The American Wisdom Series

Presents
The Parable of the Fig Tree

The age old question asked by the servants of God both "then" and "now" is,
"When shall the end of this earth age be?

And what signs shall there be that we may know that the return of Christ is "nigh at hand, even at the doors (Mk. 13:29)"?

Of course to the scoffers who walk after their own lusts and desires serving only themselves, these are silly questions because they do not believe there ever will be an end to this flesh age (the "end of the world" as they call it) or the return of Jesus Christ.

They believe that the current order of things will just continue on and on because they are ignorant (by choice) of the fact that the Word of God declares that there was an earth age long, long ago when the dinosaurs roamed the land and that there WAS an abrupt end to that first earth age because Almighty God destroyed it by His wrath at Satan's rebellion.

That's right!

That beautiful heaven and earth age that our Father created in the beginning (Gen. 1:1) to be inhabited (Isa. 45:18) suddenly became void and without form (Gen. 1:2), as in totally and utterly waste and desolate (tohu va bohu in Hebrew), and water completely covered the face of the earth.

Furthermore, the evidence of that cataclysmic event is not hidden from our view as the earth itself visibly displays those layered upheavals of her crust and the earth sciences continue to uncover and categorize the bones and fossils of that aeon gone by!

Here is what the apostle Peter says regarding the scoffers of our day:

2 Peter 3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: [2] That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

[3] Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

[4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

[5] For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: [6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

[7] But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Let's document it.

Mark 4:1 And He began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that He entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.

[2] And He taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in His doctrine, [3] Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

Let's skip ahead to verse 10 of Mark 4:

Mark 4:10 And when He was alone, they that were about Him with the twelve asked of Him the Parable. 11] And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

His answer was twofold:

Mat. 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. (1) To simplify and make easy to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven to His disciples. (2) To hide the mysteries of the kingdom to those who do not seek Him and do not have eyes to see nor ears to hear.

Here are Christ's own words:

Mark 4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

[13] And He said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?

Matthew 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: [25] But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

Tares: A noxious plant, of the grass family, supposed to mean the darnel. It grows among the wheat everywhere in Palestine, and bears a great resemblance to it while growing - so closely that, before they head out, the two plants can hardly be distinguished. The grains are found, 2 or 3 together, in 12 small husks, scattered on a rather long head. The Arabs do not separate the darnel from the wheat, unless by means of a fan or sieve, after threshing (Mat. 13:25-30). If left to mingle with the bread, it occasions dizziness, and often acts as an emetic. ("Smith's Bible Dictionary", A. J. Holman Company, pg. 301.)

[26] But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

The bearded darnel (Lolium temulentum) is a poisonous grass, almost indistinguishable from wheat while the two are only in blade, but which can be separated without difficulty when they come into ear (cp. mat. 13:29, 20). ("Davis Bible Dictionary", Baker Book House, pg. 759.)

[27] So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

[28] He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

[29] But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

[30] Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Matthew 13:34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: [35] That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Psalm 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

[36] Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

[37] He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

[38] The field is the world;

[38 cont.] ... the good seed are the children of the kingdom;

[38 cont.] ... but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

[39] The enemy that sowed them is the devil;

[38 cont.] ... the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

[40] As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
[41] The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; [42] And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. [43] Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

In other words (and never forget this):

If you do not know what really happened in the first few chapters of Genesis and especially in garden of Eden you will never truly understand the rest of God's Word.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words", so let us "see" a visual of the typical "fairy tale" Satan would have the "little children" believe happened in the garden:

The narrative at the bottom of the picture reads:

"Adam and Eve were told by God not to eat apples from a certain tree in the garden. An evil serpent tempted Eve and she and Adam both ate the forbidden fruit. Because they disobeyed God, they were forced to leave the Garden of Eden."

Go for it!

Check it out for yourself. You see, Satan wants you to believe that the "forbidden fruit" Adam and Eve partook of was literal fruit just like an apple. This is a prime example of taking that which is used figuratively to be the literal thing (or place or person) used symbolically to graphically depict something else.

Figures of speech are so overlooked in God's Word that I'm sure if we were to read in the New Testament that the apostle Paul "got into hot water" that there would be churches teaching that in order to be in good standing among their members you would have to "get into hot water" yourself. Of course there would be division and disagreement among the denominations and "scholars" as to what temperature actually constitutes "hot" as opposed to just "warm" and how much hot water a person should actually get into, i.e. should one step into hot water just up to his knees or waist or should one become totally immersed in hot water. And if you looked up the word "water" in any Greek dictionary it would certainly mean H2O, like rain. Yet the phrase he "got into hot water" has absolutely nothing to do with water! It is a figure of speech which means he "got into trouble"!

Maybe this hot water scenario sounded a bit ridiculous to you but you should just see some of the ludicrous things churches teach and have their people do because of their ignorance of His Word. Do you not think Satan would be laughing his fool head off at watching Christians getting into pools of "hot water"? Well guess what? He is laughing his fool head off at Christians who think Eve was deceived by a snake who talked her into eating an apple from a fruit tree! Good grief Charlie Brown!

You see, the word "serpent" is simply one of the symbolic names of Satan that describes him according to his low-life character. He is also called the dragon, the little horn, the vile person, the son of perdition, the Devil, Satan, Lucifer, the morning star (Isa. 14), etc. Spiritually speaking, he is a "snake" alright! He is a sneaky, no-good, low-down, yellow-bellied, lying, conniving "serpent"! Rev. 20:2 "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." But you know what? He is also the most beautiful and charismatic individual you will ever encounter, a charming one indeed! You can read all about this highly intelligent glistening one, "perfect in beauty", in the 28th chapter of Ezekiel. He does not look like this:

Ok, then what about the fruit and the trees? They are also symbolic. Trees are used throughout the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, to symbolize people. God's elect are called "Cedars of Lebanon" because the roots of the cedar go as deep as the tree is tall and therefore those trees cannot be easily shaken or uprooted. Jesus Christ is symbolized by the "Tree of Life" and the Vine, the branches of which bring forth good fruit. And as we shall see, Satan is symbolized by the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" and he and his branches bring forth corrupt and evil fruit which we are NOT to EAT. And so depending on what kind of "tree" you are determines what kind of fruit you produce. Here are words of Jesus Christ:

Luke 6:43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

[44] For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

Hosea 14:8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.

[9] Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

Let's go to Genesis and see what happened in the garden.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

That old serpent has perpetuated a lie, a tradition, about the "snake" and the "apple" long enough. Do not let him have the victory any more! Again, it is his diabolical plan to deceive a Biblically ignorant people, "because it ministers to the acceptance of his lie, the hiding of God's truth, the jeers of the infidel, the opposition of the critics, and the stumbling of the weak in faith." (Companion Bible, appendix 19, last paragraph.)

By the way, the apostle Paul also refers to this "serpent" in the garden in 2 Cor. 11:3:

2 Cor. 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

serpent = –öéò  ophis  of'-is   Strong's #3789 Probably from G3700 (through the idea of sharpness of vision); a snake, figuratively (as a type of sly cunning) an artful malicious person, especially Satan:—serpent.

Let's repeat Gen. 3:1.

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

[17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Ezekiel 31:3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

[4] The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.

[5] Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.

[6] All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.

[7] Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.

[8] The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.

[9] I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.

Satan also tempted Jesus Christ in the wilderness with God's Word by misquoting and twisting the scriptures to read and mean the "letter" of what is written, instead of the "truth" of what is written. Most Christians do not even know that Satan misquoted the Word of God when he tempted Jesus Christ. Do you?

Let us go back to the garden.

Genesis 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

[3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

touch = òâ‡ðˆnaòga€naw-gah'  Strong's #5060 A primitive root; properly to touch, that is, laythehandupon (for any purpose; euphemistically, to lie with a woman); by implication to reach (figuratively to arrive, acquire); violently, to strike (punish, defeat, destroy, etc.):—beat, (X be able to) bring (down), cast, come (nigh), draw near (nigh), get up, happen, join, near, plague, reach (up), smite, strike, touch.

2 Cor. 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

[3] But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

beguiled = dîáðáôÜùexapataoex-ap-at-ah'-o Strong's #1818 From G1537 and G538; to seduce wholly:—beguile, deceive.

Genesis 3:4
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

[5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Go by what "feels good", baby! Live for today! (Baby Boomers know the song, "Sha la, la, la, la, la, live for today!")

Note: If a person gets really filled with the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good an evil he or she can become an arrogant condescending liberal politician who believes he or she can also determine in his or her own "godly wisdom" what is best for other people (of lesser intelligence). Of course what is good for others would obviously have to exclude God's Word, any reference of which must be stricken from the halls of justice and any and all government and public institutions, especially those schools where the children go to learn.

[6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,...

[6 cont.] ... she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Christian, Do you "See Men as Trees Walking" 

Live link to- If you are going to get any benefit from reading your Bible, you had better have Christ spit on your eyes like the blind man from Bethsaida!

[7] And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Their eyes were opened all right and they experienced something new, NAKEDNESS, both spiritually and physically! But why in the world do they now "know they're naked"? You will find it is because of the SHAME they have brought upon themselves, for disobeying God, yes, but in a much more perverted way than biting bad apples.

"And they sewed FIG LEAVES together, and made themselves aprons." Do you suppose these were itty bitty little aprons that they sewed together to cover their mouths because they just ate a bad apple? How stupid the traditions of men! Learn to think for yourself and stick to God's Word, not the traditions of men.

[8] And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

Genesis 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: [15] And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Matthew 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; (Satan)

That's right? Eve is about to give birth and one of those children will be the offspring of the Devil.                    

[9] The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

Now notice the sentence of "sorrow" (travail) related to child birth that Eve receives because of what she has done.

Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Here is what the disciples asked Jesus Christ when they came to him "privately":

Mark 13:3 And as He sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, [4] Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

Here is their first question:

Mark 13:4 Tell us, when shall these things be?... In other words, when do these things begin to take place? He told them that the answer was contained in learning a Parable of, or from, the "Fig Tree".

Mark 13:28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

The season begins (and the fig tree begins to grow) when we SEE a tender branch set out and put forth leaves. We will discuss more about the fig leaves in a subsequent study.

So we know that we will observe a "planting" come to pass because "in like manner", just as we observe the "history" of the planting of the fig tree, when we observe the other "things" come to pass we will know that the end is very near and the doors of heaven are about to open!

[29] So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

Mark 13:4... and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? In other words, how long shall it be from the planting until Christ returns?

The answer is:

[30] Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

That's right! Christ shall return during the generation that began when the branch of the fig tree was set out. You can count on it (next verse)! Hint: We shall soon discover this means there will be "Baby Boomers" who will see the return of Christ!

[31] Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

We learned that both the good seed and the bad seed were planted in the garden because Adam failed to dress and keep it according to the Word of God. No, it wasn't the flowers and the veggies he was to dress and keep! He was to "serve God" and be an husbandman, a farmer, a laborer in the field, a doer and protector of His Word "watching" over and "protecting", as in building an hedge about the people in the garden beginning with his own wife Eve!

Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Dress = H5647 ãáòÈ€aòbadaw-bad' A primitive root; to work (in any sense); by implication to serve, till,(causatively) enslave, etc.:— Xe, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service,compel, do, dress, ear, execute, + husbandman, keep,labour (-ing man), bring topass, (cause to, make to) serve (-ing, self), (be, become) servant (-s), do (use)service, till (-er), transgress [from margin], (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper.

Keep = H8104 øîÇLÜshaòmarshaw-mar' A primitive root; properly to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard;generally to protect, attendto, etc.:—beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self),[which is discipline] keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe,reserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).

Malachi 1:6  son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
[7] Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

We could go on and on with junk food analogies but let us make just one more observation. Look out across the purple mountains majesty and across the fruited plains of this "bread basket" of the world and observe our "eating habits" today and "take heed" to the "junk foods" that so many of our people are eager and willing to consume. We can learn a great deal about our "spirituality" from a close observation of "food" in this final generation of the "Baby Boomers", who would better be called the "Big Babies", spiritually speaking that is (Heb. 5:11-14).

For instance, we find "fast food" restaurants serving instant gratification fries and hamburgers and "Happy Meals" scattered all over our land and at every exit and entrance to our "highways and byways", analogous to the paths we follow. These "glistening" facilities serve so few nutritious items (if any) that their so-called food is commonly referred to as "junk food", amazingly even by those who eat it! One should be forewarned that if this "stuff" is consumed as a steady diet it will make you sickly indeed!

By the way, the original "fast food" restaurants were set out under "golden rainbow-like arches". Since then, other fast food denominations have come along and strived to be the burger king by preparing or grilling the same junk food in diverse manners or by adding a few sesame seeds to the big white fluffy buns encompassing the king's idolatrous meat. Take a lesson from Daniel and his friends when they were offered the king's meat (analogous to Satan's false doctrine... you know... like fruit from the bad tree). Stick to "pulse", the pure "bread of life" and your countenance will be much fairer! (Understand we are speaking in a spiritual sense.) Daniel 1:12-13 "Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. [13] Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants."

You know, it should come as no surprise to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear that the pioneers of the "fast food" restaurant and the pioneer of the "fast salvation" doctrine, I speak of the any-moment Rapture Theory, have the same last name, M(a)cDonald! Though it may offend some, the truth of the matter is that the any-moment Rapture Theory is nothing more than a spiritual fast food "Happy Meal"! You keep eating that stuff long enough and you will be spiritually sick indeed! I guarantee you that "junk food" from MacDonald's fly-through window is not served at the table of the Lord, i.e. it is not to be found ANYWHERE in the Word of God! Christ foretold us all things (Mark 13:23), even in the exact order in which they shall occur! Have you not read His Word? Where do you eat?

Let us return from the Parable of the Big Mac to the Parable of the Fig Tree. What we need to learn from the planting of the good and the bad seeds in the garden is that the "bad seed" are the children, the very offspring, of Satan the Devil and that his son was named Cain who would soon become the first murderer. In fact, murder would become a "family trait" that would follow Cain's progeny down through the ages, even to this very day! It was the son's of Cain who murdered Jesus Christ, not the children of our brother Judah. Now let us understand the birth of the twins, Cain and Abel. Oh, you didn't know they were twins? They were.

Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man* from the LORD.

Yes, Adam also "knew" his wife and she conceived to him also. She then bore "fraternal twins" to two different fathers. In other words, she bore Cain, who was the firstborn and the son (seed) of Satan, and then continuing in labor (next verse) she bore his brother Abel, the firstborn son of Adam.

[2] And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

again =  óñ—éˆyaòsaphyaw-saf' H3254 A primitive root; to add or augment (often adverbially to continue to do a thing):— add, X again, X any more, X cease, X come more, + conceive again, continue, exceed, X further, X gather together, get more, give moreover, X henceforth, increase (more and more), join, X longer (bring, do, make, much, put), X (the, much, yet) more (and more), proceed (further), prolong, put, be [strong-] er, X yet, yield.

Genesis 4:11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; [12] When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

Next we shall briefly trace the sons of Cain through the Word of God and even "listen in" on a conversation between them and the Lord Jesus Christ. Hey, talk about a bunch of "snakes and vipers"! They are going to "lie through their lion's teeth" right to the face of Messiah! But don't worry! They cannot fool Him! Can they fool you? We shall see!

Do you know? And why is it we are given the beginning of his posterity* in chapter four of Genesis? The answer to the latter question is so that the wise of this final generation would be able to pick up on that genealogy and know who the enemies of Christianity are? Remember, God said to the serpent in Gen. 3:15 "I will put enmity between your seed (children) and her (seed)"! That enmity exists to this day!

So how is it that the wise are to know and understand who Cain's descendents are in this final generation? We are simply to trace them throughout the scriptures, and if we do, they will become visible to the discerner in secular history as well! This is important because their identity is crucial in order to understand the in-depth meaning of the Parable of the Fig Tree. That is why we have spent so much time documenting who the tares are! Because you see, tares are also very "naughty figs" (Jer. 24:2). Yes, there are two types of figs, good figs and bad figs, both of which are part of the "planting" as we will see when we get to Jeremiah 24.

Let us now see what happened to Cain and trace his children throughout the scriptures.

Genesis 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

[17] And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

Let us now take our Strong's Concordance and look up the word "Cain". Cain = ïP÷­qayinkah'-yin Strong's #7014 The same as H7013 (with a play upon the affinity to H7069); Kajin, the name of the first child, also of a place in Palestine, and of an Oriental tribe:—Cain, Kenite (-s).

The word "Kenite", a child of "Kayin", is a "transliteration" which is simply when you convert the letters of one language into the letters of another language. That differs from a "translation" where you convert a word to its meaning. The meaning of "Kenite" comes from the Hebrew word "Qayin" or "Kayin" who is known to us English speaking peoples as "Cain". You see, the letter "Koph" (÷) in Hebrew which is the first letter in the name Kayin, Qayin, Cain, has the sound of a "K" or a "Q" or a hard "C", just like the "K" and "C" in the names Kathy and Cathy are pronounced exactly the same way in English. A Cain-ite, or Ken-ite in English, is therefore a son of, or descendent of, Cain (not to be confused with a Canaanite).

Here is Strong's definition of "Kenite": kenites = éð„é÷« éð„é÷"qeòynŒòy qŒòynŒòykay-nee', kee-nee'  Strong's #7017 Patronymic from H7014; a Kenite or member of the tribe of Kajin:—Kenite.

So do not make this difficult. The children of Cain are simply called "Ken-ites" just as the children of Israel are called Israel-ites or the descendents of Moab are called Moab-ites. Got it? Then let's go to 1 Chronicles 2 and check out some descendants of both Israel and Kayin, i.e. Israelites and Kenites respectively.

1 Chron. 2:1 These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, [2] Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

1 Chron. 2:55 And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.

scribe = øôÇñ˜saòpharsaw-far' Strong's #5608 A primitive root; properly to score with a mark as a tally or record, that is, (by implication) to inscribe, and also to enumerate; intensively to recount, that is, celebrate:—commune, (ac-) count, declare, number, + penknife, reckon, scribe, shew forth, speak, talk, tell (out), writer.

Rev. 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

OF COURSE, YOU CAN'T COUNT THEM UNLESS YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE!

To count the number of the beast is to "enumerate" pebbles, or "stones" worn smooth through handling, i.e. over a long period of time or service. Of course the number 666 gives it away and makes it very obvious that what we are to do is trace the Kenites as we are doing. Here is the Greek for 666 which is Satan's number (see appendix 10 in the Companion Bible):

666 =  ÷îòchi xi stigma khee xeestig'-maStrong's #5516
The 22nd, 14th and an obsolete letter (G4742 as a cross) of the Greek alphabet (intermediate between the 5th and 6th), used as numbers; denoting respectively 600, 60 and 6; 666 as a numeral:—six hundred threescore and six.

1 Chron. 2:55 And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.

Matthew 23:2 Saying,The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:

Following Cyrus' decree in 426 BC to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, Ezra and Nehemiah went back to Jerusalem, but they took with them only a REMNANT from the House of Judah. The rest of Judah, the majority of them, went north over the Caucasus Mountains with the other tribes of Israel and to this very day most of true Judah and Israel do not know who they are. The 10 so-called "lost" tribes of the House of Israel basically comprise the Christian nations of the world today, the largest being the USA, yet in their ignorance they call themselves gentiles.

It was during the trip back to Jerusalem that at one point Ezra stopped and gathered the people together and took a census. And guess what he found, or better yet, what he didn't find?  Read it yourself:

Ezra 8:15 And I gathered them together to the river than runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.

[17] And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.

Nethinim, in A.V. Nethinims [given].

Temple servants or slaves given by David and the princes for the service of the Levites (Ezra 8:20). Prior to their appointment, similar functions seem to have been discharged by the Midianites, whom Moses gave over to the Levites (Num. 31:47), and at a subsequent period by the Gibeonites, whom Joshua assigned as hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God (Josh. 9:23). Even after the Nethinim were associated with them or superceded them, the number of the Nethinim may have been too small for the elaborate temple services instituted by David's son and successor, and been increased; for we find in the books of Ezra (2:55-58) and Nehemiah (7:57-60) the children of Solomon's servants, i.e. slaves, mentioned after and numbered with the Nethinim.  Although they were organized by David, it was probably under a different name; for the word Nethinim occurs only in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, with a solitary passage in 1 Chron. 9:2. They discharged the more menial duties required by the temple worship. Of the Nethinim and the children of Solomon's servants, 392 returned from captivity with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:58; Neh. 7:60), and 220 more with Ezra (Ezra 8:17-20).

The Nethinim seem to have been naturalized foreigners rather than people of true Israelite descent (1 Chron. 9:2. Ezra 2:59; Neh. 7:61), and several of the names on the list of their leading men have a foreign aspect (Ezra 2:43-54; Neh. 7:46-56)...

The children of Tabbaoth and Keros, and of Solomon's servants the children of Sophereth (Ezra 2:43,44,55), which mean the children of rings, of the weaver's comb, and of the scribal office, apparently denote the official duties in the temple which the men of these classes discharged.

Some of them lived on Ophel, a southern prolongation of the temple hill...

Holding an official position at the temple, although the office was menial, they were exempt from imperial taxation (Ezra 7:24).

They seem to have adopted with some cordiality the covenant made at the instance of Nehemiah to worship Jehovah (Neh. 10:28,29).

Let us go one more verse in Ezra:

Ezra 8:18 And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

The Nethinim brought back some Levites, but they did not come back with very many.

Ezra 8:15 And I gathered them together to the river than runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.

[17] And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.

Ezra 8:18 And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

Again, so that we understand the conversation that is about to take place in John between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees, we need to know that during the 400 year period from the time of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, to the time of Christ, the "great synagogue" would come forth. And many of the ruling authorities of the temple, those religious leaders in charge, would not be of the seed of Abraham, i.e. true Israelites or Levitical Priests, but would be the wicked sons of Cain, who are called "Kenites" (pronounced Cain-ites) in the Bible. They will plot and bring about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for they are murderers just like their father, the very first murderer.

We will now see the kenites try to convince Jesus that they are of the "seed" of Abraham, BY BIRTH! But remember, we know they are not and so did Jesus! They are liars and are of the synagogue of Satan (Rev. 2:9, 3:9). We pick up the conversation in John chapter 8:

John 8:31
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, (From the True Tribe of Judah, no doubt) If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

[32] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

[33] They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

[34] Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

[35] And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

[36] If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

John 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Note: If you check out the Greek word for "know" in this verse you will find "it denotes mediate knowledge, e.g. from hearsay (see "A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament", E. W. Bullinger, pg. 435.)"

[38] I speak that which I have seen with my Father:(Father God) and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. (father Satan)

[39] They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

[40] But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. [41]Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

[42] Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. [43] Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

[44] Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Be forewarned that most preachers and ministers and commentaries will try to "spiritualize away" this 44th verse in John 8, and say Christ wasn't talking about "sperma", i.e. seed and offspring. But let me ask you, is there not a group of people who run around TODAY claiming that they are "God's chosen people" by descent?

Those Christians who belong to the church of Smyrna know they are not!

Rev. 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; [9] I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Rev. 3:7
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; [8] I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. [9] Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Here is Christ confronting a group of Kenites and exposing them as liars:

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Your documentation is found in Ezek. 37:

Ezekiel 37:15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, [16] Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: [17] And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. [18] And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?

[19] Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

*Note: If you do not know who the so-called lost 10 tribes of the House of Israel are and where they dwell today, go to Pamphlet #1064 or Pamphlet #1020 under Table of Contents "Wisdom" on the this American Wisdom Series site.

Here again are Jesus Christ's own words to the only two churches who are knowledgeable of and teach about those who claim to be of our brother Judah but are NOT!

By the way! The seven churches Christ addresses in Rev. 2-3 are all present on the Lord's Day, which is the first day of the Millennium, the day the Lord returns. You see, it was the future time known as the "Lord's Day" (see note in Companion Bible) that John was taken to in the Spirit to witness the events of Revelation. Those events occurred before, on, and after that great day and he was told to give his witness in writing to the seven churches of today.

Rev. 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, [11] Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Rev. 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

To the church of Philadelphia:

Rev. 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Matthew 23:31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. [32] Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. [33] Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? [34] Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: [35] That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

First of all, if you look up the word "Jew" (Ioudaios in Greek) as used in the New Testament you will find it has two meanings: (1) A person who is actually of the tribe of Judah, and (2) A person who resides in the land of Judea. In other words, just as a resident of Texas would be called a Texan or Tex, likewise a resident of Judea would be called a Judean or Jew.

What we are now going to document from the pages of history is that there are truly many today who call themselves Jews, meaning of Judah, who are in fact NOT from any of the tribes of Israel, much less from our brother Judah. What we learn from this is simply that Judah has been greatly "infiltrated" with non-Judahites who are not merely gentiles but actually the bad "seed", i.e. the "tares"! And since our purpose here is to simply document that Judah is MIXED with non-Judahites we suggest that you do an independent study on your own knowing first that the Jews of our times fall into two main divisions: the Sephardim Jews and the Askenazim Jews.

The following are a few short excerpts taken from the subject titled "Khazars" in the " Encyclopedia Britannica", 1973, pgs. 328-330.

KHAZARS

"... Khazar civilization shows a fairly complex texture and their religious life raises more than one problem. Christianity, Islam, Judaism and some sort of "pagan" worship are all attested by sources. About 740 the Khazar ruler - and probably the greater part of the ruling classes - were converted to Judaism. The circumstances of their conversion remain obscure, the depth of the Jewish layer difficult to assess; the fact itself is, however, undisputed and unparalleled in the history of central Eurasia.

"The story of this conversion of the Khazars had a considerable and lasting impact on the western world. The first to record it was Druthmar of Aquitaine (9th century), but circumstances of the conversion are related in greater detail in various Hebrew documents such as the so-called "Khazar Correspondence." This consists  in a letter (c. 955) from the Spanish Jew Hasdai ibn Shaprut to the Khazar king and in a reply (of contested authenticity) sent by Joseph, king of the Khazars.

"Extensive excavations brought to light the remains of the Khazar fortress Sarkel, on the lower Don, built in the 9th century with the help of Greek architects. This site, which clearly revealed the mixed character of Khazar civilization, unfortunately had to be inundated during the construction of the Volga-Don canal."

The following information is taken from the:

Extension Horticulture Information Resource
The Agriculture Program of the Texas A&M University System

"The fig fruit is unique. Unlike most fruit in which the edible structure is matured ovary tissue, the fig's edible structure is actually stem tissue. The fig fruit is an inverted flower with both the male and female flower parts enclosed in stem tissue. This structure is known botanically as a syconium. At maturity the interior of the fig contains only the remains of these flower structures, including the small gritty structures commonly called seeds. Actually, these so-called seeds usually are nothing more than unfertilized ovaries that failed to develop. They impart the resin-like flavor associated with figs."

Fig Types

Caprifig. The Caprifig produces a small non-edible fruit; however, the flowers inside the Caprifig fruit produce pollen. This pollen is essential for fertilizing fruit of the Smyrna and San Pedro types. The pollen is transported from the Caprifig to the pollen-sterile types by a Blastophaga wasp. Commercial growers hang baskets of Blastophaga-infested Caprifigs so that the wasps can effectively fertilize the fruit. Caprifigs were grown successfully at Del Rio before 1901.

Smyrna. The Smyma fig varieties produce large edible fruit with true seeds. The Blastophaga wasp and Caprifigs are required for normal fruit development. If this fertilization process does not occur, fruit will not develop properly and will fall from the tree. Smyrna-type figs are commonly sold as dried figs.

"The story of the Smyrna fig must include the story of the caprifig. Briefly stated, for fruit development to occur, the Smyrna fig needs pollen from the caprifig. Kadota and other common figs do not need the caprifig, even though they lack pollen, because syconium development is "parthenocarpic," i.e., it proceeds directly without pollination and fertilization (see also pineapple and banana).

Fig pollen is transferred from male flowers (stamens) to female flowers (pistils) by an insect called a fig wasp (Blastophaga). Entomologists have learned that fig wasps overwinter as larvae in the pistils (as galls) of the fruit from the winter crop of caprifigs. Caprifig produces three crops of figs per year, and the winter one is called the mamme crop. In April, the larva changes into an adult. A male emerges from the pistil and promptly impregnates a female, while she is still in her pistil. Soon after the wingless male dies; most male carcasses remain in the syconium. Meanwhile, the winged, gravid females emerge and leave the fig through the ostiole. Eventually a female flies to a new, young, flowering caprifig of the spring crop (profichi crop) and enters through the ostiole. The female oviposits eggs in some of the pistils, one per ovary, and then carries pollen to the other pistils for seed set. This enables the fruit to mature, and her young therefore to receive nourishment. The female dies within the developing fruit. After a short period, the new generation of fig wasps emerges; males impregnate females and die while gravid females escape to colonize new flowering figs. However, the profichi caprifig has many male flowers near the ostiole, and the wasp thereby carries much pollen with her to the next syconium.

In the case of fruit set for Smyrna figs, branches with profichi figs of the caprifig are collected and hung in the late afternoon within the fig tree canopy. The next morning the fig wasps emerge from the profichi figs and then transfer pollen to the young Smyrna pistils. Enough fertilization takes place to promote Smyrna fruit development. This process is called caprification. Caprification was practiced for centuries in the Old World without understanding the pollination mechanism; but the process had to be verified and understood in California (by Eisen in the 1890s) before it could be accepted as sound horticultural practice. Caprifigs were imported to California from Algiers in 1899, which began the western Smyrna fig industry. Three to five caprifigs are grown at fig orchards for every 100 Smyrna fig plants, to provide the necessary pollen and fig wasps."

Planting

Do not apply fertilizer at planting time. Fig trees survive better if set 2 to 4 inches deeper than they were grown in the nursery. Cut them back when transplanting. This "heading back" develops lateral branches and reduces water loss from the above-ground portion. Since the root system may be damaged during transplanting operations, water uptake may be reduced greatly for a short time.

Fig trees planted at the beginning of the dormant season often develop root systems before leafing out in the spring. This can be advantageous; however, young trees are more susceptible to cold injury. In areas where cold damage may occur, it is often advisable to delay transplanting until just before dormancy is broken in late winter.

Young trees to be transplanted should be dug with care to prevent root damage. Inspect trees bought from nurseries to ensure that roots are healthy and are not damaged. Remove any broken or dried roots. Dig a hole deeper and wider than necessary for the root system. Place the tree upright at the proper depth. Crumble the soil around the roots, and pack it down several times during the filling operation to bring all roots into contact with moist soil. After planting, water the tree to settle the soil firmly around the roots. If conditions are extremely dry, watering before the hole is completely filled is beneficial.

Harvesting

For top quality, allow figs to ripen fully on the tree. But they must be picked as they ripen; otherwise, spoilage from the dried fruit beetle can occur. On-the-tree spoilage or souring is caused by microorganisms in the fully ripe fruit. These organisms are usually carried into the open eye of the fig by insects, particularly the dried fruit beetle. Daily harvests and the removal of overripe, spoiled figs can greatly reduce spoilage problems. This is particularly true of varieties which have an open eye.

Jeremiah 24:1 The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

Now notice the distinction between the contents of the two baskets (vessels):

[2] One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

Here is the question:

[3] Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.

H7451 òø‡ äòÈøˆ ra€ raò€aòh rah,raw-aw'
From H7489; bad or (as noun) evil (naturally or morally). This includes the second (feminine) form; as adjective or noun:—adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, + displease (-ure), distress, evil ([-favouredness], man, thing), + exceedingly, X great, grief (-vous), harm, heavy, hurt (-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief, (-vous), misery, naught (-ty), noisome, + not please, sad (-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked (-ly, -ness, one), worse (-st) wretchedness, wrong. [Including feminine ra’ah; as adjective or noun.]

Amos 6:14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath
 unto the river of the wilderness.

Jeremiah 24:4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

[5] Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.

[6] For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

[7] And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

[8] And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:

[9] And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.

Here is Paul speaking of the strength of God's elect who know His Word:

Ephes. 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Jer 24:10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

We pick it up in Mark chapter 11 where Jesus is with the 12 disciples and is now going to teach them (and us) concerning the Fig Tree:

Mark 11:11
And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when He had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

* Bethany [house of the afflicted one; in Talmud, house of non-maturing dates]. (see "Davis Bible Dictionary", Baker, pg. 87.)

[12] And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry:

[13] And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find any thing thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

[14] And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

Well, are you sure we are talking about the bad figs here? Absolutely! Check out what Jesus did next:

Mark 11:15
And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

[16] And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

Jeremiah, the servant of God whose name means "whom Yahveh launches (sends) forth", could tell the difference between good figs and bad figs and knew what could be eaten and what could not be eaten! The question is, "Will your Father send you forth in these last days to give witness?" I don't know the answer to that question but I would make sure I knew who the good and the bad figs were. So pay close attention here because Christ told us to learn the parable of the fig tree and here He is teaching us about it! He now gives witness unto those He cast out:

[17] And He taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Isaiah 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

Mark 11:18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

What do we learn from this? Well, we learn that we are dealing "the murderers", those "tares" who are the offspring (bad seed) of their father who was the first murderer! In other words, they are kenites, bad figs, who have mixed in and claim to be of Judah (Rev. 2:9 & 3:9). We also learn that if you teach who these bad figs are and you teach against their leaven (doctrine), then you can expect persecution. You see, it is written that there shall be some of you who shall be cast into prison for Christ's name sake:

Luke 21:12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. [13] And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

[14] Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: [15] For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

Mark 11:19 And when even was come, He went out of the city.

[20] And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

[21] And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

[22] And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Deut. 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Now let's check out some modern history and observe when the good and bad figs were set out in Jerusalem!  On this day in history 65 years ago the following event occurred:

THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL
May 14, 1948

On May 14, 1948, on the day in which the British Mandate over a Palestine expired, the Jewish People's Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved the following proclamation, declaring the establishment of the State of Israel. The new state was recognized that night at 11:00 AM Israel time by the United States and three days later by the USSR.

Text:

"ERETZ-ISRAEL [(Hebrew) - the Land of Israel, Palestine] was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.

This right was acknowledged by the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, and re-affirmed by the Mandate of the League of Nations, which gave explicit international recognition to the historic connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and their right to reconstitute their National Home.

The Nazi holocaust, which engulfed millions of Jews in Europe, proved anew the urgency of the re-establishment of the Jewish state, which would solve the problem of Jewish homelessness by opening the gates to all Jews and lifting the Jewish people to equality in in the family of nations."

It all began in the year 1897 with the convening of the First Zionist Congress as documented in the following sentence (which is also contained in the above Declaration):

"In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country."

Note: You can also follow the events and the timeline of this movement called Zionism at: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/mideast.htm.

We might also note that in 1897 the so called "Star of David" with its "6" points (See appendix 10 in the Companion Bible for the significance of numbers in scripture.) became the symbol of their movement and later the symbol of Judaism itself. It is a relatively new symbol and is called the Magen David which you can read about at: http://www.jewfaq.org/signs.htm#MagenDavid. Here are some excerpts:

  "The Magen David (shield of David, or as it is more commonly known, the Star of David) is the symbol most commonly associated with Judaism today, but it is actually a relatively new Jewish symbol. It is supposed to represent the shape of King David's shield (or perhaps the emblem on it), but there is really no support for that claim in any early rabbinic literature. In fact, the symbol is so rare in early Jewish literature and artwork that art dealers suspect forgery if they find the symbol in early works.

The Magen David gained popularity as a symbol of Judaism when it was adopted as the emblem of the Zionist movement in 1897, but the symbol continued to be controversial for many years afterward. When the modern state of Israel was founded, there was much debate over whether this symbol should be used on the flag.

Today, the Magen David is a universally recognized symbol of Jewry. It appears on the flag of the state of Israel, and the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross is known as the Red Magen David."

"This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home."

The Balfour Declaration
November 2, 1917

During the First World War, British policy became gradually committed to the idea of establishing a Jewish home in Palestine (Eretz Yisrael). After discussions in the British Cabinet, and consultation with Zionist leaders, the decision was made known in the form of a letter by Arthur James Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild. The letter represents the first political recognition of Zionist aims by a Great Power.

Foreign Office
November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour

Mark 13:28
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: See Phamphlet #7000

Jesus said Learn it!
Mark 13:28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree;...

Here is exactly what He said:

Mark 13:28
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

[29] So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

[30] Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. [31] Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Here is what will soon happen:

Rev. 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, [8] And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
[9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Rev. 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; [13] And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

Mark 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

Romans 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

The good news is that ALL wars shall cease and we shall truly have peace on earth.

Isaiah 2:4 And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.