The Generation of Jesus Christ - What It Means

[Anthony Pritchard]

"The Sea as a Figurative Symbol of Nations in the Bible

In the Bible, the sea is a recurring metaphor for peoples, nations, multitudes, and tongues, often used to convey the vastness, diversity, and sometimes the chaotic or destructive nature of human societies.

Old Testament Usage​

In the Old Testament, the sea is frequently linked to nations in prophetic imagery:

• Isaiah 17:12–13 describes the nations as “roaring seas” and “great waters,” symbolizing their tumultuous and rebellious nature. When God rebukes them, they flee like chaff before the wind Bible Hub.
• Jeremiah 47:2 uses “waters rising from the north” to depict invading nations as a flood, overwhelming the land and its inhabitants Bible Hub.
• Other passages (e.g., Isaiah 57:20, Jeremiah 49:23, 51:42) liken the nations’ voices and actions to the sea’s roar, emphasizing their power and unpredictability Online Bible.

New Testament Usage​

In the New Testament, especially in Revelation, the sea’s symbolism is explicit:

• Revelation 17:1, 15 identifies the “waters” where the “great prostitute” sits as “peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues,” showing the sea as a representation of the diverse, widespread influence of nations Bible Hub+1.
• Revelation 13:1 describes a beast “rising out of the sea,” symbolizing oppressive political or religious powers emerging from the chaotic realm of nations Bible Hub+1.

Theological Implications​

The sea as a symbol of nations underscores:

• God’s sovereignty over human affairs — just as He controls the physical sea, He governs the nations Bible Hub.
• The diversity and reach of human societies — the sea’s vastness mirrors the spread of peoples and cultures Bible Tools.
• The potential for both blessing and judgment — the sea can be a source of life (e.g., sustenance, trade) or destruction (e.g., floods, invasions), reflecting how nations can serve God or oppose Him.

Summary​

In biblical thought, the sea is not just a body of water but a metaphor for the totality of human nations — their unity, diversity, and the often turbulent forces they represent. This imagery is used to teach about God’s authority, the consequences of human actions, and the ultimate destiny of nations in His plan."

Revelation 18:21
And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying,
Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

Revelation 20:8
And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Revelation 18:19
And they cast dust on their heads,
and cried, weeping and wailing, saying,
Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness!
for in one hour is she made desolate.

Revelation 18:17
For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.
And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships,
and sailors, and as many as trade by sea,
stood afar off,


Revelation 16:3
And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

Revelation 12:12
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Revelation 7:3
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Revelation 5:13
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

James 3:7
For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

2 Corinthians 11:26
In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;


It’s actually amazing how much it makes sense when you takes the word sea and understand that when it symbolizes water, it literally makes so much sense. Similes lose so much of what is supposed to be simile when you say that it is no longer a simile, rather, it really is the other thing.
You also create your own interpretation of it that is not in the plain text. Scripture is meant to reveal, not conceal. But if sea doesn’t mean water, are you sure that the Saviour actually saves? Is eternal life actually eternal or is it just hyperbole? Was Jacob a real person or a personification of whatever you want him to be.

I am satisfied to know that God tells us that sin is buried in the Sea, and that in eternity you will not be able to find the place where it was buried.

I find that to be a perfectly acceptable, literal interpretation.

A literal interpretation does not rule out the use of pictorial speech, "behold the Lamb of God", or the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Literal interpretation means taking the text as it is written, including its metaphors, symbols, and figures of speech.

And I’m perfectly content to believe that God buries sin in the depths of the sea, both literally in the picture, and spiritually in the reality.

 

[Ascetic X]

A literal interpretation does not rule out the use of pictorial speech, "behold the Lamb of God", or the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Literal interpretation means taking the text as it is written, including its metaphors, symbols, and figures of speech.

And I’m perfectly content to believe that God buries sin in the depths of the sea, both literally in the picture, and spiritually in the reality.

I have never heard of literal interpretation as inclusive of non-literal metaphor, symbol, and figures of speech.

Technically there is literal vs. figurative interpretation. A text means exactly what it says (walked on the sea) or it refers to a symbol, which has similar attributes but is imaginatively conceptual (“lion” of Judah).

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

I have never heard of literal interpretation as inclusive of non-literal metaphor, symbol, and figures of speech.

Technically there is literal vs. figurative interpretation. A text means exactly what it says (walked on the sea) or it refers to a symbol, which has similar attributes but is imaginatively conceptual (“lion” of Judah).

Literal interpretation has always included the recognition of figures of speech.

Cooper’s Golden Rule itself requires us to take words in their ordinary sense unless the context indicates a figure.

So when the text intends a literal event (Jesus walking on the sea), we take it literally. When the text intends a symbol (the Lion of Judah), we take it symbolically.

That’s not figurative interpretation, that’s literal interpretation applied consistently.

Every literalist, Scofield, Chafer, Ryrie, Walvoord, Pentecost, Cooper, from the old Princeton men to the Dallas Seminary giants, explicitly teaches that literal interpretation includes figures of speech.

 

[kyredneck]

Revelation 18:21
And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying,
Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

Revelation 18:19
And they cast dust on their heads,
and cried, weeping and wailing, saying,
Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness!
for in one hour is she made desolate.

Revelation Chapter 11

8​	And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

"One eighth of the entire book of Revelation, some fifty verses, is devoted to the subject of judgement upon Babylon (14:8-10; 16:17- 19:5)." See post #55,

You like literal? Why don't you take these literally?:

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John;
3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand. Rev 1
11 I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. Rev 3
7 And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand.
12 Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is.
20 He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus. Rev 22

I am satisfied to know that God tells us that sin is buried in the Sea, and that in eternity you will not be able to find the place where it was buried.

And I’m perfectly content to believe that God buries sin in the depths of the sea, both literally in the picture, and spiritually in the reality.

...and I'm also satisfied/content with 'my take' on the passage.

 

[JD731]

God likens Israel to three different trees in scriptures and employs these metaphors in a consistent manner for the prophetic application and to teach us how history will develop until finally Israel is perfected and purified totally and becomes the chief nation on earth for all eternity.
1 The fig tree - national Israel
2 the vine tree -Ethnic Israel
3 The Olive Tree - spiritual Israel

Someone will say a vine is not a tree. I say that we must think like God thinks when reading his book and he thinks a vine is a tree. See here:

Numbers 6:4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
Ezekiel 15:2 Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
Ezekiel 15:6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Notice this OT parable:

Isa 5:1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

This is a prophecy. Judah is the pleasant plant in the vineyard because of the time this prophecy comes to pass and the book of Isaiah is addressed to Jerusalem and Judah.


Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

The thrust of this prophecy is the last days as God counts days, a thousand years as one day and one day as a thousand years. So then, it is days 5,6,7 or the three days after the cross of Jesus Christ. In some cases it is the last days of the last days that is the focus of the prophecy. For instance, verse 2 above is about day 7 after all the bad things recorded about the drying up of the vine and olive tree and the restoration of the broken off branches of the Olive tree has been grafted back into the tree and now it is a glorious tree. Everyone should know that three is the trinitarian signature on God's good creation. Isaiah does not see this church age break and there is no direct prophecy about it. So, from 70 AD until 1948 AD

A very important providential transition at the time in history when both Isaiah and Hosea were written that essentially is a death knell for the northern kingdom of Ephraim for the next 700 years.

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Ho 1:1 The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

Ho 1:6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

Northern Israel lost her national identity in 722 and was dispersed and the covenant promises were honored by God through Judah. From that time when God used the term my people he was speaking of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

But, at the same time God cursed Israel he in the same breath gave a promise to them. Here it is in plain language.

10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

If anyone will read the NT letters of Peter and James and also Paul's letters to Colosse and Ephesus and Galatians they could see that the promise of V10 was al least partially fulfilled and in those letters these people were called sons of God. To be a son of God requires and new birth and the believers in Jesus Christ from among this population were born again. How do I know these people were the same people? Because Paul said in Gal 2 when speaking to the apostles that they should go to the circumcision and he and Barnabas would go to the gentiles.

The word" "then" means afterward and this verse of scripture has not been fulfilled though it was given some 2800 years ago.

Peter wrote this:

1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

1 Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Written to:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, (HOW) through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Colosse, Ephesus, were in the province of Asia.

The OT is the preparation work of God for our salvation. We must know it to be strong in the faith, I believe.

I have more to say in my next post.

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

God likens Israel to three different trees in scriptures and employs these metaphors in a consistent manner for the prophetic application and to teach us how history will develop until finally Israel is perfected and purified totally and becomes the chief nation on earth for all eternity.
1 The fig tree - national Israel
2 the vine tree -Ethnic Israel
3 The Olive Tree - spiritual Israel

Someone will say a vine is not a tree. I say that we must think like God thinks when reading his book and he thinks a vine is a tree. See here:

Numbers 6:4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
Ezekiel 15:2 Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
Ezekiel 15:6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Notice this OT parable:

Isa 5:1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

This is a prophecy. Judah is the pleasant plant in the vineyard because of the time this prophecy comes to pass and the book of Isaiah is addressed to Jerusalem and Judah.


Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

The thrust of this prophecy is the last days as God counts days, a thousand years as one day and one day as a thousand years. So then, it is days 5,6,7 or the three days after the cross of Jesus Christ. In some cases it is the last days of the last days that is the focus of the prophecy. For instance, verse 2 above is about day 7 after all the bad things recorded about the drying up of the vine and olive tree and the restoration of the broken off branches of the Olive tree has been grafted back into the tree and now it is a glorious tree. Everyone should know that three is the trinitarian signature on God's good creation. Isaiah does not see this church age break and there is no direct prophecy about it. So, from 70 AD until 1948 AD

A very important providential transition at the time in history when both Isaiah and Hosea were written that essentially is a death knell for the northern kingdom of Ephraim for the next 700 years.

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Ho 1:1 The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

Ho 1:6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

Northern Israel lost her national identity in 722 and was dispersed and the covenant promises were honored by God through Judah. From that time when God used the term my people he was speaking of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

But, at the same time God cursed Israel he in the same breath gave a promise to them. Here it is in plain language.

10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

If anyone will read the NT letters of Peter and James and also Paul's letters to Colosse and Ephesus and Galatians they could see that the promise of V10 was al least partially fulfilled and in those letters these people were called sons of God. To be a son of God requires and new birth and the believers in Jesus Christ from among this population were born again. How do I know these people were the same people? Because Paul said in Gal 2 when speaking to the apostles that they should go to the circumcision and he and Barnabas would go to the gentiles.

The word" "then" means afterward and this verse of scripture has not been fulfilled though it was given some 2800 years ago.

Peter wrote this:

1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

1 Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Written to:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, (HOW) through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Colosse, Ephesus, were in the province of Asia.

The OT is the preparation work of God for our salvation. We must know it to be strong in the faith, I believe.

I have more to say in my next post.

JD, the fig, vine, and olive imagery does not divide Israel into three Israels. Scripture uses several metaphors to describe different aspects of the same covenant people.

The fig tree pictures Israel’s national fruitfulness. The vine pictures Israel’s covenant responsibility and failure. The olive tree pictures the Abrahamic root and the place of blessing in Romans 11.

These are functional metaphors, not separate identities.

Isaiah 5 defines its own symbols. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. That is the northern and southern kingdoms in the eighth century before Christ. It is not ethnic Israel versus national Israel.

Your reading of Hosea 1 merges two different fulfillments. Paul applies Hosea 1 verse 10 to Gentile salvation in Romans 9. Hosea 1 verse 11 remains future, and Romans 11 confirms that Israel’s national restoration is still ahead.

Romans 11 gives the inspired interpretation of the olive tree. There is one root and one tree. Natural branches are broken off. Wild branches are grafted in. Natural branches are grafted back in again. Paul does not divide Israel into three Israels.

Multiple metaphors do not create multiple Israels. They illuminate different aspects of the same covenant people in different prophetic settings.

 

[JD731]

JD, the fig, vine, and olive imagery does not divide Israel into three Israels. Scripture uses several metaphors to describe different aspects of the same covenant people.

The fig tree pictures Israel’s national fruitfulness. The vine pictures Israel’s covenant responsibility and failure. The olive tree pictures the Abrahamic root and the place of blessing in Romans 11.

These are functional metaphors, not separate identities.

Isaiah 5 defines its own symbols. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. That is the northern and southern kingdoms in the eighth century before Christ. It is not ethnic Israel versus national Israel.

Your reading of Hosea 1 merges two different fulfillments. Paul applies Hosea 1 verse 10 to Gentile salvation in Romans 9. Hosea 1 verse 11 remains future, and Romans 11 confirms that Israel’s national restoration is still ahead.

Romans 11 gives the inspired interpretation of the olive tree. There is one root and one tree. Natural branches are broken off. Wild branches are grafted in. Natural branches are grafted back in again. Paul does not divide Israel into three Israels.

Multiple metaphors do not create multiple Israels. They illuminate different aspects of the same covenant people in different prophetic settings.

Objections noted but questioned. I totally agree with one Israel presented to us from God's point of view with the trinitarian signature of his creation, one in three and three in one. I am not sure how you thought I was presenting 3 separate Israel's but I accept the blame and am sorry about confusing you.
Israel is a form of tutor to teach us about God and his ways:

Romans 15:4
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

Objections noted but questioned. I totally agree with one Israel presented to us from God's point of view with the trinitarian signature of his creation, one in three and three in one. I am not sure how you thought I was presenting 3 separate Israel's but I accept the blame and am sorry about confusing you.
Israel is a form of tutor to teach us about God and his ways:

Romans 15:4
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

JD, thank you for the gracious reply. I appreciate your spirit in this.

Metaphors in Scripture are rich and layered, and I agree with you that Israel’s history serves as a tutor for us. Romans 15 verse 4 is a needed reminder that everything written beforehand was written for our learning, so that we might have hope through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures.

My only aim was to keep the prophetic imagery in its original context so that we do not divide what God presents as one covenant people. I am glad we are on the same page there. Your willingness to clarify shows a good heart toward the text, and I respect that.

Thank you again for the kind response.

 

[JD731]

The scriptures presents the Messiah of Israel, our Lord Jesus Christ, to Israel in three offices.
Prophet - Pictured by Moses
Priest - Pictured by Aaron
King - Pictured by David

These offices are fulfilled concurrently by Jesus Christ in time. When he came the first time to his own people (Jn 1:11) he came as the perfect prophet. We are told that here:

Acts 3:22
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

Acts 7:37
This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

Deuteronomy 18:15
The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;

With that in mind I would like to examine a couple of his prophecies.

Lk 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

The length of time of the ministry of Jesus at that time was 3 years. The original response for the owner of the vineyard was to cut the unfruitful fig tree down and remove it from the vineyard but he was convinced by his keeper to give him a probationary period to work with the tree to get it to produce. This parable was aimed at that generation of the rulers over israel.
______________________

I would like to fast forward to a similar incident in the life of Jesus and the fig tree. This is in actual time and is not a parable. It actually took place on Tuesday and Wednesday before Jesus was crucified on Friday. Luke said Jesus went daily in the morning to the temple and returned to the Mount of Olives each evening.

Lk 21:37 And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.
38 And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.

The 7 day week ending on the Sabbath and the crucifixion of Jesus began in Matthew in chapter 21, in Mark in chapter 11, Luke in chapter 19, and John in chapter 12. Twenty nine chapters out of 89 in the gospels, exactly 1/3rd.

I will give Mark's account of the incident.

1 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 (means house of figs) with the twelve.

Mark 11:12 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. (figs come before leaves on a fig tree so the leaves indicated there should have been figs)
14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
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 moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

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. (it not dry up immediately)
21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

This is a similitude.

The same day Jesus leaves the temple for the last time (Ichabod) and goes back to the Mt of Olives where he gives the OLivet Discourse and he talks about the dried up fig tree. What is the future of the tree according to Jesus.

He tells us in his sermon on the mount after the fig tree is dried up. We know from earlier it will be cut down and removed from the vineyard.
Matt 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
(it has evidently been growing off the stump)

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
(one must identify the "it" here - summer, when the sign of the son of man appears in heaven))
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

The beginning of the prophecy of the Olivet Discourse is two thousand years after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD when the temple is destroyed (the two thousand years of the church age passes while the Fig tree is dried up) and it details the events concerning Israel from then into the millennium. The church is not in view at all in this prophecy. This prophecy deals with what was written in the OT concerning Jesus, the gospel of the kingdom, and Israel. The church and these two thousand years of it's existence was a mystery in the OT and as yet unannounced. The church is a NT entity and has it's own set of end times prophecies.

Takes place in first 1260 days
Matthew 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name s sake.
Matthew 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Matthew 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Second 1260 days
Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Matthew 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there; believe [it] not.
Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

Parable of the talents
Matthew 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Matthew 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Matthew 25:16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made [them] other five talents.
Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Matthew 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Matthew 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Matthew 25:16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made [them] other five talents.
Matthew 25:24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
Matthew 25:27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and [then] at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Matthew 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink?
Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Matthew 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Matthew 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me.

the "then" gives the order of events in the 7 year period of time Daniel prophesied would come called the time of Jacob's trouble before Jesus returns to rule and reign over the earth. Time lines are important.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

These offices are fulfilled concurrently by Jesus Christ in time. When he came the first time to his own people (Jn 1:11) he came as the perfect prophet. We are told that here

JD, I appreciate the effort, but your post didn’t address the point about “this generation” in Matthew 24. You preached a sermon on fig trees, but you didn’t deal with the text, the grammar, the audience, or Matthew’s consistent use of genea.

Luke 13 is a parable about repentance, not a timeline. Mark 11 is symbolic judgment, not a countdown. Matthew 24:32 teaches recognition of signs, not a prophetic calendar. None of these establish a 2,000‑year gap, and Jesus never inserts one.

The disciples asked three specific questions, and Jesus answered them directly. In Matthew, “this generation” always refers to the people alive at the time, especially the leadership rejecting Him. That was the actual subject of the thread, and your post didn’t address it.

If you want to discuss the text itself, I’m glad to do that, but the meaning of “this generation” has to come from the passage, not from fig‑tree analogies or timelines built from unrelated texts.