Joan Lindsey and Lisa Seppi are my visiting teachers. During their visit in April, I said how frustrated I was after studying “The Allegory of the Olive Tree” in Jacob 5 of the Book of Mormon. I read the scriptures, then I read David J. Ridges’ The Book of Mormon Made Easier, Jacob 5 commentary and scriptures, and finally, I re-read the verses. But when the Allegory was taught in Sunday School, I felt like I didn’t understand it at all.
So, this month in May when Joan and Lisa visited me, Joan came prepared with five-pages of printed notes from Jacob 4 and 5 she used when she taught the Gospel Doctrine class in April, 2008. At the very top, she wrote: “Remember: the olive tree has long been a universal symbol of life, hope and peace. It lives long. IT DOES NOT GIVE UP.”
Her notes explain the allegory is “the combined effort of four prophets” over thousands of years. (1) It was first written by the prophet Zenos in Israel, and (2) retold to the Nephites by Jacob, Nephi’s younger brother, (3) Mormon “preserved” it in the scriptures for the Latter-days, and (4) Joseph Smith translated it into English.
As background for the Allegory, we know from the scriptures that the Jews had made God “incomprehensible” and “they must needs fall; for God hath taken away the plainness from them” (Jacob 4:14). But Jacob tells the Nephites that he will “unfold this mystery unto you” (Jacob 4:18)—the Nephites and latter-day readers of the Book of Mormon will know about the “true nature of Jesus Christ” and the power of His Atonement.
An allegory is a narrative story of common elements that is symbolic of something else. According to Joan’s notes, on the surface the story is “of a man and his olive tree and the man’s efforts to restore the deteriorating tree to its former pristine condition.” This allegory is symbolic of the Lord’s dealings with the children of Israel. Joseph Smith asked “… [What] caused Jesus to utter the parable?” (Teachings, p. 276-77.) Another question is asked by Jacob in the Book of Mormon: “And now, my beloved, how is it possible that these [the Jews], after having rejected the sure foundation [Christ], can ever build upon it that it may become the head of their corner”—the cornerstone of their lives? (Jacob 4:17-18.) The allegory of the olive tree is the answer to both questions.
Joan has divided this allegory into seven scenes listed below:
Scene one is before Christ, “following the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon” (Joan’s notes), “it [the tree] grew and waxed old, and began to decay” [symbolizes the Apostasy of Israel] (v. 3). I remember those Old Testament stories from my summaries of the scriptures and can visualize the sins of David and Bathsheba, Solomon’s greed, and Saul’s disobedience to the command of the Lord not to war with the Gibeonites. But the tree began to put forth a few “young and tender branches” symbolic of righteous prophets such as Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lehi to “promote new growth” but the “main top” [most of the people] had fallen away (v. 6).
Scene two is also before Christ at a time when the Assyrians “carry off” the people of the Northern Kingdom, and the Babylonians invade the Southern Kingdom, destroy and burn Jerusalem, kill the people and take those who are left captive to Babylon. And the Lord said: “we will pluck off those main branches which are beginning to wither away and we will cast them into the fire that they may be burned” (v. 7). This is also the time when branches of the wild tree [the Assyrians and the Samaritans] were grafted into the tame tree but did not produce much fruit [righteous works] (v. 10). Now, the Lord comes down and “hid the natural branches of the tame olive-tree in the nethermost parts of the vineyard, some in one and some in another” [part of the earth] (v. 14). This represents the scattering of Israel. Some were planted in “a poor spot of ground” and others poorer yet, but “behold the last...this have I planted in a good spot of ground”—which represents the descendents of Lehi on this continent (v. 20-25).
Scene three is during the time of Christ. After a long time, the Lord goes to labor in his vineyard (vv. 15-28). Now, I am hearing the words of Christ—and thinking about his miracles, his healings, his crucifixion and resurrection. Joan tells us “The great strength of the roots [the gospel covenant] has overpowered the wildness of the branches” and brought forth tame fruit from “grafted in” [Gentile] branches (v.18). Paul and others of the apostles of Christ preached in places outside of the Holy Land and converted many who “nourished” the original tree [house of Israel]. The righteous people of Nephi [the tame tree with Jewish roots] also “brought forth tame fruit” (v. 25). The wicked Lamanites who “hath brought forth wild fruit” were saved from burning by the servant [prophet] who pruned, dug and nourished the tree “a little longer” and brought forth righteous fruit for a time (v. 27).
Scene four is the time of great apostasy, false churches, and false teachings after Christ when the Apostles are dead and gone. The Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant [prophet]: “Let us go to and hew down the trees of the vineyard and cast them into the fire, that they shall not cumber the ground of my vineyard” (v. 49). And the Lord is grieved because the gospel is lost from the whole earth including those “branches” which have been broken off where the descendents of Lehi and Nephi were planted. But the servant said to the Lord of the vineyard: “Spare it a little longer.” And the Lord said, “Yea, I will spare it a little longer” (vv. 50-51).
Scene five is the Latter-day Restoration. And the Lord said: “Wherefore, let us go to and labor with our might this last time for behold the end draweth nigh, and this is for the last time that I shall prune my vineyard” (v. 62). This will be a spiritual gathering of Israel. Now the gospel has been given to the Gentiles [restored by Joseph Smith] who “invigorate and nourish the root of the Abrahamic covenant.... [All] the branches of the tame olive tree are grafted back onto their parent tree” and the Master of the vineyard finds the fruit is good and “no more corrupt” (quoting Joan’s notes). (See Jacob 5:50-74.)
Scene six is just prior to and during the Millennium. The bad have been cast out of the vineyard [the final destruction of the wicked] and the “trees [the covenant people] had become again the natural fruit.” The righteous are “like unto one body” (v. 74). And the Lord said to his servants: “for the last time have I nourished my vineyard, and pruned it, and dug about it, and dunged it; wherefore I will lay up unto mine own self of the fruit [works of righteous saints], for a long time, [the Millennium] according to that which I have spoken” (v. 76).
Scene seven is after the Millennium when evil again enters the Lord’s kingdom on earth. The good and the bad are separated. The wicked are destroyed—“cast away into its own place,”—the saints are gathered and preserved by the Lord, and “my vineyard will I cause to be burned with fire” (v. 77). “And I [John the Beloved] saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away” (Rev. 21:1).
Ridges points out using bold in his book that the Lord repeats the phrase, “It grieveth me that I should lose this tree (and the fruit thereof)” seven times. The symbolic meaning for the tree is the House of Israel or the covenant people, and the fruit is the righteous works of his children (vv. 7, 11, 13, 32, 46, 51, 66). The Lord not only grieves for his children, but verse 41 states: “the Lord of the vineyard wept” and he asks, “What could I have done more for my vineyard?” (v. 41).
Joan concludes: "The mystery that Jacob illuminates is God is not distant [he cares], is full of grace (the divine enabling power), is ceaselessly involving himself with each of his children, seeking a [righteous] response, seeking a oneness" [with him]. She states: “This ceaseless divine activity in seeking to bring men into his presence, even while they walk the earth, indicates God’s personal attention to each one of us.”
Thank you Joan!
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