Israel Replanted

The Special Master gestures with a casual backward swipe of his hand. Peter steps forward.

Peter

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Let me direct your attention to the monitor again.

So, what is this fig tree? Of all the trees mentioned in these nine words, it’s the only one named. And there’s a good reason for that.

And that fig tree is Israel. And its rebirth on May 14, 1948 is the key that opens the door to this stunning prophecy about the end times.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Every nation has a birthday. Every fig tree buds in the spring. Where’s the miracle in that?

Fair question. Hold onto it. Because I’m not just going to tell you Israel is the fig tree. I’m going to provide evidence that the voice behind that parable — and the voice behind the prophets who said the very same thing hundreds of years earlier — is the same voice. One witness. Not many agreeing. One.

But let me just give you a tiny bit of background. Because it gives an entirely new light on why it’s so critical that Jesus spoke these nine words.

We hear of the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — three distinct Persons, yet one God. I can’t fully explain it. Nobody can. I think it’s too deep for our minds to grasp this side of eternity.

He gestures to the bailiff, and the monitor appears behind a panel in the solid wood wall. The jurors, the Special Master, and the entire gallery direct their full attention to it.

But here’s what the Bible does tell us plainly.

The Spirit of Christ. In them. The prophets themselves were searching to understand what He was pointing to.

Peter calls Him the Spirit of Christ. In his second letter, he says holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Same apostle. Same prophets. Same Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ.

So when Ezekiel spoke, when Hosea spoke — that wasn’t a second witness who happened to agree with Jesus. It was the same Spirit. The same Author. Jesus didn’t just know in advance what the prophets would say. His Spirit said it — through them.

That’s why John was told that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Every one of these prophecies points back to Him.

And that’s why He is my one and only witness. He was not only revealing a prophecy — He was the author of all of them.

So He didn’t just refer to the fig tree as a key sign of the last days. It was His Spirit that moved the prophet Ezekiel to say this.

The monitor lights again.

He inspired Hosea.

Fact is, it was the Spirit of Jesus that told us about the rebirth of the fig tree through at least ten prophets and prophecies, beginning with Moses saying this exact same thing. It wasn’t just nine words. It’s about God speaking directly to us.

Special Master Wright

It’s interesting, but it appears that your podium might be turning into a pulpit sometimes.

Peter

I do understand, Your Honor. But this is my witness, and these are the exhibits. Nonetheless, let’s turn back to current times.

The very day that tree was replanted — May 14, 1948 — the Arab armies were already massing on the borders, and within hours they invaded. Not a border skirmish. Not months later. That same night. It is my argument that Satan wasn’t waiting around. He knew what this meant. The Messiah would return to a regathered Israel. From that moment, he set a laser focus on destroying the nation and the Jewish people as a whole. He knew his time was short. He had to act with great haste. So in exactly 1948 — not a year before, not a year after — Satan not only attacked. He also planted all forty-seven of his counterfeit trees.

The forty-seven other trees didn’t even exist yet. Israel did. It would be almost forty years before Rome tore it out by the roots — destroying Jerusalem in AD 70, scattering its people to the four corners of the earth. Only one other tree in this story would ever need replanting. The other forty-six would be planted for the very first time.

Peter lowers his notes for a moment, almost smiling.

Peter

I’ve stood under the fig trees all over Israel more times than I can count now. Every tour stop — gift shops, markets, dates, figs. Everybody wanted the figs especially. Considered it a real treat.

A beat.

Let’s just say the bus made a lot more stops on the way back than on the way there.

A lot of folks in the gallery and in the jury get the reference. There are knowing smiles, and even quite a few chuckles.

Special Master Wright

As charming as the counselor can appear, I want the jury to observe. This man is making some pretty dramatic claims. He’s talking about prophets and spirits and fig trees. Again, I remind you — you need to make him prove it. And if he’s not dealing straightly with you, I will dismiss you and make this a bench trial, where he will have to prove it to me.

He looks to Peter.

Special Master Wright

Yes, I do have the power to do it.

Peter

I do understand, Your Honor. If I succeed in convincing anyone through contrived words, I’ve failed. I just want to present the evidence. I have found that as I do, something miraculous happens.

Special Master Wright

I do hear your conviction. But let’s leave the miraculous out of it in this courtroom.

Peter

Your Honor, this entire case is about the miraculous. But I will let the evidence do the speaking.

He turns back to the jury.

The fig tree is Israel. There is no mistaking it. Now, some disagree. I say not so. Ezekiel — and really I mean Jesus — prophesied that they would return to their land in unbelief. Making them what you can witness now. Just like every other nation of unbelief. Fighting their own wars through any and every means possible. I certainly see that.

But I also know they have a different destiny.

He begins to tick off his arguments on his fingers.

From the promises to Abraham, to the birth of the Messiah, to the end-time events foretold by Jesus and the prophets — God’s covenant with Israel is the central thread of prophetic Scripture. Israel is the stage on which the entire drama of end-time Bible prophecy unfolds. The regathering of the Jewish people, the rebirth of the nation in 1948, and the tension surrounding Jerusalem are not coincidences. They are fulfilments of ancient prophecies. And they lead to the very hours when Jesus Himself will return. Look at this. Written at about the same time as Daniel. 2,500 years ago, speaking of the precise end of time.

Peter

That is when Israel returns to their God. Not before. And as we will see, something comes before that. They will first sign a covenant with an impostor Messiah. Zechariah’s prophecy is about the Battle of Armageddon. The people of Israel are living in their land. If any of us look at the news today, we can see how central Jerusalem is to the entire world. But also to the plan of God.

Without Israel, the timeline of God’s redemptive plan has no anchor. Prophecy begins with Israel, centers on Israel, and will culminate with Israel — when her true Messiah returns in glory. But May 14 is when that tree was replanted.

Peter lowers his notes. For a moment he isn’t arguing — he’s remembering.

Peter

I’ve sat on the Mount of Olives and looked up in awe. And I’ve looked out over the Jezreel Valley — at Megiddo — and felt something very different. A sense of foreboding. Of darkness.

A long beat. He lets it sit before he speaks again, quieter.

May 14, 1948. That’s the date. That’s the nation. And the one who predicted it wasn’t speaking through any prophet. He was standing on a hillside twenty centuries before it happened — describing a budding fig tree that arrived on schedule, in the right place, in the predicted form, at the right moment.

Special Master Wright

So do I rightly understand that this concludes your evidence on this fig tree.

Peter

No, Your Honor. Perhaps the greatest proof is the forty-seven trees that sprouted at exactly the same time.

The Special Master looks up from his notes.

Special Master Wright

You know, I studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem after 1948. Never heard a word of this.

A beat.

Peter

Neither had I, Your Honor. Forty years of teaching this book, and I never saw it either — until the words leaped off the page at me like a punch to the chest. By a really big guy.

Peter turns back to the jury.

So why did Jesus give this prophecy — this parable — that could only be understood by people living at the very end of time? Because He wants you to understand who He is.

End of God’s Opening Move

Satan’s 1st Countermove follows.