In the summer of 1946 my grandfather decided to move his family from a row-house tenement to a new home. In the backyard there was enough room to plant a fig tree. Within a few weeks of taking possession of the property he planted a fairly large fig tree, which he had to obtain by mail order from a nursery in California since no one in Brooklyn, New York, stocked a fig tree. My grandfather gave this fig tree a name; he called it “Speranza”. I must admit this didn’t make much of an impression on me as a young boy. I had no knowledge of my grandfather’s Italian language. Like most children of first generation immigrants, my parents wanted their children to be real Americans; this meant speaking only English so we would fit in to the predominantly Anglo culture.
It wasn’t until many years later, about a decade after my grandfather had passed away, that employment circumstances led me to acquire a working knowledge of my ancestors’ language. One night as I was reading through the Italian Bible, a legacy from my grandfather, I ran across the following note which he had written in the margin opposite Mark 13:28: “speranza d’Israeli” = “speranza fico albero”. Loosely translated this phrase means: “the fig tree represents the hope of Israel” (hope = speranza). To my grandfather, associating the name “Speranza” with his fig tree must have been his way of remembering, every time he looked at this plant, the hope of Israel.
What I did not know in 1946, and in fact did not even appreciate until some 30 years later, was that planting a fig tree in Brooklyn was a tremendous act of faith. It seems this is about 600 miles too far north to expect a realistic chance of cultivating such a tree.
Not only did my grandfather need to plant it in a sheltered spot with plenty of sunshine (or at least as much as one could expect in Brooklyn), but he also had to take many other measures necessary to insure the survival of the tree. I remember how much tender loving care my grandfather lavished upon his fig tree to keep it healthy and fruitful. I recall him saying many times that this was a type of God’s concern for His people Israel.1Besides the usual fertilizing and bug spraying that grandpa performed on his vegetables, and on myriad species of flowers in his garden, the fig tree required extra special care to survive in an urban environment. As autumn ended, he wrapped the entire trunk and major branches with tarpaper tape to protect the fig tree from frost. He also raised a mound of earth several feet high around the whole perimeter of the tree. Later in the winter he would add extra wind buffers by placing burlap cloth on stakes near the tree to shield it. The thing that I remember most, with a degree of awe, was the numerous times, when severe winter cold threatened, that my grandfather would shovel burning coals from his house furnace into several pails and carry them out to the vicinity of the fig tree to relieve the chill.
Figs require full sun all day to ripen palatable fruits. Trees become enormous, and will shade out anything growing beneath. Therefore this is not a fruit tree for small places. Grandpa severely pruned back the tree every year to keep it within the bounds of his postage-stamp yard. Miraculously it survived beyond any reasonable expectations, and we enjoyed bountiful fruit from this tree until grandpa passed away in 1964.
The common fig tree bears a first crop, called the breba crop, in the spring on the previous season’s growth. Then it bears a second crop in the fall on the new growth; this is known as the main crop. As soon as the leaves come out in the spring, this early crop of small figs develops and is ready to eat six to eight weeks later, when the leaves are full-grown. Therefore, when Jesus saw the fig tree with well-developed leaves (Mark 11:13), he had every reasonable expectation of finding fruit, but he didn’t. The passage in Mark goes on to say, “For the time of figs was not yet.” 2
The firstfruits crop is smaller than the later harvest; while they are edible, they lack the full sweetness of the larger figs that develop on the new growth in the fall. My grandmother generally used the spring crop for cooking and preserving as jams, while the fall crop was usually eaten freshly picked off the tree, or wrapped with prosciutto as an appetizer, or alternatively served after the meal as a dessert soaked with a little Marsala. In Bible times the variety of fruits and sweets we have today did not exist, and freshly picked ripened figs were a diet mainstay, as ubiquitous as bread. Thus, the fig tree is a truly fitting symbol to represent a highly desired fruitful nation; consequently in Scriptures it is used to depict Israel. When the fig tree of Israel proved unfruitful, it was no longer profitable to keep it.
“He has laid waste My vine, and ruined My fig tree; He has stripped it bare and thrown it away; its branches are made white” (Joel 1:7, NKJV; see also 1:12; 2:22).
The connection of the fig tree with the hope of Israel comes from the words given by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Mount Olivet prophecy:
“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near — at the doors!” (Mark 13:28,29, NKJV; also see Matt 24:32 and Luke 21:29).
As we have demonstrated above, when the fig tree exhibits fully developed leaves its first fruits are ready for harvest. Thus the parable of the fig tree given in the Olivet prophecy foretells the rebirth of that nation, and gives promise of a time when the faithful will be gathered for the harvest of the redeemed — this was the “hope” that founded our community. This is Elpis Israel — the Hope of Israel.
In the 19th century, the writings of our community were sprinkled liberally with the Greek word for hope, “elpis”. To our early brethren this word pointed invariably to the One “hope”, which meant the hope of the restoration of the Jews to their ancient homeland. From the writings of Bro. John Thomas we read:
“Hence 1866–7 promises fairly for momentous events. I do not know the day or the hour of the advent, but I have full assurance of faith and hope that it is nigh, even at the doors. I doubt whether I shall have time for the writing and publishing of Eureka III. I hope not, for the present state of existence is anything but congenial to a rightly constituted, and Scripturally enlightened mind.
“The termination, then, of 1865 in the passover seasons of 1866 introduces Micah’s 40 years. Sincerely do I hope that this will prove to be the case. It will be better for the saints than having to wait till 1868–9. The 2400 is a period of 48 jubilees. There have elapsed from the Exodus to A.D. 1860 the whole number of 3486 years, which are equal to 69 jubilees and 36 years. Hence, the 70th jubilee from the Exodus will end A.D. 1874, being 3500 years from the passage of the Red Sea. A.D. 1865 = A.M. 5954; hence the world will not be 6000 years old until 46 more years have elapsed — that is, till A.D. 1911.”3
Ten years later Bro. Robert Roberts wrote:
“All these events (i.e., current happenings that transpired in 1875) are so signally in the channel of our expectations (entertained for many years past on the strength of the sure word of the prophecy), that we cannot but feel, on entering the new year, both thanksgiving for the almost visible operations of the hand of God in the affairs of the nations during the past twelve months; and strong hopes that a much longer period will not elapse without the great occurrence to which they all point, and on which many hearts in various parts of the world are set with strong desire: the re-appearance of him to whom is appointed the great work of breaking up the system of the present evil world, and establishing a new order of things, in which, after a transition period of terrible experiences of judgment, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Christ’s own heart is much more intently on the situation than ours can ever be: and while he saith, ‘Surely, I come quickly,’ doth not every true heart fervently respond, ‘Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly’ ”?4
Obviously, both of these predictions proved wrong. When my grandfather planted his fig tree in 1946, it was precisely at the time when the dire news of the magnitude of the Holocaust on the Jewish people was being fully revealed to the world. It was probably the lowest ebb in all the long painful history of the people of Israel. I vividly recall several neighbors, and not a few of my grandpa’s nonChristadelphian relatives, belittling his hope in the fig tree of Israel. Yet only two years later, as we all know, the fig tree was planted again in the ancient land of the patriarchs. In spite of all odds against them, approximately 600,000 Jews defeated a consortium of armies from lands with a combined 100 million inhabitants and established themselves as a nation after almost two millennia of dispersion. It was a lesson in patience that we need to learn again and again:
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come; it will not tarry” (Hab 2:3).
We cannot stop hoping, because the concept of time to God exists in an entirely different framework from our own: “For a thousand years is as one day with the LORD. And the Lord is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish.”5We can never give up hope, because hope is one of the three pillars of our life in Christ: “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three…” 6We need to realize that hope is not just a yearning for prophetic fulfillment, but a first principle that should energize our lives. The apostle Paul makes this clear when he sets forth “hope” as an essential first principle of our faith in his letter to the Ephesians: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling” (Eph 4:4, NKJV).
He amplifies this belief in hope as a first principle in his discourse to the Roman Ecclesia:
“For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” (Rom 8:24, NKJV).
If we are saved by “hope” we can have no doubt about this concept being a profound first principle. In this passage the apostle remarkably mentions the word “hope” four times in the same sentence. Any decent English language editor would surely have apoplexy reading such syntax. We can have no doubt however that the apostle Paul knew exactly what he was doing and in the Greek it was a way of being supremely emphatic.7Indeed a life lived without hope is a futile existence. We will certainly all face death — it is only a matter of time: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable” (1Co 15:19, NKJV). It is this hope of an eternal future that brightens our lives. This powerful hope should get us past all disappointments and all sorrows. No matter how saddened we may be by life’s tragedies, we should not let anything dampen our faith, for we know for certain the day will eventually come when we will be redeemed.
“Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope” (Psa 16:9).
The certainty of our hope (of the resurrection) is confirmed by the sure word of prophecy, whereby we have witnessed either directly (as in the case of us elders), or through recorded history, “the hope of Israel” being fulfilled in 1948, with that nation being resurrected from the valley of dry bones (cp Ezek 37). The hope of Israel, Elpis Israel, that our forbearers looked for has occurred and gives us assurance that our own hopes will ultimately be rewarded:
“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope” (1Th 4:13, NKJV).
We are the people who have been rooted and grafted into the fig tree (“If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise”: Gal 3:29). It is only reasonable, then, that the Lord expects us also to yield fruit in due season, both individually and collectively as an ecclesia. We have seen the rebirth of the fig tree of Israel; a nation replanted in its ancient land. Never in history has such a remarkable event occurred. Israel even recognizes the fig tree as one of its ancient symbols, as witnessed by a postage stamp issued to that effect. Though we may not know the day or the hour, or even if we will live until the Lord Jesus Christ returns, yet we know with certainty that it will occur. We have been privileged to witness the Jewish nation restored — a sure sign of prophecy fulfilled and a clear indication of the hope of even better things to come. Therefore, brethren and sisters, we should not live lives of despair; whatever is troubling us will ultimately be conquered:
“Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you’ ” (Isa 35:3,4, NKJV).
My grandfather and I spent many a warm summer evening sitting under his vine and fig tree in his garden in Brooklyn, talking about the Word of God, and life in general. But I know now what I never appreciated then, that his fico speranza — his fig tree of hope — was his way of looking forward with hope to the day spoken of by the prophets:
“But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it” (Mic 4:4; cp also Zech 3:10).
My prayer is that we may all be so blessed, to sit under a vine and fig tree in the garden planted by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God, in that day when he comes again. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
- See Isaiah 5.
- The NIV here says, “It was not the season for figs.” Fig trees around Jerusalem normally begin to get leaves in March or April but do not produce figs until their leaves are all out in June. This tree was an exception in that it was already, at Passover time, full of leaves (NIV Study Notes).
- The Christadelphian Magazine, Vol. 3, 1866, p. 26.
- The Christadelphian Magazine, Vol. 13, 1876, p. 39.
- 2 Peter 3:8,9.
- 1 Corinthians 13:13.
- In English we use an exclamation point to be emphatic, whereas in ancient Greek such punctuation did not exist and emphasis was made by repetition. This is why, for example, we often read Jesus saying “Verily, verily”.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One