The allegory of the olive trees taught by Zenos and quoted by Jacob in the Book of Mormon is an interesting historical summary of the House of Israel. It can be read on a macro level and a micro level as well. Don't worry, this post is not intended to cover the longest chapter in the Book of Mormon. There is definitely much going on here. My intent here is to focus on a couple of the verses and how they apply to the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Jacob Chapter Five is divided into a series of historical time periods with time markers in verses such as, "And it came to pass that a long time passed away" (v. 15). The scattering of Israel has already begun as the Lord of the vineyard declared, "And these will I place in the nethermost part of my vineyard, whithersoever I will, it mattereth not unto thee," speaking of the natural branches of the tame olive tree (v. 13).
The Lord of the vineyard has a plan for the tree. It includes four elements--nourishment, digging, pruning, and dung. And, of course, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, so if it's good for the whole house, it's good for the individual. These all help the tree so that when the water comes to the root, the tree will grow, prosper, and bear good fruit. There are many applications of the symbolic care of the tree, but I will mention one example for each of the four elements.
Nourishment
The Lord speaks often of "preserving the roots" in this chapter. Nourishment is obviously crucial to life itself and keeping the roots alive. But it's apparent the Lord is speaking also of spiritual nourishment, such as that received by heartfelt prayer, meaningful scripture study, and the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Those who had been baptized into the church, according to Moroni, "were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith" (Moroni 6: 4). They were rooted in Christ, relying upon His merits.
Digging
It becomes apparent with one glance at my yard that I'm no gardening expert, so I can't tell you how digging around a tree would help it any. But last year as I was digging around in the Book of Mormon, I changed my opinion about the "slippery treasures" people went digging for, but to no avail.
Samuel the Lamanite prophesied that the people would one day say, "O that we had remembered the Lord our God in the day that he gave us our riches, and then they would not have become slippery that we should lose them; for behold, our riches are gone from us" (Helaman 13: 33). I used to think these must have been only material treasures, until I dug a little deeper and pondered on one of the later verses, and realized that these people were "surrounded by demons" and "the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls"
(verse 37), and having more material goods would not have warded off a demon. But having the power of temple covenants, or the companionship of the Holy Ghost, or the blessings that come from righteous living most certainly would be heavenly treasures, and guaranteed to be potent against such an attack.
And how about digging a little deeper inside ourselves to find ways to deepen discipleship?
Pruning
The Lord said to His disciples, "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15: 2). It's seldom fun to have to cut things out of our lives or be shaped by the Lord. But character, like the branches of a tree, are a composite of good and bad.
Those of us in Twelve Step recovery work a Fourth Step: "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." My own inventory revealed many character defects and behaviors worthy of pruning. Near the end of this allegory there is some great advice on overcoming evil influences. The Lord of the vineyard gives sage advice.
"Ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once, lest the roots thereof should be too strong for the graft, and the graft thereof shall perish . . . Wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that the root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad" (Jacob 5: 65-66).
Satan will try to discourage us by reminding us of many shortcomings and weaknesses. The Holy Ghost will encourage us to strive to be better disciples of Christ, and will prompt us to know how and when we can improve, and what we need to work on next. The bad things in life need to be replaced with something good, otherwise there remains a void.
Dung
I will simply call this adversity. It becomes fertilizer for plants and trees, and adversity can become a growth opportunity for true saints. Brigham Young once said, "The worst fear that I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches, for they will become the richest people on this earth" (reported in James S. Brown, Life of a Pioneer [1900], 122–23).
And the Lord says, "Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" (Isaiah 48: 10).
Living Water
There is an interesting parallel between the events in this allegory and an event in the life of the Savior. When Jesus traveled to Samaria He met the woman at Jacob's well and promised her "living water." Jesus said, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water" (John 4: 10). He explained that this "living water" could be "a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4: 14).
When the disciples returned, Jesus said to them "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest" (John 4: 35). This represented an expansion of the gospel message to the Samaritans, where Jesus was, and then later to the Gentiles. These Samaritans, who were considered half-Israelites by the Jews, and later the Gentiles, would become the harvest of those white fields.
The wild olive tree, whose branches were grafted into the tame tree, represented the Gentiles grasping hold of the gospel, which preserved the early Christian church. The same thing happened in the Restoration period in Kirtland, Ohio around 1838 when missionaries were sent out, and new converts were brought in to preserve the lifeblood of the Church.
Notice how this event is portrayed in Zenos' allegory:
"And he said unto the servant: Behold, the branches of the wild tree have taken hold of the moisture of the root thereof, that the root thereof hath brought forth much strength; and because of the much strength of the root thereof the wild branches have brought forth tame fruit. Now, if we had not grafted in these branches, the tree thereof would have perished. And now, behold, I shall lay up much fruit, which the tree thereof hath brought forth; and the fruit thereof I shall lay up against the season, unto mine own self" (Jacob 5: 18).
The Gentiles took hold of the living water of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the living water went down to the roots, preserving the early Christian church, and also the restored gospel in our dispensation. On a micro level, the wild, natural man is changed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, represented by that living water leading one to eternal life, and is brought from a "wild," corrupted life to a tame, peacable life centered in Jesus Christ.
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