Discuss the account of Sherem, found in Jacob 7:123. It has been proposed in previous articles that "of the seed" in a patriarchal line, means a patrilineal (all male line) descendant. The founding years of the house of Israel, the starting point of the allegory, date to the first half of the second millenniumB.C., the most likely setting for the Patriarchal Age. This explanation also fits the complicated branch swapping, which is beginning now, because very little swapping has already occurred. Paul Y. Hoskisson is an assistant professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. The servant in the second visit at the time of Christ is not identified by the Savior. Thus, the tentative dates for the third era in the allegory, the Day of the Gentiles, can be placed around the time of Christ, about six hundred years after the closing of the previous period. And behold, there are all kinds of bad fruit (v.32). Sketch a branch of an olive tree on each of several other posters. What evidence do you see that some people today use similar methods to lead others away from Christ? BruceR. McConkie, 3 vols. . An example of the adoption of new cultural elements is seen in the fact that the Babylonian calendar is still used today by Jewish people. 7. The scenes in this allegory will literally happen. The Restoration of the gospel and the gathering of scattered Israel.). (Bringing Gentiles into the house of Israel through baptism.) For the house of Israel beginning with Abraham and continuing with Isaac and Jacob, see Bruce R. McConkie, ANew Witness for the Articles of Faith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985), 503: Israelite history begins not with father Jacob, who is Israel, nor with his tribal descendants who adopted his name as theirs, but with Abraham, their father. Again, the benefit of hindsight is not available. Place this poster on the floor in the middle of the room. Pratt, John P., "Scriptures About Marriage" (21 Mar 2021) Section 1.3 "No Polygamy". Tame Olive Trees. But, however interesting these historical correlations might be, the allegory was delivered with a far greater purpose in mind, namely, to explain how it is possible that the Jewish people, after having rejected . It explains why the servant gave a surprising answer as to why the bad branch of the tree in the choice area had overcome the good branch. Another states that these good feelings, when harvested, add to the glory of the Lord (A3N 14:44), and another explains that the good fruits will help His people be united in the last days (A3N 14:52). The wild olive trees therefore refer to non-Israelites. This is precisely the situation of the (Christian) world as described by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph in the Sacred Grove (JSH 1:19). They joined the Latins to found Rome. Invite class members to read selected verses aloud. Why did the master ask the servant to graft in some wild branches? A little reflection shows that the third visit is indeed necessary to understand the allegory. The Lord is compared to the lord of a vineyard and the House of Israel to an olive tree. How can we nourish our spirits? (see "Etruscan Civilization" Section 1: "Origins" in Wikipedia). After a long time (600 years), both the lord (Jesus) and his servant (James the Just?) Each time, the process of pruning, digging, and nourishing is repeated. What symbols did Zenos use in this allegory? Label these posters as areas where parts of the house of Israel were dispersed (The Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and so on). Third Visit. The wild olive branches grafted in to the original tree represent the preaching of the Gospel of Christ to Gentile nations and their conversion or baptism into the Church of Christ. Write their answers on the chalkboard around the illustration. A long time after the second visit, both the lord and his servant again descended into the vineyard to check on the trees. The completed chart will look something like this: The house of Israel, the Lords covenant people, Gentiles (people not born into the house of Israel). However, lack of hindsight does not prevent discussing the points made in this section of the allegory. That explanation is attributed to the Savior, so it merits a careful examination. What are the meanings of these symbols? God has patiently nourished you. It is therefore suggested here that the other three trees which were planted in the lowlands were also patrilineal descendants of Jacob (Israel).[7]. But how does this answer his question? Those natural branches of the original tree that were transplanted into poor soil also grew to give good fruit. Their religion apparently came from a seer named Tages (see "Etruscan Religion" Section 2: "Seers and Divinations" in Wikipedia): "The Etruscans believed their religion had been revealed to them by seers, the two main ones being Tages, and Vegoia, a female figure. 13. Zenoss allegory uses olive trees to summarize Israels history and foretell its destiny. This page is not available in other languages. In at least two stages after 720B.C., the Assyrians helped fulfill the second set of instructions by moving other peoples into the territorial vacuum created when they substantially depopulated Israel.17 These imported peoples, at least to some extent, intermarried with the remaining Israelites, producing a new cultural melding. Term. See "Sparta" in Wikipedia. What does this decay represent? For this and other reasons, the Northern Kingdom deportees could not return to their homeland, but the Jews of the Babylonian captivity could. Therefore, since the vineyard stands for the world, the allegory concludes with the destruction of the earth by fire after the Millennium.11 All other time periods of the allegory must fit within these parameters. Point out that the branches planted in poor ground brought forth good fruit, while the branches planted in good ground yielded both good and wild fruit.) For example, the gospel has not yet been accepted by most of the Jews and Lamanites, even though the Book of Mormon targets them. Perhaps the most likely candidate to have been this branch is the Etruscans, who migrated to Italy about that time, apparently from the eastern Mediterranean Sea area: "The 5th-century BC historians Thucydides and Herodotus, and the 1st-century BC historian Strabo, did seem to suggest that the Tyrrhenians [Etruscans] were originally Pelasgians who migrated to Italy from Lydia by way of the Greek island of Lemnos." Maile_Fisher. Teaching. The New Testament, on the other hand, if we ignore the Jews and Gentiles who rejected Christ and his messengers, presents a fairly unified and righteous community of Israelites and Gentiles, notwithstanding cultural rifts and the early signs of apostasy that gave rise to Pauls polemics. I will discuss these periods in this order. Moses. Grafting olives Symbols in the allegory The master of this vineyard (and vineyards can be grapes or olives) is Christ. Pruning removes dead branches and bad fruit from a tree. Departing from this interpretation, The Book of Mormon Student Manual suggests that the roots represent the covenants associated with the house of Israel.6 Iwould suggest that the symbol of the roots represents a broader referent, namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ, including its covenants. Test. [6] The actual sixth tree apparently represents the House of Joseph Smith Sr, father of the Prophet Joseph, because we are also told that the tree had two main branches, which would refer to his two sons Hyrum Smith (the patriarch), and Joseph Smith Jr (the Prophet). : Herald Publishing House, 1950), chap. The master of the vineyard repeatedly worked with his servant to prune, dig about, and nourish his tree. Bitterly disappointed, "the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?" House of Israel: The Allegory of the Olive Trees. Which person claimed that Matthew had a Hebrew "dialect" or "Hebraic style"? It will survive, but it won't produce tame . How many of these questions have you ever heard discussed before, let alone answered? The complicated solution to change this situation from all bad fruit to all good fruit is to first prune off the most lofty bad branches, and to then swap good branches, going from the original tree to the new trees and also vice versa. For the official Church websites, please visit churchofjesuschrist.org or comeuntochrist.org. The interpretations of the elements of the allegory of Zenos in the 1989 edition of the student manual are essentially the same as in the old manual (see pp. Cyrus H. Gordon, for instance, dates many of the events of the Patriarchal Narratives to the Late Bronze Age (Abraham and the Merchants of Ura, Journal of Near East Studies 17 [January October 1958], 31). Jacob 5:3tame olive tree". Thus, the root of the tree may go on producing new trees and fruit for thousands of years. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress. to A.D.400, the division of this transplanted branch of the house of Israel into the righteous and the apostate cultures. 19. Who was the servant? Start studying Book of Mormon Final: Jacob 5-6, The Allegory of the Olive Trees. 23. For example, this lack of consensus allows the fruit to be called good works (The Book of Mormon Student Manual, 140), or, as I would suggest and Jackson has written (190), people.. What does the masters response to his corrupted vineyard tell us about the Lords feelings for His people? 6 terms aash3 Jacob 5-6 The allegory of the olive trees STUDY PLAY meaning of the tame and wild olive trees -Tame trees = house of Israel -Wild trees = gentiles Question that prompted the allegory What hope do the Jews have having rejected Christ? Jacob 5-6- Allegory of the Olive Trees. Pratt, John P., "Is The Sealed Book of Mormon Genuine?" Some exegetes of this allegory have found only three transplanted branches, taking for their reason verse39, where the first, second, and the last natural branches are mentioned. If the allegory is to be taken literally in all respects, this account would not be the first time God had threatened to destroy all the inhabitants of the earth (Gen. 6:7) or all of his chosen people (Ex. Why was Israel scattered? The olive branch is traditionally a symbol of peace. Here are the answers to these questions from The Sealed Book. Accordingly, ground was cleared and a new tree was planted there with hopes of it producing good fruit. 11. The master of the vineyard represents Jesus Christ. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Lesson 13: The Allegory of the Olive Trees", "Can you help me understand the parable of the tame and wild olive tree? Much of the civilization of Rome was borrowed from the Etruscans. What does this tell us about the relevance of Zenoss allegory to us? Second, when the Lord eventually returned to the vineyard, he discovered that the mother tree, with the Gentiles grafted in, had produced tame fruit (v.18). This relocation policy was meant to discourage other insurrections and make further revolt difficult. Digging includes clearing away obstacles, such as weeds, from around a tree. In the text that follows, I have identified various symbols used in the allegory. ; (3)verses1528, the Day of the Gentiles,13 approximately the first century of the Christian Era; (4)verses2949, the Great Apostasy, up to about 1820; (5)verses5074, the gathering of Israel beginning in 1820; (6)verses7576, the Millennium; and (7)verse77, the end of the world. During the ultimate stage of the earths existence, when the world will have degenerated from its Millennial state, the good and the bad will be separated. See also Nyman, Ensign to the People, 24, for placing the beginning of the allegory at about 1800B.C., when the twelve sons of Jacob were living in Canaan.. (See Jacob 5:4954, 58, 6264. Consequently, for individuals who are still in the Church, that is, who have not been cut off yet, there is hope, for only the worst cases of unregeneracy are pruned out of the tree. Additional reading: 1Nephi 10:1214; 22:35; Bible Dictionary, Olive Tree, 73940. It's pretty clear that the Republic doesn't much care about brutal infighting on Mandalore, they hadn't for a good while; however, bring up a certain renegade . What Old Testament figure was known to have authority as a teacher? The Sealed Book, a translation of some of the now unsealed Plates of Mormon, provides an interpretation of the Olive Tree Allegory summarized in the Book of Mormon. 18. Though Jacob is the first author in the Book of Mormon to connect this allegory to Zenos, Jacob was most likely not the first Book of Mormon prophet to mention the allegorys content. Endnote 7 gives a reference to several volumes which show that the Prophet Joseph vigorously fought against polygamy during the Nauvoo period. "Okay, so in the story, some trees needed extra help. The Savior explains that the branches of the wild olive trees represent the gentile nations (A3N 14:32). Read and discuss selected verses from Jacob 6. What might the loftiness of the vineyard symbolize? The Etruscans believed in intimate contact with divinity. What can. The Savior also identifies where the three branches were planted in the lowest part of the vineyard as being in Greece, Rome, and Antioch. Granted, it may have just been meant as a larger allegory towards the general attitude of the United States to overseas war (not engaging unless there's something in it for them). 78). There is however one aspect of cultivation that differs from what we expect from olive trees biologically. But in time it grew old and began to decay. When after this long time, branches of the tree again begin to degenerate and bad fruit appears, the Millennium will have concluded and the seventh and final epoch of the allegory will have begun. I believe the Lord is God the Father and the servant is Jesus Christ. What is an allegory? The lord wanted to cut off and burn the bad section, but the servant asked him to give it more time, which was allowed (Jacob 5:15-28). What Can We Learn from the Allegory of the Olive Tree? The Servant? Explain that in this chapter Jacob quotes an allegory from Zenos, a Hebrew prophet mentioned several times in the Book of Mormon. (See Jacob 5:1925. What are some specific ways we can fulfill these responsibilities? When did Jesus Christ appear to the Nephites on the American continent? What does the fruit, good or bad, symbolize? The religions of the three threes in the lowlands are (2) the Greek Orthodox Church, (3) The Roman Catholic Church, (4) The Syriac Orthodox Church. See also Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 2vols. And it takes a lot of love and work on his part to make the return more likely. The next branch was planted in Rome,[4] a place of even more wicked practices, even until today. 49 through 52). Who are the other servants mentioned in Jacob 5:61, 70? We certainly do not know the full extent or all of the means the Lord used to scatter Israel. (See Amos 9:89.). One did well but the other produced only wild fruit. There is a slight discrepancy in the time here if the allegory is seen as strictly consistent and chronologically exacting. When the Lord of the vineyard asked his servant what caused the corruption of his vineyard, the servant answered, Is it not the loftiness of thy vineyardhave not the branches thereof overcome the roots which are good? It was founded on a site which had been dedicated by Alexander. 2021 by John P. Pratt. The Lord is careful to explain that even though Joseph Smith is included in the gentiles, technically, he is of the seed of Joseph of Egypt, a lineal descendant of the House of Israel (A3N 14:38). Traditional LDS study of this allegory involves merely trying to keep track of all of the trees, rather than proposing any detailed interpretation. Discuss how the selected scriptures apply to daily life. If it was a mortal man, then the most likely is James the Just, the brother of Christ, who was the head of the Church. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The location of the last (sixth) tree, which was to augment Lehi's decayed tree, was also in the Americas because it was in the same land of Lehi (apparently the whole western hemisphere). Fruit? Though McConkie and Millet warn in reference to Jacob 5:3 that the exact historical time period to which Zenos is making reference is unclear (50), they do suggest correlations. The numbers on the top half of this chart (1-6) represent the six main stages that Zenos addresses in his allegory: (1) the decaying of the top, (2) the grafting in of the wild tree, (3) the planting of young branches in other parts of the vineyard, (4) the returning of the branches to the main tree, (5) the bitter fruit burned by fire, and (6) . And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away, behold ye shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard." And so the master and his servant worked diligently at nourishing all the trees. Some suggestions are given below: I will prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it, that it perish not (Jacob 5:4). What does this suggest about Jesus Christs involvement in the lives of His people? John W. Welch has suggested that none of the biblical material (for example Rom. The allegory begins with the master of the vineyard finding that his tame olive tree is beginning to decay (Jacob 5:34). It is by far the most detailed interpretation in the nearly two centuries since the publication of that book of scripture. Draw an olive tree on the chalkboard, and ask class members to tell as many things about an olive tree as they can think of in one minute. Where does the quote I can not read a sealed book come from? Digging ensures nothing will hinder the trees ability to grow. It is stated that it was planted in the last days, and that it split into two main branches, one good and one bad, but then both of its branches went bad by the time of the fourth visit (now). Latter Day Saints suggest that it is possible that Paul in his Epistle to the . First of all, it is clear that branches represent people, with descendants sprouting from the larger ancestor branches. Then we will not be deceived (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. It is possible that the branch planted in Greece is known as the Spartans. For a wild olive tree to become tame and productive, its main stem must be cut back completely, and a branch from a tame olive tree must be grafted into the stem of the wild one. Who Were The Gentiles Christ Should Manifest Unto? After a long time, both the lord and his servant "go down" into the vineyard again to check on progress. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988), 2:4682; Ariel Crowley, About the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: n.p., 1961), 15052; and Living Truths from the Book of Mormon [no author listed] (Salt Lake City: Deseret Sunday School Union, 1970), 11926. As for the first transplanted branches, they also carried nothing but bad fruit. Nourishing keeps a tree healthy by providing minerals and other nutrients. Click here to see an excellent illustration of the usual understanding of five trees and four visits, rather than six trees and five visits. What did Jacob prophesy after relating Zenoss allegory? To see how Jeroboam influenced subsequent Israelite history, see 2Kings 10:2931. It includes both the interpretation of the Savior, as well my tentative identification of the servant as explained above, indicated by question marks. When the Lord arrived again after along time (v.29) to inspect his vineyard, he found that the mother tree had brought forth much fruit, and there is none of it which is good. No other interpretations are known to me where this servant is identified. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), 210, 251; the references there to Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. See "The Etruscans" at brittanica.com: "The Etruscans formed the most powerful nation in pre-Roman Italy. The following interpretation in Acts of the Three Nephites (A3N), Chapter 14, of The Sealed Book, attributed to the Savior Himself! One of the most interesting approaches to the topic is the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5. Like contemporary olive trees, it is likely that ancient olive trees, when cared for properly, could not only live for hundreds of years (not the decades of most domestically cultivated trees), but could also produce valuable crops for the life of the tree. For this same conclusion see Jackson, Nourished, 19394. (See Acts 10. Question Dear Gramps, Jacob in the Book of Mormon asks a question about the Jews in Jacob 4:17: "And now, my beloved, how is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner?" He answers with the allegory of the olive trees in chapter 5.
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