In order to do this, you generally have to read the verses that precede the parable He spoke.
For example, following Jesus' comments about the widow giving her two small coins in the temple, He teaches about:
• The destruction of the temple
• The coming of the end of the age
Look at Luke 21: 7-28, we read, “And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls. And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
As we read about these signs that would precede His coming, someone might be saying, “These aren’t really signs, because the things He mentions are things that have occurred since mankind has been on earth.” This is true!
But the Lord was stating that before the end of age, as we know it to be, the things He talks about will be of a greater magnitude than ever before.
We have to remember that it was Jewish disciples who asked this question, and He is responding to their question in verse 7, “…When shall these things be?” So the things He talks to them about apply to them.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT THAT WE RECOGNIZE THAT?
Because some of the signs that the Lord talks about, will take place during the tribulation period. And since the Jews rejected Christ, they will be here during the tribulation period to witness these things, before the Lord comes back to set up the Kingdom of God.
To illustrate how they might know when the end of the age is at hand, the Lord spoke to them using the parable of the FIG TREE.
WHAT CAN A FIG TREE TEACH US ABOUT THE END OF THE AGE?
Figs are something we do not hear a lot about today. But during the days of Christ, the fig tree was a common and important source of food for the Jews.
WHY DID THE LORD CHOOSE THE FIG TREE?
Because not only the fig tree, but all trees can tell you a great deal about when AUTUMN and SPRING are coming.
Many believe that the fig tree represents Israel. That is, if you keep an eye on Israel, though you will not know the precise time the Lord is coming to set up His Kingdom, you will have some idea.
For example, when the Lord was here on earth, a farmer could look at the fig tree and determine when Autumn or Spring was near.
As we look at these things that the Lord said would be signs, we also know that the Lord’s coming is very soon.
They were standing in the temple or near the temple, when someone asked Him what would be the sign of His coming.
Men and women from all over came to admire this beautiful temple. Look at 21:5-6, we read, “And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
It was a common belief that the temple was so marvelously constructed, it would last until doomsday!
• The temple was many times larger than any building in Galilee
• It was immense and glorious, a tremendous symbol of national pride
• These "country bumpkins" from Galilee could not help but be impressed
To give some perspective of the magnitude of the temple, we would have to compare it to the twin towers that once existed in New York. For example, we are told:
• Tower one was completed in 1972
• Tower two was completed in 1973
• The cost for these towers was $400 million dollars
• They were 110 stories high
• World Trade Center one was 1,368'
• World Trade Center two was 1,362'
• Constructed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in the early 1970s, the World Trade Center towers were, for their time, the best known examples of tube buildings. The closely spaced columns and beams in each tower formed a steel tube that, together with an internal core, withstood the tremendous wind loads that affect buildings this tall.
• Aside from withstanding enormous wind loads, the World Trade Center towers were also constructed to withstand settlement loads. Because the towers were built on six acres of landfill, the foundation of each tower had to extend more than 70 feet below ground level to rest on solid bedrock.
• Each tower had 104 passenger elevators, 21,800 windows, and roughly an acre of rentable space on each floor.
• From the observation deck on Two World Trade Center, it was possible to see 45 miles in every direction.
• Each tower swayed approximately three feet from true center in strong wind storms.
• If all the glass used in the construction of both towers was melted into a ribbon of glass 20 inches wide, it would run 65 miles.
• The two towers were unable to survive the effects of a direct hit by two hijacked commercial jetliners during terrorist attacks on the morning of September 11, 2001. Although they were in fact designed to withstand being struck by an airplane, the resultant fires weakened the infrastructure of the building, collapsing the upper floors and creating too much load for the lower floors to bear. Shortly after the attack, both towers collapsed.
• At the time of their completion in 1973, the World Trade Center towers were the two tallest buildings in the world.
As people looked at these two huge buildings, they stood in awe!
This is exactly how people felt when they came and saw the temple. In the Lord’s time, the temple had this same affect on people.
The people were admiring this beautiful temple that was marvelously constructed. Look at Luke 21:5, we read, “And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts.”
But the Lord shocked them when He said, in Luke 21:6, “As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Look at the words "thrown down". It literally means, "destroy, demolish, dismantle"
This had to be a shock for them to hear the Lord say this.
Illus: Can you imagine someone standing before the “Twin Towers” before they were demolished, saying, “These towers are going to come crashing down.” If someone said that, no one would have believed them.
While they were admiring this beautiful temple, they asked the Lord what THE SIGN OF HIS RETURN WOULD BE.
In other words, the Lord is saying, “You are mistaken about the temple, but you do not need to be mistaken about the coming of Christ.”
He gave them some signs that would indicate when the coming of the Lord might take place.
He gave them some signs that were prevalent in their times, but would be also prevalent during the tribulation period.
Let’s look at five of the signs in Luke 21. We can not deal with all of them because it would take too long, but we can look at a few of them, such as:
I. FALSE CHRISTS SIGNS
This is a deceptive sign in Luke 21:7-11, we read, “And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.”
Every generation has had their false messiahs. Look at our own generation. We had:
• David Koresh
• Jim Jones
• Father Divine
• Daddy Grace
Actually we live in a society that had more false messiahs than any generation that has ever lived.
Illus: Dr. J. Vernon McGee said, “There were false messiahs in His day, and today there are those who claim supernatural power. Although they talk a great deal about Jesus, they move themselves into His place and take to themselves glory that should be His. I think there are quite a few false Christs walking about, and certainly false religions abound.”
These false messiahs are literally worshipped and adored.
• There are widow ladies who, as soon as they get their retirement checks, send a substantial amount to these little gods that they worship
• There are people who will sell everything they have, to give to these little gods that they worship
• There are people who will travel hundreds of miles to sit at their feet
These fellows can preach some of the most ridiculous things that can be imagined, and get away with it.
Illus: A good example, is Benny Hinn. Anyone who knows anything about the Bible, knows this man has set himself up as a god to be worshipped.
• He will take a text and read it, and then will walk around the next 30 or 45 minutes giving you the impression that He is the modern day Jesus that God is working through
• There are times he does not even bother to read a Scripture, he just struts around telling everyone how great he is
• He will tell people what they want to hear, and how God performs major miracles through him each day
Dr. McGee is correct, there are more false messiahs than ever before in the history of mankind.
II. NATIONAL SIGNS
Look at verses 9 and 10, we read, “But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:”
This is a sign for sure that the Lord’s coming can not be long. There have always been wars since mankind has been on this planet, but never have we ever had such an escalation of nations fighting each other.
III. NATURAL SIGNS
Look at verse 11, we read, “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”
Illus: Did you know that according to the NEIC there are about 50 earthquakes each day, or about 20,000 a year. And if you find this staggering, we are told that actually several million earthquakes occur annually; many too small to be located.
But when we get to Revelation, this is when the big earthquakes will take place.
IV. OPPOSITION SIGNS
Look at Luke 21:12-13, we read, “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony.”
Again, this seems to be another sign that will take place in Revelation that is given to the Jews, because we know that during the “Tribulation Period”, many of the Jews will be delivered up, and it will cost them their lives.
Revelation 6:9, “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:”
But the 144,000 Jews from the twelve tribes of Israel will be sealed, and not a hair on their heads will be harmed.
Look at Luke 21:18, we read, “But there shall not an hair of your head perish.”
V. MILITARY SIGNS
Look at Luke 21:20, we read, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.”
Conclusion:
Some of the signs the Lord gives, go up into the Tribulation period. The Jews have rejected Christ, and they will be here to see all these signs take place. This is why some believe the fig tree is Israel.
The time of the Lord's return is known, yet unknown. For the present time, believers are to wait watchfully.
I. FALSE CHRISTS SIGNS
II. NATIONAL SIGNS
III. NATURAL SIGNS
IV. OPPOSITION SIGNS
V. MILITARY SIGNS
