Discerning the Season!

Matthew 24:32-33 Now learn the parable of 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 all these things, know that it is near—at the doors.

Yeshua (Jesus) used the fig tree—a familiar symbol in Israel’s botanical and prophetic world—as a teaching tool to awaken spiritual discernment. The fig tree, known for losing all its leaves in winter and budding again in spring, became a natural signpost to mark the changing seasons. In the same way, Jesus gave His disciples prophetic markers to discern a coming shift: wars, famines, false messiahs, persecution, lawlessness, and the global preaching of the gospel (Matthew 24:4–14).

But notice Yeshua’s exact words: “When you see all these things, know that it is near.” The fig tree doesn’t represent just one sign—it represents the convergence. It is not a single event that signals the nearness of His coming, but the culmination of many signs happening together, like leaves sprouting in unison on the same tree.

In Hebraic thought, when multiple prophetic signs align, it indicates that the “appointed time” (moed, מוֹעֵד) is drawing near. The fig tree here becomes a picture of prophetic convergence—when multiple branches of God’s plan begin to bud at once. Just as spring doesn’t arrive with only one leaf, so the end of the age doesn’t come with only one sign; it is the collection of “all these things” that confirms the season.

Botanically, fig trees must respond to environmental conditions in unison—temperature, light, and soil moisture trigger a synchronized leafing and fruiting. Likewise, global events—geopolitical tension, moral collapse, spiritual deception, and the restoration of Israel—are spiritual signals to the Church. When we see these things together, Yeshua says, “Know that it is near.”

So the fig tree is more than a metaphor—it’s a prophetic mirror. When its branches are tender and the signs are many, summer is at hand. Lift your eyes. Don’t dismiss the convergence of signs as coincidence—Yeshua said when you see all these things, the door of redemption is about to open.

So rise up—shake off distraction and complacency. The fig tree is speaking, and the signs are converging with precision. This is your hour to watch, to warn, and to walk in holiness. Refuse to be dull in a prophetic moment. Let faith replace fear, clarity replace confusion, and urgency replace apathy — for you were born for such a time as this.

Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.

How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.

[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]

Matthew 13:45-46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Recently, a jeweler friend ...

As believers, we are all called to transform the little world around us. C.S. Lewis offered a thoughtful perspective on remaining heavenly minded while continuing to make an impact in this present world.

“Teacher”, said a young boy, “why is it that so many prayers are unanswered? I do not understand. The Bible says, ‘Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock and the door shall be opened unto you.’ But it seems to me a great many knock and are not admitted.

As I write this devotional about planting seed, it's interesting since my name (George) means "farmer" or "worker of the earth".

Have you ever heard how a pearl is formed? It is truly fascinating. A foreign object, often a grain of sand, somehow makes it's way into the tightly sealed crack of an oyster. Instead of spitting out this irritating object, the oyster covers it with layer upon layer of a substance secreted from it's own body. After months or even years, a beautiful pearl is formed. The longer the pearl stays in the oyster, the more valuable it becomes.

President Franklin Roosevelt used to attend church in Washington. One day somebody phoned the church and asked, "Do you expect the President to be in church this Sunday?" The rector answered, "That I cannot promise. But we can expect God to be here, and we fancy that will be incentive enough for a reasonably large audience."

If you ever have the chance to visit Jerusalem, one place you must see is Solomon’s quarries – also known as Zedekiah’s cave.It’s a gigantic underground quarry beneath the old city of Jerusalem, an amazing archeological site which offers a glimpse of the handiwork of the builders of the first temple of King Solomon. Can you imagine, as the Temple was under construction, what the craftsmen and the builders must have been thinking about this glorious house they were building?