We have seen that the fig tree is a representation of Israel. And that a fig tree is cut down on occasion. A portrayal of the removal of Israel’s chosen position as a people and also of the removal from the land.
withered
We saw in Matthew 21 how a fig tree was cursed by Jesus and immediately withered. The story of the withered fig tree takes place just one day before Jesus’ speech in Matthew 24. Some say two days, in any case it was very close together.
In Matthew it seems that at that same moment the disciples saw that the fig tree had withered (:21), but from Mark 11:20 we know that this took place the next morning. So the disciples probably saw the withered fig tree in the morning and that same day (in Matthew 24) Jesus speaks to them about the fig tree, to which something the opposite happens, a fig tree that sprouts.
32 But learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch softens and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.
recovery
The withering of the fig tree represents an Israel that is barren. An unbelieving people is in death and has been set aside by God. But in the future the fig tree will bud, representing the restoration of Israel. Israel as a nation will receive the spirit (Eze.37:10).
This will be after the people will call on the name of YAHWEH, and the Lord will appear in the clouds of heaven and set His feet on the Mount of Olives.
1948
Many have thought that the budding of the fig tree in Matthew 24 represents the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. The Second Coming would then take place within one generation (:34) after 1948. A generation has now been stretched from 40 years to 70 years and both have already passed. We will come back to verse 34, which says ’that this generation will not pass away until all these things come to pass’.
But the budding fig tree does not speak of the current state of Israel, it is at most a dead fig tree. As we saw earlier that it is represented as a dead body (Matt.24:28). A body in which there is no spirit (Ez.37:8). Only when it receives the spirit will it become a living body (Eze.37:9-10). This also applies to the budding fig tree. When Israel receives the spirit, the fig tree will sprout.
life from the dead!
Through Israel the King Messiah will establish His Kingdom over the entire earth. The budding of the fig tree, the branches softening and the leaves sprouting, are a representation of Israel’s conversion. The withered fig tree comes to life, life from the dead! (Rom.11:15). The generation that sees this happen knows that spring has arrived and summer is close. Israel has been restored and soon the summer will come, the coming aeon in which the Kingdom will be established throughout the world. The parallel passage in Luke 21:31 says: So you also, when you see these things happening, will know that the kingdom of God is near.