217. The symbolism in the Word of a grapevine as spiritual-level good and of a fig tree as earthly-level good is completely unknown today because the inner meaning of the Word has been lost. Wherever these words come up, however, that is what they symbolize or refer to. What the Lord said in various parables about vineyards and fig trees had the same meaning. ¹ So did his words in Matthew:

Jesus, seeing a fig tree along the way, came to it but found nothing on it except leaves alone. So he said to it, "May fruit not come from you from now to eternity!" Accordingly the fig tree instantly withered. (Matthew 21:19)

These words meant that no good was to be found on the earth, not even good on the earthly plane. The grapevine and fig tree have a similar meaning in Jeremiah:

"Were they ashamed that they did an abominable thing? They felt no shame at all, and they did not know how to blush. So I will utterly destroy them," says Jehovah. "There are no grapes on the grapevine, no figs on the fig tree, and the leaf has fallen off." (Jeremiah 8:12-13)

This means that all good — both spiritual and earthly — had died out, because people were such that they could not even feel shame. They were like those today who have evil in them but are so far from feeling shame that they brag about it. In Hosea:

Israel was like grapes in the wilderness when I discovered him. Your ancestors were like first fruit on a young fig tree when I saw them. (Hosea 9:10)

And in Joel:

Do not be afraid, animals of my fields; because the tree will bear its fruit, the fig tree and the grapevine will yield their strength. (Joel 2:22)

A grapevine stands for spiritual good, a fig tree for earthly good.

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