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REVELATION EP7 THE MILLNNIUM THE FIG TREE AND OLIVE TREE AND VINE NOTES
The Divine Strategist
When we study the past and possible future of our planet, the sheer volume of global disruption often makes biblical prophecy feel like a chaotic sequence of stops and starts, failed drafts and last-minute divine corrections. But if we step back and view history through the word of God as the Divine Strategist, an amazing scriptural picture begins to emerge. At the centre of this divine/human earthly drama is the single glowing seed of Jesus, highlighted as the promised olive tree seed of faith made to one man called Abraham four thousand years ago - a master stroke, that through one lineage every family on earth would receive an eternal inheritance. And Jesus is also called the vine, and his followers are the branches
So history is not drifting. It is an organised, predestined, calculated movement toward a specific and perfect goal. And by understanding God’s Divine Countdown, we are taken out of confusion into a dazzling and daring clarity. To recognise what God is doing, and where we are standing in this countdown, we need to understand the roles of Abraham, Israel and the Gentile nations under their codenames as God's plant life.
Abraham’s plant codename is the root of the olive tree. Israel is both an olive tree and a fig tree. And then you have the Gentiles, the wild olive branches that are grafted into that olive tree.
Now before we go any further, let's separate two of those trees, because they are not doing the same thing. Both the olive and the fig relate to Israel, but they operate in different spheres of God's administration. One is spiritual and covenantal - that's the olive tree. The other is national and geographical - that's the fig tree spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24 and the national fig tree provides the historical stage upon which the wider spiritual strategy of the olive tree unfolds. When Jesus first came to his people the nation of Israel was also the olive tree of spiritual Israel, and he was rejected by both.
Let’s keep that fact in mind as we go because both the fig tree and the olive tree went through catastrophic change both spiritually and geographically. So we must first understand the nature of the olive tree we are compelled to read what Paul wrote in Romans - Romans 1I:1 ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning. Do you realise what the Scriptures say about this? Elijah the prophet complained to God about the people of Israel and said, "LORD, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too." And do you remember God's reply? He said, "No, I have 7,000 others who have never bowed down to Baal!"
It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful (to Jesus) because of God's grace… And since it is through God's kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God's grace would not be what it really is - free and undeserved.
Did God's people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles - the rest of the world. But he chose to have his own people become jealous and claim (his covenant favour) their own way for themselves. Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel rejected God's offer of salvation through Jesus, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it.
The Olive Tree
So I want to ask some questions here.
What does the olive tree speak of? Spiritual covenant Israel.
What is the root? Abraham - one man.
What is the seed? Jesus.
And who are his fruit? All who live a new covenant life with Jesus by grace and faith.
So that's the olive tree picture: Jesus the seed, Abraham the root, some branches get broken off and others get grafted in. I’ll read those verses from Romans 11 shortly.
But first look at The Fig Tree: the 1948 Prophetic Countdown
Remember the fig tree speaks of National Israel now, not spiritual Israel, not the olive tree. Now in Matthew 24, as we discussed in the preceding episode 6 last week, Jesus gave us a specific marker for the end-of-the-age - when the fig tree begins to "put forth its leaves," the end is imminent.
For two thousand years this tree was dormant -. But in 1948 things changed in the global landscape. When the Israeli flag was raised and the nation was physically restored to its land, the fig tree officially blossomed. So that historical event speaks of a ticking countdown clock. Jesus explicitly stated that the generation alive to witness this blossoming would not pass away before the fulfilment of all things. We are not just living in "interesting times." We are living in the final movement of a strategic timeline that began with that blossoming in 1948.
The Divine Strategy: How Stumbling Led to Reconciliation
So let's see how the stumbling of the original olive tree branches led to reconciliation. Israel's temporary fall was not a failure of God's plan. It became part of a larger strategy of judgement and mercy, and the hardening of their hearts was sovereignly repurposed to facilitate a wider reconciliation, not just for Israel but for the entire kosmos.
The original olive branches lost faith in Jesus as God, and the fig tree lost its identity as a nation and was dispersed, and the wild olive branches of us as humanity were grafted in through Jesus into a new covenant that Israel had rejected.
A note on replacement theology
Now I want to make a note on what's called replacement theology. Gentiles do not replace Israel. There is only one olive tree, with branches temporarily taken off and other branches grafted in, and we Gentile believers are wild branches sustained by the original Abrahamic root of faith. Paul says it very plainly, and he says it as a warning:
Romans 11:16 If the roots of this olive tree are holy, the branches will be, too. But some of these branches from Abraham's olive tree (elaia) - some people of Israel - have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree (agrielaios - earthy/Adamic), have been grafted in. So now you also receive the Abrahamic covenant blessing God promised Abraham and his children, to share in the rich nourishment from the root of God's special olive tree. But you must not brag that you were grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just branches, not the root.
Those branches were broken off because they didn't believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don't think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. For if God did not spare the original branches, he won't spare you either. Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.
And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.
So remember, the root is Abraham and we are the branches. And this grafting is tied to a physical timeline.
The Unripe Figs of current national Israel
Now that fig tree nation has had good times and bad times. And the good times are not good anymore, and the bad times are getting worse. And many of them may think they are a covenant olive tree - but they're not – not yet. And the book of Revelation makes this clear, because it speaks of the figs on the current fig tree in Israel, in Jerusalem, right now as unripe, immature figs at this present time since 1948.
Revelation 6:12-17; 7:1-8 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
Right now, let's look at that picture. The falling stars speak of believers losing their position with Christ through immaturity, lack of faith and compromise with the world, and the mighty wind shakes everything that can be shaken. That's the sixth seal.
And we also have untimely figs, which speaks of the current National Israel - the figs are there, but they have not ripened. So the fig tree is not yet ready to occupy its promised land because it has maintained its rejection of the promised new covenant – and the olive branches are still broken off.
And that promise was not vague. Let's hear what it was they turned down:
Jeremiah 31:33 I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;
A new heart, and the law written on the inside of the mind. That is the new covenant fulfilled through Christ and foretold in the Abrahamic covenant of faith.
So the immature believers and the unripe figs both face that fierce wind, which speaks of spiritual forces of darkness drawing them into the world's corrupt. And Hebrews tells us what the shaking is for:
Hebrews 12:27 ...the removal of those things that are being shaken, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
The Catalyst for Restoration: The Two Witnesses
Now all of this loops around at the end, because Scripture says God will save all Israel. How? Who is going to come and preach to Israel? Well, two men called the two witnesses. They are actually called the two olive trees, which is very interesting, and their ministry brings National Israel back into the olive tree, the new covenant in Christ.
Revelation 11:4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.
It's a legal necessity. These figures are prophetically linked to Moses, who represents the Law, and Elijah, who represents the Prophets. And they met with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. I wonder what they said to him at that time.
Israel's national, legal and spiritual identity is bound to the Law and the Prophets, and en masse the nation will only respond to a testimony that validates those foundational scriptures through these two witnesses. There is already a remnant that has accepted Jesus, and there are many people bringing Jewish people to the Lord, and that's fine. But these two have to come back and give their gospel testimony. I'll say more about them in later sessions.
And through that testimony the fig tree is brought into olive tree ripeness. Israel hears, believes, and is provoked to reconciliation with their Messiah. Paul calls this a mystery and states it plainly:
Romans 11 I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. God chose to allow the heart of Israel to be partly hardened and blinded, but this will last only until the full number of all the nations comes to Christ at the end. And then all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, "The one who rescues will come from Zion, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins."
Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.
So that's where the loop closes. The original branches are grafted back in, and the fig tree nation gets to share, finally, not just Canaan but the entire world with all believers in Jesus. Paul says that this brings life from the dead.
And this final reconciliation sets the stage for the literal, physical return of Christ and the inauguration of a new era of governance - a thousand-year Millennium governance.
So that leaves us with one question, and the rest of this message is about answering it.
The Millennial Bridge: a thousand-year governance
Revelation 20:4 They lived and reigned with him for a thousand years.
Upon his return, Christ inaugurates a visible, physical reign on the earth for a literal thousand years. God's people live and reign with him, and this becomes the public vindication of God's word on the very earth that humanity fractured.
The question is When? Because God has not left that vague either. And to get at it, we have to go all the way back - back past Abraham, and past the flood, to the seven days of creation
So back to the days of creation because we have to go back to creation, particularly the sixth day of man and woman and the seventh day of sabbath rest. Because God foretold the millennium when he rested on the seventh day. Why did he rest – he wasn’t fatigued – he wanted to enjoy his loving relationship with his beautiful and spectacular creation especially his human family.
Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings in his own image; male and female he created them. Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! ... And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
Genesis 2:1 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy - set apart.
There is an amazing parallel between the events of God's creative week and the six thousand years of God’s plan of redemption since Adam fell - which brings us finally to the one thousand-year reign of Christ on earth with his people
2 Peter 3:8 But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
When those redemptive days are seen as periods of a thousand years, the pattern begins to unfold.
3. The Seven-Day Blueprint: Comparing Creation and Redemption
The foundation of the Divine Countdown is the "Law of Inversion" established in 2 Peter 3:8: “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” By this divine logic, the six days of creation and the seventh day of rest (the Week of Creation) serve as the literal blueprint for 7,000 years of human history (the Week of Redemption).
The Week of Creation and the Week of Redemption
So now we chart the week of redemption: seven thousand-year days laid across history. Six have run since Adam fell, and the seventh has not begun.
Day
The Week of Creation (Genesis 1-2)
The Week of Redemption (Human History)
Day 1
Separation of Light from Darkness.
Man’s sin and darkness separate him from God’s light.
Day 2
The Waters Divided.
The Flood: Waters divide the old world from the new; 8 souls saved.
Day 3
Plant Life Created.
Abraham is called: The Father of the Olive, Fig, and Vine.
Day 4
Sun, Moon, and Stars for signs/seasons.
Elijah to Jesus: Era of signs; Jesus as the "Sun" and full Godhead.
Day 5
Birds and Fish: "Be fruitful and multiply."
Pentecost: The "Fishers of Men" and the Holy Spirit (Dove). No longer earthbound in life form.
Day 6
Creation of Eve (Adam’s Bride).
Preparation of the Bride of Christ. Believers "eat of the truths of Israel" (1 Cor 10:11) to mature.
Day 7
Sabbath Rest: God enjoys His creation.
The 1,000-Year Millennium: Earth’s rest and the visible reign of Christ.
This blueprint allows us to discern with absolute precision where we currently stand on the timeline. The clock is no longer silent.
And now the inversion
Now somebody is going to say, what if the millennium is only one day and not a thousand years? Because Peter gives it both ways in the same verse: one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
So take it either way and you get the same result. That's the divine law of inversion. And the prophet Hosea does exactly that: he talks in days, but he is actually talking in one thousand year spans of time, speaking of the span from the time Jesus came too the earth the first time until he comes the second timeascension to the restoration.
Hosea 5:15; 6:1-3 I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me. Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the former and latter rain to the earth.
Now look at the verses. "I will return again to My place." That speaks of Jesus returning to his place at the ascension, and it gives us the starting point of the clock from inside the text itself, not from a date we have chosen. He says, "till they acknowledge their offense," so the condition of his return is their acknowledgement. And then, "In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."
"After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up." One day is with the Lord as a thousand years. So after two days - two thousand years - He will revive us, and on the third day (the Millennium) He will raise us up.
This third day is also God’s Millennial rest - Revelation 20:2-7 - to enjoy his creation in loving relationship and in redemption. Six days of work, and then a day that is blessed and set apart. So that seventh thousand-year day is still in front of us.
Let us have a look at what the Millennium Will Actually Look Like (Isaiah chapters 11 and 12 and Isaiah 65
Isaiah 65:21-22 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit...
Socioeconomic Stability: Citizens will build their own houses and plant their own vineyards, enjoying the fruit of their labor without fear of loss.
Absolute Justice: Governance will be perfect, with absolute justice executed instantly, removing the corruption that plagues modern systems.
Natural Pacification: The "curse" of the fall is reversed; the natural world is pacified, with the wolf living alongside the lamb
So there is restoration even in the ordinary things of life - work, longevity, justice and creation itself. So that's the millennium. But the promise to Abraham doesn't finish there.
The Final Transition: from Canaan to the Cosmos
The Bible says in Romans 8 that the whole creation is waiting for this. It's groaning:
Romans 8:19, 22 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God... For we know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now.
And Paul makes the expansion very clear in Romans 4:13 when he describes Abraham as the heir of the world - kosmos. So the promise was never going to finish with one piece of land. In Christ it opens out until the inheritance is the renewed creation itself.
That is why Jesus can say, "the meek shall inherit the earth." He is not cancelling the promise to Abraham; he is showing us where it was ultimately going.
After the Millennium the heavenly Jerusalem descends to the earth and the new heavens and new Earth are forever established to flourish from age to age
The Living Connection: the Olive Tree and the Vine
Now I just want to come back to the vine before we close. The olive tree tells us where we belong in God's covenant story. But the vine speaks of intimacy - abiding, menō, in Christ and his life flowing through us. The olive tree gives us a share in the promises; the vine speaks of how we live in that inheritance and bear its fruit. When you're abiding in the vine, you're flowing in the life.
And just notice Joel before we finish. The fig tree and the vine are stripped and then restored, the former and latter rain comes, and finally the language changes from an untimely fig to a harvest that is ripe. So the same pattern is there again - the trees, the rain, the ripening and the harvest.
So just in closing, let's go back to where we started. One man, in a desert, and a promise about a seed. Everything since has been the working out of that one promise - the branches broken off and grafted in again, the fig tree revived, and finally the restoration of all things. It is not a sequence of corrections. It is a strategy.
And it ends with the same picture made whole: the fig tree ripened, the original branches grafted back into the olive tree, and both drawing from the promise that began with Abraham.
And Paul finishes Romans 11 by saying:
Romans 11 For God has imprisoned all humanity in their disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone and give them all his pardon of freedom. Oh, how great are God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the LORD's thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory in the Church.
Mercy on everyone. That's the final climax of the grand design - the triumph of divine mercy over human disobedience and the restoration of all things in the new creation.
So when you look out at a world marked by division and shifting borders, can you see the powerful, quiet triumph of a mercy that intends to restore the entire world?
