Matthew 24:32 From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.
Yeshua (Jesus) didn’t merely offer a suggestion–He issued a command: “Learn the parable.” In Greek, the word manthano (μανθάνω) implies disciplined learning, not casual observation. In Hebraic thought, to “learn” a parable means to press into its hidden meaning until it transforms how you live. The fig tree is not just a poetic image–it’s a prophetic mandate. And Yeshua expected His disciples, including us, to understand it deeply.
The fig tree often symbolizes Israel throughout Scripture (Hosea 9:10; Jeremiah 24; Joel 1:7). When Yeshua told this parable just days before His crucifixion, He had already cursed a fig tree that bore no fruit (Matthew 21:19), symbolizing Israel’s spiritual barrenness at the time. But in this parable, the fig tree is coming back to life. Its tender branches and new leaves are signs of renewal and return.
What is the most visible sign that this fig tree is budding? The miraculous rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948, after nearly 2,000 years of dispersion. This event marked the start of a prophetic countdown–Israel is now the major signpost in the convergence of end-time events. Just as a budding fig tree tells you summer is near, the rebirth of Israel tells you the end-time season has begun.
Yeshua said, “When you see all these things”–not just Israel’s rebirth, but deception, wars, lawlessness, global shaking, and the gospel going to all nations–“know that it is near, at the doors” (Matthew 24:33). Like a fig tree responding to the sun, soil, and rain all at once, the prophetic signs are responding to a divine convergence. Israel is the centerpiece, but not the only branch.
So Yeshua’s call to “learn the parable” is not just about agriculture–it’s about prophetic awakening. To learn is to perceive the time, understand the signs, and prepare our hearts for the return of the King. Israel’s restoration is not a coincidence — it’s a trumpet blast to the nations (Isaiah 11:11-12). The fig tree has budded. Now we must ask: are we watching, learning, and responding as we were commanded to?
The ancient promises are sprouting before your eyes. The Lord of the harvest calls you–not to slumber, but to learn the parable, discern the season, and awaken the sleeping. This is no time for apathy. It is the hour of prophetic clarity. You are commissioned to perceive the signs, hear the sound of convergence, and prepare the way of the Lord with boldness and truth. For the One who spoke of the fig tree is near–even at the door. “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning… for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:35-40) Blessed is that servant whom the Master finds watching when He comes. Amen. So be it. Sound the trumpet.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Isaiah recalls the Exodus as the supreme display of God’s Z’roah, His Arm of glory. Though the people saw Moses raise his staff over the Red Sea, it was not Moses’ power that split the waters. Behind the prophet’s hand was the Arm of the LORD — majestic, glorious, and unstoppable. The sea parted not to honor Moses, but to exalt the Name of the God who sent him. The Red Sea became a stage for God to reveal His glory, so that His Name would echo through generations as the Deliverer of His people.
Jeremiah uttered these words when everything around him looked hopeless. Babylon’s armies surrounded Jerusalem, the city was on the brink of destruction, and yet God told Jeremiah to buy a field as a prophetic sign that restoration would come. The prophet responded in awe: the God who created the heavens and the earth by His outstretched arm (bizroa netuyah) is not bound by human circumstances. The same God who set galaxies in place and boundaries for the seas is the God who still moves to redeem His people. Truly, nothing is too hard for Him.
Isaiah’s words summon one of the most dramatic images of God’s saving power: the Z’roah — the Arm of the LORD — cutting Rahab in pieces and piercing the dragon.
Here, Rahab is not the woman of Jericho but a poetic name for Egypt (Psalm 87:4), often symbolizing arrogant nations and the dark spiritual powers behind them. In Hebrew poetry, Rahab also evokes the sea monster of chaos, a stand-in for the forces that oppose God’s order. To say the Arm “cut Rahab in pieces” is to recall how God shattered Egypt’s pride and broke the grip of the powers that enslaved His people.
Psalm 98 is a victory psalm — a call to lift up a “new song” because the Z’roah, the holy arm of the LORD, has brought decisive triumph. In Hebrew thought, the arm is the active extension of the will, the power that brings intention into reality. To call it “holy” is to declare that it is set apart, dedicated fully to God’s purpose, incapable of corruption. The psalmist celebrates that salvation is not a hidden act, but an open demonstration — God’s righteousness revealed before the eyes of the nations.
This is one of the most intimate revelations of the Z’roah in Scripture. God looks for a human intercessor but finds none. No man can bridge the gap. So His own Arm accomplishes the work. In Hebrew, v’tosha lo zeroa — “His arm saved for Him” — reveals that salvation originates from within God Himself, not from any outside help. Isaiah adds that His own righteousness sustained Him — it upheld His resolve to save — and His fury upheld Him, a holy passion that would not rest until justice was accomplished.
To “bare” the arm means to roll up the sleeve and reveal the full readiness for action. In Isaiah’s prophecy, this is a global unveiling — no longer hidden, the Z’roah is on display for all nations to witness. This speaks directly of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) public ministry and, ultimately, His crucifixion.
The Hebrew phrase “z’roah moshel lo” paints the picture of an arm that governs with both strength and care. The same Z’roah that brought Israel out of Egypt in power now establishes righteous order and sustains His people in love. Deliverance without rulership is incomplete; the Redeemer becomes the King — and the King rules as a Shepherd. The Arm does not act independently but moves in perfect submission to the Head, carrying out the will of the Father.