The name “Vine & Fig Tree” comes from a number of passages in the Bible which speak of a day we beat our "swords into plowshares" and everyone dwells securely under their own “Vine & Fig Tree.” The clearest statement of this ideal is found in the prophet Micah, chapter 4:
audio mp3 17:16
3 And He shall judge among many people,
and rebuke strong nations afar off;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.4 But they shall sit every man under
his vine and under his fig tree;
and none shall make them afraid:
for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
As seen below, this is the foundational Bible passage for America, a land of “Liberty Under God.” This was the most popular Bible verse in American 300 years ago. Millions of people came to America because they wanted to live peacefully on their own property, free from princes, priests, and pirates. “Vine & Fig Tree” is the original "American Dream."
Nobody educated in the colonial American one-room schoolhouse believed in "the rapture," and all of them could have told you that a government is an "abomination" which forces people to "recognize" or "celebrate" the "marriage" of two homosexuals.
But Americans from 1600-1800 only scratched the surface of this passage. And from 1800 to today, this passage has been flushed down the Orwellian "Memory Hole." Out of 300,000 churches in America, the number of churches that take this passage seriously (and agree with the perspective advanced here) can be counted on your right hand. This passage does not fit into the popular "prophecy charts" of most churches.
The “Vine & Fig Tree” curriculum is a very, very long sermon on this text. Here's a 10-second summary of the sermon::
1. This passage predicts the establishment of the reign of the Messiah, the Christ, after His birth in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
2. When this Messiah appears, all nations will begin the process of making a commitment to obey God's Commandments.
3. God's law requires peace.
Here's the questions Christians should be asking:
You can't answer question #3 if your answer to the first questions are wrong.
It may well be that before you get to the right answers, you'll be hit with a strong case of "cognitive dissonance." Something like, "Wait a minute; how come I've never seen that in the Bible before?"
|
Micah says
| 1 it shall come to pass, |
Q.: How does Micah know what will come to pass?
A.: God told him. This is seen in verse 4:
| 4 for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it. |
Q.: How does God know what will come to pass?
A.: God is in control.
Q.: When will this come to pass?
A.:
| in the last days |
What is meant by the phrase "the last days?" Turn on the TV and the prophecy preachers will tell you we are now living in "the last days." They mean the "last days before the Second Coming of Christ." Or they mean "the last final days of planet earth."
They are mistaken. The have been mistaken for 2,000 years.
The writers of the New Testament consistently affirmed that they were living in "the last days." This could mean:
Either way ("last days of the Old Covenant," or Micah's "distant future") the New Testament writers said they were living in "the last days." They were also living in the first days of the New Covenant. They were living at the beginning of what some call "the Millennium" -- the Age of the Messiah's reign.
We are not living today in the last days of the Old Covenant. We are not living in the last final days of planet earth.
Some writers say we're living in that period Micah called "the last days," and "the last days" represents the entire age between Christ's first coming and His second coming. "The Last Days" could be thousands or millions of years. That's not an unreasonable interpretation of "last days." That would mean we are now living in Micah's "latter days." But these same scholars do not believe Christians have a moral obligation to beat "swords into plowshares," even though that's what Micah says we ought to do when the Messiah begins to reign in "the latter days."
In either case, Micah's distant day had come upon those living in the days of the New Testament.
Let's look at three characteristics of that day:
| the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established |
First,
| that the mountain |
The original "mountain" was the Garden of Eden, from which flowed four rivers (downhill). The temple on Mt. Zion was a model of the Garden.
Next,
| the house of the LORD |
The "house" of the LORD is the temple. The temple of the LORD: Where is it today? It was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Romans. This definitively ended the temple-centered Old Covenant age. The New Testament writers say that the new temple is made up of God's People.
This new mountain/temple
| shall be established |
This "establishment" of a new temple has already happened. The new temple (God's People) was being built even before the old temple had been destroyed. The virgin-born Jesus of Nazareth was seated in His new temple as the Messiah of Israel (Acts 2:36). Messiah = King. This Kingdom was established in the past, not waiting for a second coming of the King in our future. Once established, Micah says it grows, just as the prophet Daniel spoke of a rock that crushed the pagan empires of the old age:
| Daniel 2:35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. |
Micah says this same mountain will be greater than all the other empires:
| in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; |
The nations around Israel built their own "high places" in an attempt to imitate God's Garden. The neo-conservative woke regime in Washington D.C., as well as the UK, UN, EU, NWO, WEF, the "former" USSR, etc. are all rival "mountains." Christ has a superior jurisdiction over them all.
| and people shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall come, and say, |
This began happening in Acts 2, and has continued since, with ups and downs through history.
| Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the Law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem. |
Notice the words of exhortation and education: "Come, let us go." That's our job: Exhort and teach (Matthew 5:19; 28:18-20).
Too many Christians today think there is a conflict between "Law" and "Gospel." Micah didn't think so. It's "good news" that God reveals the blueprint that leads to a Vine & Fig Tree society.
At Vine & Fig Tree University we focus on four laws:
The implications of these laws are staggering, as we'll see in a minute.
Next, Micah says,
| 3 And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; |
Who is "He?" It is clearly Jesus the Messiah. The first nation He judged was the nation of Israel, who murdered their King. This took place in "the last days" of the Old Covenant. Perhaps Jesus is about to judge the U.S.A., a once-Christian but now-apostate nation.
| and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. |
Peace is a major theme in the Bible. Yes, there are many historical accounts of wars in the Bible, but what is the point of this history? What are we to learn from ancient Israel's faithless wars and gross idolatry?
Jesus is "The Prince of Peace." Many (if not most) Christians today claim that wars must increase until the "Second Coming" of Christ, sometime in our future. This is based on an erroneous interpretation of Matthew 24:6. There are fewer wars today than there were in Micah's day. As we'll see, Christians have enough financial and electoral power to end all the wars currently taking place in the world today.
Q.: What would happen if Christians never voted for any politician who promised "Peace through Strength," that is, "peace" through killing millions of innocent people?
Q.: What would happen if Christians never voted for any politician who promised to use the power of the sword (the State) to engage in extortion ("taxation") to fund mass murder by the military?
Q.: What would happen if "the Law shall go forth" out of the New Temple of God's People, and they never voted for any politician who promised to violate the commands against murder, theft, kidnapping, and vengeance-taking?
A.: All of today's politicians would have to resign from "the public sector" and get jobs in "the private sector."
The "Public Sector" ("the sword") would be abolished, so that the "private sector" ("plowshares") can flourish under God's Law.
At Vine & Fig Tree University you'll learn why we should abolish "the public sector":
| “Private Sector” | “Public Sector” |
| Non-“Government” Sector | “Government” Sector |
| Competitive Sector | Monopoly Sector |
| Persuasive Sector | Coercive Sector |
| Peaceful Sector | Violent Sector |
| Productive Sector | Parasite Sector |
| Servant Sector | Archist Sector |
| "Economic Man" | "Political Man" |
The government creates "Public Schools" to brainwash you into believing that beating swords into plowshares would be a terrible thing.
| 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: |
This was the most popular Bible verse in America 300 years ago. This was the original "American Dream."
| 2 for the Law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem. |
Every Word of a sovereign God is "Law. When God speaks, we listen -- and obey."
| 5 Although all people will walk every one in the name of his god, we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. |
There is a contrast between the people of "Jerusalem" and those outside. The early church father Tertullian (c. 155 AD – c. 220 AD) spoke of the outsiders as "Athens."
|
What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church?... Our instructions come from “the porch of Solomon”.... Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition! We want no curious disputation after possessing Christ Jesus...! |
Perhaps in his day Christians were being told to "Listen to the Academy!" just as Christians in our day are told "Listen to the Science!" But Micah says the temple of the living God will not be corrupted by the temple of man the would-be god.
Augustine wrote about the conflict between "The City of God" and the city of man. Where is your "citizenship?"
Next, Micah says,
| 6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; 7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: |
God rebukes unbelieving nations, but then restores them and gives them faithful obedience.
God's People are part of that process, by extending mercy to those God has rebuked (Matthew 25:31-46).
| and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. |
The Kingdom that Christ inaugurated in "the last days" of the Old Covenant lasts forever.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end
Isaiah 9:6-7
That's the overview.
Here's a more systematic breakdown into 23 modules. This is the backbone of the Vine & Fig Tree curriculum:
- 0. The Bible is the Word of God -- Foundational principle:
- "for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it." (v. 4)
Verse 1:
- 1. God is Sovereign:
- "it shall come to pass"
- 2. The Reign of Christ Began in the Past:
- "in the last days"
- 3. The Mountain is Eden:
- "the mountain"
Verse 2:
- 4. Global Conversion:
- "people shall flow unto it."
- 5. God's Law:
- "the Law shall go forth"
- 6.. Education:
- "He will teach us of His ways"
- 7. Spontaneous Obedience:
- "we will walk in His paths"
Verse 3:
- 8. The Messiah Reigns:
- "He shall judge"
- 9. Pax Christi, Not Pax Romana:
- "they shall beat their swords into plowshares"
Verse 4:
- 10. Freedom from Archists:
- "none shall make them afraid"
- 11: The Family:
- "every man under his Vine & Fig Tree
- 12: Service:
- [Genesis 1:26-28]
- 13: The Garden/Land:
- Vine & Fig Tree
- 14: The Fall of Man:
- [Genesis 3:5 - the desire to be as god, to make people fear you]
- 15: Salvation:
- "none shall make them afraid"
Verse 5:
- 16: Jerusalem versus Athens:
- "Although all people will walk every one in the name of his god,"
- 17: Community:
- "We will walk"
Verse 6:
- 18: Charity:
- "gathering the afflicted"
- 19: Gospel:
- Good news of a new kingdom
- 20: Justification:
- Allegiance to the New Kingdom
Verse 7:
- 21. Church:
- "House of the LORD" in "Mount Zion"
- 22: Eternity:
- "for ever and ever"
This is more like a "Systematic Theology" book than a mere "sermon."
But it's also more like the Unabomber's Manifesto than it is a boring seminary book. (But unlike the Unabomber and the U.S. Federal Government, this curriculum does not advocate bombs, but beating "swords into plowshares.")