When Nephi sees in vision the tree, he does not know its meaning until he is shown the virgin mother holding a child in her arms. Then the angel asks Nephi, "Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And (he) 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" (vs. 21, 22) The angel did not just answer Nephi's question to know the interpretation of the tree but taught with power and greater understanding. When Nephi beheld "the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and ...many fall down at his feet and worship him" (vs. 24), he knew that the "rod of iron was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life (vs. 25).
In Jeremiah the Lord looks toward the day when Israel will return to Him. "And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy and to afflict; so will I watch over them to build, and to plant, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it int their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people" (vrs. 28, 31, 33). There is so much joy and love in the feelings and words of our Savior as we will accept him and love to obey his word so we can know him. (Read verse 34)
For a very long time whenever anybody asked me what my favorite scripture was, I would respond, the Vision of Nephi. It begins here in 1 Nephi 11.
ReplyDeleteNephi had prepared himself to receive inspiration from God: "After I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away by the Spirit..." (v 1). It's important to make ourselves ready for revelation. We never know when God will communicate with us, so we must always be prepared by reading scripture, praying, and pondering.
This is also the chapter where we learn that the Holy Spirit has "the form of a man," which I think is awesome.
We also get to read Nephi's testimony in many places: "I believe all the words of my father [the prophet].... I know that [God] loveth his children...."
The Spirit also asks a lot of questions of Nephi. Speaking with Heather recently, she asked me why God, an omniscient being, asks questions He already knows the answers to. I think they are teaching points, where He invites us to think more deeply. Sometimes it's a much more powerful teaching tool than lecturing.
Adam, Thanks for your comments, added insight and testimony of personal revelation and the process.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter Nephi sees many things similar to what Lehi has seen in his visions. It's interesting to see the difference in the experience they had. Lehi vision he travels through darkness (1 Nep 8:8) and then goes forth and partakes of the fruit, and invites his family to also partake. It is a first-hand experience.
ReplyDeleteNephi's vision on the other hand is more of a observer point of view with the Spirit of the Lord as the narrator of it all. The Spirit show him different things and then teaches him what it all means.
I'm not sure why Lehi and Nephi had the same vision is such a different way, but it show me that the Lord knows us individually and knows what we need. It's like reading the scriptures. We can all read the same chapter and get very different things out of it, or even different things at different times in our lives.
I love it when you both post. It gives each chapter of the Book of Mormon so much more depth and understanding. I enjoy hearing what the chapter means to you. It is challenging to know what to write about because each chapter is filled with so much. I love the scriptures. I posted two days worth on the next post because Sunday I read, but I did not post. Sorry for getting behind.
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