Many people, including various General Authorities, have interpreted Lehi's
vision found in the eighth chapter of 1 Nephi for talks and other speaking
arraignments. All of these interpretations are valuable and most are
based on true principles. However, the purpose of this post is to discuss
the original interpretation of the
vision of the tree of life given to Nephi. This interpretation is the key
to understanding how to develop charity, the pure love of Christ.
First of all, many people assume that the tree of life represents eternal life.
There is value in looking at it that way, but it is not the original
interpretation.
21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God,
yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree
which thy father saw?
22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the
hearts of the children of men;
It doesn't say anything about eternal life in these verses! Nephi,
inspired by the Spirit, declares that the tree represents the love of God or,
in other words, the pure love of Christ. We don't think of the vision of
the tree of life as a guidebook to qualify for charity, but that is exactly
what the scriptures describe it as. Later on the vision depicts people
who partake of the fruit of the tree of life and later fall away. If the
tree of life represented eternal life, an eternal gift, then why would the
vision portray the possibility of gaining, and then losing it?
Further, the cause of the personal apostasy was the pride of the
world. After judgment day, there will be no worldly influences
trying to make us err. This life is our battle to prepare to meet God,
and therefore the events of this vision are analogous of purely mortal events.
The other piece of the vision that we are often too quick to assign
meaning to is the iron rod. We're familiar with the scripture in 1 Nephi
15:23-24:
24 And I said unto them that it was 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.
The iron rod is the word of God. But what is the word of God? The
knee-jerk answer is the scriptures, but think for a moment. The word of
God literally means God's words, or the things that God has said. Of
course, many of the things He says are found in the scriptures, but that is not
the only place. Of equal importance are the words of the living prophets
and the Spirit. In fact, if all we hear are the words of the scriptures
themselves and not the meaning the Lord would like us to understand, we can
hypothetically read the scriptures without hearing the word of God at
all. The word of God is simply those things that God wants to tell us,
independent of the mechanism He uses to reveal it. We would probably feel
obligated to follow a message given from God to us by an angel, but why should
we feel differently if we received the same message through a different
medium? The vision of the tree of life teaches us that those who hold
fast to the rod of iron will never fall, but I have known personally people
with strong testimonies who frequently study the scriptures and have still
fallen. Why? Because they chose not to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, just by some of
them.
If we follow only the words of the living prophets and the scriptures, we lack
the personal revelation that would turn doctrines and principles into action
and faith. If we only follow the prophets and the Spirit, we lose the
backbone of spiritual power President Ezra Taft Benson spoke of that enables us
to overcome temptations. If we eliminate the words of the living prophets
and leave just the Spirit and the scriptures we rely too much on our personal
powers of interpretation and by "trusting in the arm of flesh" too
much, can easily be deceived even while we think we are following God in every
particular. However, with all three of these pillars of revelation,
together with any other medium by which God chooses to speak, we have a sure,
steadfast compass that will never fail us.
The message of the vision of the tree of life is simple: If we integrate
all forms of the word of God into all parts of our life, press through the
trials and temptations of the mists of darkness, and destroy the great and
spacious building of pride that dwells in our hearts, the day will come when we
will be endowed with that untouchable power which is charity and be enabled to
serve others with true selflessness.
President Utchdorf promised:
"If
you listen for the voice of the Father,
He
will lead you on a course that will allow you to experience the pure love of
Christ."
I love how the different forms of the word of God work together like
that.
How
have you seen different forms of the word of God work together to
bless your life?
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