Covenant Israel and Jacob 5

One of the scriptural passages that teaches us about what God will do for covenant Israel, as President Nelson invited us to study, is the allegory of the olive tree given by Zenos and recorded by Jacob in the Book of Mormon. We know from the introduction in Jacob 5 that the allegory is meant to teach us about the Lord’s relationship with Israel: “For behold, thus saith the Lord, I will liken thee, O house of Israel, like unto a tame olive tree” (v3). One of the things we see immediately is that the Lord and His servant labored relentlessly to help the tree. “And the Lord of the vineyard caused that it should be digged about, and pruned, and nourished, saying unto his servant: It grieveth me that I should lose this tree” (v11). After all of this labor, when the tree was still not bringing forth good fruit, the Lord lamented, “But what could I have done more in my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh” (v47). He and His servant still did not give up even after all of this toil to bring forth good fruit, and they developed a plan to save the tree: “Let us take of the branches of these which I have planted in the nethermost parts of my vineyard, and let us graft them into the tree from whence they came; and let us pluck from the tree those branches whose fruit is most bitter, and graft in the natural branches of the tree in the stead thereof” (v52). They spared no effort to bring forth fruit on the tree. All of this language highlights the tireless efforts of the Lord and His servant to care for and preserve the tree, a symbol of how He and His servants have labored throughout history to bless covenant Israel.

                The final verses in the allegory highlight the great work that the Lord continues to do in our dispensation to bless and gather covenant Israel. In the allegory the Lord declared, “Wherefore, go to, and call servants, that we may labor diligently with our might in the vineyard, that we may prepare the way, that I may bring forth again the natural fruit, which natural fruit is good and the most precious above all other fruit” (v61). He has indeed called servants in the last days to labor in His vineyard in order to bring forth fruit—the righteousness of His people—in preparation for the Second Coming. He declared in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph: “Wherefore, labor ye in my vineyard. Call upon the inhabitants of the earth, and bear record, and prepare the way for the commandments and revelations which are to come” (Doctrine and Covenants 71:4). His has called His servants to labor in His vineyard and to bear record of the restored gospel to all the inhabitants of the earth “that all may be nourished once again for the last time” (v63). This laboring in the vineyard is part of God’s promise to bring all those who will hear His voice unto the nourishment of the gospel and His covenants. I love this description of this work that is happening right now: “And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things” (v72). The Lord Himself is laboring with His servants even today as He fulfills His promise to gather Israel and nourish them in preparation for the end of the world.

At the end of the allegory Zenos gave us this view of the symbolic future state of Israel: “Behold, for this last time have we nourished my vineyard; and thou beholdest that I have done according to my will; and I have preserved the natural fruit, that it is good, even like as it was in the beginning. 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” (v75). The Lord’s promise to covenant Israel is that He will help us each individually to bring forth spiritual fruit to ultimately become like Him and have joy with Him in His vineyard. The allegory is a powerful reminder that He labors relentlessly—symbolically digging and dunging and pruning and grafting—to save Israel individually and collectively.