This is another group of our insights as we read this week's Book of Mormon: 1 Nephi 8-10. This is mostly about the tree of life vision. We also tried the church's AR app with this and found it very entertaining. We hope you enjoy our insights into these chapters!
8:5-8
It’s interesting to me that Lehi started following a man in white but, as soon as he got into the ‘dark and dreary waste,’ he didn’t reach out for the man in white. Why wasn’t he holding his hand or why wasn’t the man guiding him? Did the guy just disappear??
We think perhaps it’s that we can’t be relying on someone else when working out our salvation. We have to do it on our own - we can’t be carried. God doesn’t want us relying on anyone except Him.
8:9
Lehi was in darkness and couldn’t see his way forward. He couldn’t see where he was in relation to anything else. After he prayed for help, his vision was clear and expanded and he was able to see a large and spacious field.
One of the ways that the Lord blesses us is to expand our vision and give us a clearer picture of where we are. We get our eternal bearings. Having large, even eternal, perspective helps us handle the challenges of life. Big problems get much smaller when viewed clearly and with a large perspective.
8:10
The fruit ‘can make one happy.’ But only one. It’s a ‘one by one’ kinda thing. A piece of fruit cannot make you AND your spouse happy. It can’t make you AND your friend or your family happy. Every one has to partake of his or her own piece of fruit. It cannot be shared.
How many of us try to share our fruit and hope that it’s enough?
8:12
The love of God fills us with real joy. Not temporary pleasure or fun distraction or satisfying possessions. Chocolate is also good.
Because Lehi has charity, after he partakes of the fruit, the first thing he wants is to share it with his family. His joy wasn’t complete until those around him could also partake of it.
If we know about the gospel AND have charity, we want to share it with others. We must share it with others because we care about others’ happiness as much as our own.
We believe that we are born with an instinct that, once we know about the gospel, we want to share it. Marci feels strongly that it’s inherent in us to preach. We inherently know that the gospel is true and we know that everyone is our brothers and sisters. This is part of the light of Christ that each of us is born with.
8:13
We think it’s interesting that the river of filthy water runs by the tree of life. We think that it’s a good symbol that danger isn’t ever far away. We are never so safe that we don’t need to worry about putting ourselves in tempting situations. Our guard must always be up. We cannot be complacent in our righteousness.
8:14-16
Sometimes, people you care about aren’t sure which way to go in life. They need us to beckon to them. Lehi called with a loud voice. He was bold. He didn’t beat around the bush.
He asked them to ‘come unto me’ which is better than ‘go over by that tree.’ It’s much more convincing to beckon someone to come where we are - we have more credibility by leading by example.
8:19
The rod of iron is along the bank of the river. It is a barrier. It keeps you from falling in. Even if you stumble or the bank becomes attractive/slippery - it keeps you safe to hold on.
8:23
The mist of darkness isn’t a little mist. It’s a ‘exceedingly great’ mist of darkness. The mist is there to affect the ones already on the path - not just in the world. These mists are the temptations of the devil. Satan wants more than anything to remove us from the path. He wants the mists to be exceedingly great - so that many of us will lose track of what direction we are going and slip away.
Often, it’s when someone is just commencing on the path. These are they that commence on the path but aren’t holding onto the scriptures. These will lose their way and wander off and become lost.
Consider new converts. How many challenges and temptations and pressures appear in their lives as they are commencing? We met with a woman who was recently baptized. Shortly after her baptism, her husband died and she hurt her back! She admitted that she questioned what she was doing with the church. Satan really wants her!
8:24-25
But, those who grabbed ahold of the rod of iron, they were able to stay on the path in spite of the mist of darkness. Think about it, without something providing your bearings and helping you know if you’re on the right path and which direction you should go, you could get turned around very easily. To have something strong and helpful and unchanging makes all of the difference when you’re attempting to make it through dark mists.
There are people who caught hold of the end of the rod of iron and they are able to press forward. They were described as 'clinging' to the rod. But after they had partaken of the fruit, they are the one's who cast their eyes around as if ashamed.
Is clinging a good thing? At first, we thought that clinging was good - that you were really hanging on to the word of God and they did end up reaching the tree. However, this same group did eventually become ashamed. Did it have something to do with their clinging? There is a negative connotation with the word clinging. It reminds me of the many girls surrounding me in high school...
We think that clinging has a desperation about it. It's not as peaceful and resolute and planned out. It's more emotional and inconsistent. We think those who, through their own effort alone, are able to make it to the tree may not have the mental/emotional strength to stay put.
8:27
If the great and spacious building is so special, why is everyone in it be fixated on those partaking of the fruit? Why weren’t they busy doing their own fun, entertaining, important activities within the building? It seems like a ‘misery loves company’ type of thing. You’d think they would have video games at least in there.
8:28
If you care more about the opinions of others than the love of God, you might feel ashamed. This is especially true for those who aren’t self-confident. They want to be part of a group - being on their own is uncomfortable. If you care more about what other people think than what God thinks, you are going to quickly abandon what you’re doing and will fall away in forbidden paths and be lost.
Interesting that the scripture reads ‘taste’ instead of eat. When we think of taste, we think of sampling something - just a little to get a flavor for it. We’re not fully eating it in a way that we intend to fill ourselves. We should want to feast on the love of God, not just taste it. We can see how those who are simply tasting it could be easier targets to fall prey to the scorn of others. You’ve got to be all in.
I often offer Marci a taste of my dinner when we go out. Many times, that leads to her partaking of it.
8:30
We like the phrase ‘pressing forward.’ We picture people leaning into it. They’re not taking breaks from it. They are continually progressing. We think, with the gospel, we are either pressing forward or falling back.
We also like the phrase, ‘holding fast' to the rod of iron. We think that is better than NOT holding, just walking along the rod or clinging. It sounds more resolu
Interesting that they ‘fell down’ and partook of the fruit. Why did they fall down? Because they were exhausted? Because they were grateful? Because they understood the significance and sacredness of what they were about to do?
BTW, they partook rather than tasted it. That’s more like it.
8:31
Many others will ‘feel’ their way towards the great and spacious building. They aren’t looking further ahead. They can’t see things clearly. They don’t have perspective. They are following their own way that they make up as they go along. No goals or direction. They are making decisions that are based on immediate sensory feedback. ‘That feels good, let’s go that way.’ Not a way to truly progress to somewhere meaningful.
Have you heard someone say, ‘I’m doing this because it makes me feel good?’ Whenever someone says that, we know it isn’t going to end well.
8:32
Many are drowned in the water. Interesting to us to see that the people in the building aren’t calling anyone to ‘come to them.’ They actually don’t care about who is trying to approach the spacious building. They won’t support those who are heading their direction.
They probably want you to drown or get lost so there are less people. They aren’t wanting you to join them because they don’t care about you.
Just like Satan, he won’t support you once he has you.
8:33-34
As soon as people join the prideful group, they don’t get any pleasure of arriving. There is no inherent happiness in the building. They simply don’t want anyone to be happier than they are.
They only get pleasure from feeling superior to you. Their source of pride and empty fulfillment is your failure.
If you are to stay partaking of the fruit, you have to give them no heed. Those that heeded, fell away.
10:7-8
He also knew about John the Baptist. He quoted him. It’s cool that he is quoting John 600 years before he said it. It must have been important. I don’t think anyone’s quoted me AFTER I’ve said something…
John said to ‘make his (Christ’s) path’s straight.’ We’ve often thought about this and what it meant to make Jesus’s path straight.
Surely, Jesus didn’t need help with the direction of his path. John can only be talking about his path to you. Go straight to him and he’ll go straight to you. Allow him direct access to your heart. Don’t make Jesus walk down several cul de sacs…
We hope some of our insights were interesting to you!
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