The
Hope of a Tree
Job 14:7-9 KJB
7 For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut
down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender
branch thereof will not cease.
8 Though the root thereof wax old in the
earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;
9 Yet through the scent of water it will
bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
The theme of Job's 14th chapter is ultimately about
man's sufferings in life and his hope of
resurrection. There are clear allusions to
Christ as Messiah ben Joseph, the suffering servant of
the Lord in His earthly sojourn in the Promised Land.
In this short letter I want to focus on these three
verses set forth above with particular emphasis on the
Fig Tree parables found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and
Luke 21. These three parables set the season for
the Second Advent of our Lord. I have written
extensively about today's Israel as the nation
metaphorically referred in our Bible as the fig
tree. For the purposes of this letter, the
national appearance of Israel, particularly its first
three formative years of 1948, 1949 and 1950. As
I have said, these three years are known for its
declaration of independence, prevailing in the war of
possession and U.N. admission and passing the law of
return for worldwide Jewry. I consider the
declaration of independence and the war of possession
as related events.
As a background to the fig tree parables, I believe
that Job gives us some background facts about Israel
as the fig tree which will be useful to understand the
fig tree parables. Since the Diaspora events of
AD 70 and 135, the Jewish people have longed for a
national homeland. That dream began with
in 1898 with Theodore Herzl's first Zionist Congress
in Basel, Switzerland. It continued in formation
with the Balfour Declaration of 1917 bearing some
fruit in 1947 with the U.N. Resolution to partition
Palestine ending the British Mandate in May
1948. Finally, on May 14, 1948 Israel declared
its Independence as a nation. Make no mistake,
this nation's formation was ordained by the Lord
God. The Lord's promises to Israel's fathers and
God's honorable name are the principal reasons.
God has a purpose beyond nation formation and
development. During the Time of Jacob's Trouble, God
will purge out the rebels (Ezekiel 20:38) and call out
Remnant Israel (Revelation 12:17, 14:12,
20:4-5). The remnant shall be saved. (Romans
9:6, 27, 11:26-7)
Let's learn the parable by studying Job
14. Matthew 24 and Mark 13 use the phrases
"when his branch is tender and puts forth
leaves". Luke says, "When they shoot
forth". By implication, because it is not
included in each parable, we know that "the fig tree"
appeared in the land in 1948 with its declaration of
independence. Was there a dormant root in
the Promise Land? This is where Job helps
our understanding. Job says there is "hope of a
tree". The Jewish race had the hope of a nation
in the Promised Land during the Diaspora's 1,878-year
period. The wandering Jewish, the proverbial
exile, always proclaimed, "Next year in
Jerusalem".
There was hope of a tree which had been cut
down. The Vineyard Dresser parable in Luke
13:6-9, speaking to Jesus' 3.5-year ministry to the
fig tree nation tells us that the God was going cut
down the fig tree if it did not produce
fruit. Biblically, fruit was recognizing
Jesus as Israel's Messiah. They failed
nationally. Job says if a [fig] tree be cut
down, that it will sprout again. This is a
prophecy. Israel sprouted and shot forth in
years 1948, 1949 and 1950 with the three events
constituting a period of national formation. Job
tells us that we will see a tender branch as evidence
of life which is reckoned as a resurrection from the
root. He says the tree may be cut down and the
stock (stump) may die, but the root sleeps in
dormancy.
There is a root which cannot die. It is the root
of Jesse. Jesse's root grows the Branch.
(Isaiah 11:1) In Israel today, there is a nation
which has sprouted and shot forth leaves on the world
stage. It is a Jewish sign to the nations
springing nationally and physically out of the root of
Jesse. Isaiah says that this root will be an
ensign (flag) to the nations. (Isaiah 11:10)
Isaiah continues and says that the Gentiles will seek
the root of Jesse and that THIS Root will reign over
the Gentiles. This is the Spiritual Root of
Jesse whom we know as our Lord Jesus. Job
continues and says that the dormant root "through the
scent of water" will bud and come to life. This
is special water. It is Living Water. It
is the Rock of Israel which issues living waters.
(Numbers 20:8-13) That term the "Rock of Israel"
phrase appears in Israel's Declaration of
Independence. (Exodus 17:6; 2 Samuel 23:3; Isaiah
8:14) They know not of Whom they
speak....yet! Isaiah, speaking powerfully
in the Spirit, says of these formative years, "And it
shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall
set His hand again the second time to recover the
remnant of His people". The first Jewish
recovery from exile was Babylon BC 536. The
second recovery was from the Diaspora exile AD
1948. We are living in prophetic days.
The nation of Israel, in the fig tree parables, is the
fig tree cut down (AD 70/135 prophesied in Luke
13), branches destroyed and stump rotted
away. Yet the national root slept in the
Promised Land waiting for the "scent of God's living
water". It has now been raised up by God in
these last days to establish His people for correction
following the Resurrection/Rapture event which will
invariably trigger Temple building (Zechariah 1:12-16)
and jealousy (Romans 11:11; Deuteronomy 32:21).
The physical nation of Israel experienced a national
resurrection during the years 1948-50. (Ezekiel 37:1-3
the dry bone resurrection)
Habakkuk 1:12
states in part: " O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment;
and, O mighty God, thou hast established
them for correction."
Ezekiel tells us about national Israel's resurrection
in the last days. I am going to annotate Ezekiel
20:34-38 which repeats Isaiah's 11's restoration
prophecy:
34 And I will bring you out from the people,
and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye
are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a
stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the wilderness
of the people, and there will I plead with you face
to face.
36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in
the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead
with you, saith the Lord God.
37 And I will cause you to pass under
the rod, and I will bring you into the bond
of the covenant:
38 And I will purge out from among
you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I
will bring them forth out of the country where they
sojourn, and they shall not
enter into the land of Israel: and ye
shall know that I am the Lord.
Annotations:
"mighty" comes from the root of gabar, the word
used as "confirm" in Daniel 9:27. Mighty God is
one of Jesus' names.
"fury poured out"- the nation is Israel is
restored yet in unbelief in their Messiah.
"face to face"- a term used in Isaiah 59:2 the
companion chapter to Daniel 9.
"pass under the rod"- the nation of Jews globally
will be subject to the furnace of affliction (Isaiah
48:10) and the remnant will be protected by Jesus as we
see in the allusions to remnant Israel in
Nebuchadnezzar's furnace. Remnant Israel was
foreshadowed in this furnace. (Daniel 3)
"bond of the covenant"- this is the "super
covenant" whereby God swore on His own name [an
unnecessary oath because God cannot lie] to highlight
the special nature of the Abrahamic promises to Israel's
fathers.
"purge out"-God is going to purge the rebels
[those rejecting Jesus] out of global Jewry. Only
remnant Israel will enjoy the Lord in the land of
Israel.
We await His Glory!
“Searching what, or what manner of
time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ,
and the glory that should follow.” (1
Peter 1:11)