Jacob 5 The Allegory of the Tame and Wild Olive Trees (Jacob quoting Zenos) It is the longest single chapter in the Book of Mormon!

Why is “olive oil” used in Priesthood Blessings? The olives on the Mount of Olives were used specifically for temple rituals. Olive oil was used to fill the Menorah in the Holy Place inside of the temple.

The oil press signifies the Atonement. The Atonement heals us. The Menorah symbolizes the Light of Christ. The oil press signifies the Atonement. The Atonement heals us. Therefore what would be better to use with the healing power of the Priesthood than consecrated olive oil. It is representative of the healing power of the Atonement. It is also very pure oil.

“Olive Trees” Provide shelter and require constant nourishment to survive. The olive branch is associated with “peace.” D&C 88 is called the “Olive Leaf.” When Noah was on the Ark, a dove returned with an “Olive Leaf,” (the Lord was at peace with the earth). Olive trees do not produce fruit until about 7 years old.

They become fully productive at about 15 years. A wild olive tree looks more like a bush and produces small worthless fruit. An olive tree is capable of producing food for centuries. When it grows old and begins to die the roots send up a number of green shoots which if grafted can become fruitful. A rancid olive tree cannot produce olives suitable for making pure usable olive oil.

The oil from the olive vineyards was everywhere present in ancient Israel, even as it is today. It is a staple in every kitchen for cooking and on every table for seasoning. It serves medicinally as an antidote for poison and an ointment for pain. It is burned for light in the smallest of lamps and for fuel in the largest of homes. In more sacred purposes it is used in anointing the sick, in purification and sacrifice, and in the consecration of priests and kings. As it was for Noah, so today is the olive branch a symbol of peace--- with its obvious typological source in the Prince of Peace.

Olive oil is still used in the careful preparation of the paschal lamb at the Feast of the Passover. Christ ascended from and will return to his beloved Mount of Olives. Gethsemane is literally the “garden of the oil press.” Christ is ultimately the Anointed One. Surely the majesty of Christ is inextricably linked with the olive grove, and no teaching explores that symbolism more profoundly than the Book of Mormon.

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith has said, “this remarkable parable portrays how… branches of the olive tree (Israelites) were carried to all parts of the earth (the Lord’s vineyard) and grafted into the wild olive trees (the Gentile nations). Thus they are fulfilling the promise that the Lord had made. Today Latter-day Saints are going to all parts of the world as servants in the vineyard to gather this fruit and lay it in store for the time of the coming of the Master. This parable is one of the most enlightening and interesting in the Book of Mormon. How can any person read it without feeling the inspiration of this ancient prophet? (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:142).

Allegory A short story with more than one meaning. Symbolic representation to convey moral or spiritual ideas. Zenos A Hebrew prophet who’s name is mentioned twelve times in the Book of Mormon. His writings appeared on the brass plates and he is not mentioned in the Old Testament. He was slain because of his teachings. He lived sometime after the prophet Abraham and before the prophet Isaiah. Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “I do not think I overstate the matter,… when I say that next to Isaiah himself… there was not a greater prophet in all Israel than Zenos” (cited in Monte S. Nyman and Charles Tate Jr., eds.).

What strength is there in the allegory of Zenos? “We have something in the Book of Mormon that, if we did not have any other truth expressed in it, would be sufficient evidence of the divinity of this book. I have reference to the fifth chapter of Jacob… I think this is one of the greatest passages in the Book of Mormon…. No greater parable was ever recorded” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:203).

What is the primary message of the allegory of Zenos? “Even as the Lord of the vineyard and his workers strive to bolster, prune, purify, and otherwise make productive their trees in what amounts to one-chapter historical sketch of the scattering and gathering of Israel, the deeper meaning of the Atonement under-girds and overarches their labors. In spite of cuttings and graftings and nourishings that mix and mingle trees in virtually all parts of the vineyard, it is bringing them back to their source that is the principal theme of this allegory. Returning, repenting, reuniting--- at-one-ment--- this is the message throughout” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, 165).

Understanding the Allegory Item Interpretation The vineyard = The world The master of = Jesus Christ The Servant = The Lord’s prophets Tame Olive tree = The House of Israel, the Lord’s Covenant People Wild Olive tree = Gentiles, or non- Israelites, or apostate Israel Branches = Groups of people The roots of the = The gospel covenant and the tame olive tree promises made by God that give life and sustenance to the tree

The fruit of the tree = The lives and works of men Digging, pruning, and = The Lord’s work with his planting children, which helps them be obedient Planting the branches = Scattering the groups into the world, restoring them to their original position Grafting = The process of spiritual rebirth where one is joined to the covenant Decaying branches = Wickedness and apostasy Casting the branches = The judgment of God into the fire

(probably unfamiliar to the New World) “No man without divine inspiration could have written such a parable as this” (Joseph Fielding Smith, A.T.G.Q. 4:141). Jacob 5:2 Israel can be used in three ways: 1. Blood Israel (any descendants of the 12 Sons of Jacob) 2. Land Israel (The people who inhabited an area) 3. Covenant Israel (all who accept and keep the gospel) There is no reference to the Olive Tree in the Book of Mormon after Jacob. (probably unfamiliar to the New World)

Jacob 5:3 “I will liken Thee, O House of Israel, Like unto a Tame Olive-Tree.” Cultivating and growing olive trees was common to those who lived in ancient Israel. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland explained that Zenos’s use of the olive tree was a powerful symbol of God’s love for the house of Israel.

“One writer has said of this extended symbolic portrayal, ‘One Jewish legend identifies the tree of life as the olive tree, and with good reason. The olive tree is an evergreen, not a deciduous tree. Its leaves do not seasonally fade nor fall. Through scorching heat and winter cold they are continually rejuvenated. Without cultivation the olive is a wild, unruly, easily corrupted tree. Only after long, patient cultivating, usually eight to ten years, does it begin to yield fruit. Long after that, new shoots often come forth from apparently dead roots. [The appearance of gnarled trunks gives] the impression of travail--- of ancient life and renewing life.’ [Truman Madsen, “The Olive Press: A Symbol of Christ,” in The Allegory of the Olive Tree, ed. Stephen D. Ricks and John W. Welch (1994), 2).

Why did the Lord scatter Israel “wither-so-ever” he would? Jacob 5:8 Why did the Lord scatter Israel “wither-so-ever” he would? “The scattering of Israel throughout the world sprinkled the blood that believes, so that many nations may now partake of the gospel plan” (James E. Faust, Ensign, November 1982, 87).

Four Visits from the Master Visit #1, v. 3-14 Israel Going Astray Assyrian and Babylonian period, 722 B.C. to 586 B.C.: “Now in that parable the olive tree is the House of Israel…In its native land it began to die. So the Lord took branches like the Nephites, like the lost tribes, and like others that the Lord led off to other parts of the earth. He planted them all over his vineyard, which is the world” (Joseph Fielding Smith, A.T.G.Q., 4:204).

Israel Keeps Covenants: Visit #2, v. 15-28 Israel Keeps Covenants: From the Babylonian captivity to the time of Christ. After many years of the Gentiles in Abraham’s land were living righteously, scattered Israel in many poor parts of the world had also become righteous. The last group of scattered Israel was placed in a very favorable place. Of this last group only a part of the people were righteous.

Israel gone astray again: Visit #3, v. 29-49 Israel gone astray again: From the Apostasy to the Restoration: After many more years the Gentiles in Israel became wicked. Scattered Israel had also become wicked in all parts of the world. The Lord removed the wicked living in Israel and gathered Israel back to their homeland. Prophets began to have success and a few of the people started to live righteously.

The last days, Millennium and post-Millennium: Visit #4, v. 50-77 The last days, Millennium and post-Millennium: There begins to be righteousness again. For a long time (1,000 years) the Lord lays up good fruit. Then wickedness comes again, the righteous and wicked are gathered, and the wicked are destroyed.

Jacob 5:47-48 “Develop Spiritual Roots” Behold they grew faster than the strength of the roots. “President Kimball taught that it seems that some among us have this same problem; they want bountiful harvests--- both spiritual and temporal--- without developing the root system that will yield them. There are far too few who are willing to pay the price, in discipline and work, to cultivate hardy roots. Such cultivation should begin in our youth. Little did I know as a boy that daily chores in the garden, feeding the cattle, carrying the water, chopping the wood, mending fences, and all the labor of a small farm was an important part of sending down roots, before being called on to send out branches. I’m so grateful that my parents understood the relationship between roots and branches. Let us each cultivate deep roots, so that we may secure the desired fruits of our welfare labors” (Conference Report, Oct. 1978, 113).