The Fruit of the Land-Part 4, Grapes and Figs

The Fruit of the Land-Part 4, Grapes and Figs

[Study Aired October 25, 2026]

In our last study we examined the spiritual significance of wheat and barley as offerings to the Lord of the fruit of our land. We saw that barley signified Christ as the first of the firstfruits of the land, and wheat signified the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb.

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
Rev 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Since we are “the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb” we are actually “presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God”, and the ‘meat (flour) offering we bring to the Lord upon the burnt offering of Christ is to be “of the best fruits in the land.”

Gen 43:11  And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the landin your vessels, and carry down the man a present [to curry his favor], a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [“The best of the fruits in the land”, (Gen 43:11)]
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We are not to appear before the Lord empty, and a renewed mind is an acceptable present of the best fruits in the land:

Exo 23:15  Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

Deu 16:16  Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
Deu 16:17  Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.

We are to give to the Lord of the best fruits in the land ‘according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee’. Give, “according to the blessing which the Lord thy God hath given thee” is a principle which is closely associated with the very next fruit of the land with which we are so very blessed.

The Lord’s Vineyard

The next two fruits of ‘the best fruits in the land’ are grapes and figs:

Deu 8:8  A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

Every scholar agrees that ‘vines’ in this verse refers to vineyards with which to make wine. So what is the spiritual significance of this ‘fruit of the land’ which we are to offer our Lord to seek His favor? What is the spiritual significance of wine in scripture?

Here are a few verses which give us the positive application of wine:

Gen 14:18  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Gen 14:19  And he [Melchizedek] blessed him [Abram, not yet changed to Abraham], and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

Gen 27:25  And he [Isaac] said [to Jacob, believing he was talking to Esau], Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank.

Gen 27:27  And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
Gen 27:28  Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

Gen 27:37  And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

Exo 29:40  And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.
Exo 29:41  And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Exo 29:42  This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.

Wine is not the only fruit of the land which is associated with being blessed of the Lord. Every fruit of the land is a blessing of the Lord, but, as we have just witnessed, wine is associated with being blessed more often than many of the other fruits of the land.

‘Better than wine’

“Better than wine” is the phrase the Lord uses to express the depth of His love for us and our love of Him:

Son 1:2  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
Son 1:3  Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
Son 1:4  Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

Son 4:10  How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!

Another aspect of our gift of wine is the joy of the Lord which it signifies:

Psa 104:15  And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread whichstrengtheneth man’s heart.

Wine signifies the Lord’s fidelity towards His people:

Isa 65:8  Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all.

Wine is mentioned among the Lord’s blessings for our faithfulness and obedience:

Deu 7:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
Deu 7:13  And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

Sacrifice and Covenant

The blood of animals with which the old covenant was sealed signified the death of Christ, and the blood of Christ is signified by the wine with which the new covenant is sealed:

Mat 26:27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28  For this [wine] is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

1Co 11:25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Transformation

Christ’s first miracle was transforming water into wine. That transformation from mere common water into a fine wine signifies the change He is working in us as we are in the process of being ‘conformed to the image of His Son’ by transforming our minds into His mind… “the mind of Christ.”

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Mat 9:17  Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

Christ’s covenant and His  laws are not ‘an eye for an eye’. His ‘torah’ is a new ‘torah’ and in Christ and His new mind we become that ‘new wineskin’:

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

As is true for every word of God, ‘wine’ also has a negative application as the following verses demonstrate:

Eph 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

It is good to be “filled with the spirit”. It is not good to abuse the Lord’s words and use them to cover the idols of our hearts:

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet,and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
Eze 14:11  That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.

Being drunk with wine is an abuse of the gift the Lord has given us of the best fruits in the land. When we twist and distort the Lord’s “blood in the New Testament” into “idols of our hearts”, we are abusing the symbolic wine with which we have been blessed, and are “led astray” by abusing that ‘fruit of the land’ which is meant to give us light in a dark world. Therefore the Lord warns us:

Pro 20:1  [Excessive, abused] Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler: and whosoever is led astray by it is not wise. (ESV)
Pro 23:20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
Pro 23:21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. (NIV)

Abusing this ‘fruit of the land’ will keep us from inheriting the kingdom of God:

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Pro 31:4  It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
Pro 31:5  Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.

Isa 5:11  Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
Isa 5:12  And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

That is the negative application of abused wine.

The Fig Tree

The next ‘fruit of the land’ which we offer our Creator, Who gives us these blessings, is the fig tree:

Deu 8:8  A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

The Lord calls us His fig tree:

Joe 1:6  For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
Joe 1:7  He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

The physical nation of Israel is but a type and shadow of those who now worship God in spirit and in truth, and who put no confidence in physical pedigree:

Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

It was the Lord Himself who sent the Chaldeans to ‘bark His fig tree’ because of their infidelity and disobedience to Him and His laws and His ways. Physical descent is no longer a factor in who qualifies as the Lord’s people. Jeremiah tells us the Lord wrote His physical nation “a bill of divorcement”, and the cursing of the fig tree by the Lord in or near Jerusalem confirmed that divorce included the southern kingdom of Judah as well as “her sister, Israel”:

Jer 3:6  The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
Jer 3:7  And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
Jer 3:8  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

Christ did not come to save a physical nation. He came to create a new spiritual ‘Israel… the Israel of God” in which physical pedigree has no place:

Gal 3:26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Gal 6:15  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the [new] Israel of God.

Mat 21:18  Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
Mat 21:19  And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
Mat 21:20  And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

Only “in Christ” are we now “Abraham’s [spiritual] seed, and only “in Christ” are we now the Lord’s fruitful tree if we abide in His Words (Joh 8:30-31)

In Luke 13 Christ gives us a parable of a barren fig tree in which He demonstrates that He will not tolerate being unproductive and fruitless:

Luk 13:6  He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
Luk 13:7  Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
Luk 13:8  And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
Luk 13:9  And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

A fig tree which bears good figs signifies the Lord’s blessings of spiritual peace and prosperity:

1Ki 4:25  And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon [Typifying the rule of Christ].

Mic 4:3  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. [Until the thousand years are finished, (Rev 20:7-9)]
Mic 4:4  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. [A prophesy of the thousand year reign of Christ.

Zec 3:7  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
Zec 3:8  Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
Zec 3:9  For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes [The spirit of Christ in His elect kings and priests, (Rev 20:4-6)]: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
Zec 3:10  In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.

The next chapter of Zechariah, chapter four, reveals more about these ‘seven eyes’, and what they signify:

Zec 4:10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

The book of Revelation plainly states that these ‘seven eyes’ “are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” Who is it Christ will send forth into all the earth to rule this earth with a rod of iron?

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

We live under our own vine, Christ, and our own fig tree in earnest at this time (Eph 1:13-14). If we are blessed to be in the first resurrection we will give that opportunity to the whole world while we keep the peace with a rod of iron.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. [When every man will live under  his own vine and under his own fig tree]
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

In the end Christ Himself is the source of all peace and prosperity and He is therefore our vine and our fig tree.

Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

We discussed the spiritual significance of ‘honey’ when we examined the significance of each of “the best fruits in the land” which Jacob sent to “the man.” Therefore, Lord willing, our next two fruits of the land will be the last two in this series of studies on the fruits of our land which we are to offer up to our Lord… pomegranates and olives:

Deu 8:8  A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;