What is the Fig Tree Generation and connection to Prophecy?

Fig Tree Generation

This post focuses on the Fig Tree Generation, found specifically in the Mount Olivet discourse by Jesus.

First, let’s look at the primary scripture verse (Mk 31:28-30 and Lk 21:29-32 are almost identical):

Matthew 24:32–34

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”

If you are a Bible prophecy student you know this date – May 14, 1948.

This is the date that Israel regained it’s statehood and Jews from all over the world were able to gather in their own land once again.

This very prophecy of the re-establishment of the nation of Israel was predicted in scripture many times. But most vividly in the prophecy of the Valley of Dry Bones described in Ezekiel, Chapter 37.

And if you ask me, this is the exact moment where God’s prophetic time clock of the soon return of Jesus began to increase it’s speed. In other words, a tachometer began revving faster RPMs – even up until to today.

Almost every scholar agrees that the Fig Tree is a representation of Israel in scripture.

So, what does the Fig Tree Generation represent?

There are three camps that respond to the question …

Camp 1 – Many Bible prophecy teachers interpret the fig tree as symbolic of Israel, connecting this prophecy to the rebirth of Israel as a nation in 1948.

Camp2 – Others see it more generally as an analogy: just as budding trees signal summer, the “signs” Jesus listed in Luke, Chapter 21 (wars, tribulations, cosmic signs, etc.) signal His return.

Camp 3 – Or a belief that the Fig Tree generation is applied to both interpretations.

I happen to belong to Camp 3.

In the New Testament, the word translated “generation” is Greek: genea, meaning a group of people living at the same time (roughly 20–40 years in a natural sense); or a race, lineage, or people group (“this generation” means the Jewish people as a whole).

Today, the word “generation” is used a bit differently – We think of Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, etc., which are usually 20–30 years apart.

With modern lifespans averaging 80–90 years, some argue that a “generation” could mean a lifetime of 70–80 years, rather than a strict 20-40 years.

So, many, many teachers interpret Jesus’ words (“this generation will not pass away”) as meaning that the people alive when Israel became a nation (1948) will see the fulfillment the Rapture and the beginning of the Seven-Year Tribulation.

2025 minus 1948 equals 77 years since Israel became a nation.

The Fig Tree Generation and Christ’s Return

In Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, Jesus points to the Fig Tree as a prophetic sign: when its branches become tender and put forth leaves, “you know that summer is near.”

He then adds, “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34, NIV).

To me, the Fig Tree to symbolizes Israel, which “put forth leaves” in 1948 when the Jewish nation was miraculously reborn after nearly 2,000 years of dispersion (diaspora).

If Israel’s rebirth marks the start of the fig tree generation, then those alive at that time will not all pass away until the events Jesus described — including the Tribulation Period and His second coming — are fulfilled.

With a modern generation understood as 70–80 years (Psalm 90:10), then you and I live within the window of that prophetic timeline.

How’s that for a Wowsa!

The words of Jesus urge all of us to remain watchful:

“When you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near” (Luke 21:31).