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64 - The Desire of Ages - Ellen Gould · Sacred Texts Archive

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  A doomed people. The triumphal ride of Christ and to Jerusalem was the dim
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  foreshadowing of his coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and glory,
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  amid the triumph of angels and the rejoicing of the saints. Then will be
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  fulfilled the words of Christ to the priest and Pharisees, ye shall not see
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  me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name
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  of the Lord Matthew twenty three thirty nine. In prophetic vision, Zachariah was
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  shown that day of final triumph, and he beheld also the doom of those
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  who, at the First Advent had rejected Christ. They shall look upon me
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  whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for
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  his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that
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  is in bitterness for his first born Zacharia twelve ten. This scene Christ foresaw,
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  when he beheld the city and wept over it. In the temporal ruin
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  of Jerusalem, he saw the final destruction of that people who were guilty of
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  the blood of the Son of God. The disciples saw the hatred of the
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  Jews to Christ. But they did not yet accede to what it would lead.
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  They did not yet understand the true condition of Israel, nor comprehend the
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  retribution that was to fall upon Jerusalem. This Christ opened to them by a
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  significant object lesson. The last appeal to Jerusalem had been in vain. The
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  priests and rulers had heard the prophetic voice of the past echoed by the multitude,
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  in answer to the question who is this, but they did not accept
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  it as the voice of inspiration. In anger and amazement, they tried to
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  silence the people. There were Roman officers in the throng, and to them
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  his enemies denounced Jesus as the leader of a rebellion. They represented that he
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  was about to take possession of the temple and reign as king in Jerusalem.
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  But the calm voice of Jesus hushed for a moment the clamorous throng, as
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  he again declared that he had not come to establish a temporal rule. He
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  should soon ascend to his father, and his accusers would see him no more
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  until he should come again in glory. Then too late for their salvation,
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  they would acknowledge him. These words, Jesus spoke with sadness and with singular
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  power. The Roman officers were silenced and subdued. Their hearts, though strangers
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  to divine influence, were moved as they had never been moved before. In
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  the calm, solemn face of Jesus, they read love, benevolence, and
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  quiet dignity. They were stirred by a sympathy they could not understand. Instead
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  of arresting Jesus, they were more inclined to pay him homage. Turning upon
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  the priests and rulers, they charged them with creating the disturbance. These leaders,
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  chagrined and defeated, turned to the people with their complaints and disputed angrily
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  among themselves. Meanwhile, Jesus passed unnoticed to the temple. All was quiet
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  there for the scene upon Olivet had called away the people. For a short
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  time, Jesus remained at the temple, looking upon it with sorrowful eyes.
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  Then he withdrew his disciples and returned to Bethany. When the people sought for
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  him to place him on the throne, he was not to be found.
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  The entire night Jesus spent in prayer, and in the morning he came again
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  to the temple on the way, he passed a fig orchard. He was
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  hungry, and seeing a fig tree afar off, having leaves, he came,
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  if haply he might find anything thereon. And when he came to it,
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  he found nothing but leaves. For the time of figs was not yet.
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  It was not the season for ripe figs, except in certain localities and
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  on the highlands about Jerusalem. It might truly be said the time of figs
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  was not yet. But in the orchard to which Jesus came, one tree
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  appeared to be in advance of all the others. It was already covered with
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  leaves. It is the nature of the fig tree that before the leaves open,
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  the growing fruit appears. Therefore, this tree in full leaf gave promise
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  of well developed fruit, but its appearance was deceptive. Upon searching its branches
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  from the lowest bough to the topmost twig, Jesus found nothing but leaves.
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  It was a mass of pretentious foliage. Nothing more. Christ uttered against it
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  a withering curse. No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever, he said.
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  The next morning, as the Savior and his disciples were again on their
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  way to the city, the blasted branches and drooping leaves tracted their attention.
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  Master said Peter. Behold the fig tree, which thou cursest, is withered
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  away. Christ's act in cursing the fig tree it astonished the disciples. It
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  seemed to them unlike his ways and works. Often they had heard him declare
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  that he came not to condemn the world, but that the world through him
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  might be saved. They remembered his words, The son a Man is not
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  come to destroy men's lives, but to save them Luke nine fifty six.
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  His wonderful works had been done to restore, never to destroy. The disciples
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  had known him only as the restorer, the healer. This act stood alone.
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  What was its purpose? They questioned, God delighteth in mercy as I
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  live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of
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  the wicked Mica seven eighteen, Ezekiel thirty three eleven. To him, the
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  work of destruction and the denunciation of judgment is a strange work Isaiah twenty eight
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  twenty one. But it is in mercy and love that he lifts the veil
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  from the future and reveals to men the results of a course of sin.
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  The cursing of the fig tree was an acted parable That barren tree, flaunting
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  its pretentious foliage in the very face of Christ, was a symbol of the
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  Jewish nation. The Savior desired to make plain to his disciples the cause and
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  the certainty of Israel's doom. For this purpose, he invested the tree with
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  moral qualities and made it the expositor of divine truth. The Jews stood forth
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  distinct from all other nations, professing allegiance to God. They had been specially
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  favored by Him, and they laid claim to righteousness above every other people.
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  But they were corrupted by the love of the world and the greed of gain.
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  They boasted of their knowledge, but they were ignorant of the requirements of
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  God, and were full of hypocrisy. Like the barren tree, they spread
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  their pretentious branches, aloft, luxuriant in appearance and beautiful to the eye,
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  but they yielded nothing but leaves. The Jewish religion, with its magnificent temple,
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  its sacred altars, its mitred priests, and impressive ceremonies, was indeed
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  fair and outward appearance, but humility, love, and benevolence were lacking.
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  All the trees and the fig orchard were destitute of fruit, but the leafless
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  trees raised no expectation and caused no disappointment. By these trees, the gentiles
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  were represented. They were as destitute as were the Jews of godliness, but
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  they had not professed to serve God. They made no boastful pretensions to goodness.
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  They were blind to the works and ways of God. With them.
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  The time of figs was not yet. They were still waiting for a day
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  which would bring them light and hope. The Jews, who had received greater
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  blessings from God, were held accountable for their abuse of these gifts. The
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  privileges of which they boasted only increased their guilt. Jesus had come to the
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  fig tree hungry to find food. So he had come to Israel hungering to
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  find in them the fruits of righteousness. He had lavished on them his gifts
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  that they might bear fruit for the blessing of the world. Every opportunity and
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  privilege had been granted them, and in return he sought their sympathy and co
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  operation in his work of grace. He longed to see in them self sacrifice,
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  compassion, zeal for God, and a deep yearning of soul for the
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  salvation of their fellow men. Had they kept the law of God, they
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  would have done the same unselfish work that Christ did. But love to God
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  and Man was eclipsed by pride and self sufficiency. They brought ruin upon themselves
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  by refusing to minister to others the treasures of truth which God had committed to
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  them. They did not give to the world. In the barren tree,
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  they might read both their sin and its punishment, withered beneath the Saviour's curse,
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  standing forth, sear and blasted, dried up by the roots, the
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  fig tree showed what the Jewish people would be when the grace of God was
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  removed from them. Refusing to impart blessing, they would no longer receive it.
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  O Israel, the Lord says, thou hast destroyed thyself JOSEA thirteen nine.
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  The warning is for all time. Christ act and cursing the tree which
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  his own power had created, stands as a warning to all churches and to
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  all Christians. No one can live the law of God without ministering to others.
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  But there are many who do not live out Christ's merciful, unselfish life,
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  some who think themselves excellent Christians do not understand what constitutes service for God.
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  They plan and steady to please themselves. They act only in reference to
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  self. Time is of value to them only as they can gather for themsels
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  in all the affairs of life. This is their object. Not for others,
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  but for themselves do they minister. God created them to live in a
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  world where unselfish service must be performed. He designed them to help their fellow
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  men in every possible way. But self is so large that they cannot see
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  anything else. They are not in touch with humanity. Those who thus live
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  for self are like the fig tree, which made every pretension but was fruitless.
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  They observed the forms of worship, but without repentance or faith in profession.
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  They honor the law of God, but obedience is lacking, they say,
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  but do not. In the sentence pronounced on the fig tree, Christ
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  demonstrates how hateful in his eyes is this fagine pretense. He declares that the
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  open sinner is less guilty than is he who professes to serve God, but
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  who bears no fruit to his glory. The parable of the fig tree,
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  spoken before Christ's visit to Jerusalem, had a direct connection with the lesson he
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  taught in cursing the fruitless tree. For the barren tree of the parable,
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  the gardener pleaded, let it alone this year until I shall dig about it
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  and dress it, and if it bear fruit well, but if not,
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  then after that thou shalt cut it down. Increased care was to be given
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  the unfruitful tree. It was to have every advantage, but if it remained
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  fruitless, nothing could save it from destruction. In the parable, the result
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  of the gardener's work was not foretold. It depended upon that people to whom
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  Christ's words were spoken. They were represented by the fruitless tree, and it
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  rested with them to decide their own destiny. Every advantage that Heaven could bestow
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  was given them, but they did not profit by their increased blessings. By
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  Christ's act in cursing the barren fig tree. The result was shown they had
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  determined their own destruction. For more than a thousand years, the Jewish nation
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  had abused God's mercy and invited his judgments. They had rejected his warnings and
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  slain his prophets. For these sins, the people of Christ's day made themselves
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  responsible by following the same course. In the rejection of their present mercies and
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  warnings lay the guilt of that generation. The fetters which the nation had for
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  centuries been forging. The people of Christ's day were fastening upon themselves. In
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  every aide, there is given to men their day of light and privilege,
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  a probationary time in which they may become reconciled to God. But there is
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  a limit to this grace. Mercy may plead for years and be slighted and
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  rejected. But there comes a time when Mercy makes her last plea. The
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  heart becomes so hardened that it ceases to respond to the spirit of God.
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  Then the sweet winning voice entreats the sinner no longer, and reproofs and warnings
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  cease. That day had come to Jerusalem. Jesus wept in anguish over the
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  doomed city, but he could not deliver her. He had exhausted every resource
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  in rejecting the warnings of God's spirit. Israel had rejected the only means of
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  help. There was no other power by which they could be delivered. The
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  Jewish nation was a symbol of the people of all ages who scorn the pleadings
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  of infinite love. The tears of Christ when he wept over Jerusalem were for
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  the sins of all time. In the judgments pronounced upon Israel, those who
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  reject the reproofs and warnings of God's Holy Spirit may read their own condemnation.
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  In this generation, there are many who are treading on the same ground as
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  were the unbelieving Jews. They have witnessed the manifestation of the power of God.
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  The Holy Spirit is spoken to their hearts, but they cling to their
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  unbelief and resistance. God sends him warnings and reproof but they are not willing
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  to confess their errors, and they reject his message and his messenger. The
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  very means he uses for their recovery becomes to them a stone of stumbling.
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  The prophets of God were hated by apostate Israel because through them their hidden sins
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  were brought to light. Ahab regarded Elijah as his enemy because the prophet was
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  faithful to rebuke the king's secret iniquities. So to day, the servant of
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  Christ, the reprover of sin, meets with scorn and orbuffs Bible truth.
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  The religion of Christ struggles against a strong current of moral impurity. Prejudice is
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  even stronger in the hearts of men now than in Christ's day. Christ did
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  not fulfill men's expectations. His life was a rebuke to their sins, and
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  they rejected him. So now the truth of God's word does not harmonize with
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  men's practices and their natural inclination, and thousands reject its light. Men prompted
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  by Satan, cast doubt upon God's word and choose to exercise their independent judgment.
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  They choose darkness rather than light, but they do it at the peril
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  of their souls. Those who caviled at the words of Christ found ever increased
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  cause for cavil until they turn from the truth and the life. So it
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  is now God does not propose to remove every objection which the Colonel art may
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  bring against his truth. To those who refuse the precious rays of light which
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  would illuminate the darkness, the mysteries of God's word remain such forever from them
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  the truth is hidden. They walk blindly and know not the ruin before them.
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  Christ overlooked the world and all ages from the height of olive it,
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  and his words are applicable to every soul who slights the pleadings of divine mercy
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  scorner of his love. He addresses you to day. It is thou,
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  even thou, who shouldst know the things that belong to thy. Peace.
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  Christ is shedding bitter tears for you, who have no tears to shed for
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  yourself. Already that fatal hardness of heart which destroyed the Pharisees is manifest in
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  you, and every evidence of the grace of God. Every ray of divine
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  light is either melting and subduing the soul, or confirming it in hopeless impenitence.
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  Christ foresaw that Jerusalem would remain obdurate and impenitent. Yet all the guilt,
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  all the consequences of reach rejected mercy, lay at her own door.
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  Thus it will be with every soul who is following the same course. The
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  Lord declares, O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself here o earth behold,
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  I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts,
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  because they have not hearkened unto my words nor to my law, but rejected
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  it. Joseah thirteen nine, Jeremiah six nineteen, end of Chapter sixty four