7 And behold this thing shall be given unto thee for a
sign, that after thou hast beheld the tree which bore the fruit which thy
father tasted, thou shalt also behold a man descending out of heaven, and him
shall ye witness; and after ye have witnessed him ye shall bear record that it
is the Son of God.
8 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look!
And I looked and beheld a tree; and it was like unto the tree which my father
had seen; and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty;
and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.
9 And it came to pass after I had seen the tree, I said
unto the Spirit: I behold thou hast shown unto me the tree which is precious
above all.
10 And he said unto me: What desirest thou?
11 And I said unto him: To know the interpretation
thereof—for I spake unto him as a man speaketh; for I beheld that he was in the
form of a man; yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and
he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another.
12 And it came to pass that he said unto me: Look! And I
looked as if to look upon him, and I saw him not; for he had gone from before
my presence.
13 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great
city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth;
and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and
white.
14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and
an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what
beholdest thou?
15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair
above all other virgins.
16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of
God?
17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his
children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.
18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou
seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.
Having praised Nephi for his faithfulness, the angel gives Nephi a sign. “[A]fter thou hast beheld the tree which bore the fruit which thy father tasted, thou shalt also behold a man descending out of heaven, and him shall ye witness; and after ye have witnessed him ye shall bear record that it is the Son of God” (1 Nephi 11:7).
Nephi was then told to look, and he saw the tree which his
father had seen. “[T]he beauty thereof
was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did
exceed the whiteness of the driven snow” (1 Nephi 11:8).
Cynthia Hallen uses this example to show us the importance
of keeping records.
“Because Lehi kept a record, we can read about his vision of
the tree of eternal life (see 1 Nephi 8:10–20). His son Nephi saw the same
vision, reporting that the beauty of the tree was ‘far beyond, yea, exceeding
of all beauty’ (1 Nephi 11:8). The tree was not just lovely; it was also pure,
desirable, and wholesome, and the fairness of it ‘did exceed the whiteness of
the driven snow’ (1 Nephi 11:8). Keeping a record of our dreams can enhance our
ability to pluck ‘excellent and comely’ fruit from the ‘beautiful and glorious’
branch of the Lord (2 Nephi 14:2; Isaiah 4:2). If we emulate the vision-keeping
of Lehi and Nephi, our writing can be enriched by the images of inspired
dreams.”[1]
After telling the Spirit he beheld this precious tree, he is
asked by the Spirit, what do you desire?
Nephi told the Spirit his desire was to understand the
meaning of his father’s dream. He breaks
into his account to tell us he spoke directly to the Spirit. He was in the form of a man and they spoke
as two people would speak with each other.
Nephi told to look, but he no longer saw the Spirit. He saw Jerusalem and other cities. He saw Nazareth and there, he “I beheld a
virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white” (1 Nephi 11:13). Nephi had seen Mary, the mother of
Christ. “And in the sixth month the
angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin
espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s
name was Mary” (Luke 1:26 - 27).
Some critics have questioned the use of “white” as a
description of Mary. She was not white
(as in Caucasian), they say. This is another
example of the many reasons why the Book of Mormon cannot be true.
This is a silly claim and it shows a lack of understanding
of the English language. Why might Nephi
had used the term “white?” In the scriptures, white is used to represent purity. One example, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith
the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
A look at a thesaurus gives alternate words that could be
used as white. For example lean, fresh, new, spotless, untouched, virgin,
and virginal. Let’s look at pure - blameless, clean,
guileless, immaculate, lilywhite, maidenly,
righteous, sinless, spotless, unblemished, uncorrupted,
undefiled, virgin, and virtuous.[2]
It also shows they do not understand the Book of Mormon and
key concepts. Daniel Peterson gives us a
powerful explanation for why a description of Mary would use “white.”
“Even the language used to describe her echoes the
vocabulary previously used for the tree. Just as she was ‘exceedingly fair and
white,’ ‘most beautiful and fair above all other virgins,’ so was the tree’s
beauty ‘far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did
exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.’ Significantly, though, it is only
when she appears with a baby and is identified as ‘the mother of the Son of God’
that Nephi grasps the tree’s meaning.”[3]
The Spirit who had been speaking to Nephi departed. The heavens opened and an angel appeared and
stood before Nephi. He asked Nephi what
he saw.
Nephi told him he saw “[a] virgin, most beautiful and fair
above all other virgins” (1 Nephi 11:15).
Then he was asked, “Knowest thou the condescension of God?” (1 Nephi
11:16). He responded he knew God loves
his children, “nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things” (1 Nephi
11:17).
Richard Draper explains:
“Nephi clearly understood the nature of the ministry of the
coming Messiah. An angel asked him, ‘Knowest thou the condescension of God?’
Nephi answered, ‘I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not
know the meaning of all things’ (1 Nephi 11:16–17). The angel then revealed to
Nephi not only the condescension of God but also the love on which it
was grounded. The term condescension means to descend from a higher to a lower
state, to waive the privileges of one’s rank or dignity.”[4]
Richard Hafen shares an experience he had with Elder Neal
Maxwell before his death. This
experience helps us understand how we can apply the Book of Mormon in our
everyday lives.
“It is hard to describe how watching Elder Maxwell’s
experience, like watching the experience of my friend with MS, has changed my
perspective about what I’ve called my ‘religious problem.’ Those who taste
sanctification must often pay such a terribly high price that they can’t
possibly understand the need for their suffering. Rather than looking for a
rational explanation, Elder Maxwell would just quote Nephi: ‘I know that [God]
loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things’ (1
Nephi 11:17).”[5]
The angel told Nephi he had seen Mary, the mother of
Christ. “And Jacob begat Joseph the
husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who, as the prophets have written, who is called Christ [The
Greek title ‘Christ’ and the Hebrew title ‘Messiah’ are synonymous, meaning ‘Anointed
One.’]” (JST Matthew 1:4).
In his great sermon, King Benjamin would testify to the
assembled multitude, “And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and
his mother shall be called Mary” (Mosiah 3:8).
After being awakened by Ammon, the first thing King Lamoni
did was testify of Christ. “For as sure
as thou livest, behold, I have seen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth, and
be born of a woman, and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his
name. Now, when he had said these words,
his heart was swollen within him, and he sunk again with joy; and the queen
also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit” (Alma 19:13).
[1] Beauty on the Mountains: Inspiration from the
Book of Mormon for LDS Writers, Cynthia L. Hallen, Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute.
[2] Thesaurus.com,
“white” and “pure” entries,
[4] The Mortal Ministry of the Savior as
Understood by the Book of Mormon Prophets, Richard D. Draper, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute.
