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The Dry, Withered Fig Tree
By G. Kirkpatrick

Vital Words to the Body of Christ

Proclaiming the Everlasting Gospel of the Kingdom

Vital Words to the Body of Christ
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"For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" Luke 23:31

Jesus described Himself as the green tree. Green is the color of life. Jesus describe Himself full of vitality and life.

But what shall be done in the dry?

Who is Jesus speaking to as the dry. He is graphically speaking of His body at the end of the age - - - the dried up end time church.

Joel describes where the end time church is today:

"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." Joel 3:14

Jesus spoke of this multitude:

"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." Revelation 7:9-10

Multitudes in the valley of decision are depending on their initial salvation without going any further to obtain the Kingdom promised by God from the beginning. When John inquired who this great multitude was, Jesus answered:

"And I said unto Him, Sir, Thou knowest. And He said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Revelation 7:14

The dry tree represents the multitudes which will have to go through the Great Tribulation to have their robes of righteousness purified to stand before the God of the whole earth.

Jesus went on to tell the lukewarm church:

"And there followed Him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children." Luke 23:27-28

Jesus told the lukewarm church not to weep for Him. Even though He was facing the most painful of all deaths, He told them to weep for themselves and for their children. Jesus was foretelling the time when they would have to face an even more painful time in His wrath He would bring upon the earth. These will even cry out to the mountains and rocks to fall upon them. Jesus explained this same time to John on the Isle of Patmos:

"And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Revelation 6:15-17

The dry tree, who because of their dryness, will be part of this group who will be crying out during the Great Tribulation for the mountains and rocks to fall upon them. They will cry out because of the great pain they are going through, where death seems better than living in their torment.

Ezekiel the prophet foretold of this dryness when he spoke of the dry bones:

"Then He said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts." Ezekiel 37:11

The dry bones are the whole house of Israel. Who are included in the whole house of Israel? The whole house of Israel is made up the both natural and spiritual Israel. They proclaim, "Our bones are dried." Bones make up the frame of man, his inner most parts - - - you might say the root of man. Luke tells us:

"And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Luke 3:9

Natural and spiritual Israel are represented by two trees in Scripture: the olive tree and the fig tree. The olive tree speaks of Spiritual Israel. The fig tree speaks of natural Israel, those who knew God, but did not go on in the Spirit. Jesus spoke of the fig tree:

"And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry: and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find any thing thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And His disciples heard it." Mark 11:12-14

The fig tree had leaves, but no fruit. A peculiarity of the fig tree, is that is puts on fruit before it puts on leaves. So this fig tree, like many church going people stand forth in all their pomp and glory, looking good - - - but producing no fruit. What fruit was Jesus desiring to find on the fig tree?

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

The fig tree - - - natural Israel - - - failed to produce the fruits of the Spirit. Jesus said, "No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever." In other words, God would have no more to do with those who only look good on the outside, but produce no fruit.

As Paul relates, these have a form of godliness, but deny the power there of. From such we are to turn away from, II Timothy 3:5.

The unfruitful fig tree represents those in their religious orders who depend on ceremony, not the Spirit.

The next morning Jesus passed by this tree:

"And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots." Mark 11:20

The roots, its inner most being had been cut off. Through this illustration, Ezekiel revealed the whole house of Israel, the church system, was dried up from the inside. Let's look further at the valley of dry bones:

"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry." Ezekiel 37:1-2

Everywhere one looks in today's church system one finds this drought. There is no life in these bones. The church system conjures up emotion and calls it Spirit, but when the emotion is gone, they become very dry, until their emotion is revived at the next meeting.

"And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, Thou knowest. And again He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them O ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord." Ezekiel 37:3-4

Ezekiel had but one message to these dried up bones, and that was to hear the Word of the Lord.

"Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel 37:5-6

What is the breath that is spoken of in these verses? The word breath is the Hebrew word RUWACH and means "Spirit." RUWACH is the same word used in Genesis 2:7

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7

Out of the dust and dryness of this Adam nature, only the breath of the Spirit, the RUWACH, came bring forth life. Jesus did the same thing after His resurrection:

"And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." John 20:22

This Jesus did for His disciples, knowing they could not minister without the Spirit (the life of God) in their lives. They did not depend upon emotion, but on the power of God.

God showed Ezekiel He would put His Spirit upon man again, strengthen him, and he would live. He is not done with the fig tree or the olive tree.

"So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

Then said He unto me, Prophesy uno the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." Ezekiel 37:7-9

The four winds came - - - or the Spirit came as a rushing, mighty wind - - - the same as on the Day of Pentecost. Only what is so exciting is that the anointing that is coming is even greater than the anointing that came on the Day of Pentecost.

Isaiah also prophesied about the end time church:

"But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil and none saith, Restore." Isaiah 42:22

Today's prison houses represent those who are held captive by their denominational orders who continue to teach their manmade doctrines and creeds. And none today are crying, "Restore!" Isaiah was speaking of the time restoration when all things will be reconciled to God.

Isaiah also spoke of those who have slain His flock:

"His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter." Isaiah 56:10-11

What has happened to the pastors and shepherds of God's flock. Isaiah relates they look for gain from his quarter. Those who have rule over the flock are greedy dogs, never having enough. Jeremiah also speaks of those who have slain His sheep:

"Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! Saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed My people; Ye have scattered My flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon the evil of your doings, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 23:1-2

But God gives hope!

"And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 23:3-4

Praise God, He gives us such hope!

"So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army." Ezekiel 37:10

The prophet Joel was shown this great army who have come out of the dried up church system of our day:

"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations." Joel 2:1-2

Who will be in this great army?

"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." II Timothy 2:4 & 3

Who will make up this great army? Only those who stand upon their feet, who are not only hearers of the Word, but also doers of the Word. James also speaks of the soldiers who will make up this great army:

"But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James 1:22-25

We live in this day of dryness that has filled the people and the church. But the tree does not have to remain dry. God desires with His whole heart to put life back into these dry bones.

But the vast multitude in today's church system have become the Laodician church:

"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserbale, and poor, and blind, and naked:" Revelation 3:17

What a pronouncement upon this dried up tree (the church system) in this generation who proclaim that have need for nothing, because they have it all. Jesus said, "Don't they know they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked?"

Today's watchmen are blind shepherds who have no vision of what is coming upon the earth.

God's judgment and wrath is on the horizon, and those who stand in the pulpits fail to warn God's people they indeed will go through the Great Tribulation.

This is the time, as Joel proclaimed, to sound the trumpet in Zion. Sound the alarm, for the day of the Lord's wrath is at hand.