Ok. So I wrote the post about the weather last night, but am making an addition now here with some interesting things I came across today.
Eschatology…is basically the study of end times, and this morning when I was having some time with the Lord I most interestingly (but probably not coincidentally) ended up reading about eschatology. I started out with some reading in Psalms because our church is reading through the Bible this year. Somehow a cross reference ended me up in Matthew, and then my eye jumped from the cross reference to some verses that I had underlined on the opposite page. So I ended up in Matthew 21:18-22 which talks about Jesus cursing the fig tree and willing it to wither and die. Then subsequently he tells the disciples that if they have faith and do not doubt, then they can do like he did to the fig tree, they can command mountains to fall into the sea and it will happen. That the things that we ask in prayer and believing, we will receive.
I have a thing about figs. I’ve posted recipes with them before and will do more when fig season is upon us later this summer. And I started thinking about how often I’ve noticed that figs turn up in scripture, and I got to wondering. “What is the deal with figs?”
So i googled “fig tree” and also searched it on BibleGateway (which by the way is a really great, FREE resource for different Bible translations, does searches…it’s awesome.) I found 49 instances where figs were referenced in the Bible. Many of those references point to figs being a symbol of prosperity in Biblical times. And then i looked up figs on Wikipedia as well to learn more about them. That ended me up reading about the Parable of the Barren Fig tree that I just told you about, and from that reading about Figs in the Bible. Figs are mentioned in what is called The Olivet Discourse which is a biblical passage found in the Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21. Apparently it is sometimes referred to as the “Little Apocalypse” because it includes Jesus’ descriptions of the end times. So you see how this happened? Psalms to figs to end times?
I know…it’s a serious Biblical ADD…or maybe just what I was supposed to be reading today after posting about the weather and end times last night. So then I started reading all around about end times and eschatology and tribulation and views on it all, and I determined something….
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