They Came Forth and Fell Down

In Lehi’s vision of the tree of life, the group that made it to the fruit and didn’t fall away afterwards was described this way: “They came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree” (1 Nephi 8:30). Sister Gaye Strathearn commented about this verse this way on a recent podcast: “They're continually holding to the rod of iron until they come down and fall down and partake of the fruit of the tree. Again, we have this sense of this proskynesis that we see throughout the Book of Mormon and the biblical record of people falling down on their face. Prone is what you do when you enter the presence of God. This is a form of worship reserved for kings, but more particularly for Gods, and these fall down at the tree as they partake of it because they're recognizing that they're entering the presence of God.” I sometimes viewed the fact that they fell down as a sign of their exhaustion from the journey to the tree, but Sister Strathearn’s explanation makes a lot more sense here. The came to the tree in a spirit of worship, and when they finally arrived they were filled with a sense of awe and wonder for the divine. Later when Nephi had his vision, the angel connected the tree with the Savior Himself. Nephi recorded, “I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. 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? And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.” The tree was thus a representation of the love of God and of the Savior. Nephi continued, “And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul. And after he had said these words, he said unto me: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and I saw many fall down at his feet and worship him” (1 Nephi 11:20-24). Here again we have people who fell down and worshiped, this time at the feet of the Savior directly. I believe that we are meant to make the connection here between these two groups because their actions were the same: they fell down before the Divine and worshipped.

                The part of the vision that is perhaps most frightening to me is that one of the two groups described that makes it all the way to the tree falls away and is lost. Nephi described those which fell away in these words: “And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree. And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed” (1 Nephi 8:24-25). They seemed to have done everything right, pressing forward, holding the rod, working through the mists of darkness to the tree and finally partaking of the fruit. But after all that, they fell away. Why? It struck me today that one of the differences between this group and the one described in verse 30—which did not fall away—was this very point about falling down when they got to the tree. The first group did not, but the second group did. Perhaps that is a key to our own faithfulness. If we go through the motions of spiritual activity but in the end fail to truly worship in spirit and in truth, we will be more easily swayed by the mocking of the great and spacious building around us. We need a conviction deep down in our hearts of the greatness of God and the goodness of His Son and their unending love for us, and then we will stay true to Them no matter what the world around us says. Like the converted Lamanites, if we truly “converted unto the Lord” we will “never… fall away” (Alma 23:6).