#12 JANUARY 13-19: 1 NEPHI 8

1st Nephi Chapter 8

Before we go on to consider 1 Nephi chapter 8 and Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life, let’s do a little “housekeeping.”

Major themes
Last week in Post #9, I listed three major themes of the Book of Mormon introduced in the first chapter. I listed them as:

1. The Messiah will come and redeem the world and His people.
2. Prophets receive revelation so they can speak for God and warn the people.
3. The tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom the Lord has chosen because of their faith and He will deliver them.
Having finished chapters 2-7, let’s add some major themes to the list:
4. The Book of Mormon is a book about families. Families are the source of our greatest joys but also can be the source of our greatest trials and heartaches.
5. Obedience brings the blessings of heaven.
     a. Those who obey will prosper and be led to a land of promise. Nephi is the prototype of those who are obedient and follow.
     b. Those who rebel will be cut off from the blessings of the Lord. Laman and Lemuel are the prototypes of those who murmur and rebel.
6. The scriptures are valuable and must be preserved.
7. When we follow the guidance of the Spirit, we prosper and succeed. When we rely on our own strength or leave the outcome to chance, we flounder and fail.
8. Relationships are important and are based on respect, trust and honesty.
9. We all have challenges in this life. How we respond makes all the difference.
10. The intent of the Book of Mormon is to persuade men and women to come unto Christ.

There will be other major themes introduced as we continue to read the Book of Mormon. Watch for them. And watch how these themes play out through the Book and in the lives of its people.

1 Nephi 8:1 “And it came to pass”
The famous American author of the 19th Century, Mark Twain, is reported to have said of the Book of Mormon that, if you took out all of the instances of the phrase “and it came to pass”, the book would only be a pamphlet! I found a good explanation of the use of the phrase “and it came to pass” in Book of Mormon Central.

The function of “and it came to pass” in the Book of Mormon is to move narrated events from one event to the text. Book of Mormon writers were not writing in English, and wrote long before ideas of punctuation had been invented and inserted into texts. The function of punctuation is to replicate some of the pauses we use in speech that allow our listeners to make sense of what we are saying. Rather than punctuation, Book of Mormon writers use linguistic markers that let their readers understand what is occurring in the text. Thus, there are many types of repeated phrases, and they often function as substitutes for punctuation. Even the ubiquitous “and”, which accompanies the majority of sentences, serves to link ideas, and to create connections where there are no punctuation marks.
In this case, the “and it came to pass” notes that Lehi’s dream occurs at some time after the previous events. That is reinforced when Nephi says that this happened after his father tarried in the wilderness. We don’t know how long between events this was, and marking the specifics of the timing wasn’t what Nephi was interested in. Nephi wants to record his father’s dream. Certainly, he does this because it was important, but the dream is included more for what it meant for Nephi than what it meant to Lehi.

Book of Mormon Central

1 Nephi 8:1 All manner of seeds
In one short verse, Nephi tells us that the colony gathered seeds of every kind, both grains and fruits. It sounds like they are preparing for a journey and know that it will be a long one. We don’t know how long they lingered in the Valley of Lemuel, but it could have been weeks or months. The Small Plates are not written for history, so Nephi doesn’t give us that detail. But it sounds like they were industriously preparing for the journey they will take. The journey will actually begin in Chapter 16. But first, Nephi wants to tell us about two remarkable visions, one his father’s and the other his own.

1 Nephi 8:2-38 Lehi’s Family and the Tree
The remainder of Chapter 8 tells the story of the vision of what Nephi will later learn is the Tree of Life. (His father never uses that term.) I had never noticed in reading this chapter until today that it follows a chiastic form, i.e. like the Greek letter chi, which looks like an X. In this literary form, the beginning and the end are statements and restatements of the same concept usually in reverse order and point to the center as the most important part. If you want to know more about chiastic writing a good place to start is at Book of Mormon Central. One of the principle experts involved in Book of Mormon Central is Prof. John Welsh, who first discovered chiasmus in the Book of Mormon when a missionary in Germany in 1967. It’s a fascinating story of discovery. If you want to know more, the link is

https://bookofmormoncentral.org/content/chiasmus-in-the-book-of-mormon

I’m no linguistics expert and am certainly not an expert in chiastic writing or analysis, but I’ve learned that this form is typical of ancient writing in several cultures including Hebrew writing and is not typical of more modern writing in the western world. In our world, writing usually proceeds linearly from beginning to conclusion, working up to the most important part at the conclusion. In chiastic writing there is an inverted structure with the first half being repeated in reverse order in the second half of the passage. This structure places the emphasis on the center rather than the end. It’s as if both arms of the “X” point to the middle.

Take a minute to scan over Chapter 8. You’ll see that Lehi, as quoted by Nephi, begins by expressing concern for his family, especially for his sons Laman and Lemuel, and then expresses concern for them again in the last verses of the chapter. In between, he describes his dream. And what is at the center that is so important? It is when Lehi, as the good father he is, beckons to his family to come and partake of the fruit which was desirable above all other fruit. He can’t partake of the fruit for them. He can’t force them to come. Only they can each individually make their way to the tree and partake of the fruit. He has already taken of the fruit for himself and knows that it is most sweet and white above anything he has tasted. Now he wants his family to partake of the fruit as well. So, as a loving father, he beckons them to come to the tree. Sariah, Nephi and Sam heed his call, come to the tree and take of the fruit. But Laman and Lemuel won’t come. Because of this, he fears that they will be cast off from the presence of the Lord.

Now let’s look at this chapter in more detail.

1 Nephi 8:4-9 What Lehi first saw.
In the second verse, Nephi changes to quoting Lehi’s words in the first person. Either Nephi remembers this story so well 30 years later that he can quote his father word for word or, more likely, his father wrote his own account of this dream, from which Nephi is now quoting. He sees a dark and dreary wilderness and a man dressed in a white robe who bids Lehi to follow him. As he does, Lehi finds himself in a dark and dreary waste in which he travels for several hours. Calling on the Lord, he is delivered from the dark and dreary waste and finds himself in a large and spacious field from which he can see a tree with fruit that is desirable.

Lehi doesn’t define for us the meaning of the objects and places in his dream. But later Nephi, desiring to see the things his father saw, has a similar dream/vision. In Nephi’s account, he gives an explanation of some of the different things that are described by his father. From Nephi’s later explanations we learn that the tree is the Tree of Life and that the desirable fruit is the Love of God. We’ll talk a lot more about that next week.

1 Nephi 8:10-18 The most desirable fruit
In his dream, Lehi tells us that he goes forward and partakes of the fruit of the tree. He describes it in superlative terms – “the most desirable”, “most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted” and “white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.” This is wonderful fruit! Lehi says that “it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy.” He had never tasted fruit like this before. His natural reaction is to want to share it with those he loves most.

What are this tree and its fruit? Nephi will learn later that they represent “the love of God.” We’ll discuss this in more depth when we consider Nephi’s vision. A good summary of the meaning of the tree and its fruit is in Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon.

This tree was more than an abstract principle, however, more than a vague sentiment, albeit a divine sentiment. Nephi was taught that the tree represented the love of God as manifest in the gift of his Son (see 1 Nephi 11:7, 20–22). Partaking of the fruit of the tree thus represented the partaking of the powers of Christ and his atonement: forgiveness of sins, as well as feelings of peace, joy, and gratitude. Ultimately, through partaking of the powers of the gospel one is qualified to partake of the greatest fruit of the Atonement—the blessings associated with eternal life.

Lehi then looks around and sees this family and a river of water which ran near the tree. Nephi later learns that “the depths thereof are the depths of ​​​hell​“ (12:16) and “that the ​​​water​ which my father saw was ​​​filthiness​; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.” (15:27)

We need to pause from the story for a minute to note that Lehi was so consumed with the wonderful fruit of the tree and his concern for his family, that he didn’t even notice how filthy the water was. Is it possible for us in this life, surrounded by a plague of immorality, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity, pornography, violence and baseness to be so consumed with the good things of life and so focused on our families that we don’t even notice that filth of this world? Yes, absolutely! Lehi teaches us that principle. As the world gets more and more wicked, the gulf between the world and those who, though not perfect, are doing their best to follow the Savior and His leaders will get wider and wider. But we can rise above the world and not be soiled by it. It may be hard for teenagers who hear profanity at school to resist using profanity themselves, but they can do it. It may be hard for those who may be inadvertently exposed to pornographic images to quickly turn away and not look back, but it can be done. It may be hard when so much in the media – movies, television, internet – is so base and so focused on sex, immorality in all its forms and violence for us to turn away, walk out or turn it off and find other ways to spend our time. Lehi shows us that we can. In fact, by immersing ourselves in good things, we won’t even notice the filth around us and our world will be clean in the midst of a world that is progressively becoming more filthy.

In the distance, Lehi sees Sariah, Sam and Nephi. They don’t seem to know which way to go, so he “beckons” (invites, encourages) them to come partake of the fruit. Notice that only they can choose to partake of the fruit. He can’t do it for them or force them to do so. And they do. They find their own ways to the tree, partake of the fruit and enjoy its sweetness for themselves. And notice the word “partake.” They don’t just “take” the fruit but they “partake” implying that they “participate” in the taking of the fruit. They are more involved than just passively taking it. As far as we can tell, they stay at the tree and continue to partake of the fruit and enjoy its goodness.

But it’s another story with Laman and Lemuel. They are at the head of the filthy river and won’t come to the tree or partake of the fruit. Maybe the filthiness of the river is a clue to why Laman and Lemuel seem to be so immune to the influence of the spirit. Perhaps they have made a habit of bathing in the filthy water and so their hearts are hardened against the sensitive impressions that come from the Lord.

Later, near the end of the chapter, Nephi points us back to this critical middle of the chapter and tells us of his father’s concern for his two oldest sons. Nephi says that Lehi “did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words”, but as time will show, they didn’t choose to hearken to their father’s pleadings. In fact, they eventually reject the words of their father and want to kill their brother Nephi.

1 Nephi 8:19-26 Lehi saw other things
Turning his attention away from his family, Lehi now notices a rod of iron which Nephi learns is “the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.” (15:24)

The rod of iron follows a strait and narrow path. Nephi does not give us an explanation of the path. He shouldn’t need to. In their excellent commentary, Millet and McConkie wrote:

The gospel path is strait and narrow in the sense that he who traverses the path must do so with care and must walk everlastingly with his eyes fixed upon the Lord and his anointed servants. The way is narrow. “Enter ye in at the strait gate,” the Lord said in the meridian of time, “for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13–14). A modern revelation also explained: “Strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me. . . . Broad is the gate, and wide the way that leadeth to the deaths; and many there are that go in thereat, because they receive me not, neither do they abide in my law.” (D&C 132:22, 25; see also 2 Nephi 31:19–20.) DCBM

Notice that it is a “strait” path, not a “straight” path, as it is often referred to and usually drawn in illustrations of the dream. (Actually strait and straight are homonyms, i.e. they sound the same but have different meanings. Did Joseph Smith spell for his scribe which word to use? Or did Oliver, his scribe for the Small Plates, have to guess which one to write? One reference says that even reviewing the printer’s manuscript makes it hard to tell. Maybe it was the printer who had to choose. See https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/is-the-path-to-eternal-life-strait-or-straight) I’m going to assume that the word Joseph wanted to use is strait.

What is the difference? An archaic definition of strait means “of limited spatial capacity; narrow or cramped.” A “strait and narrow path” is a narrow, narrow path and not necessarily a straight one, meaning without any turns or twists. In fact, the image of a narrow path that twists and turns through life as we endeavor to follow it is a better model in my opinion of what life is like. It is full of twists, turns, detours, bends, and dead ends. But it can still be the narrow path which leads to the tree if we walk the path holding to the rod of iron and keeping our covenants. In fact, the rod follows the path through all of those turns, twists, bends, detours and even the dead ends. The word of God is always there to help us.

I came to realize by the Spirit a few years ago that the rod of iron is always next to us on our journey even when we don’t have hold of it. And reaching out to take hold of it will immediately put us back on the path because the rod follows the path. The rod of iron follows us through the mists of darkness (see below). All we have to do is to reach out and it is there! I have explained to many who have lost their way and are no longer on the strait path, that turning around is half way home. Like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) who “came to himself”, when we turn around to face toward the Savior, we are half way back. And like the father of that Prodigal Son, He will see us when we are “a great way off” and will have compassion and run to us to welcome us home. So if I were an artist and were making a drawing of Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life, I would draw a narrow, winding path leading through the mists of darkness but eventually to the tree with the fruit that represents the Love of God. And I would draw the rod of iron following the path and always next to it.

As referred to above, Lehi also saw a mist of darkness which Nephi learned represented the “the temptations of the devil, which ​​​blindeth​ the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into ​​​broad roads​, that they perish and are lost.” (12:17) He also learned that it represented “the ​​​temptations​ and the fiery ​​​darts​ of the ​​​adversary​.” (15:24)

Finally, Lehi saw a Great and Spacious Building which stood in the air without a foundation. Nephi later learned that this represents “the world and the wisdom thereof” (11:35) and the “vain ​​​imaginations​ and the ​​​pride​ of the children of men.” (12:18) He saw that “it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.” (8:27)

1 Nephi 8:21-34 – Four groups of people
Lehi’s vision is not just about Lehi and the members of his family, but it is about each of us. Pres. Packer taught:

You may think that Lehi’s dream or vision has no special meaning for you, but it does. You are in it; all of us are in it (see 1 Nephi 19:23). Lehi’s dream or vision of the iron rod has in it everything a … Latter-day Saint needs to understand the test of life.

“Lehi’s Dream and You,” New Era, Jan. 2015

Lehi sees four different groups of people in his dream. The groups describe remarkably well the full spectrum of human responses to the experience of life and the opportunity to partake of the fruit. To make it more understandable, let’s discuss the groups in ascending order of receptiveness to the Spirit and correctness of their choices.

Group 1 “Never Ever” 

These people never even got on the path. Lehi saw other multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building. And it came to pass that many were drowned in the depths of the fountain; and many were lost from his view, wandering in strange roads. And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not. These are the words of my father: For as many as heeded them, had fallen away. (8:31-34)

This group never put their foot on the path let alone tasted of the fruit. Unfortunately, there are many in the world who seem to be in this group. But who are we to judge? Maybe they will eventually come to themselves, change their ways, reach out for the rod of iron, and follow the path to the tree. We won’t give up on them, but they are the hardest to reach and they take lots of casualties (converts) with them.

Group 2 “Lost their way on the path” 

These people started on the path but lost their way. Lehi said he saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which I stood. And it came to pass that they did come forth, and commence in the path which led to the tree. And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost. (8:21-23)

These people started on the path, but they got lost in the mists of darkness, let go of the rod of iron and lost their way. We presume they ended up in the great and spacious building or were drowned in the river that separated it from the path.

Group 3 “They looked around and were ashamed” 

This is the saddest group of all. They followed the path through the mists of darkness to the tree and even partook of the fruit. But after doing so they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed. And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth. And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit. And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost. (8:25-28)

What a shame! They paid the price to get to the tree but then lost their focus, took their eyes off the Savior and began listening to the voices of the world. This could happen to any of us if we aren’t careful.

Group 4 They “fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.” 

This group included Lehi, Sariah, Sam and Nephi and other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree. (8:30)

Perhaps an important difference between this group and those in Group 3, who also partook of the fruit of the tree, is that these people “fell down” to partake of the fruit. When did you ever fall down to pick fruit from a tree? But in this imagery, I believe it means that they were humble and submissive and came to the tree with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Doing so allowed them to continue to be guided by the Spirit, hold on to the rod of iron and ignore the voices from the great and spacious building.

Matthew 13 The Parable of the Sower
In Matthew 13, we read the account of the Savior giving what is known as the Parable of the Sower. It would be better called the “Parable of the Four kinds of Soil.” Notice how closely the different types of soil described in this parable correspond to the groups of people whom Lehi saw in his dream.

Group 1 – Seeds by the wayside.
13:4 some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
These people are like those who never even found the path. The seed never germinated, let alone took root.

Group 2 – Seeds in shallow soil.
13:5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
13:6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away
These people are like those who began on the path but let go of the rod of iron because their roots didn’t go deep enough to supply nourishment when the sun was up and the day was hot.

Group 3 – Seeds among thorns
13:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
These people are like those who followed the path to the tree and partook of the fruit but didn’t stay at the tree. The seed germinated in them. It was a good seed. The plant was growing. But thorns sprang up and choked out the good plants from the seeds. They might later claim that the seed wasn’t good. But the problem was not in the seed but that they let thorns grow up in their lives which eventually choked out the good plants.

Group 4 – Good ground
13:8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
These people nourished the growing plant, weeded out the thorns and reaped the blessings of the good seed.

Pres. Packer said each of us is in this dream. So where are we? Which group are we in? Most of those who will read this blog are in either Group 3 or Group 4. I doubt anyone from Group 1 or 2 will even be reading this, unless it is to try and put it down. We want to be in Group 4 and stay at the tree, but we are all at risk of falling into Group 3, maybe even without knowing it. Maybe we are still at the tree but no longer partaking of the fruit. Maybe we didn’t “fall down” to take the fruit and now are wondering if we no longer believe what we’ve been taught and what we once thought to be correct, even though we have tasted of the sweetness of the fruit. This remarkable vision and the companion parable from the Savior may be the catalyst for each of us, whether new convert, youth growing up in the Church, millennial struggling with doctrinal, historical or social issues in the Church or long-time member getting a little weary of well doing to look at where we are in relation to the tree and the fruit. Pres Nelson has encouraged us to examine ourselves and repent daily.

We all need to repent. We need to get up off the couch, put down the remote, and wake up from our spiritual slumber. It is time to put on the full armor of God so we can engage in the most important work on earth. It is time to “thrust in [our] sickles, and reap with all [our] might, mind, and strength.” The forces of evil have never raged more forcefully than they do today. As servants of the Lord, we cannot be asleep while this battle rages. 

“We Can Do Better and Be Better”, May 2019.

I hope we will take the opportunity to examine our lives, repent where necessary and do all we can to follow the path to the tree, hold firmly to the rod of iron, fall down and partake of the fruit of the tree. Then we can beckon to our families and others whom we love to join us in partaking of the fruit. And we can stay at the tree humbly and gratefully partaking of the fruit which is most desirable, white and sweet. Next week we will talk more about the meaning of the fruit.

May the Lord bless us all in this marvelous journey! Thank you, Lehi, for sharing with us your profound dream!

Addendum: Vision Outline
1/20/2020 (Cool date!)

In writing about 1 Nephi 11-15, I have developed an outline format for recording some essential information about major revelations in the scriptures. I’ve gone back and created an outline for this remarkable vision of Lehi’s. I’ll add it here to this post.

LEHI’S VISION OF THE TREE OF LIFE

• Scripture references: 1 Nephi 8, 10:2-15
• Location: Valley of Lemuel, near the Red Sea
• Date: Between 600-592 BC
• Recipient(s): Lehi
• Messenger(s): Man in a white robe
• Content: Tree of Life, Lehi’s family, four groups of people, mission of the Messiah, John the Baptist, scattering and gathering of the Jews and House of Israel, role of the Gentiles, “many more things”
• Impact: Accepted by Sariah, Nephi and Sam. Rejected by Laman & Lemuel.
• Comment: Remarkable vision! Only partly recorded in Nephi’s writings. More extensively recorded in the Book of Lehi, but lost with the 116 manuscript pages.