“The Vision of the Tree of Life”
Ponderize
Scripture: 1 Nephi 10:19—“For he that diligently
seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by
the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as
well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is
one eternal round.”
Where are we in this vision, in this journey? How can we liken this scripture to ourselves?
Where are we in this vision, in this journey? How can we liken this scripture to ourselves?
Introduction
This week we are looking at Lehi’s vision and a part of Nephi’s vision
and why he sought it. Since these visions basically contain the Gospel and its
fullness, for our study we should look for those things in the two visions.
Remember we established a couple of weeks ago that “in the Book of Mormon we
will find the fulness of those doctrines required for our salvation. And they
are taught plainly and simply so that even children can learn the ways of
salvation and exaltation” (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Nov. 1986, 6). And those aspects are: 1. Jesus Christ’s divinity, 2. the
reality of His Atonement, 3. God’s covenant with the house of Israel, 4. sacred
covenants.”[1]
Here is a table from the Book of Mormon Institute Manual.
Symbol from Lehi’s Dream (1 Nephi 8)
|
Interpretation Given to Nephi (1 Nephi
11–12)
|
The tree with white fruit (see verses
10–11)
|
|
The rod of iron (see verse 19)
|
The word of God, which leads to the tree of life (see 11:25)
|
The mist of darkness (see verse 23)
|
The temptations of the devil, which blind people so they
lose their way and cannot find the tree (see 12:17)
|
The great and spacious building in the air (see verse 26)
|
|
People who start on the path to the tree but are lost in the
mist (see verses
21–23)
|
Nephi saw the following kinds of people in the dream:
Multitudes who heard Jesus but “cast him out” (11:28)
People who crucified Jesus even after He healed the sick and
cast out devils (see 11:31–33)
Multitudes who gathered together in a large and spacious
building to fight against the Twelve Apostles.
Nephites and Lamanites who were gathered together to battle
and were slaughtered in war (see 12:1–4,
13–15)
Nephites who, because of pride, were destroyed by the
Lamanites and dwindled in unbelief (see 12:19–23)
|
People who make it to the tree (and taste the fruit) by
holding onto the rod but fall away when they are mocked (see verses
24–25, 28)
|
|
People who desire the great and spacious building more than
the tree (see verses
26–27, 31–33)
|
|
People who held onto the rod and partook of the fruit; they
ignored the mockers and did not fall away (see verses
30, 33)
|
Those who partake of the greatest of all of God’s
gifts—eternal life (see 15:36)
|
1. The symbols in the vision
of the tree of life
·
Tree of Life: Elder Holland: “The Spirit made explicit that the Tree of
Life and its precious fruit are symbols of Christ’s redemption” (Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic
Message of the Book of Mormon [1997], 160). Elder Maxwell: “The tree
of life … is the love of God (see 1 Nephi
11:25). The love of God for His children is most profoundly expressed in
His gift of Jesus as our Redeemer: ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son’ (John 3:16).
To partake of the love of God is to partake of Jesus’ Atonement and the
emancipations and joys which it can bring” (Ensign,
Nov. 1999, 8).
·
River of filthy water/mists of darkness—It is
interesting that here we are in a desert environment but the two sources of water,
the river and the mists, are negative images. What is life-saving is fruit!
Does this possibly mean that we must work and bear fruit ourselves to fully
partake of the fullness of the Gospel? That being said, Nephi refers to a "fountain of living water," a river can be easily polluted downstream by a carcass for instance
·
Rod of Iron : “Elder Bednar: “Let me suggest that
holding fast to the iron rod entails the prayerful and consistent use of all
three of the ways of obtaining living water that we have discussed tonight
[reading, studying, and searching]. … The regular use of all three methods
produces a more constant flow of living water and is in large measure what it
means to hold fast to the rod of iron. … Are you and I daily reading,
studying, and searching the scriptures in a way that enables us to hold fast to
the rod of iron … ?” (“A Reservoir of Living Water” [CES fireside for
young adults, Feb. 4, 2007], 10–11, www.ldsces.org).
·
Great and spacious building—Elder Perry: “The current cries we hear coming from the
great and spacious building tempt us to compete for ownership in the things of
this world. We think we need a larger home, with a three-car garage and a
recreational vehicle parked next to it. We long for designer clothes, extra TV
sets . . . the latest model computers, and the newest car. Often these items
are purchased with borrowed money without giving any thought to providing for
our future needs. The result of all this instant gratification is overloaded
bankruptcy courts and families that are far too preoccupied with their
financial burdens” (Ensign, Nov.
1995, 35).
2. The people in the vision
of the tree of life
1 Nephi
8:21–23. (Those who start on the path but then become lost in the mist of
darkness.)
1 Nephi
8:24–28. (Those who hold to the rod of iron until they reach the tree and
partake of the fruit, but then become ashamed and fall away.)
1 Nephi
8:30. (Those who hold to the rod of iron until they reach the tree and
partake of the fruit, and who then remain faithful.)
1 Nephi
8:31–33. (Those who never start on the path but instead go directly toward
the great and spacious building.) Elder Maxwell, “Let us expect that many will
regard us indifferently. Others will see us as quaint or misled. Let us bear
the pointing fingers which, ironically, belong to those finally who, being
bored, find the ‘great and spacious building’ to be a stale and cramped
third-class hotel (see 1 Nephi
8:31–33). Let us revile not the revilers and heed them not (see D&C
31:9). Instead, let us use our energy to hold up the shield of faith to
quench the incoming fiery darts” (Ensign,
Nov. 2003, 102).
1 Nephi 10
Nibley “This is the peculiar situation. As I said, there was just this
one point of light. The book came into the possession of Lehi, and then just
one lone family was to carry the whole civilization, the whole culture, to the
New World where it was to last for a thousand years. Notice, the Lord works
with very small centers, and it’s the same thing here. What about the rest of
the human race? This [1 Nephi 10:6] is the rest of the human race. All mankind
were in a lost and fallen state and would be forever if they didn’t rely on the
Redeemer—and how few people knew about the Redeemer. Without the Atonement we
are not going anywhere, and nobody in the world knew about the Atonement. How
few people know about it today. Isn’t that a strange thing?”[2]
Sister Julie B. Beck, “The scriptures are so important that Nephi risked
his life to obtain a copy of them. He wanted to ‘see, and hear, and know’ (1
Ne. 10:17). He ‘searched [the scriptures] and found that they were desirable
[and] of great worth’ (1 Ne. 5:21). In the scriptures he learned about ‘the
doings of the Lord in other lands, among people of old’ (1 Ne. 19:22). He
started a study of the scriptures and learned about Heavenly Father, His Son
Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, and his identity as a son of God. He learned who
he was and what to do.”[3]
Carlos O. Godoy, “With this vision, Nephi was able not only to overcome
the challenges of the journey but also to lead his family when it became
necessary. It is very likely that when we decide to take a certain path, the
people we love will be affected, and some will even share with us the results
of this choice. Ideally, they should be able to see what we see and share our
same convictions. This is not always possible, but when it occurs, the journey
is much easier.”[4]
1 Nephi 11
Condescension means a voluntary descent from rank or dignity. Elder
Gerald N. Lund, formerly of the Seventy, commented on how well this word
describes the coming of the Savior into mortality: “Here was Jesus—a member of
the Godhead, the Firstborn of the Father, the Creator, Jehovah of the Old
Testament—now leaving His divine and holy station; divesting Himself of all
that glory and majesty and entering the body of a tiny infant; helpless,
completely dependent on His mother and earthly father. That He should not come
to the finest of earthly palaces and be … showered with jewels but should come
to a lowly stable is astonishing. Little wonder that the angel should say to
Nephi, ‘Behold the condescension of God!’” (Jesus
Christ, Key to the Plan of Salvation [1991], 16).[5]
1 Nephi 15
Nephi interprets the dream for his brothers because they would not ask
the Lord for an interpretation for themselves as he had done. They relied on
the testimony of their brother, but went no further. That was not sufficient to
keep them even close to the iron rod. Craig Christensen: “Because of his
believing heart and his diligent efforts, Nephi was blessed with a marvelous
experience. He received a witness of the forthcoming birth, life, and
Crucifixion of the Savior Jesus Christ; he saw the coming forth of the Book of
Mormon and the Restoration of the gospel in the last days—all as a result of
his sincere desire to know for himself. These personal experiences with the
Lord prepared Nephi for the adversity and challenges he would soon face. They
enabled him to stand strong even when others in his family were struggling. He
could do this because he had learned for himself and he knew for himself. He
had been blessed with his own testimony.”[6]
Video
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-04-5020-elder-kevin-w-pearson?lang=eng
Church History exhibit on the Tree of Life
https://history.lds.org/exhibit/tree-of-life?lang=eng
Church History exhibit on the Tree of Life
https://history.lds.org/exhibit/tree-of-life?lang=eng
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