Matthew 24:32-35 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The Israelites did not know when or how they were going to be released from slavery. They did not know whether they would ever experience a life beyond the world they knew: Egypt. But God’s timetable of the last days in Egypt for the Israelites was in motion. A child was born named Moses, meaning to pull out or draw out of water. As the Spirit hovered over the darkness at the beginning of time, a light came into the lives of the Israelites: the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:2-3) Moses would bring to an end the Israelite’s days of darkness, of slavery. His presence in Egypt meant a new day was dawning, the fig tree was budding. The last day of slavery came after much trauma in Egypt, one catastrophe after another in the land. At last, the very final stay in slavery happened at night. The Egyptians had no clue what would happen to them. As with the very last day before Jesus appears, the world will mourn. After the death angel fulfilled his mission, the Egyptians mourned the death of their first born. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30) The angel of death brought an end to the slavery of God’s people. He struck the Egyptians so hard that they were willing for the Israelites to depart to the Promised Land with the Egyptian’s gold, silver, and jewels in their satchels. The Jews’ departure was quick; bondage to slavery was over for them. A new life under the tutelage of Moses was on the horizon for them in a land under their own control with their own rulers. Jesus prophesies that this same kind of departure will happen to Christians who are now in the land of darkness, of slavery to the god of this world. He tells Christians that a land awaits them with milk and honey where the trials of slavery will be dropped forever. He foretells there will be awful calamities leading up to the last day before He comes. As a tree buds, portending future fruit, so will natural and manmade catastrophes indicate the return of the Lord. Events will happen as unimaginable as when the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Wars and rumors of wars will be everywhere. (Matthew 24:29) Pervasive self-indulgence and violence will be evident in every community on earth. There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (2 Timothy 1-4) Mankind will be in chaos. There will be no authority in the lands. In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25) From the beginning to battle the chaotic, self-indulgence of man, God instituted authority to govern man’s inclinations. Paul describes this need of governance. Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1) But authorities with the assignment to fight chaos also become corrupt, causing nations to rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. (Luke 21:10) Natural disasters in the last days will happen everywhere, crushing the human spirit. Extreme aridness and calamitous floods will cause many to immigrate from their lands, fleeing to safer places. Earthquakes around the world will strike terror in the people’s hearts. These are indications of the last days, but even Jesus’ disciples would not be able to know all of these happenings, because they did not have the know-how to be informed of all these predictions by Jesus. Even to the present age, only a few learned people would be cognizant of these events occurring throughout the whole world at the same time.
Without the technology that we in the modern world have become accustomed to, the fig tree budding would go unnoticed by the majority of the people. No people in the past could possibly detect all that Jesus predicted for the last days. The extent of their knowledge about the world was minimal. Most of what they knew or appreciated pertained to their agricultural way of life. Any event they heard about outside of their provincial existence was by word of mouth, slow and many times inaccurate because of traveling from person to person, or authority to authority. Only in our generation are we fully aware of the many events and conditions that are occurring every day in the world. We know when nations have become failed states, controlled by the local militias or gangs or drug cartels. We know when authorities are removed from power, either in communities or nations. We know when evil strikes a community with violence, rape, and murder. We are informed about volcanoes and earthquakes that are shaking the earth. We know that people are fleeing from wars and other disasters such as horrendous floods or excessive heat that is destroying their crops. People are on the move, immigrating to safer lands, better living conditions. We know all of this for our computers and televisions expose us to these activities and events. Every morning through our electronic media, we have access to knowledge about the world’s condition. In our generation, we can assess the fig tree budding. Past generations were basically ignorant of what was happening in the world. Their knowledge of life was limited to their personal surroundings, their daily activities and interactions. Their world was very small. But we have information about the world splashed across every electronic device that we own. Even children are exposed to more knowledge about the world than the most learned person in past generations. Because of this truth, we are living in the day Jesus referred to as the last days. We have little excuse for not detecting the budding of the fig tree. However, we cannot definitively say that this is the last generation before Jesus comes because technology might avail people with even better ways of dispensing information to the human awareness, to the brain, more efficiently and emphatically. But, the budding of the tree has definitely taken place. The budding has been taking place since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.
How should we live if we are living in the last days? We should live with a positive hope that Jesus will soon arrive on the scene. Our lives should display the light of God. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16) We are not to hide in the darkness of the world, pursuing activities that blind us to the eventual return of the Lord. We should know as in the days of Noah that the world is filled with self-indulgence and violence. The world is going in the opposite direction of light. We are to boldly be the light, reflecting the Spirit of God’s attributes in everything we do. We are truly free, but our freedom is to do good. The world desires freedom to do their will, but sadly their freedom leads to a sickness in the basic nature of man. Their self-willed, self-indulged, competitive spirit leads to violence and chaos. Our freedom leads to displaying the Spirit of God who occupies our inner being: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23) There are no laws needed in the land of the Spirit. No policeman on every corner, no highway patrolman, no IRS constable to keep people honest. In advanced countries, there are multiple police agencies to keep people under control, preventing them from taking advantage of others or their country. But in the land of the Spirit, no such police forces are needed. Breakfast companions that is where you are going when Jesus comes back; the will of the Spirit will be dominant. The goodness of the Lord and his grace and mercy will inhabit heaven. Often when Christians talk about the last days, they feel some dread and worry. Many preachers will say to the faithful, you better get ready to meet God. The altars will be filled with people weeping before the Lord, trying to get ready. But Christian friends, if you are not ready right now, you may never be ready, no matter how much weeping and fasting you do. To be ready, without one fault, is a work of God, not your work. The children of Israel were freed from slavery and were protected by God through the wilderness, but still rebellion and self-will marked their trail out of Egypt. Even though God was in control of their deliverance, in their unbelief they grumbled in their hearts. They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness? True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread? Can he supply meat for his people?” When the Lord heard them, he was furious; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel, for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance. (Psalm 78:19-22) God is angry with us when we do not believe Jesus is enough, that his sacrifice is enough for us to make it to the Promised Land. He is disappointed with us when we belittle the works of the Spirit by fighting the world with an angry spirit and ill-will towards our enemies. Jesus said in the last days, look up, anticipate the soon return of the Lord. Why should we grumble in this wilderness, anxious about the condition of the world? We need to affirm that God took us out of slavery, placed his Spirit with us, a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. We should know full well that God is able to feed us each day, to help us through life. God was angry with the Israelites who had seen all kinds of miracles in their lives for not trusting him to the end of their journey. They were afraid they did not have what they needed to get through the wilderness. They could not see the land of promise with their eyes, but God told them through his servant Moses that the land was waiting for them. As with Jesus’ predictions of the last days, we know the land with God is waiting for us. Heaven and earth WILL pass away, but his promises to us will never pass away. This generation and all generations should know the timeless God will fulfill his promise to us of eternal life, either through death or through the clouds. Amen!
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