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OBJECT
For Jacob chapters 5 and 6, I almost always like to begin this lesson as an object lesson. I bring in a shovel, a watering can, pruners, a bag of fertilizer, some work gloves, a canning jar, and a box of matches. I tell them that today we are going to learn about growing fruit trees.
ICEBREAKER
Then for an icebreaker I display the objects and ask: How could each of these objects help in growing fruit trees? And there are many possible answers to that, but it usually produces a pretty good discussion.
The shovel could be used to plant, or to loosen the soil, the watering can of course allows the gardener to water the tree, pruners could be used to cut off dead branches or to prune back live branches to strengthen the rest of the tree. Fertilizer of course provides the tree with nourishment that it needs to grow, work gloves allow the gardeners hands to be protected so he can work hard, a canning jar could be used to preserve fruit that the tree has grown, and matches, well, perhaps you could use matches to burn dead branches. There are many possible responses to that question.
TRANSITION
There is a very famous chapter in the Book of Mormon about growing fruit trees. And actually, this chapter wasn’t written by Jacob himself. He’s quoting an Old Testament prophet by the name of Zenos, whose writings are not available to us in the Bible. But Jacob had access to his writings, and thankfully, is passing them on to us here. And the Lord’s intended purpose for this chapter is not to make us better gardeners. He has a much higher objective than that. The chapter I’m referring to is Jacob chapter 5, and the first thing you are going to notice about Jacob 5 is its length. It is really long. If you’re the type of person that likes to read a chapter a night, Jacob 5 is probably going to challenge you. It’s the longest chapter in the Book of Mormon in fact. It’s often referred to as the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees and revolves around the imagery of a vineyard owner who is trying to bring forth good fruit from his olive trees.
What’s an allegory? The manual tells us that allegories are stories that teach spiritual truths through symbols. But to be more specific, an allegory is a type of metaphor where everything in the story represents a particular idea or real-world event. Allegories are full of parallels to actual events. That’s the case here. Each part of the story represents a group of people or an event in world history. And basically, Jacob 5 is recounting the spiritual history of the house of Israel from its earliest days all the way down to the millennium . You have the tame olive tree which represents the house of Israel and the wild olive tree that represents the Gentiles. And as you read you’ll see many different events depicted. If you know what you’re looking for you’ll be able to point out events like the scattering of Israel, the establishing of the Nephites and the Lamanites in the New World, The Great Apostasy, The Gathering of Israel in the last days, and the millennium. And if you read it this way, you will learn a lot. It will certainly be a fruitful study for you. Pun intended.
THE PARABLE
But in this video, I’m going to approach Jacob 5 a little differently. There is so much that has been said and written about this chapter as an allegory that I feel that I really don’t have much to add. There are plenty of resources available to you out there for that approach and I encourage you to use them. In fact, in the Come Follow Me manual itself you are going to find an excellent graphic depicting the breakdown of the chapter into the different periods of the world’s spiritual history and some of the interpretation of the allegory. But here, I prefer to approach and teach this chapter more as a parable. Now a parable is a bit different from an allegory. Its purpose isn’t so much to represent actual groups or events, but general principles and truths about life. When I read it that way, I seem to gain a much more personal meaning from the chapter. But that being said, whether you read it as an allegory or a parable, one’s not better than the other, they’re just different focuses. In my approach, we’re going to look for principles that Jacob 5; (and a little from Jacob 6 as well, since it represents Jacob’s own commentary on Zenos’s prophecy) what they teach us about God and the different ways in which he works in our lives. And actually, I can’t think of many other places in the scriptures where I feel I get a better understanding of the character and the heart of God and the way he works with us, his children, than Jacob 5. So Let’s call the principles we find here “Truths from the Vineyard”. And I would like to focus on 7 particular truths.
As a Sunday School teacher, you will probably have to pick and choose which principles you feel are the most important from these chapters because you won’t have time to do all of them in one lesson. Follow the Spirit and consider the needs of your class and pick the truths you feel most inspired to share.
Regardless of which you choose, I would make sure you start with this activity. The first step to understanding any parable is to list the different elements within it and ponder their interpretation. What do each of those elements symbolize. So here are some of the elements I see and some possible interpretations.
The Vineyard: The World or mortality
The Master of the Vineyard: God or Jesus Christ
The Servant: Jesus Christ or Prophets
The Olive Trees: Me/People
The Labor in the Vineyard: How God works with us
Good Fruit: Righteousness and blessings
Bad Fruit/Decay: Wickedness and consequences
The Soil: The circumstances under which we are born or raised
Ok, now that we’ve established that background, let’s see what truths we can learn about how our Heavenly Father works with us as His trees.
TRUTH #1: THE GOAL OF THE GARDENER
The first truth, the goal of the gardener. What does the master hope to accomplish with his vineyard, with us? Is it to get us to do what he says because he’s in charge. Is it to inflict suffering and pain on us so we know what it’s like. Is it to toy with us for his own amusement? Let’s see.
There is a lot of repetition in this chapter and usually, if an idea is repeated, it’s because the author is trying to communicate its importance. It’s a means of expressing emphasis.
So find the phrase or idea that is repeated in each of the following verses that answers the above question: :13, 18, 19, 20, 23, 29, 31, 33, 46, 54*, 60*, 61*, 71, 75, 76
Were you able to pick it out? Over and over again he tells us that he wants “to lay up fruit against the season for himself”. And at this point, I would pull out the canning jar as a visual aid. And in other verses he says he wishes to preserve the fruit unto himself.
What does this mean symbolically? I think it means that God's goal for us is to have us return to live with Him and to enjoy the fruits or the blessings of our righteousness together with Him. We also have some unique messages with additional detail in 54, 60 and 61. In vs. 54 he says that he wishes to have glory in the fruit of his vineyard. In vs 60 he tells us that he works with the trees so that he can have joy in the fruit of the vineyard to rejoice exceedingly with them. And in 61 he uses the word precious to describe the fruit.
What does all this mean for you and me? If we are his trees and the fruit is our righteous works, God’s major desire for us is to produce good fruit so that He can enjoy that fruit with us at some future season. I assume he means the season when the growing period is over and no more work can be done, when the judgment arrives, and the rest of eternity begins. His ultimate goal is to preserve us and to bring us to where He is. Everything the Master of the vineyard does for the trees is to that end. It is the purpose of his work and the cause of his glory. It reminds me of Moses 1:39, where God says, "For behold, this is my “work and my glory” to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. The ideas of “work" and “glory" fit really well with Jacob 5. God is working incredibly hard to help his trees produce the kind of fruit that will lead them to eternal life.
The First Truth then: God’s Goal is our Good Works and Glory
It's really important that we understand this from the outset, because some of his methods for producing good fruit can be a little hard to comprehend.
LABOR
So this leads us to our second truth. What is the Master willing to do to help his trees to produce good fruit? There is one key word that stands out to me as the definitive answer to that question, and then a whole list of other words that are associated with it. But see if you can find the overall key word. It’s repeated in the following verses: :15, :16, :32, :61, :62, :71, :72, :74, :75.
The word is labor. And I would pull out the work gloves at this point. God is willing to work in your life. For many centuries, God was depicted as a either a detached, vengeful, or impersonal God. Jacob 5 proves otherwise. He’s not detached and indifferent. He is laboring to help you. In verse 32 he says, “all our labor”. He puts all his efforts into turning us into Gods. He is a loving parent working to help his children reach their full potential and receive a fullness of joy and a fullness of glory. He’s a very personal God. And, however this functions, He’s working just as hard to do that in your life as he is in mine. And not only does he work with us, look at how He works:
In verse :61 we learn that he labors diligently with his might
And in :74 we find that he labors with ALL diligence
So, Truth #2 God Labors Diligently for our Welfare and Growth.
HOW HE LABORS
Well, what are some of the methods he uses to work with us. How does he labor? There are a number of different verbs that show up over and over and over again in this chapter. In fact, a great marking activity would be to go through and mark every time you see one of these words show up. First, let’s see if you can find them: And I’ll give you the first letter to help you out, but if you want a little more of a challenge, don’t look at the first letter and see if you can find the repeated word without help. And I’ll make both options available as handout if you’d like to use this as a teacher.
Here they are and the verses you’ll find them in:
Nourish :3, :4, :5, :11, :12, :20, :22, :23, :24, :25, :27, :31, :34, :47, :58, :63, :71, :75, :76
Dig :4, :27, :47, :63, :76
Graft :8, :9, :10, :17, :18, :34, :52, :54, :55, :60, :63, :67, :68
Prune :4, :5, :11, :27, :47, :62, :64, :69, :76
Dung :47, :64, :76
Burn :7, :9, :47, :77 or Cast into the Fire :26, :37, :46, :49, :58, :66
And here’s what that would look like if you marked each of these words throughout Jacob 5
That’s quite the list isn’t it. What does that tell us about how our Heavenly Father labors for us? Overall, God uses many different methods to help us to produce good fruit. Now the fun part, what do each of these methods look like in real life? How does God Nourish us, Prune us, or Graft us? And in a class, I wouldn’t pigeonhole any of my students into one particular interpretation of these terms. There is more than one way of looking at them. I’ll give you some suggested ways, but if you’re teaching, just go with the flow of your students thoughts. Let them discover, and ponder, and share. And then you can add your own insights at times as well.
For each word, keep two types of question in mind. A “liken the scriptures” question, and a “taking it to heart” question. The liken the scriptures question would be “How does God do that thing for us?” and then after that discussion, you can ask “How has God done that for you?”
And as I teach these words, I pull out the different tools that a gardener might use. So first I pull out the watering can and ask:
Nourish. How does God nourish us?
Nourishing a tree is giving it the elements it needs to grow and grow well. God has sent us nourishment also to help us to grow. What is the nourishment? Jacob 6 has the answer and chapter 6 is Jacob’s commentary on what he’s just quoted from Zenos in chapter 5. And what are we nourished by? The good word of God all the day long. He’s nourished us with his good word, the scriptures, the words of the living prophets, patriarchal blessings, the promptings of the Holy Ghost, all the day long he’s offering us nourishment. A good word that is associated with nourishment would be feasting. We have to feast in order to be nourished. Like Nephi said, feast upon the words of Christ, for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3). So let the Lord nourish you.
And how has the Lord nourished you?
Dig. How does God “dig” us? And here I pull out my shovel.
In my mind, the digging about the trees is all the things God provides us that allows the nourishment to go to our roots. There are many tools or instruments in his hands that he sends to break up the soil of our hearts and allow the goodness of God’s nourishment to get to our roots. So who are some of the shovels in our lives? The prophets, parents, bishops, youth leaders, teachers, good friends, grandparents, mission presidents, many, many people sent to bless us and improve our ability to be nourished. And maybe the next time you see one of these people you can thank them for being such a great shovel. But you might want to quickly explain what you mean by that lest they think it’s an insult. I’m especially grateful to my father and mother who worked so hard to dig about my roots by teaching me the scriptures, leading me down the gospel path, and supporting me in my challenges. God has sent shovels to you also. So let the Lord dig about you.
Graft: Have you ever been grafted? At this point I pull out my pruners. And if you’re not sure how grafting works, it’s really an amazing thing. When I first heard about this, it sounded made up to me, but this is actually possible. You can cut a branch off of one tree, then make a cut in a completely different tree, you stick the cut branch down into the notch, wrap it up with fertilizer and soil and then leave it. Eventually, miraculously the branch attaches itself to the new tree and begins to be nourished by the new tree. How are our lives like this? If the cut branch could talk, what might it say? Hey, why are you putting me over here? This isn’t my tree; this isn’t where I belong. This is foreign to me. Put me back where I’m comfortable. Well, has your life ever put you into one of these kinds of situations? Maybe it’s a move to a new place. A new job. Sometimes you might be called to a specific calling in the church that’s not in your comfort zone or area of expertise. What do you mean the primary, I don’t even like kids. You can’t ask me to teach gospel doctrine, I don’t know enough. Bishop, you want me to serve in the Young Men’s organization, I’m too old for that, I don’t even speak their language, what language do deacon’s speak? We’ve probably all found times in our lives where we felt out of place or grafted.
When I was first hired as a teacher, I was assigned to teach in Arizona and I have to be honest with you, both my wife and I were not too excited. We were both raised in the Salt Lake area. I have no family in Arizona, the climate is not our favorite, and I love, love, love living near the mountains and all the kinds of activities you can do in the mountains. So, needless to say, we felt out of place. But we thought that the experience would be short lived and before we knew it, we would be back in Utah. Well, things didn’t quite work out that way. 14 years later we were still in Arizona. But during that time, something happened. The Lord grafted us to a different tree. Now we have since moved back to Utah and are grateful to be here, but we don’t look at our experience in Arizona as negative. I love Arizona and the memories we created there. My marriage was strengthened because we had to rely on each other instead of surrounding family, all of my children were born there, I learned to enjoy certain aspects of the climate, I learned how to be a teacher there, I made amazing friendships and loved the strength and the goodness of the members of the church there. And although we resisted and fought against it, we should have just trusted the gardener. He knew what he was doing all along. My years in Arizona are a positive and key chapter of my life, and my family member's lives. Situations like this may turn up at various times in our lives. And like the master of the vineyard says in vs. 18 “If we had not grafted in these branches, the tree thereof would have perished”. So are we willing to trust the wisdom of the gardener? Hopefully we do. So let the Lord graft you.
Prune. Have you ever felt like you were pruned by the Lord? I’d ask this while still holding the pruners.
Has God ever cut you back or allowed you to be cut back? Pruning involves cutting off branches that are alive and growing. There may be times when you feel like you are thriving and going in the right direction, then all of a sudden, snip, that branch is cut away. Perhaps it’s a job that you love, and things are going well for you when all of a sudden, snip, you’re laid off. Perhaps it’s a relationship that you feel is moving in the right direction, and then snip, the other person ends it. Perhaps it’s a calling in the church that you love and feel you are flourishing in, then snip, the Bishop releases you. Perhaps everything is going well in your life and health, then out of the blue, there’s an accident or a diagnosis, and snip, your whole life is completely different from that point on. Pruning is painful, and often hard to accept. And I’m not sure that all pruning is directly under the Lord’s direction, I feel that sometimes we’re just pruned by life, but the effect is the same. But remember why we prune a tree. It helps to direct its growth, it is actually good for the tree, and allows more strength and nourishment to flow to the remaining branches. A great little church video you could watch that illustrates this principle well is entitled “The Will of God” with D. Todd Cristofferson. He relates a story told by a former General Authority about a gardener taking care of a currant bush. It’s very applicable here. I put a link to it in the description below. (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2012-01-0014-the-will-of-god?lang=eng) Pruning is an important strategy for growing healthy trees. So let the Lord prune you.
Dung. Have you ever felt like you were dunged by the Lord? At this time I pull out the bag of manure.
What’s dung you ask? The polite word is fertilizer, or manure, but there are plenty of other more impolite words for it. But have you ever felt like life just dropped a load of dung on you. Times when everything just seemed to fall apart, when everything goes wrong. when the kinds of things happen that make us turn heavenward and ask why? Being dunged is no fun. These are the unpleasant, smelly, and demoralizing experiences of our lives. If trees could talk, you might imagine how they would react to dunging. They might say, hey, what was that for?! Here I am just growing my little heart out, doing the best I can, everything is going fine, and you come over and dump that reeking smelly stuff all over me? Why would you do that? Junior High for me was a dunging experience. I was short and uncoordinated, I had braces, I had acne, and these things did not produce a lot of confidence in myself. I sometimes asked, "why me?" But ask yourself, why do you put dung on plants and trees? Because it’s full of minerals and other elements that help the tree to grow healthier. It actually helps the tree to grow. Well, it’s the same with us, we must face opposition in things to really become the souls God intends us to become. Many times these dunging experiences, as unpleasant as they are, produce the greatest growth in us. When Junior High ended, things got much better in High School. I grew, the acne went away, I got my braces off, and everything seemed to get much better. Yet, I am forever grateful for what my Junior High experience taught me. I believe it made me a kinder person, it taught me the importance of having self-confidence, it helped me to get over worrying about the judgments of others, it made me stronger. Dunging is never welcomed in the moment, it’s very difficult to ignore the mess and the smell, but in the long run, when we see the growth, when we see the strength that we gained from it, the gratitude comes. So let the Lord dung you.
Burn. Have you ever felt like the Lord burned you?
Unlike dunging and pruning, the branches the Lord burns are those things that we never should have allowed to grow in our lives in the first place. Sometimes we grow decaying branches of rebellion, addiction, laziness, casualness in our covenants, and disobedience. The master of the vineyard walks over and reminds us that these branches will never do. They will need to be cut away and cast into the fire. This too can be painful process. Repentance should produce a godly sorrow in us that helps change our hearts. But remember that fire is a purifying element in the scriptures. The Holy Ghost is referred to as the baptism of fire. It’s not always a negative thing. We need to allow him to burn the pride out of us, the dishonesty, the addictions, the greed, the jealousy, and the selfishness. We ought to frequently ask ourselves if there are any dead branches still on our tree that need to be cut away and burned. So, as strange as it sounds, let God burn you.
So altogether, Truth #3 God will Nourish, Dig, Graft, Prune, Dung, and Burn to help us grow good fruit.
IT GRIEVETH ME THAT I SHOULD LOSE THIS TREE
Another Truth from the Vineyard. Despite all of the efforts of the master, his trees don’t always produce good fruit. What repeated phrase do you find in each of the following verses:
v.7, 11, 32, 46, 47, 51, 66.
It grieveth me that I should lose this tree
And what does he do in vs. 41? He weeps
What does this suggest about the Lord of the Vineyard? How does he feel about us?
He loves us, incredibly. He is deeply and emotionally invested in us. When we don’t produce good fruit, it pains him greatly.
It reminds me of Enoch’s vision in Moses 7 when Enoch sees both the face of Satan and the face of the Savior as they look down on the wickedness and misery of the world. Satan is laughing at their misery, but the face of the Savior is weeping. Sometimes we are a little troubled by some of the descriptions of the wrath of God sweeping people off the face of the earth, especially in the Old Testament. But we need to make sure that we put the right face to those words. It’s not an angry face or an indifferent face or a vindictive face, it’s a face full of tears and grief. When we sin, when we stray from his path, when we don’t bring forth good fruit, he grieves for us. We are precious to him, and he wants more than anything else for us to be happy and enjoy fruitfulness. I think that’s one of the reasons Zenos chose olive trees to represent us. Olive trees were among the most valuable to people in ancient times. Their fruit was used for food, for light, for medicine, amongst other things. They were a precious commodity to their owners. Well, this is how the master feels about you and me.
Truth #4 God Grieves when we fail to grow good fruit because we are precious to Him.
SPARE IT A LITTLE LONGER
Another truth.
What do the following phrases teach you about the master of the vineyard?
:41,47, 49 What could I have done more for my vineyard?
:46 all the care which we have taken
:47 I have stretched forth mine hand all the day long
:50 spare it a little longer.
With all the problems and decay and bad fruit this vineyard has produced, you’d imagine that a much less devoted and patient vineyard owner would have turned it into firewood long before. But this master is different, he truly loves his trees. He’s invested everything into them and something that impresses me as I study Jacob 5 is the amount of care he takes and how many chances he gives the trees of his vineyard to grow good fruit. There is a word the scriptures often use to describe this quality that the master of the vineyard has, it’s called long-suffering. God does not give up on us. He does all he can, anything that might have a chance of working, he’ll try, he takes all the care he can and stretches forth his hand all the day long. Remember Laman and Lemuel. Think of all the things he tried with those two and how long he suffered with their rebellion, and still continued to try and bring them to righteousness. A lot of people wonder if God will give people a second chance. They’ll ask, do you think such and such a person will have a chance to repent in the next life? Do you think he’ll give so and so a chance to change later? Do you think that people who reject missionaries get another chance in the Spirit World, or did they blow it at the doorstep? My response to all these questions is something C.S. Lewis once said. He said: “I believe that if a million chances were to do any good, they would be given”. Whether God offers another chance is not the most interesting question we can ask. The more interesting question is “Will the person offered the chance take it?” I do believe that God is a God of second chances, and third chances, and 40th chances, and 500th chances.
So Truth #5 is God Gives his Trees many Chances to Grow Good Fruit
GOOD SPOTS OF GROUND AND POOR SPOTS OF GROUND
There is a fascinating symbol of this parable that we haven’t examined yet. And that is the soil. The master of the vineyard plants the trees in different kinds of soil. And, What kind of fruit would you expect to get from trees planted in good soil? Good fruit right. And what kind of fruit would you expect to get from trees planted in poor soil? Poor fruit, right. Let’s see if that holds true in the Lord’s vineyard. In vs. 21 we find that the master had planted a tree in the poorest spot in all the land of the vineyard. The ground there is so poor that the servant questions the master’s wisdom in putting it there. The Lord responds by saying “Counsel me not, I knew that it was a poor spot of ground”. Then in vs. 23 he points out another tree in the vineyard that was planted in even poorer soil than the first. And yet, they had both produced much good fruit. On the other hand, in vs. 25 we find the master and the servant observing a tree that was planted in a good spot of ground and yet only a part of the tree is bringing forth good fruit. And later in vs. 43 we find out that that spot was not just a good spot of ground, but that it was choice above all other parts of the land of the vineyard, and at this point, none of its fruit is good, it’s all corrupted. So do you see an interesting conclusion we can make about the trees and the soil. Apparently, it doesn’t matter what type of soil you’re planted in, what matters is how you respond to the nourishing. I know of people out there who I would say were planted in very poor soil. Their family, socioeconomic, or physical circumstances are much less than ideal, sometimes even tragic. When I consider these precious souls, I sometimes look to the master and ask the servants question: Why would you plant somebody here? This is very poor soil. And the master looks back and says “Counsel me not, I knew it was a poor spot of ground” which is nice to know if you feel you were planted in poor soil, God is aware of that fact, he knows you and your circumstances, and will always take that into consideration as he works with you. And then he says, “Wherefore, I have nourished it this long time”. So the master is there to nourish those planted in poor soil. He has not forgotten or ignored them. And I imagine that you could probably think of people you know of who have come from very disadvantageous circumstances who have produced very good fruit. I think of some of the individuals and families I taught in Brazil who lived in the most humble and poor and difficult of circumstances, who were also the most humble, faithful, and dedicated disciples I’ve ever met. I know of some individuals who have disabilities and medical conditions which make their lives very difficult who are also some of the most optimistic and grateful people I know of. I know of people who have risen from abusive and negligent environments who are now thriving in the church. Poor soil, good fruit. On the other hand, perhaps you can also think of some people who were born or planted in very ideal circumstances. Wonderful parents, incredible opportunities, abundant blessings, and yet, they have produced very wild, or poor fruit even in those most excellent of growing conditions. And I’m sure you can think of people who were planted in poor soil that have brought forth bad fruit, and people planted in good soil that have brought forth good fruit. So what’s the Soil Principle? And this is TRUTH #6: It doesn’t matter what type of soil we’re planted in, what matters, is how we respond to God's nourishing. So, how are you responding to His nourishing?
HOW MERCIFUL IS OUR GOD
Our final principle comes from Jacob chapter 6. From all that we’ve studied in Jacob 5, I pray that you have come to a deeper understanding of the character of our Father in Heaven and his Son, Jesus Christ. Jacob’s commentary in chapter 6 does an excellent job of summing it all up, particularly verses 4-5. What do these verses reveal about God’s character?
4 And 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; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
5 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.
And what does that teach us about the character of God?
He is a merciful God, a remembering God, a stretching forth his hands all the day long God (or a laboring God), a saving God, a cleaving God, an extending his arm God.
Do you feel you know your Father in Heaven a little better now?
So there we have them. 7 powerful principles of the parable of the olive trees. And there are many more we could have discussed. And now that you’ve had some practice in interpreting Jacob 5 as a parable. Go back and study it again by yourself and see how many additional principles the Spirit can teach you with it.
TAKING IT TO HEART
Which truth did you most need to hear today and why?
And teachers, you could always edit this slide to only include the principles that you were able to cover in a class.
How save you seen and felt the hand of God working in your life?
THE TAKEAWAY
I am so grateful for the master of the vineyard and his servants. I know that they are working in my life. I see evidence of it every day. I understand who they are more clearly because of Jacob 5. My immortality and eternal life are of great import to them. I see God's hand in my blessings, and I see God’s hand in my challenges, I see God’s hand in my repentance, and I see God’s hand in my forgiveness, I see his hand in my strengths, and I see his hand in my weaknesses. I bear personal witness that he is laboring, nourishing, digging, grafting, pruning, dunging, burning, grieving, preserving, remembering, stretching, cleaving, and extending in my life, and I promise you, he’s doing the same in yours. And all to what end? Good fruit. I pray that we are bringing forth good fruit because that does depend on us. Perhaps that’s the one area where the metaphor breaks down a bit. The trees in this vineyard are not just passive objects responding to the actions of the gardener and nature. The trees are active participants in this story with agency and will. We choose how we respond to God’s labors. Therefore, as Jacob so succinctly puts it in chapter 6, verse 12 “O be wise; what can I say more.” So be wise! And may we all enjoy the fruits of our wisdom together with God and Christ in their kingdom during that wonderful season following the harvest.
JACOB 7-FAITH SHAKERS
Moving on to chapter 7. Chapter 7 almost seems like an afterthought to Jacob. It seems to me that he first intended chapter 6 to be the end of his writing. He even bids us farewell and ends with an Amen in that chapter. But a couple of years later something happens among the Nephites that causes Jacob to say, “Ooh, I just have to include this story in the record, the people of the future are really going to need this.” Remember in our last video that Jacob was instructed to write only the things that would be the most relevant for us, preaching that was sacred, or revelation which was great. The problems we examined last week were more general societal problems, but this last one is directed specifically to members of the church. So after reading this story, you tell me if you think it’s relevant to church members. I’ll let you decide.
OBJECT
For an object to this lesson, see if you can find a piece of rebar to bring to class. Rebar is short for reinforcing bar. It’s these long pieces of steel that construction crews place inside of concrete to make any structure far more architecturally sound and solid. More than likely you could just pick some up in your local hardware store. But if not, I’ll put a link to where you could buy some pieces from Amazon https://amzn.to/3TDKURs . A fun idea might be to give each of your students a piece to take home with them to remind them of the truths taught by this lesson. You can place a piece of it, though, at the front of your classroom, but you won’t be talking about it until later.
ICEBREAKER
As an icebreaker to this section, I would begin by displaying some pictures or videos of earthquake damage. And then I would ask if anybody had ever actually experienced an earthquake and to describe what it was like. I’ve experienced a few small ones in my life, nothing major, but I can tell you that it is terrifying to feel that rumble and shaking beneath you. It’s very unsettling. And then I would ask you: What makes earthquakes so dangerous? Or how do people typically die in earthquakes? And not, it’s not that the earth opens up and swallows people whole, or they fall into the cracks and get buried. No, earthquakes are dangerous because things crumble and topple and collapse on top of you in earthquakes. If I were standing in an open field during an earthquake, I probably wouldn’t have to worry much. I might even enjoy the ride, but if you’re inside, or on a city street with buildings all around you, then that’s dreadful and dangerous.
To get my students into the scriptures I would ask them if they could find “the earthquake verse” in Jacob 7:1-6. Can you find it.
The answer is vs. 5. "And he had hope to shake me from the faith."
So we have a different kind of earthquake going on here amongst the Nephites and this earthquake has a name. What is it in vs. 1? Let’s call this earthquake Sherem. Sherem was a man that had been successful in toppling the faith of many of the Nephites of this time. He’s the first Anti-Christ of the Book of Mormon. There are 4 major anti-Christs in the Book of Mormon: Sherem, Nehor, Korihor, and Zoram. And if I were to ask a group of members of the church if they had ever met an Anti-Christ, there may not be a lot of hands that go up. Because it sounds so terrible. We picture cult leaders or tyrants. But what is an Anti-Christ? An anti-Christ is any person or organization that seeks to turn you away from Christ and his gospel. I prefer a different term for these kinds of people, and it comes from Jacob 7. I like to call them faith shakers. Now if I ask a group of members if they have ever met a faith-shaker, or if they’ve ever had something happen to them that was a faith shaking experience, every hand goes up.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Therefore, do you think this chapter is going to be relevant to our day? I definitely think so. To liken the scriptures, who or what are some of the faith shakers of our day? Well, I believe that our faith is constantly under attack these days. Just within my own lifetime (and I know I’m getting older, but I don’t think I’m that old) faith shaking influences have become more and more pronounced and widespread. The invention of the internet has given faith shakers a much louder voice and a bigger soapbox which gives them an ability to reach anyone, anywhere. And we’ve never lived in a more skeptical, cynical, or secular society than now. And I can only see things getting worse. I know of many in the church who are struggling with their faith or who have lost it because of these faith shaking influences out there. Now let me be clear here, I don’t believe that the problem is in having doubts or questions. It’s ok to have doubts and questions. We are meant to experience “trials of faith”. That’s how our faith grows and becomes stronger. So it’s not that we have doubts that matters, what matters is what we do with those doubts and questions. How do we approach them when they come? Jacob is going to help us with that.
There are a lot of faith shakers in our current world. Sometimes they’re people, people on social media, celebrities, teachers, college professors, intellectuals, maybe even family and friends may seek to turn us away from the faith. Perhaps we come across anti-church literature online or something from church history bothers us, a policy or announcement from church leaders that we find challenging. Trials can shake faith, the unfairness of life, being offended by a church leader or another member, and sometimes the adversary himself can plant doubts and questions in our minds. All of these things can be faith shakers.
Many of these faith shakers share a lot in common with Sherem and the techniques he used. He used flattering words, he labored diligently (just like God labors diligently for our salvation in chapter 5, faith shakers also labor diligently, but to draw us away from him). Sherem was learned and he had much power of speech. Oftentimes faith shakers are very charismatic, intelligent, and articulate. They often use mocking words, disdain, and cynicism in an effort to make faith look silly, old fashioned, or fictitious. You can see these jibes all over Sherem’s conversation with Jacob. For examples, in vs. 6 he says “I have heard and also know that thou goest about much, preaching that which ye call the gospel or the doctrine of Christ. You can almost see him putting air quotes around those terms. In vs. 13 he says, “Show me a sign by this power of the Holy Ghost, in which ye know so much”.
READERS THEATER
A possible way to study the story of Sherem with your class is to approach it as a Readers Theater. I like to take this story and divide up the parts into a readers theater. I choose three volunteers from the class and give each person a “script” directly from the scriptures and highlight the words to their part, and then invite them to voice act their part. These scripts will be available as a handout this week. The three parts I have are the narrator (or Jacob’s voice as narrator), Jacob’s voice, and Sherem. And those three readers can go back and forth through the story which will give you a good sense of the narrative. We’re not going to read through the entire story here, but I invite you to do so before we go any further. Great story although it doesn’t end well for Sherem. And by the way, some advice to any faith shakers out there, my advice to them would be, “Don’t ever ask for a sign, because you might just get one. God almost never uses miracles and signs to create faith, only to confirm it. And if he ever does give a sign to an unbeliever, it’s usually for the benefit of those around them and not the person themselves. And typically, they’re bad signs--unpleasant ones—signs you don’t want to experience.
SEARCH ACTIVITY-BECOMING UNSHAKEABLE
At the end of our earthquake verse, vs 5, Jacob makes a critical statement. He says, “wherefore, I could not be shaken”. That’s the point we want to get to. That’s our goal. We want to have a faith like Jacob’s, so that when the faith shakers come, and they will, we will be unshakeable and unbreakable. We need to build testimonies that can withstand the earthquakes of doubt and skepticism that surround us without collapsing them. How can we earthquake proof our testimony and reinforce our faith?
I invite you to look in the following verses for that answer.
Jacob 7:5
Jacob 7:12
Jacob 7:23
Enos 1:11
Jacob 4:6
So what did you find?
Here’s how I interpreted these verses:
7:5
5 And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many revelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things; for I truly had seen angels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time; wherefore, I could not be shaken.
So, revelation. “Many things which I had seen concerning these things, he had seen angels, and heard the voice of the Lord. I would maybe lump all of these together and say remembering all our previous spiritual experiences can help make our faith unshakeable. We’ve all had experiences with the Spirit and God, even if they are small. Don’t forget these things. Your answered prayers, your promptings, the times you felt the spirit, the good feelings you’ve had in gospel settings, perhaps even miracles, the way in which gospel principles have brought you happiness and triumph. Sometimes I’m baffled by the people that will throw all of that away because some stranger on the internet wrote something about the church they didn’t know how to answer. Don’t let that happen. Now we don’t have to ignore those things or be afraid of them. Oftentimes there are issues that arise that need to be examined and wrestled with. As Jeffrey R. Holland once taught us:
“Brothers and sisters, this is a divine work in process, with the manifestations and blessings of it abounding in every direction, so please don’t hyperventilate if from time-to-time issues arise that need to be examined, understood, and resolved. They do and they will. In this Church, what we know will always trump what we do not know. And remember, in this world, everyone is to walk by faith.”
Jeffrey R. Holland (Conference Report, April 2013 “Lord, I Believe”)
So please, let’s not abandon or forget all those other experiences we’ve had with the truth. We can let them serve as a strong foundation for our belief.
7:12
12 And this is not all—it has been made manifest unto me, for I have heard and seen; and it also has been made manifest unto me by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, I know if there should be no atonement made all mankind must be lost.
Be sure to have a strong relationship with the Holy Ghost. Keep your life clean and free from serious sin. Be open and responsive to its promptings. Do those things that you know will keep that light of the Spirit on in your life.
7:23
23 And it came to pass that peace and the love of God was restored again among the people; and they searched the scriptures, and hearkened no more to the words of this wicked man.
It’s apparent that after the whole Sherem debacle, the Nephites under Jacob’s leadership got the message. They realized where they had been faltering. They decided to search the scriptures. Not just read them, but search them. If we wish to earthquake proof our testimonies, scripture study is like rebar. Is it any wonder why the prophets constantly encourage us to feast daily on the scriptures. They help us to stay firm. They have the answers, they have the guidance, they have the strength built right into them. Search them, and that strength will flow from their pages right into our hearts and minds.
Enos 1:11
11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.
I had to throw this verse in from Enos, Jacob’s son, who also uses that phrase “unshaken” in his book. I’m sure he got that language and idea from his father. And what it is that helps him to have unshakeable faith? Prayer, and receiving answers to prayer.
Jacob 4:6
6 Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.
And finally, if you go back to Jacob 4 we see the phrase “our faith becometh unshaken” again. And here, it’s the searching of the prophets and their revelations and prophecy that lends the strength. And having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken. Another source of strength we get comes from the words of the living prophets and their revelations. We find strength in their witness. We believe in the authority of those that have been called. So, I’ve never seen God or Jesus Christ, but I believe in the authority of those that say they have. I’ve never received revelation on behalf of the entire church, but I believe in the authority of those that say they do. And I gain that confidence in them by examining their character, their conviction, the way their words make me feel, and the results I get by following their counsel.
And I don’t know about you, but when I hear the testimonies and the counsel of men like Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, David A. Bednar, or Jeffrey R. Holland, I don’t get the sense that they are trying to deceive me, control me, or manipulate me. They are sincere, humble, and powerful witnesses of Christ and his Gospel. And when I follow that counsel, I am happy and blessed. What greater witness of their divine calling do I need than that?
And these are simple things aren’t they? Primary answers almost. Read your scriptures, say your prayers, follow the prophet, but they work! I don’t believe that there are many people out there who will lose their faith if they are sincerely doing these things on a consistent basis. It’s when we begin to neglect our scripture study, when our prayers become rote or non-existent, or when we stop listening to the prophets or ignore their counsel, that’s when our faith begins to weaken and crack.
TAKING IT TO HEART
I’d like to ask you then: Have any of these things helped you in your own faith shaking moments? and How?
In my life, I too have experienced faith shakers and faith shaking experiences. Sometimes I hear people use the phrase “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt” in their testimonies. I’m not criticizing that statement; I just don’t feel I can honestly say the same thing. I have faith, I feel I have a very strong testimony, but there are times when doubt casts its shadows in my direction. None of you need to worry about me now, nothing major of course, but those moments come. And for me, I find that if I immerse myself in some of my favorite chapters of scripture, Alma 32, Moses 1, Joseph Smith History, Doctrine and Covenants 121, or the parables of Jesus, all of my faith comes flooding back in and chases away those shadows. For me, the scriptures have always been my greatest anchor. They are my favorite source of earthquake proofing.
THE TAKEAWAY
My dear friends, as long as we are doing these simple things, I testify that we will be strong enough to withstand the Sherem’s, the spiritual earthquakes, the faith shakers of life. Remember these reinforcing principles and we too will be able to say with Jacob, “Wherefore, I could not be shaken”. We can become Unshakeable!
