A Bunch of Tools
Fig leaves without fruit are a false covering. Nathaniel (“gift of God”) was “covered” by fig leaves like Adam, but he did not image the serpent. Jesus “saw” him and he was guileless. [1] Years of Bible teaching and a godly upbringing bore the fruit of righteousness. He was a true Israelite, a victorious prince of God. He would see heaven and earth united in Christ.
Solomon was initially such a prince, but compromised with the serpent. Eventually, God cut down Solomon’s house and built a bigger shelter. This explains God’s methods in Nebuchadnezzar’s conversion. AD70 did it all again, hence the obsolescence of Rome as a shelter, as an ark, as a great tree. The Empire-Tabernacle was cut off at the feet, at the stump, and replaced with an even more glorious house. It’s the one we live in today.
When Satan corrupts the tree and brings barrenness, God cuts it up and scatters it as seed over an even larger territory. Satan — and his minions — are quite demonstrably a bunch of tools.
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[1] I’d be willing to bet that the literary structure puts Jesus as the Lampstand and Nathaniel as the Table, the facebread (Man-face) watched over by the eyes of God (Eagle-face).
