Anti-Semitism and the Fig Tree

 Anti-Semitism and the Fig Tree – Terry James - https://terryjamesprophecyline.com/2023/11/05/anti-semitism-and-the-fig-tree/ The chants ring ominously from college students on the East Coast: “There is no place to hide; Israel is committing genocide.” College students on the West Coast shout in unison: “There is no place to hide; we want Jewish genocide.” These and variations of anti-Semitic chanting, obviously orchestrated and coordinated, are increasing throughout colleges and universities across the United States. The attacksunleashed against Israel on October 7 have seemingly unleashed hatred reminiscent of 1939 Nazi Germany. Students in the East Coast incident above were attacking a college library where Jewish students were hiding in fear, while violent banging on locked doors was accompaniedby the above choruses and the further demand: “Let us in! Let us in!” One young Jewish woman stated that she was told by those at her university—by a professor, I take it—that she should take off all of her jewelry with Jewish symbolism. Anything—likethe Star of David—that would mark her as a Jew shouldn’t be worn so the pro-Palestinian protesters wouldn’t be triggered. Another young woman said she was told by a college official that she should perhaps go into the attic while the pro-Palestinian mob was ranting, trying to get into the library.The girl asked why she, in the United States of America, should have to hide in an attic rather than be totally safe in a room with windows and the freedom to move about unafraid. The library in question is now disdainfully being called the Anne Frank Library—referring, of course, to the young girl who hid from the Nazis during the persecution of theJews in Germany during Hitler’s regime. We who have studied Bible prophecy over many years have understood that Israel is destined to be at the center of the wrap-up of human history while Christ’s Second Adventapproaches. As a matter of fact, a good number of us—despite the objections of many in seminaries who see no relationship of Israel to the fig tree parable—have concluded that Jesus’ Olivet Discourse prophecy concerning the fig tree is significant in framingthe general time when we will recognize the nearness of His Second Coming. Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all thesethings, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. (Matthew 24:32–35) The fig tree in Jesus’ parables is considered by many to represent the nation Israel. I believe this is especially true in the case of the Matthew 24 Olivet Discourse reference.And, like the Lord said, we should recognize how near He is to returning; He is right at the door when we see these things come to pass. Jesus earlier said in that same discourse: When you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draws near. (Luke 21:28) We’ve gone over time after time all the things Jesus was predicting for the very end of the Church Age. And here He talks about the chief sign of them all: the fig tree—thenation Israel—being front and center when all these things take place. I previously posted an article titled “The Zechariah Effect.” The prophet said Israel would become “a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone” to all the nations of earth.There is no doubt in the mind of anyone who hasn’t been deliberately hiding from today’s news that Israel and anti-Semitism are dominating all news media. The mainstream forums—i.e., The New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, NBC, ABC, etc.—are mostly callingfor Israel to back off from punishing the Hamas in Gaza. They are most generally calling for a ceasefire of some sort. Absent from their reports is much about the bloody atrocities inflicted by Hamas upon innocent Israelis and even visitors from America andother countries. The following puts into vivid perspective how quickly things are shaping up to produce that “Zechariah effect.” Since Hamas initiated a brutal and barbaric terrorist attack against Israel and the Jewish people on October 7th, many Americans—Jewish and not—have mourned alongside theworld’s only Jewish state and have understood the necessity of a swift and decisive military counterattack. But in the green quads and ivory towers of American academia, a very different reaction has been brewing. For the past two decades, the David HorowitzFreedom Center has shone a rare spotlight on the genocidal Jew hatred emanating from our college campuses. Student organizations like the Hamas-funded and Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Students for Justice in Palestine have infiltrated our universities andturned them training grounds for the next generation of jihadists. In the wake of Hamas’s barbarism, its slaughter and mutilation of innocent Jews, its campaign of rape and torture and beheading, we can now bear witness to the effects that two decades of Jew-hatingpro-terror propaganda have wrought in our institutions of higher learning. At Harvard, arguably America’s most prestigious university, over 30 student organizations signed onto a statement declaring that they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsiblefor all unfolding violence.” Not to be outdone by Harvard, the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Brown University released its own statement (co-signed by the Graduate Labor Organization andTeaching Assistant Labor Organization, as well as 25 additional organizations) stating that: “We, the undersigned, hold the Israeli regime and its allies unequivocally responsible for all suffering and loss of life, Palestinian or Israeli.” At Cornell University, SJP held a rally to “Stop Israel’s Annihilation of Gaza.” History Professor Russell Rickford who spoke at the rally declared Hamas’s barbaric attackwhich included the rape of women, the beheading of babies, and the deaths of entire families as “exhilarating.” (“Universities Celebrate the Mass Murder of Jews-American Academia Has Descended into Barbarism,” Sara Dogan, Frontpage, October 26, 2023) My good friend, James Michael Hile, summed up exactly where all this is showing we stand on God’s prophetic timeline: After observing the coming to life of “the fig tree and all the trees” after World War II and during the second half of the 20th century (1950-2000), we can be assured, beyonda reasonable doubt, that the events that take place just before Jesus’ return are nearing fulfillment. This means His coming is “near, right at the door.”