1 Nephi 15:16-35

Nephi continues his explanation about the olive tree and their descendants.  He tells them they will be numbered[1] among the house of Israel.  They will be grated into the natural olive tree.  “Nephi [explains] the olive tree for his brethren, saying that the covenant people will receive strength and nourishment from the true vine when they are grafted into the true olive tree (1 Nephi 15:16). The reference to the true vine suggests a passage from John: ‘I [Christ] am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing’ (John 15:5). “[2] (Emphasis in original)

This will not occur, Nephi explains, until they are scattered by the gentiles.  When Lehi spoke, he spoke of both his seed and the house of Israel.  All covenants will be fulfilled in the last days.  The covenant referred to is the Lord’s covenant with Abraham.

NOW the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 12:1 - 3

In the last days, the Jews will be restored and gathered as a people.  He reviewed Isaiah’s prophesies and teachings concerning the Jews.  He exhorted his brethren to listen and follow the word of the Lord, keeping His commandments in all things.

Nephi continued until his brethren “were pacified and did humble themselves before the Lord” (1 Nephi 15:20).

His brethren next questioned Nephi about the meaning of Lehi’s dream of the tree of life.

Verse(s) (1 Nephi 15)	Lehi’s Vision	Nephi’s Interpretation
21-22	The tree	Tree of Life
23-24	Iron rod	Word of God*
26-27	River of water	Filthiness; represents the gulf that separates the wicked from the Tree of Life; representation of hell and justice of God**

*Nephi continues, explaining that those who “hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction” (1 Nephi 15:24).

 **The filthiness of the water was not mentioned in Lehi’s vision.  Nephi explains, “his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water” (1 Nephi 15:27).  The justice of God separates the wicked from the righteous. 

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After explaining the meaning of the river and that it represented “that awful hell … which was prepared for the wicked” (1 Nephi 15:29), his brethren asked if this meant the “the torment of the body in the days of probation, or doth it mean the final state of the soul after the death of the temporal body” (1 Nephi 15:31).

It represent both temporal and spiritual.  If one dies in wickedness, that person will be cast off “as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness” (1 Nephi 15:33).  They will be judged by their works.  “[I]f if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also. But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy” (1 Nephi 15:33-34).

This, Nephi explains, is the awful hell, which he has identified.  They will dwell with the devil because of the justice of God.  “[T]he wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my brethren” (1 Nephi 15:36).

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[1] Verse 16 reads, “they shall be remembered again among the house of Israel.”  There is evidence that “remembered” was “numbered” in the original text.  See Insights Available as We Approach the Original Text, Kerry Muhlestein, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 16, 2013.

[2] Jacob's Allegory: The Mystery of Christ, M. Catherine Thomas, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 16, 2013.