When a Fig Tree is Stripped of its Fruit, This is a Symbol of Destruction

 Conversely, destruction is symbolized by the stripping of the fruits from the fig tree
In Isaiah 34, we have a prophecy against the nations which plundered Israel. The nations were supposed to punish Israel for their idolatry. Increased, the nations of the world took advantage of Israel and cause more destruction than what they were supposed to. 

For this disobedience, God’s wrath is unleashed on the nations. Isaiah delivers words which paint a vivid picture of the nations being completely destroyed:
Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples!
Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
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For the Lord’s anger is against all the nations,
And His wrath against all their armies.
He has utterly destroyed them,
He has turned them over to slaughter.
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So their slain will be thrown out,
And their corpses will give off their stench,
And the mountains will be drenched with their blood.
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And all the heavenly lights will wear away,
And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
All its lights will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
Or as one withers from the fig tree.
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For My sword has drunk its fill in heaven;
Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom,
And upon the people whom I have designated for destruction.
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The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
It drips with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
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Wild oxen will also fall with them
And young bulls with strong ones;
So their land will be soaked with blood,
And their dust become greasy with fat.
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For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
A year of retribution for the [j]cause of Zion.
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[k]Its streams will be turned into pitch,
And its loose earth into brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.
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It will not be extinguished night or day;
Its smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation it will be desolate;
None will pass through it forever and ever.
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But pelican and hedgehog will possess it,
And owl and raven will dwell in it;
And He will stretch over it the line of [n]desolation
And the plumb line of emptiness.
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Its nobles—there is no one there
Whom they may proclaim king—
And all its officials will be nothing.
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Thorns will come up in its fortified towers,
Weeds and thistles in its fortified cities;
It will also be a haunt of jackals
And a habitat of ostriches.
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The desert creatures will meet with the [p]wolves,
The goat also will cry to its kind.
Yes, the night-bird will settle there
And will find herself a resting place.
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The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there,
And it will hatch and gather them under its protection.
Yes, the hawks will be gathered there,
Every one with its kind. (Isaiah 34:1-15)

After the Northern Kingdom has been taken away into exile, the Southern Kingdom goes off into idolatry even more than what the Northern Kingdom did. God is not happy. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promises the Southern Kingdom will be completely destroyed and wiped off the face of the map.

“Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem,

And look and take notice.
And seek in her public squares,

If you can find a person,

If there is one who does justice, who seeks honesty,

Then I will forgive her.
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And although they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’
Certainly they swear falsely.”
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Lord, do Your eyes not look for honesty?

You have struck them,
But they did not weaken;

You have consumed them,

But they refused to accept discipline.

They have made their faces harder than rock;

They have refused to repent.
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Then I said, “They are only the poor,

They are foolish;

For they do not know the way of the Lord

Or the judgment of their God.
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I will go to the great
And speak to them,

For they know the way of the Lord

And the judgment of their God.”
But together they too have broken the yoke

And burst the restraints.
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Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them,

A wolf of the deserts will destroy them,

A leopard is watching their cities.

Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces,

Because their wrongdoings are many,

Their apostasies are numerous.
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“Why should I forgive you?
Your sons have forsaken Me

And sworn by those who are not gods.
When I had fed them to the full,

They committed adultery

And stayed at the prostitute’s house.
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They were well-fed lusty horses, 
Each one neighing at his neighbor’s wife.
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Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord, “And shall I not avenge Myself

On a nation such as this?
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“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
But do not execute a complete destruction;
Strip away her branches,
For they are not the Lord’s.
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For the house of Israel and the house of Judah

Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the Lord.
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They have lied about the Lord
And said, “Not He;

Misfortune will not come upon us,

Nor will we see sword or famine.
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The prophets are as wind,

And the word is not in them.
 So it will be done to them!”

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Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of armies says:
 “Because you have spoken this word,

Behold, I am making My words fire in your mouth,

And this people wood, and it will consume them.
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Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from far away, you house of Israel,” declares the Lord.
“It is an enduring nation,

It is an ancient nation,

A nation whose language you do not know,
Nor can you understand what they say.
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Their quiver is like an open grave,

All of them are warriors.
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They will devour your harvest and your food;
They will devour your sons and your daughters;
They will devour your flocks and your herds;
They will devour your vines and your fig trees;
 They will demolish your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.

18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not make a complete destruction of you. 19 And it shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have abandoned Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’ (Jeremiah 5:1-18)