Vol 01 - Answers to Correspondents: Fig Tree and Vine

Answers to Correspondents: Fig Tree and Vine

Q. Why does the Lord use the figure of the fig-tree in Luke 13:6, in speaking of Israel, instead of that of the _ vine, according to Isaiah 5:1 and Luke 20:9?-A. B.

A. The vine as a figure stood for the nation in their original standing as the people of God. This at Babylon was exchanged for the Lo-Ammi (not my people) of the prophet. The remnant brought out of Babylon are the " fig-tree planted in the vineyard," to which the Lord came, finding it covered with the leaves of profession, looking for the fruit which should have been their accompaniment. Luke 20:9 speaks of the nation from the beginning; yet, as bringing on their history to the Lord’s own time, it speaks only of the vineyard, not of the vine itself. F. W. G.