When I was a younger, I remember hearing how important 1948 was. That was the year Israel returned to the land and became a nation. I was told that this event was a fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus spoke about this event in the Olivet Discourse.
The Lord said that when the fig tree has tender branches and puts forth its leaves, we know that summer is near (Mark 13:28). Earlier, Jesus had used a fig tree to represent Israel (Mark 11:12-24). The OT also pictures Israel as a fig tree (Hos 9:10; Jer 5:17; 8:13; 24:5). It was maintained that the fig tree in the Olivet Discourse was also a picture of Israel. The putting forth of its leaves was a picture of Israel becoming a nation again after being dispersed among the nations after her defeat by the Romans in AD 70.
This occurred in 1948. The Lord said when this happened, the generation who saw it would see the coming of the Lord and the beginning of His kingdom. Simple math was all that was needed. Since a generation lasts 40 years, the Lord would return before 1988. This was a very popular teaching.
Well, that didn’t happen.
There are a number of lessons we can learn from this. One is that we need to be careful students of the Bible. Just because the Lord used a fig tree to represent Israel in one passage, it doesn’t follow that a fig tree represents Israel in every passage. Sometimes, a fig tree is just a fig tree. The Lord was using an analogy from nature when He spoke about the way a fig tree produces leaves.
Luke 21:29 supports this view. In Luke’s version of the Olivet Discourse, he tells us that the Lord added the phrase “all the trees” when He spoke of the fig tree. Christ was talking about nature in general, not the geopolitical landscape of the world after WWII.
Also, in the Olivet Discourse, the Lord was talking about the Tribulation period. He was saying that the events of those seven years will be seen by the generation that will see the Lord’s return. We know from the discourse that Jews will be living in the land of Israel during the Tribulation, but the Lord did not say that the Jews’ return to the land in 1948 started a 40-year clock ticking.
What some Evangelicals did in 1948 was very close to predicting the Lord’s return. Even if they didn’t pick a specific day, they narrowed it down to a 40-year window. They should have known better.
Even though some of them had good intentions, it is unfortunate that they did this. It made those who are watching for the Lord’s return look stupid. I think some who promoted this teaching did so for sensationalism. They pointed to current monumental events as for support the Bible. They said that Christ’s words were on the front page of newspapers and in the leading story on the evening news. Some probably did this to cash in on selling books.
I understand how people in the pews would have been excited about what was being said in 1948. They were told that the Lord was coming in their lifetimes. After almost 1900 years, the Jews were back in their country. God had done a miracle. What other sign would Evangelicals need?
But we must not inject into the Bible our own desires. In the Olivet Discourse, the Lord was saying that when the Tribulation begins (after the Rapture), that generation will see the Lord’s return. Following the Rapture, those on earth who believe will go through a very difficult time. But the Lord gives them a strong encouragement. Their suffering will not go on forever. Believers living in those dark days will see the kingdom come.
The year 1948 was important. It was further evidence that God has not forgotten the promises He made to His chosen people. But it was a mistake to read it into the Olivet Discourse. If a number of Evangelicals had been better students of the Scriptures, it’s a mistake they wouldn’t have made.
