THE VINEYARD

 

I had occasion yesterday to reflect on the sad history of the House of Israel and for the first time, instead of the suffering of the people, I saw the anguish and the sorrow of their King. He who had chosen them to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people witnessed with heaviness of heart their Egyptian slavery, the Assyrian conquest of The Ten Tribes, the Babylonian captivity of the House of Judah, Rome’s sacking of Jerusalem, the diaspora of the Jews, the holocaust, the wars of the nation of Israel…… it all testified of their suffering, the loss of lives and most especially their disobedience that brought upon them their demise from greatness.

One of my favourite ancient prophets is Jeremiah. The theme of his entire book in the Old Testament is ‘backsliding Israel’. The Lord himself gave this name to His covenant people that He once called a holy nation (Jeremiah 2:19; 3:6,8,11,12,14,22; 31:22; 49:4) because they were ‘bent on backsliding from Him’ (Hosea 11:7). Think of the tragedy of that. When Jeremiah importuned the Lord for their forgiveness, he admitted their ‘backslidings were perpetual’ (Jeremiah 5:6; 8:5; 14:7).

The House of Israel has had its share of suffering for their backsliding but this is what affects me the most….the betrayed and rejected Christ watching in the shadows their unfaithfulness to Him who devised their glorious destiny.

If you want to understand the Saviour’s mercy and love for the House of Israel, study the Allegory of the Olive Tree as found in Jacob 5 of the Book of Mormon.  It attests to His suffering caused by the very people He calls His own. I am not talking about the Atonement but His care despite the dejection He must have felt throughout the history of this world.

In the Allegory of the Olive Tree, the Saviour is represented as the Lord of the vineyard who grieves, preserves, labours, watches and tends to His vineyard constantly. His frantic efforts to ensure the divine destiny of the House of Israel, as represented by the olive trees in His vineyard, can be seen through repetitious declarations of His love and long-suffering:

His desire to preserve the vineyard is mentioned in the parable 11 times; at least 15 times the Lord expresses His desire to bring the vineyard and its' harvest 'unto my own self'; 8 times He says 'it grieveth me to lose the trees of my vineyard'; and 3 times He asks with anguish, weeping, 'what could I have done more for my vineyard?' All this despite the backsliding.

This is the promise of the Holy One of Israel that He will never recant: He will be merciful to the House of Israel and He will ‘heal their backsliding’ (Hosea 14:4). Jacob who engraved the Allegory on the golden plates put it well:  "....how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long….. (Jacob 6:4)

We live in the best period of time of this earth. Ancient Israel are the roots and we, the modern Israel, are the branches. We are the ones through whom the promise is being fulfilled. The scattered are being gathered.  We are the posterity of the backsliders but the backsliding stops with us.

We are the strong of the House of Israel and we will spread the truth that will heal. We are the children of the promise. We are the manifestation of His love and His mercy. We are the chosen, we have the royal priesthood upon us. We will ensure our divine destiny so freely given by the Shepherd of Israel who would not see us lost, who rescued our souls never counting the cost……

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

PRIVILEGE OF MERCY

 

 There is a chapter in the book of Jacob that tugs at my heart. It is chapter 5 that gives us the allegory of the olive tree. It is impossible to enumerate the history and all the aspects of the beauty of this allegory in such a short post. It makes me extremely grateful, however, for the two men who made this treasure available to us: Nephi who accomplished the dangerous task of obtaining the brass plates; and our beloved Prophet of the Restoration, Joseph Smith, for all he suffered to bring the Book of Mormon to the world.

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); whose prophecies of Christ’s mission are found only in the Book of Mormon (see Guide to the Scriptures). 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.

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. This tree represents the House of Israel. The Lord’s frantic efforts to ensure its’ divine destiny can be seen through repetitious declarations of His love and long-suffering: His desire to preserve the vineyard is mentioned in the parable 11 times; at least 15 times the Lord expresses His desire to bring the vineyard and its' harvest 'unto my own self'; 8 times He says 'it grieveth me to lose the trees of my vineyard'; and 3 times He asks with anguish, weeping, 'what could I have done more for my vineyard?' 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. This is the privilege of mercy.

After he recounts the allegory of the olive tree to his people, Jacob exclaims: "....how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long...O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life, O be wise; what can I say more?" (Jacob 6:4,11,12). What indeed?

 

Thy love for Thy people is beyond compare,

Thy mercy affixed forever more.

Thy power delivers us and

Thy loving kindness gathers us;

We are restored by Thy merciful might,

We are Israel, children of light.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Lord of the Vineyard by Scott Sumner)

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?