“Every man under his fig-tree” was an Old Testament symbol for someone living in peace – shalom, a state of complete safety and contentment. It stood for a good Israelite who fulfilled God’s requirements of Micah 6:8.


It can now be seen as a picture of someone who has come to Jesus and who is experiencing His rest, someone who is yoked together with Him and, not finding it irksome or difficult, is experiencing that his burden is indeed light. He is confident because he knows that his guilt has been taken away. He feels utterly relaxed in the service of the Lord. He is fully contented with his lot behind the protective walls that Jesus builds around him. He no longer lives the driven life of legalism harried by its constantly accusing oughts and shoulds. He no longer feels the sharp lash of Satan’s voice telling him that his sinful life does not satisfy God.


“Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken” (Micah 4:4).