Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Jacob 5:57-61


57 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck not the wild branches from the trees, save it be those which are most bitter; and in them ye shall graft according to that which I have said.
58 And we will nourish again the trees of the vineyard, and we will trim up the branches thereof; and we will pluck from the trees those branches which are ripened, that must perish, and cast them into the fire.
59 And this I do that, perhaps, the roots thereof may take strength because of their goodness; and because of the change of the branches, that the good may overcome the evil.
60 And because that I have preserved the natural branches and the roots thereof, and that I have grafted in the natural branches again into their mother tree, and have preserved the roots of their mother tree, that, perhaps, the trees of my vineyard may bring forth again good fruit and that I may have joy again in the fruit of my vineyard, and, perhaps, that I may rejoice exceedingly that I have preserved the roots and the branches of the first fruit—
61 Wherefore, go to, and call servants, that we may labor diligently with our might in the vineyard, that we may prepare the way, that I may bring forth again the natural fruit, which natural fruit is good and the most precious above all other fruit.
Jacob 5:57-61

After counseling with his servant, the Lord told him to remove only the wild branches that were most bitter.  Otherwise, he was to graft branches as the Lord told him.

Natural trees do not change genetically to “become wild” (see questions 3 and 4). In the instance of Jacob 5:57, the wild branches are not plucked from the tree except those that are the most bitter. The only reason for grafting wild branches on tame trees is that they may provide more vigor for rejuvenation than tame branches. However, there are good reasons to remove the branches with the bitterest fruit.[1]

Once that was done, they would continue to nourish the trees and trim the branches. The Lord decides to pluck branches from the trees that will be cast into the fire.  These words a reminiscent of the words of Isaiah. 

“When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour” (Isaiah 27:11).

“To pluck means to pick out, cull or strip, cut or remove. Zenos reflects a difference in the severity of pruning: ranging from “plucking off” whole branches or sections (Jacob 5:7) to “trimming up” selected growth (Jacob 5:58). White states that after several years trees should be pruned and all unwanted branches should be lopped: “Remember the old proverb ‘He who ploughs the olive‑grove, asks it for fruit; he who manures it, begs for fruit; he who lops it, forces it to give fruit.’”[2]

The work the Lord does he does so that, “perhaps, the roots thereof may take strength because of their goodness … that the good may overcome the evil.”  Paul Hoskisson likens this process to the work of the Restoration.

“This grafting and pruning process is evident today in the Restoration. Successful grafting consists of ‘coming to a knowledge of the true Messiah’ (1 Nephi 10:14), Christ, through the word of God … In 1820, when the Prophet Joseph went into the grove to pray (perhaps it was not coincidence that the Restoration began in a grove of trees), the entire world was devoid of the kind of fruit the Lord desired … From that beginning in nineteenth-century frontier America, peoples and cultures have been exposed to the healing influence of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the renewed scriptural heritage of the house of Israel. The realization of this healing process can be seen in the Restoration. As soon as the people who accept the gospel are able to receive them, God reveals correct principles, doctrines, and eternal ordinances. In this way the scriptural heritage of the house of Israel, the roots, ‘may take strength’ (Jacob 5:59) and bless the peoples and cultures nourished by them.[3]

So, how does a change in the branches affect the roots?

“Rootstocks have a direct bearing on the quality of the fruit. Temperate fruit tree growers ‘often select a certain rootstock for a particular fruiting cultivar because it will dwarf the tree’ to facilitate fruit harvesting and, in most instances, will bring the tree into production sooner. The tree is dwarfed, but not the roots nor the fruit. Hartmann et al. point out that for ‘some species, particularly citrus, the type of rootstock can . . . influence the quality of fruit produced by the scion cultivar. . . .’”[4]

Because the Lord preserved natural branches and roots, he grafted natural branches into the mother tree.  He has preserved the roots of the mother tree.  And, he hopes, the trees in his vineyard will bring forth good fruit that he might “have joy again in the fruit of my vineyard and, perhaps, that I may rejoice exceedingly that I have preserved the roots and the branches of the first fruits.”

Once again, these words echo Isaiah.  “He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit [IE the blessings of salvation]” (Isaiah 27:6).

This shows how Israel will be preserved.

“Paul uses the olive tree to show how Israel will be preserved through an act of grace. The Lord will use Israel’s jealousy of the Gentiles to entice Israel to return. Though Zenos too shows how Israel will be preserved through grace, he uses the olive tree in a very different way than does Paul. Zenos’s parable demonstrates the lengths to which the Lord of the vineyard will go to preserve his fruit. As Jacob 5:60 makes clear, Zenos allegorizes the olive tree to show how the Lord can preserve his fruit (which remains undefined in the parable)…”[5]

The Lord told his servant to call all of his servants to work “diligently with our might in the vineyard.”  His desire was that he might again have natural fruit.  Calling servants is a major part of the Gospel.  The Lord told Joseph Smith, “Wherefore lay to with your might and call faithful laborers into my vineyard, that it may be pruned for the last time” (D&C 39:17).

We once again see similarities between the Tree of Life and the vineyard.  “[T]he description of the fruit of the olive tree as ‘good and the most precious above all other fruit’ (Jacob 5:61) suggests an additional parallel, a parallel between the trees in the vineyard and the tree of life.”[6]  M. Catherine Thomas expands on this.

“When Jacob is about to introduce the allegory he exhorts the reader to be the first-fruits of Christ (Jacob 4:11). Nephi says that the fruit from Lehi’s dream tree is “most precious and most desirable above all other fruits’ (1 Nephi 15:36). In identical language, the olive tree’s natural fruit is ‘most precious above all other fruit’ (Jacob 5:61) and ‘most precious unto him from the beginning’ (Jacob 5:74); that is, the fruit from both trees is described as ‘most precious.” It would seem that the fruit represents harvestable souls, or those that can be or have been sanctified by the Savior’s atoning power.[7]


[1] Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5, Wilford M. Hess, Daniel Fairbanks, John W. Welch, and Jonathan K. Driggs, Maxwell Institute.
[2] Ibid.
[3] The Allegory of the Olive Tree in Jacob, Paul Y. Hoskisson, Maxwell Institute.
[4] Botanical Aspects of Olive Culture Relevant to Jacob 5, Wilford M. Hess, Daniel Fairbanks, John W. Welch, and Jonathan K. Driggs, Maxwell Institute.
[5] The Olive Tree and the Work of God: Jacob 5 and Romans 11, James E. Faulconer, Maxwell Institute.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Jacob’s Allegory: The Mystery of Christ, M. Catherine Thomas, Maxwell Institute.

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