#1433 Luke 21 Part 6 Figurative or Literal

 

29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Luke 21: 29-33 ESV

Luke 21: 29-33 Fig

And He told them a parable - An analogy, a story to explain and tie together what He just said, a picture to help make it more clear.

Then - This is not tote but kai and is translated as "and" by ESV and KJV. NAS, NET, et al, translate it as "then" because it implies "a sequence of events within the narrative." (NET Note) It clearly links the teaching of the parable to the preceding description of the end of the age.

He told them - Matthew and Mark both add that He gave them a command (aorist imperative - speaks of urgency) to learn (manthano)

Parable (3850)(parabole from para = beside, near + ballo = throw, cast) is literally a throwing beside or placing of one thing by the side of another. In the NT parabole is "a rhetorical figure of speech, setting one thing beside another to form a comparison or illustration." (Friberg Borrow Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament) - Precept Austin

32Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near. 33So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near, right at the door. 34Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.…

35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.… Matthew 24: 32-35

More on this from Matthew 24

V 29b Look at the fig tree, and all the trees - Here is an analogy to help them understand that time before His return. When the new leaves come on in Spring you know that summer is near, and when they drop in Fall, you know that winter is near. It is that imminent, about to happen, certain. The fig tree is often used throughout the Scriptures, something very familiar to the people in that area.

…9They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins. 10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved. 11Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.… Hosea 9: 9-11

12And when I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole moon turned blood red, 13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind. 14The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.… Revelation 6: 12-14

V. 31 So also, when you see these things take place - What things? The things we just discussed in the last post. When you see the abomination of desolation in the temple, when you see the sun darken, the moon not give it's light, since it reflects the light of the sun,  when you see the heavens shaken and the stars falling. When is this, it is after the tribulation of those days, the time of Jacob's trouble, the end of the Great Tribulation. That is the most simple, literal and logical approach to the text. 

When you see these things happening - Jesus emphasizes the visual aspect of these cosmic signs of Christ's coming with the verbs "see" (blepo) in verse 30 and "see" (horao) in this verse. The same phrase these things was used in Luke 21:28 when Jesus declared "“when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption (~Redeemer) is drawing near.” What things? This would certainly be things what one could perceive and see. Therefore, in context this would most likely include the visible signs preceding His return in Lk 21:25+ and then to the ultimate sign in Lk 21:27+ (cf Mt 24:30+ = "the sign") of the Son in the sky. What a dramatic contrast will be seen when the sun which is darkened will be replaced by the Son Who is descending in radiant, majestic splendor! O glorious day! What will soon follow His return? Logically when the King of kings returns (Rev 19:16-note), He needs a Kingdom over which He can rule as absolute Sovereign. So when one sees His "sign" they can know the Kingdom of God is not far behind!

These things - 8x in 7v in Luke 21 - Luke 21:6 Luke 21:7 Luke 21:9 Luke 21:12 Luke 21:28 Luke 21:31 Luke 21:36

In the version of the parable in Matthew 24:32-33 it is interesting that Jesus says "recognize that HE is near." This makes sense of course, since the Kingdom is not a Kingdom without the presence of the King. When the King returns, everything changes! John alludes to this in Revelation 11:15+ in a proleptic prophecy writing that "Then (When? see Rev 11:13+) the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” - Precept Austin

V. 31b You know that the Kingdom of God is near - Christ  returned to heaven and is sitting at the right hand of the Father, as it was told, and until when? "Until I make Your enemies a footstool." Christ defeated sin both in His spotless life and in His death on the cross: He paid the wages of His elect. When we see these signs mentioned before, especially that of the Son of Man coming on the clouds, then we know that He is coming reign. This will bring an end to all worldly kingdoms and systems, all the insane hopes of men, the false promises of politics and the lies of every false religion.

…7You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor 8and placed everything under his feet.” When God subjected all things to him, He left nothing outside of his control. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. 9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.… Hebrews 2: 7-9

V. 32 This generation will not pass away until all has taken place - I have seen where some try to make this the generation that He is speaking to, but that generation did not witness all these things, not even locally. The sun going dark is not a local thing, and though there have been eclipses, like during Christ's death, there has never been anything to this magnitude. That generation did not see the coming of Christ in the clouds to set up His earthly Kingdom. If you approach this literally, like the prophecies of Isaiah and Zechariah were fulfilled, by a literal Servant of the Lord, who literally rode in on a donkey and then went to a literal death. If you look at the literal example that the Lord gives of the abomination of desolation, which has a historical picture in Antiochus Epiphanes. If you interpret these things Jesus speaks about in the future under the same light of that which was spoken of Him by the prophets, then there is a literal fulfillment coming with a literal kingdom. There is no indication here or elsewhere of a figurative interpretation, that would rely on extrabiblical, special revelation and not Sola Scriptura. 

9Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.… Zechariah 9: 9-10

This perfectly answers, finally, the question that started this whole discussion. But how wonderful is the Lord’s answer? Instead of jumping to the end, He tells us what to expect through all these years. He marks the specific sign at the end of time and then more signs as that last three-and-a-half years unfolds, and right down to the end. And He says, “When you see those things, you who see those things are going to be the same ones who see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and great glory.”

Now, that takes us to the next verse which seems obvious to me. The next verse, verse 32, “Truly I say to you, truly.” I love that. As if the Lord needed to qualify anything He said by adding that? As if we had some question? Why does He say that? Why do we have in the Old English, “Verily, verily I say unto you,” or “Truly, truly I say unto you?” It’s for emphatic indication. It is for strong emphasis: I am telling you the truth; this is unequivocal, and I think He says that very often because it’s stunning and He wants to affirm the veracity of it. “Truly I say to you,” there’s no mistaking this, folks. This generation, this generation, will not pass away until all things take place – this generation.

What do you mean this generation? What generation? What is the antecedent of “this”? You would be amazed at all of the answers. Wow! Perhaps a very, very common answer that you may have heard; I’ve read an awful lot about this in recent years, is that this generation refers to the disciples – the disciples. that they are this genea. Genea means generation, people, nation, stock, kind; it’s a pretty generic term. That’s where generic comes from actually. So it’s a very broad term, but could I suppose, linguistically be applied to the disciples and the people who were living at that very time.

So some would say it refers specifically to the disciples. So Jesus is saying this is all going to happen in your lifetime. Wow! If that’s what He meant, He was wrong. He was wrong, and there are some people who say that: Yes, that’s what He meant and He was wrong. And they’re happy for that because if He’s wrong about this then He’s not really God, and He’s not really authoritative, and we don’t have to pay any attention to all the other things He said about how we’re supposed to behave.

And they say He admitted that He could be wrong because in Mark 13:22 He says, “No man knows the day nor the hour, no not even the Son of Man.” So He admitted His own ignorance and so He said that He sort of established the grounds on which He could be wrong. So He meant the disciples, but He was wrong.

He did say that, that no man knows the day nor the hour, not even the Son of Man, but only the Father who is in heaven. But it’s one thing for Him to voluntarily restrict His power, which He did in His incarnation, right? Like He said, “I could if I wanted to, have a legion of angels, but I’ve chosen not to. I could if I wanted to know all of that, but I’ve chosen not to.” It’s one thing for Him to restrict His knowledge in a self-imposed humiliation. It’s quite another thing to be wrong. Those are not the same. And furthermore, by the way, after His incarnation was over He ascended back to full fellowship face-to-face with the Father and in full knowledge, without the limitations of His self-emptying.

Secondly, there are some who suggest – and this is equally a popular one – that it refers to the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem. And what it means is this generation of people living in Jerusalem at this time, including the disciples – but broader than that, all the populous of this place – they’re going to live to the destruction of Jerusalem which is only 40 years from now. So, this generation will not pass away before all these things come to pass. And this is the most popular amillennial view of this text. Reams have been written trying to defend this – hopelessly, I might add, because how in the world can you put into the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem, “nation rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom,” how can you put plagues and pestilences and terrors in the sky? How can you put the devastation of the sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, the powers of the heavens shaken? Come on, that’s not 70 AD. You have one nation, the Romans, coming and attacking Jerusalem.

This is not the time which is indicated here in verse 22 as “the days of divine vengeance,” nor is it the time that all things which are written may be fulfilled. And certainly – certainly for sure – in 70 AD the Son of Man did not come in a cloud with power and great glory. Just not possible. What happened in 70 A.D. was a preview, a mini-preview of the great destruction to come.

Others say it refers to the Jewish race; that it simply means that the Jews will survive till the end. They will not perish as a race. This genea, meaning this race – genea can mean that – Jesus is predicting the survival of the Jewish race. That doesn’t make sense because they already knew they had an everlasting covenant. That’s why they posed the questions. They already knew God had made promises, which we read about in Galatians chapter 3, made to Abraham which God will fulfill to those who are in Christ. They already knew that God had determined an eternal destiny for them, that God had made promises which were never going to be voided.

They knew that the Messiah was their Messiah, the Lord was their Lord, and He would come and establish the Kingdom. He had told them that. They didn’t need to be told that they were going to survive because they already had an everlasting promise that had been reiterated to them by the Messiah Himself.

Another one: Some people say that this generation means the bad people – this generation – that using genea in the sense of an evil generation. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it’s sometimes used for the word “door” in Hebrew, which can refer to an evil generation or a righteous generation. And what our Lord is saying is there are going to be wicked people all the way till the Second Coming. Is that news? We don’t need affirmation that we have an everlasting covenant and we don’t need affirmation that there are going to be sinners until the end. It makes no sense; there’s no point. There’s no point in saying they’re going to be Christ-rejecters until the end, or there are going to be evil people until the end. It’s very vague, and why would He make such a point when it’s absolutely obvious?

Another one that is very popular was popularized by Hal Lindsey in the book The Late Great Planet Earth, and some other books that came from that one. It refers to the people who see the birth of the nation Israel. Have you heard that one? And this is based on the fact that the fig tree is an allegorical picture of Israel; that Israel is the fig tree and if you see the fig tree bud, you’re seeing Israel becoming a nation. That happened in 1948, by the way. Israel became a nation.

Well, in Matthew and Mark, they both speak of the fig tree. But Luke adds something. Luke says in verse 29, “Behold the fig tree and all the trees,” showing that this is not something limited to the fig tree which then could be identified with Israel; this is just a general principle, true of a fig tree and true of all trees. Thank you, Luke, for putting that in. It’s a general observation. It’s an analogy, not an allegory.

And by the way, when that came out – that viewpoint – that the generation that was alive in 1948 would see the return of Christ; that conjured up a huge response. That book became the all-time best Christian book seller, and here we are, and that generation is gone. If the generation according to that book is 40 years, that all ended in ’88. We’re twenty years past that and the Lord hasn’t come. So if you’re still holding on to that view, let it go. It’s over, folks; it’s over. That one’s gone. To start out with it was imaginative any way.

You see how complicated things can get? Let me tell you how simple this is. Verse 32, “Truly I say to you, this generation.” What generation? “The generation that sees these things happen will not die until it’s all taken place.” Whoever is among the you who sees these things happen can know this, it’s going to happen soon in your lifetime, and if you see the beginning, you’re going to be there for the end.

If you see Jerusalem surrounded, if you’re alive and you see Jerusalem surrounded and you see the changes and the devastating changes in the universe, you see those signs, you will see the Son of Man. Such a simple thing. If you see the leaves, you know summer is near. If you see the signs, you know Christ is near; He’s at the door.

And our Lord is simply saying, “You asked Me a question. You asked Me, what do we look for? What are the signs?” And I’m telling you this, that generation alive that sees these things will see the Son of Man return. Our Lord is answering the question. And it will come very soon, very soon. As those things begin to disintegrate in the final few years of the tribulation, and particularly in the final months of the final year and the Lord then comes in glory and as Daniel points out, you have a 75-day transition from the judgments at the end of the tribulation brought by the return of Christ to the establishment of His Kingdom, it all happens fast.

If you’re alive and you see the signs and you survive through that and you’re not martyred – and we’re talking about believers here; believers who are alive and looking and waiting for the coming of Christ – if you’re alive when all that starts, you’re going to be there when He returns and you’re going to go into His Kingdom. That’s all it means.

If this is looking for an antecedent, the obvious antecedent is you in verse 31 – you, you. It is this generation – the you that sees these things – that will see it all take place.

Now at this point I have to interject something. I – the way I understand the Scripture and it’s stood the test of time, believe me, and the test of the text through all these years – I don’t believe this is going to include the church because I am convinced that the way to understand the New Testament is that the church will be taken out and then the judgments begin and then a great evangelistic effort begins and people will be converted after the church is gone. They will constitute this generation in the midst of all of this, looking for the return of Christ. - J Mac