Kingdom Obstacles in Church and State

 I had an epiphany today, reading about Jesus cursing the fig tree, in Matthew 21:18-22.

"In the morning, as [Jesus] was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Here's the historical context I already knew:

The fig tree was a symbol of Israel's leaders, like an elephant means Republican, to us.

The mountain referred to Herod, who literally moved mountains.  His Herodium, a man-made mountain-fortress, was visible from the Mount of Olives, where Jesus said this.

My epiphany:

The two huge obstacles that the disciples saw to the advance of the kingdom of God were the mainstream church and the state.  The Sanhedrin of Israel, and Herod.  Jesus showed with a miracle that he could wither the official-but-apostate church to nothing in a moment.  Then he promised the disciples in the next breath that they could throw Herod's mountain into the sea, if they had faith.

Our obstacles are the same: a compromising church, and an over-reaching state.

When God's kingdom revives and swells, the state cannot stem the tide - it'll be drowned like Pharaoh's soldiers in the Red Sea.   The mainline church, as we call it, will wither at His command, in its unfaithfulness to bear fruit to Him.