THE APPLE OF HIS EYE

There was a prophet in Israel by the name of Zenos who lived between the time of Abraham and Isaiah and who was martyred for his testimony (Helaman 8:19,20) of whom the Bible does not speak. We know of this prophet because of the brass plates which were taken to the land of the Americas with Lehi and his colony in 600 B.C. Nephi used the prophecies of Zenos extensively in his ministry among his people because Zenos testified largely concerning this broken off branch of the tribe of Joseph 'who were a remnant of his seed', meaning Zenos was of the tribe of Joseph himself (3 Nephi 10:15,16).

So important did Nephi's brother Jacob consider the prophecies of Zenos that he painstakingly engraved Zenos' allegory of the olive tree onto the small plates of Nephi even though he reiterated he could only write 'a few words' because of the difficulty of engraving upon plates  (Jacob 4:1,2). Why is this allegory with its' complexities and intricacies which makes readers skip Jacob 5 so important? Firstly, it is the greatest allegory ever recorded; secondly it, in my opinion stamps the Book of Mormon with authenticity and truth for no mortal man, without the inspiration of God, could have written it. It not only proves that Zenos was a prophet  but that Joseph Smith was one too, a prophet who translated the Book of Mormon as opposed to having written it himself. Not only would the scope of this literary work have been beyond his level of education, Joseph, even though a farmer, could not have known anything about olive trees as they are not native to America. The first seedlings of the tree were brought to South America from Spain in 1560 and planted in Lima, capital of Peru. Zenos, on the other hand, was a Hebrew prophet well indoctrinated in the agricultural practices of his time and place.

In the allegory of the olive tree, there are two principal entities, the Master of the vineyard and the servant. It has been suggested by some that the Master represents the Father and the servant is the Saviour but I tend to side with those who recognise the Master, who is repeatedly  referred to as the Lord of the vineyard, to be the Saviour who employs servants to assist with His work. This is obvious to me because this Lord of the vineyard focuses mainly on just one tree, a tame olive tree that becomes corrupted by other threes and begins to rot.  So why the obsession with this one tree? Because this tree represents the House of Israel, a group of covenant people most favoured by the God of Israel above all the nations of the world. And the God of Israel is Jesus Christ, the great Jehovah himself who has proclaimed: "I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn" (Jeremiah 31:9). The Old Testament highlights God's favouritism of Israel as a father would of a favourite son, whom He calls 'the apple of His eye' (Deut 32:10; Zechariah 2:8)

Whilst it is not my wish to overshadow the importance of the House of Israel's lengthy history contained within this allegory, which begs thorough study, and which spans from the time of the first scattering in 721 BC to the Millenium, it is my intention to focus on the Saviour and how he relates to us who are of this House. In the allegory of the olive tree, the Lord of the vineyard sets about  plucking, pruning, digging and grafting. He also grieves, preserves, labours, watches and tends to the vineyard constantly, but in particular one tree, the tame olive tree. The central theme of this allegory is the Saviour's enduring mercy, long-suffering, loving care and his most dedicated work towards His favoured people, the House of Israel. His frantic and desperate efforts can be seen through repetitious declarations of His protective love 'for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye' (Zechariah 2:8): His desire to preserve the tame olive tree is mentioned in the parable 11 times; He expresses His desire to bring us to Him at least 15 times; He shows his grief over losing 'this tree' 8 times'; and 3 times He asks with anguish, weeping, 'what could I have done more?'

It is obvious the Lord has done everything He can so perhaps the question should be, 'what can we do more'? It is simply not enough to physically be of the House of Israel. One must be spiritually so to be the favoured 'apple of His eye'. Love is a two way street. He loves us because we are the believing, the repentant, the obedient. And if not, then we should be. We are the ones who have accepted the Holy One of Israel to be our God, until the harvest is gathered home. We are important. Not only to ensure our own salvation but to save the other trees in the vineyard. It is up to us to graft the good branches into the wild olive trees of this world. The harvest is fast approaching and we must prepare for the reaping. We must honour the privilege of being 'the apple of His eye'. After he recounts the allegory of the olive tree to his people, Jacob admonishes them to repent and continue on the strait and narrow path until they obtain eternal life. And then out of desperation he says "O be wise; what can I say more?" (Jacob 6:4,11,12). What indeed?