The fig tree

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” Matthew 24:32-33
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the fig tree is used as a symbol of the nation Israel (Jer. 24, Hos. 9:10, Luke 13:6-9). In this light, we can understand what Jesus is referring to here, concerning the end times.
Israel was reborn as a nation in her homeland in 1948. It is coming back to life, just as Ezekiel saw in his vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezek. 37). Instead of being a dry, dead-looking stick, it is starting to produce shoots and leaves. After the leaves, comes the fruit. (This is why Jesus cursed the fig tree upon entering Jerusalem – as a symbol of the nation, it had not produced fruit for the Messiah. Matt. 21:18-19)
We are privileged to be living at the present time. Israel has not existed as a nation for hundreds of years, and yet we have seen the people regathered and restored. We have seen these things, and Jesus tells us that we can know that the time of His coming is near.