruits of the resurrection, and Pentecost with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. But as of yet the unfulfilled feasts of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Tabernacles are what Paul calls “a mere shadow of what is to come” [74] and be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Amazingly the next unfulfilled biblical feast on our prophetic calendar, the Feast of Trumpets is tied in date, type and shadow to the rapture of the church, where a trumpet from heaven will be sounded and the dead in Christ shall be raised along with those who are alive to meet the Lord in the air. The Feast of Trumpets which is celebrated with one hundred trumpets being blown and traditionally Jews believe this feast is tied to the resurrection.
We Shall be Caught up Together
The Bible teaches that the second coming of our Lord actually is two comings in itself. First a secret coming called the rapture for His faithful saints possibly seven years prior to His actual triumphant return to the Mount of Olives at the end of the tribulation. The actual second coming will be discussed in detail in the coming chapters, for now our focus is on entering the season of the Lord’s return and His coming for His elect.
Paul wrote about this secret return to the church in Corinth calling it “a mystery” taking place, “In moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead will be raised.”[75] Then to the church in Thessalonica Paul wrote about this same secret coming for His elect saying, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”[76]
We have come to learn that the parable of the fig tree is tied to this end times event known as the rapture or gathering together where a door in heaven will be opened and the saints of God concealed in safety through the seven year tribulation where the wrath of God is poured out on the ungodly. The Old Testament prophet Nahum wrote, “The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies.”[77] Wrath has not been appointed for those who love Him.
We started this Chapter on the premise that we are commanded to learn the parable of the fig tree. Although the restoration of Israel may in the eyes of many not have anything to do with the rapture, it clearly does once we examine what has been the parable of the fig tree that Jesus spoke of from the Old Testament. As you read it watch for the references to a secret coming of a bridegroom for His beloved.
Finally the Parable of the Fig Tree
We have learned that the fig tree represents the Jewish Nation of Israel. Although Jesus cursed a fig tree and the fig tree withered for 1900 years. Today we see the fig tree is putting forth her leaves and summer is near. This is the sign that Jesus is near even at the door. So now that we understand who the fig tree and that the door is tied so closely together with the catching away of the believers.
Let’s examine the parable of the fig tree from the Old Testament. It is found in the Song of Songs and it reads like this; “Listen! My Beloved! Behold, he is coming, climbing on the mountains, leaping on the hills! My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the lattice. My beloved responded and said to me, Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along. For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, and the voice of the turtledove has be has been heard in our land. The fig tree has ripened its figs, and the vines in blossom have give forth their fragrance. Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along!”[78]
This is a parable of two lovers who have been separated. But instead of look, the parable says listen, as if we were to listen for the voice of the archangel, for the sound of the last trumpet. Alas! He is coming! Leaping across the mountain tops of this world. His feet do not touch down on the earth, no He is in the air where will meet with our Lord. After sitting at the right hand of the Father for the last two thousand years, we see He is standing. He is behind a wall. He is looking, searching the earth to and fro, peering through the lattice. My Beloved saw me and called out to me, “Come, my beautiful bride, Come.” He says, “Winter is past, the latter rain is over and gone.” He says, “The flowers appear in the beautiful land and the time has arrived for pruning my vine, Alas! It is summer as the voice has been heard in our land. Remember the fig tree it now as ripened its figs, and My vines are in blossom giving forth a sweet fragrance. So Arise, my bride, my beautiful one, and Come away with me tonight!”
Please notice that winter is over and gone, all symbolic of the latter rains being finished. These latter rain departing is symbolic of the Holy Spirit departing which Paul wrote about happening near the time when anti-christ is revealed and we have depart with the Holy Spirit.[79] The bridegroom saw us and called out, Ekklasia, my bride which is the church is His ‘called out ones’.
I love how this parable starts out, “Listen, He is coming!” He is peering through the lattice of eternity, He has called us out, washing us with the water of His word. Revelation 19 says, The bride has made herself ready. The time has arrived! It says that right in the parable. It says, “The time has arrived, it is summer, remember the fig tree, My vines are in blossom having given forth their fragrance. Now arise, my bride, the bridegroom cometh and My bride has made herself ready. Come!”
So learn the parable of the fig tree! He is coming for a bride that has made herself ready. Summer is near, even right at the door. He has gone to prepare a place and if He has gone to prepare a place, He will return that where He is there we may be also.
[1] John 14:2-3
[2] Matthew 24:3
[3] John 14:1-3
[4] Matthew 24:36 paraphrase
[5] Matthew 24:25-26
[6] Matthew 24:32-33
[7] Matthew 21:18-19
[8] Mark 11:13
[9] Mark 11:20-21
[10] Luke 13:6-9
[11] Jeremiah 24:5
[12] Jeremiah 24:8
[13] Ezekiel 17:22-23
[14] Ezekiel 17:24
[15] Luke 19:44
[16] Matthew 16:2-3
[17] Joel 1:6-7
[18] Matthew 23:13-36
[19] Matthew 23:37-39
[20] Joel 2:18, 21-22
[21] Isaiah 6:11-12
[22] Isaiah 35:1-2
[23] Isaiah 66:7-8
[24] Matthew 24:32-34
[25] “88 Reason why the rapture will occur in 1988” by Edgar Whisenant
[26] Hebrews 3:10
[27] Psalm 95:10
[28] Psalm 90:1, 10
[29] Genesis 15:13
[30] Genesis 15:16
[31] Exodus 12:41
[32] Chuck Missler Rapture YouTube.com
[33] Matthew 25:10 Emphasis Added
[34] Revelation 4:1
[35] Revelation 3:8
[36] John 10:7
[37] John 10:1
[38] John 10:9
[39] Proverbs 8:34
[40] Proverbs 8:30
[41] Isaiah 26:20
[42] Isaiah 20:21
[43] Romans 2:5
[44] Luke 13:25
[45] Matthew 25:11-12
[46] Psalm 27:5
[47] Revelation 4:1
[48] Isaiah 26:20
[49] Matthew 25:14
[50] Matthew 25:19
[51] Matthew 25:21, 23
[52] Isaiah 26:2
[53] Psalm 118:19-20
[54] 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 Emphasis Added
[55] Matthew 24:37-39
[56] Hebrews 11:7
[57] Matthew 24:21
[58] 1 Peter 1:23
[59] Genesis 6:4
[60] John 14:2
[61] Isaiah 26:20
[62] Genesis 6:18
[63] Genesis 7:1
[64] Genesis 6:18, 7:1, 7, 13, 16 (2)
[65] Genesis 7:17
[66] 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 Emphasis Added
[67] Genesis 8:11
[68] Matthew 3:16
[69] Romans 11
[70] Genesis 8:11
[71] Matthew 25:6
[72] 2 Peter 3:10
[73] Genesis 8:13
[74] Colossians 2:16-17
[75] 1 Corinthians 15:52
[76] 1 Thessalonians 4:17
[77] Nahum 1:2
[78] Song of Solomon 2:8-13
[79] 2 Thessalonians 2:2-7
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