03/25/2026
Hear is a timely message for today.
“You know that summer is near.”
Mathew 24:32-41
32 “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;
33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.
34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40 “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.
41 “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.”
This portion of the Olivet Discourse is one of the most important sections while at the same time one of the most highly debated. For me and millions of others it is not debatable at all.
32 “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;
Hos.9:10 – “I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season.”
The fig tree in scripture is one of the symbols that is used in prophecy to represent the people and nation of Israel. Jeramiah 24 will illustrate the point for us.
Jer.24:1-10 – After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me: behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD!
2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness.
3 Then the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”
4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.
6 ‘For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not pluck them up.
7 ‘I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.
8 ‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness—indeed, thus says the LORD—so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of Egypt.
9 ‘I will make them a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places where I will scatter them.
10 ‘I will send the sword, the famine and the pestilence upon them until they are destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.’”
After reading the entire prophecy and understanding the symbolism and the duel theme of judgement and restoration for Israel it is the last five verses that we are interested in here.
Verses six thru 10 carry an end time prophecy yet to be fulfilled… the key to this understanding is found at the end of vs. 6…
“I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not pluck them up.”
The rest of the passage describes clearly the preservation of the elect remnant of Israel and the destruction of the wicked rebellious during the Tribulation period.
The symbolism of the budding of the long dormant Fig Tree speaks of the coming new season of life “springtime” (representing the nation of Israel put out of the land for the long winter of 1,800 years and now back, its roots taking nourishment from its native soil and coming to life)
All of the other signs that Jesus called the “birth pangs” that we have been discussing have been building up to this supper sign of the regathering of the Jews in their homeland in 1948.
33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.
The saying… “When you see all theses things.” Is a time marker, a key to understanding that what is in view in the text is time sensitive and triggered by these events that can be observed.
34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
The word generation in scripture can mean several different things depending on context like so many words, and so interpreting this verse can be a bit of a challenge.
The first use of generation in the Bible is in Gen.2:4 meaning the entire duration of creation.
Beginning with Gen.1:1 and continuing on through the entire 7 days including the ongoing current 7th day the day of rest.
This wouldn’t be much of a prophecy if this is how Jesus meant to use generation in Mt 24:34.
So, we can rule this use out.
The most commonly understood way the word is used today is the time between the birth of a boy and then the birth of his son.
This is more or less how it is used in the genealogies as in Mt.1:17 amounting to about 30 years. This is a possibility for use in our text, but that time has already passed since 1948.
Forty years. Num.32:13 The time of the wandering in the wilderness that it took for the faithless generation to die off.
This was a popular consideration as a candidate for what Jesus meant among prophecy teachers before 1988, but now this time too has passed.
Seventy to eighty years Ps.90:10 is the given lifespan for an individual born into any given generation. So, a particular generation can be said to continue as long as a member is alive.
70- 80 years on average Biblically speaking.
But it could be extended as long as a member or members are still living.
This possible application is still on the clock and running.
A generation can be understood to include all of the descendants of a given nation; this is another way of saying a nation.
All that would be required for this to qualify for our text is that there be living Jews in the world at the time of the return of Christ… which is actually guaranteed by multiple other prophecies…
So, some see this as meaning the Jews won’t pass away until Jesus returns, but that is not any new or profound revelation and so, that is not what is in view here in Mt.24:34 either.
A generation can mean a group of people all sharing a particular characteristic: Like in…
Ps.78:8 – And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God. And likewise, in…
Mt.12:39 “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign”
Generation can mean the offspring of a particular man. (like Shem)
Gen.11:10 – These are the records of the generations of Shem
It can mean all of the people living at a given time, or during a particular period of time or during a particular individuals lifetime, or during a particular ruler’s reign… as in
Ex.1:6 – Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.
This is the best choice and a good candidate for what Jesus intended.
The preferred interpretation is that the living generation that sees the reestablishment of Israel as a nation will be the one on earth to see the 2nd coming of Christ. (Baby Boomers)
We cannot determine the duration of that final generation but we have established some guidelines to go by.
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
This is an idiomatic saying emphasizing the absolute dependability of this prophecy coming to pass… just as Jesus has shared it!
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
Please take careful notice that Jesus did not say that we could not know the season of the events, just that no one knows the precise day or the exact hour.
That they will happen is for certain… The signs signaling the advent of the season (summer) of their happening will be evident and should be watched for ad not missed!
37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
This business about being like it was in the days of Noah has been understood variously by interpreters depending on their view of eschatology.
The first and obvious way that this is to be understood is that the people were not concerned with the impending doom of the flood despite the warnings of Noah.
They just kept on keeping on as they were until the flood came upon them by surprise and took them all away in deadly and final judgement.
40 “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.
41 “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.”
At least fifty percent of mankind will not survive these events… according to Rev.6:8 when ¼ of mankind will die and then in Rev.9:15 another 1/3 of those left leaving ½ to enter into the bowl judgements of the terrible wrath of God!
We need to understand that like the gathering of the elect at the end of last week’s lesson in 24:31… This is not the rapture… this is judgement.
This fact is clearly demonstrated by looking at a parallel but more extensive passage in Luke…
Lk.17:34-37 – “I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.
35 “There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left.
36 [“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”]
37 And answering they said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”
We talked about the vultures feast last week… Rev.19:17-18…
the ones taken here are taken away to feed the birds!
