THE PARABLE OF THE OLIVE TREE

Jacob and the Olive Tree

There were many prophets in the Old Testament times.  One of these was named Zenos.  Zenos told a story about the House of Israel using olive trees as the symbols.  Parts of his story have been quoted by other prophets and apostles in the Bible.  They are also quoted by prophets in the Book of Mormon.  The most complete version of the allegory was quoted by the Prophet Jacob.

Olives were very important to the people in ancient Israel and throughout the Middle East. Besides eating the olive fruit, they crushed the fruit into a pulp and extracted the oil from the pulp. Olive oil was used for cooking, in lamps as fuel, in holy anointing priesthood ordinances, even as medicine. (See the parable of the Good Samaritan) People took care of their olive trees. Diseased trees left untreated could infect an entire orchard, which would be catastrophic.

In his allegory, Zenos compares the Lord of the Vineyard to God.  He prepared a perfect place for His covenant people, Israel.  He brought them out of slavery in Egypt; He gave them a land "flowing with milk and honey"; He gave them His Law by covenant.

But despite everything God did, Israel did not keep her covenants.  Like the diseased olive trees, she brought forth bitter fruit.  The Lord sent prophets, warnings, signs, and trials, but Israel hardened her heart and, like a faithless spouse, went after the false gods of her neighbors.  

Finally, God had no choice but to remove Israel from her covenant position.  He withdrew His hedge of protection from the Northern Kingdom, whose ten tribes were scattered all over the world (like the scattered branches of the olive trees.) 100 years later, He removed His protection from the Kingdom of Judah and they spent 70 years in captivity in Babylon.  He brought them back (and grafted them again into the orchard) but they continued to fall away until they were scattered by the Romans in 70 AD.

But God hadn't forgotten His people.  After Jesus' death, the Lord inspired Peter to open Church membership to the gentiles and He called Paul as a special witness to the gentiles.  

Now the Lord is ready to gather His people once again into His protected and blessed orchard.  The Book of Mormon helps us see how important the gentiles are in the gathering of Israel.  Many who come into Christ's Church since 1830 have received blessings which identify them as members of given houses of Israel.  First Christ gathered the gatherers; now the gatherers (including me) are responsible to gather in the many branches to be grafted into Israel, preparatory to His Second Coming.

Our lesson asks "Why did Jacob share Zenos' allegory in such great detail when it was so difficult to engrave all that on the plates? I think it may have been because he wanted his people to remember that they are of the House of Israel.  Even though they have been scattered to another part of the orchard, they are still His.  

He wants us to remember that we are still His as well.

© March 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson