Lessons From Two Jacobs
I am going to talk about something I observed from two different Jacobs: Jacob son of Lehi in the Book of Mormon, and Jacob son of Isaac in Genesis. Then I will tie them together.
Jacob son of Lehi is well known for recounting Zenos’s Allegory of the Olive Tree. The first thing I always think about with this chapter is that it is looooong. It’s the longest chapter in the Book of Mormon, and I either have to gear up for a long session, or split it up into multiple days. I split it up this last time.
To summarize roughly, in this allegory, the Lord of the Vineyard plants olive trees in a vineyard, then proceeds to nourish, prune, and harvest for many seasons. There are times when he tries to help the trees by grafting and transplanting the saplings into other trees or other places in the vineyard. Much time seems to pass, and sometimes the trees bear good fruit and at other times the trees are corrupted. At times Lord almost gives up and mourns the loss of his vineyard, but the servants and the Lord decide to keep trying various methods of pruning, grafting, nourishing, and waiting. Eventually the vineyard bears more good fruit that grows along with corrupt fruit and there is a final separation of good and corrupt fruit. Be sure to read this to get a much better understanding.
What really stuck out to me this reading was the clear distinction of who did what. The Lord and His servants do all the planting, nourishing, pruning, transplanting, grafting, and waiting. It is the plants, however, that grow and bear fruit. They either grow good fruit or corrupt fruit. The Lord does not do the growing.
I think we are the plants. We have to take the nourishment, be pruned, even transplanted and grafted into a new setting at times. We have to choose how we grow and what fruit we will produce. The Lord will not do that for us. If any of you have done any gardening, you know that there is some point where you have to just wait and see how the plant will grow. It cannot be forced.
Now let’s jump to the other Jacob, son of Isaac. Jacob was the second born son behind Esau, who rightfully had the birthright. We can think of this as the covenant relationship with God. Esau could have had all the blessings and responsibilities of the birthright, but instead he sold his birthright to Jacob for bread and pottage. The Bible says he despised the birthright. Jacob wanted the birthright. It symbolizes the covenant relationship with God.
In both of these accounts, notice the element of choice. God will not force us to make covenants and live in a covenant relationship with Him. God provides all that we need to bless us and help us bear good fruit. We make and keep covenants as an active way of accepting what God has offered. If we choose to accept what God offers, we will be greatly blessed.
