The Vision of the Fruit

1 Nephi 8 contains the marvelous vision received by Lehi about their spiritual journey as they were preparing to make their physical journey to the promised land.  In the chapter heading we read, “Lehi sees a vision of the tree of life.”  I just realized today that the phrase “tree of life,” though, is actually not in the text of 1 Nephi 8 at all.  The vision does of course speak much of the tree but it focuses particularly on the “fruit of the tree” that they were to partake of to find joy.  The word fruit is mentioned 18 times in the vision, whereas the word tree is only mentioned 9 times.  And no mention is made of the “tree of life.”  If all we had was 1 Nephi 8, I believe we would have called the vision something like, “The vision of the fruit” for the central focus is on partaking of the fruit which was “desirable above all fruit” (1 Nephi 8:12).     

Nephi was the one who connected the tree from his father’s vision to the tree of life when he was taught by the angel about it.  He wrote, “I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life;… and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God” (1 Nephi 11:25).  Later when speaking with his brothers they asked him, “What meaneth the tree which he saw?”  Nephi replied, “It was a representation of the tree of life.”  He further explained that the river of water was “an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life…. Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits” (1 Nephi 15:22, 28, 36).  So what did Nephi mean by “the tree of life”?  The fact that it was “the tree of life” suggests that it was the same thing as what the book of Genesis describes in the garden of Eden: “And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden” (Genesis 2:9).  Lehi’s tree was somehow a representation of the same thing as the tree in the garden of Eden. 

 There are, though, noticeable differences between the tree of life described in the account of Adam and Eve and that of the vision Lehi saw.  In the garden, this was the tree was not be eaten from “lest [Adam] put forth his hand and partake also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever” and in front of which God “placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life” (Moses 4:28, 31).  Man was prohibited from partaking of it, at least then, so that they could live and die.  Alma explained, “And now behold, if it were possible that our first parents could have gone forth and partaken of the tree of life they would have been forever miserable, having no preparatory state; and thus the plan of redemption would have been frustrated, and the word of God would have been void, taking none effect” (Alma 12:26).  It seems to have been fruit with a permanent effect; if they ate, mortal life would be over and their final destination would be fixed.  On the other hand, in Lehi’s dream the people were encouraged to come and eat of the fruit during this life, but its effect wasn’t necessarily lasting.  Some ate but then still “fell away into forbidden paths and were lost”—it didn’t provide a permanent change but one which gave them a taste of heaven (1 Nephi 8:28).  This may be why Nephi called it a “representation” of the tree of life, the earthly version of the heavenly tree.  And it is accessible to us on our mortal journey, leading us to the final heavenly destination if we will consistently partake of its fruit on our way back to an eternal life with God.  Lehi’s vision invites us to keep seeking for and experiencing the fruit of the love of God so we can one day “live forever” with Him at the celestial tree of life.