Fig Tree Ministries is an educational ministry dedicated to helping people discover the depths of the Biblical text. 

Our mission is simple: to excite people to want to read their Bible more by helping them see deeper into the scripture. 

Our conviction is that the Bible is a transformational book. That said, you must read it regularly for the transformational process to take hold. 

Since this is an ancient book, we modern readers are often left scratching our heads at what is being communicated. 

A significant reason for our confusion is that we are missing the historical and cultural context within which the book was written. 

There is a cultural divide between easterners and westerners (even today) which adds a layer of complexity to understanding what is being said. 

The Bible writers do not stop to explain the cultural nuances within which they live. They assume the readers already knows. 

One example of this is that the eastern mind loves to speak truth using concrete symbols which carry a greater meaning. Jesus always speaks in concrete terms (you can touch, smell, see, hear) rather than abstractions.  

Jesus tells stories to convey truth and the stories contain concrete symbols: a mustard tree, yeast, a father, a king, a land owner, a shepherd with a hundred sheep, a woman with ten coins, a father with two sons. 

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are also using symbols to communicate their message. Their audience was used to looking for and interpreting symbols within the stories they told. 

Unfortunately, our modern western thinking does not communicate this way and we must work to gain an understanding of what the Bible writers were saying to us. 

A woman in a Bible study I was once leading remarked to me: 

     "I feel as if I am leaning the 'rules' of how to read my Bible. I used to go to baseball games with my husband but I was
      so bored because I didn't know the rules of the game. Once I learned them and could follow what was happening on
      the field, the game suddenly became more exciting. This is how I feel now about my reading my bible. I am beginning
      to see deeper into the scripture and how the message is being communicated."  

God gave us His word to be accessible to ALL people. The Rabbis say there are "Seventy faces to Torah" - this is their symbolic way of saying that the words of the Bible speak to ALL people (70 Nations is the expression for the other nations in the world). 

The more we learn about the culture and history of when the bible was written the louder we hear the voice of God in the text.