"They Came Forth, and Fell Down, and Partook of the Fruit of the Tree" (Book of Mormon - Week Three)

Hey y'all! This is week number two of my Book of Mormon class, and it's been amazing. I left class about in tears on Wednesday because that class had answered my prayers so specifically that I was overwhelmed with feelings of love.

So we studied 1 Nephi 8 really in depth - this is Lehi's vision! We studied these words very carefully; because these verses get studied so often, I think we lose their deeper meaning. So Brother Griffin slowly blew my mind this class as we studied these words and painted this picture. I'm writing to those who are already familiar with Lehi's Vision. If you aren't and would like to learn more, read it here, and come back! As always, feel free to comment/contact me and ask questions.

I feel like there are so many amazing things in this chapter, but I just don't have the time to write them all down, and besides, I feel like the most precious gems discovered in the scriptures are the ones we come across as we meditate on our own, so do that. I'll talk about my favorite discovery.

We compared the two kinds of people on the path in the vision - the ideal travelers (who we want to be) and the apostates. We found many differences - the apostates were clinging to the rod, not "continually holding fast" to it, the apostates were ashamed that they needed to partake of the fruit, the apostates listened to the mocking of those in the great and spacious building, and most importantly, the apostates did not fall in front of the tree when they partook of the fruit, they looked around in shame. I also noticed that their intentions to take care of their sins were the same - both groups partook of the fruit (repented) - it was their attitudes that were different.

Verse thirty is what we should be aiming to become: "...other multitudes [were] pressing forward; and 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." Notice the sequence of events here. First they came forth, then fell down in front of the tree, and then partook of the fruit. Logically, that does not make sense. How could they possibly partake of the fruit if they fell down first rather than reaching for it? It doesn't make sense, until you realize that the tree mentioned in the vision isn't a tree - it is Christ. All we have to do is work hard come to the tree (Come unto Christ), and fall at his feet, and He will bless us with His mercy by handing us the fruits (Atonement).

I don't believe that all we have to do is say we believe in Christ and then we're saved. I can't believe in a God who would be fine with a person who sins profusely, but then says "I believe in Christ" and then is forgiven with no change in action, because actions speak louder than words. I think we have to work hard to be true disciples of Christ, and only then is Christ's mercy enough for us. This totally is shown in the vision, though. These examples who fell at the tree are it. They fought their whole lives to stay on the strait (not straight, this also blew my mind) and narrow path, pushing against this river (sin and temptation), until they reached their destination, keeping in mind only the tree. When mentioning these choice disciples, the great and spacious building was never even mentioned. It was only mentioned with the apostates, which just shows how focused on the tree (Christ) the disciples were.

This seriously answered my prayers. I had been praying hard the previous night to figure out how to help a friend of mine who had called me really distraught because sinned and everyone around him became aware of it rather quickly. He was in a situation where the only way he could make things right also meant many people knowing what he had done. He was worried about what people would think, but loved God enough to not care about what anyone thought of him, though he noticed through the days that it became increasingly harder for him to ignore the opinions of others, even though he knew he was doing what God wanted of him. I knew at that point exactly what to tell him - he was doing exactly what he needed by following his promptings to repent, despite what anyone else thought. Just as the choice disciples in Lehi's vision, he needed to ignore the "great and spacious building" of people pointing fingers and mocking him. He was utilizing the atonement, and as long as he wasn't ashamed, and put Heavenly Father's opinion of him over anyone else's, he would make it to the tree, come forth, fall down, and partake of the fruit.

The same goes for all of us. Those voices from the great and spacious building sure are loud, but just keep doing you, and keep doing your best, and you're going to be just fine.