Is it true that God has promised that the purposes of Christmas shall be manifested throughout the earth? Before the end of this present age?
It might seem as though every other page in the Old Testament speaks optimistically of the transformation of planet earth into a Christian world. The optimism is pervasive. Every
nation is going to feel the healing effects of the Vine & Fig Tree vision.
This is a list of many of the references to this Triumph from the Psalms and the Prophets, which speak continually of the world-wide spread of the Vine
& Fig Tree vision.
David Chilton, in his important book Paradise Restored, comments on the Psalms as a whole:
There is a very important connection between the Church's worldview and the Church's hymns. If your heart and mouth are filled with songs of victory, you will
tend to have an eschatology of dominion; if, instead, your songs are fearful, expressing a longing for escape - or if they are weak, childish ditties - your worldview and
expectations will be escapist and childish.
The Psalms are inescapably Kingdom-oriented. They are full of conquest, victory, and the dominion of the saints. They remind us constantly of the warfare between God and
Satan, they incessantly call us to do battle against the forces of evil, and they promise us that we shall inherit the earth.
Isaiah has been called "the Fifth Evangelist." He spoke again and again of the coming Messiah, and His
triumph. Isaiah prophesied of the world-wide triumph of the Vine & Fig Tree vision.:
"Vine & Fig Tree" The Prophets guarantee that this ideology will triumph. World-wide.
This online celebration is sponsored by a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization called "Vine & Fig Tree."
Our offices were destroyed by a tornado a couple of years ago. We're requesting a $12 "cover charge" for this party. Your donation is tax-deductible. No donation is
required to participate in the "The 12 Days of Christmas."
If we get 100 people to donate $12, we'll be able to pay our bills this month.
Or mail your check to
"Vine & Fig Tree" P.O. Box 179 Powersite, MO 65731
The Program 12 Days Bringing to Mind The Most Significant Event in Human History
Each day you'll receive an audio for your morning commute to work, and another audio for your commute back home. The morning audio will look at Micah's Vine
& Fig Tree prophecy, and in the evening we'll show how that vision began to be fulfilled at Christmas two millennia ago.
Day 1 - Jesus is the culmination of thousands of years of meticulous genealogical records preserved by "the Chosen People," Israel.
Day 3 - Jesus will be given "the throne of his father David."
Luke 1:5-25 - John the Baptist prepares the way for the Messiah, as prophesied of
Elijah.
Luke 1:26-38 - The Angel Gabriel announces the conception of the Messiah:
"And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 1:33)
Luke 1:39-45 - the unborn John the Baptist leaps for joy when he encounters the
unborn Messiah. Planned Parenthood attempts to sell them both for body parts. (That last part is "not in the earliest manuscripts.")
Mary sings a song of praise composed of Old Testament quotations, saying that the real meaning of Christmas is good news for the poor and lowly,
and bad news for the rich and powerful:
50And His mercy is on them
that fear Him from generation to generation. 51He
hath shewed strength with His arm; He
hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52He
has put down the mighty from theirthrones, and exalted them of low degree. 53He
hath filled the hungry with good things; and
the rich he hath sent empty away.
71That we should be saved
from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 79To
give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the
way of peace.
Day 6 - Matthew 1:18-25 - the Incarnation is explained to Joseph
"Jesus" means "salvation" "Immanuel" means "God with us"
The Prophet Micah predicted that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Jesus'
parents lived in Nazereth. Therefore God predestined Caesar to issue a decree (probably relating to taxes) that would bring
Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem before Jesus was born. Evil empires serve God's purposes.
An army of angels announces the birth of the Messiah to lowly shepherds, saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on
earth peace to those with whom He is pleased!
The most important family on earth could not afford the top-level offering required by the law of Moses. They took advantage of a provision for low-income families.
Day 10 -
Luke 2:25-35 - Simeon had been told he would not
die before he saw the Lord's Messiah. He says Jesus is "The One."
Luke 2:36-38 -
Anna the Prophetess is another well-known Godly person who acknowledges that Jesus is the Child promised by the prophets. (Christianity offered a view of women which was quite
unlike that of the Empire that occupied Israel at the time.)
Day 11 - Wise men worship Jesus
Matthew 2:1-8 - "Wise men from the East"
(Babylon, perhaps) knew of Micah's prophecy that the King of the Jews would be born in Bethlehem.
When Herod got word of the birth of a rival king, he behaved in a perfectly logical way (for someone who wants to protect his power): he
massacred all male babies the age of Jesus. Herod recognized that Jesus was a threat to Herod's power.
Each day along the way, we will compare these historical accounts of Christmas with Micah's Vine & Fig Tree prophecy
predicting:
The message of the angels to the shepherds on the first Christmas:
And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And peace
on earth among men with whom He is well pleased. Luke
2:8-15
His lord said unto him, `Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over
many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.' Matthew 25:21
The Vine & Fig Tree Worldview
The phrase "Vine & Fig Tree" comes from the Old Testament Prophet Micah, the fourth chapter. You can find out
more about the Vine & Fig Tree Worldview on our home page:
During the next 12 days, you'll see the "real meaning" of Christmas in the Bible like you've never seen them before.
Many Christians today believe Jesus came to get us a ticket to heaven when we die. In the meantime, Satan rules the planet. Their story of the Bible goes like this:
God created planet earth;
God put man on earth to be a good steward, and transform the Garden of Eden into the City of God;
Satan tempted man;
Man rebelled against God, choosing to be his own god instead;
Satan now controls the world;
Jesus came to pay the penalty for this rebellion;
Things are going to get worse and worse;
Since Satan and man are not playing God's game by God's rules, God is soon going to take his cosmic football and go home.
In other words, Satan wins.
Pretty dismal story, isn't it?
Sure, God sent His Son, who died on the cross, so that some of the players can be forgiven for their rebellion and go home with God, but God's original purposes for man and the
creation were thwarted by Satan, the ultimate victor.
Some of George Washington's favorite passages of the Bible were those that spoke of every man dwelling safely "under
his own vine and fig tree." Other Founding Fathers also referred to this "Vine
& Fig Tree" ideal.
(George Washington would recommend that you enroll in The 12 Days of Christmas
program. He read the Bible for an hour each morning, and another hour in the evening.)
George Washington was motivated by the Vine & Fig Tree vision revealed in the Bible. Washington's Diaries are available
online at the Library of Congress. They are introduced with these words:
No theme appears more frequently in the writings of Washington than his love for his land. The diaries are a monument to that concern. In his
letters he referred often, as an expression of this devotion and its resulting contentment, to an Old Testament passage. After the Revolution, when he had returned to Mount
Vernon, he wrote the Marquis de Lafayette on Feb. 1, 1784:
"At length my Dear Marquis I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, & under the shadow of my own Vine & my
own Fig-tree."
This phrase occurs at least 11 times in Washington's letters.
"And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree" (2 Kings 18:31).
Peter Lillback, author of a 1,000-page
study of Washington's life and thought,
has found more than 40 references to the Vine and Fig Tree vision in Washington's Papers. "Vine
& Fig Tree" is the original "American Dream."
The phrase occurs a
number of times in Scripture. These references are visual reminders of the Hebrew word for salvation, which means
peace,
wholeness,
health,
welfare, and
private property free from pirates and princes.
When today's Americans hear the word "salvation," they usually think about going to heaven when they die. When the writers of the Bible used the word "salvation,"
they wanted you to be thinking about dwelling safely under your own Vine & Fig Tree during this life -- much
more often than they wanted you to be thinking about what you'll be doing in the afterlife.
Vine & Fig Tree is also a phrase from the prophet Micah, the idea of everyone owning property and
enjoying the fruits of their labor without fear of theft or political oppression, of sitting peacefully under your "Vine & Fig Tree."
Hundreds of years before Christ, the prophet Daniel spoke of the first Christmas, the
birth of the Messiah in the days of the Roman Empire. That barbaric, debauched empire was destroyed, and the Kingdom of Christ began growing like a mustard tree, like leaven, like
a field (Matthew 13). The Emperor Justinian began Christianizing the Eastern Roman Empire, and in the West kings like Alfred and Ethelbert made the 10 Commandments the basis of new
legal systems. The "Common Law" began, with a Christian foundation, and eventually found its way into the Constitution of
the United States, "a Christian nation." From 12 dejected disciples, Christianity has spread across the
world, and billions of people claim to be Christian. Though there have been ups and downs, the progress of Christianity has been undeniable -- at least to those who have been
taught the facts of history.
Most Americans in the 21st century have not.
If you enroll in this Home Study Program, you will learn the story of the "Vine & Fig Tree." You will learn that the
Bible says the purpose of the first Christmas was that "the knowledge of the Lord should cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah
11:9; Habakkuk 2:14). This has been going on for 2,000
years now. This is a wonderful story that isn't being told.
And the story is really just beginning.
You're invited to celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Join our online party and accomplish the following over the next 12 days:
read the historical accounts of the birth of Jesus Christ
discover "the real meaning of Christmas" by comparing the Gospel accounts of Christmas with a neglected Old Testament prophecy (Micah 4:1-7).
The "real meaning of Christmas" is:
Peace on Earth (Luke 2:14).
Everyone dwelling securely under his own Vine & Fig Tree (Micah 4:1-7).
Jesus is the Christ ("Christ" means "messiah," or
"anointed King").
What we've already witnessed:
The prophet Daniel predicted that during the Roman Empire, a rock would crush the empire and turn into a mountain
and fill the whole earth. Jesus is the Rock. He has been reigning for 2,000 years, ever since He rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father. His Kingdom is
the Mountain, it's filling the earth, and the planet is being progressively Christianized. Before He rose from the dead, He had 12 dejected and confused disciples. Today
over two billion people claim to be followers of Christ. The empire that executed Jesus soon collapsed under its own depravity.
Christians began Christianizing the world. Early kings like Ethelbert made the Ten Commandments the foundation of the "common
law" legal system in Europe. At one time the United States Supreme Court declared that America was "a
Christian nation." "Western civilization" is Christian
civilization. There have been ups and downs, but the progress cannot be denied. The Mountain is filling the earth.
Controversy:
Christ's Kingdom advances peacefully through works of service, not the
sword. A non-military, "pacifist" Messiah was not the kind of Messiah expected by most Jews 2,000 years ago. (Nor
by many Christians today.)
There are two groups that oppose this concept of Christmas:
"Premils"
"Pinkos"
"Premils" are "pre-millennialists" who believe the "millennium" (described by Micah 4 and
other passages) cannot take place until after a Second Coming of Christ, when Jesus returns and sets up a strong, military, "police-state"-style
centralized government, with armed believers dispatched from a throne in Jerusalem to put down unbelievers. "Premils" believe Christmas only secured for believers a
ticket to heaven when they die, or a ticket on "the Rapture" if they live that long. Not
global transformation.
"Pinkos" are those who believe that Jesus is not King enough to bring about the "millennium"; we need strong centralized government for that. Pinkos
call us "anarchists."
During the next 12 days, we'll find out why the Premils and the Pinkos are both wrong, and why you and I can and should work to bring "Peace on Earth" so
that everyone can dwell prosperously and securely under their own Vine & Fig Tree.
For more about the "Vine & Fig Tree" vision, see our
home page.
,
has found more than 40 references to the Vine and Fig Tree vision in Washington's Papers.