LESSON PLAN FOR 1 NEPHI 8-10

Watch the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/QhH09RIq9P4

ICEBREAKER

Have a large bowl of different kinds of fruit at the front of the room.

Ask: What is the best fruit?  Take a classroom poll to see which fruit is the most popular. Is it apples, bananas, strawberries, or pineapples? And then I’d be sure to ask if there was a fruit that I didn’t list that somebody is really fond of. This is a good way to get a bit of a discussion going because somebody is going to wonder why you didn’t include watermelon or grapes, and they will want to share their favorite fruit.

TRANSITION

In Lehi’s dream, fruit is a key symbol. Perhaps one of the most important, and that fruit grows from a very special tree: the Tree of Life. And what does the tree of life represent? If you’re not sure, look it up in 1 Nephi 11:25.

And there we discover that it is the Love of God.

THE FRUIT

Q: If the tree represents God’s love, what does the fruit represent?

A: The fruits of God’s love and gospel.

Q: What are some of those fruits hanging from the tree?

A: The atonement, truth, love, forgiveness, the temple, happiness, family, salvation, light, revelation, mercy, priesthood, miracles, that fruit can represent a myriad of different things. In short, they are the blessings and good things that come into our lives because of our commitment to the gospel. The blessings or fruits of God’s love. If I were an artist, if I were to paint the tree, there would be many different kinds of fruit hanging from the same tree. And that’s actually a scriptural idea. In Revelation 22:2 John describes the tree of life as bearing twelve different kinds of fruit, and it’s always in season, and the leaves are good for medicine and healing. What a great description of this tree! God has a lot of good to offer us, and it’s always available, and it will heal wounded souls. This is the central symbol around which the rest of the dream revolves.

MAJOR SYMBOLS OF LEHI’S DREAM

Q: What are the other major symbols?

• The Tree:

• The Rod:

• The Building:

• The Mists:

• The River:

Now there are other symbols, but let’s focus on these 5

• The Tree= The Love of God

• The Iron Rod= The word of God, or we would say, scripture, the words of the prophets and church leader, or the guidance of the Spirit

• The River= The Depths of hell, or in other words, the consequences of sin

• The Mists of Darkness=The temptations of the devil

• The Great and Spacious building= The vain imaginations and pride of the world

LEHI’S DREAM BY NUMBER

Worksheet available to print at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeachingWithPower

Using the verses provided, I want you to fill in the following lists. Each one is going to teach you something unique about Lehi’s dream and reveal important truths about its interpretation. Also, each category has an application question to answer. Now you wouldn’t have to do this as a handout necessarily. You could put the list up on the board and have class members fill it in with you or search for the answers themselves. Any way you do it, it should spark some interesting discussion.

THE 8 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE THE FRUIT

Lehi gives us four of the words, Nephi adds three, and then Alma gives us one more in Alma 32.

1.  1 Ne. 8:11

2.  1 Ne. 8:11

3.  1 Ne. 8:12

4.  1 Ne. 8:12/11:23

5.  1 Ne. 11:8

6.  1 Ne. 11:9  

7.  1 Ne. 15:36

8.  Alma 32:42

• 1 Ne. 8:11 Sweet, most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted.

• 1 Ne. 8:11 White,  white to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen

• 1 Ne. 8:12, Joyous, exceedingly great joy.

• 1 Ne. 8:12/11:23 Desirable. Desirable above all other fruit.

• 1 Ne. 11:8 Beautiful, the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty

• 1 Ne. 11:9 Precious, precious above all

• 1 Ne. 15:36 15:36 Greatest. It is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

• Alma 32:42  Pure, but not just pure, pure above all that is pure.

Application Question: Which is your favorite word that describes the fruit of the tree and why?

Q: It sure seems like the Lord wants us to understand something about his fruit, what would you conclude that that is?

A: There is nothing better than God’s fruit. There is nothing out there that compares to the sweetness and beauty and purity of that fruit.

Q: And why do you think it’s so important for us to know that?

A: Because what will you do if you believe that there is something sweeter, or more beautiful, or more desirable out there? You’ll leave the tree and look elsewhere for it. You may think there is something sweeter in the great and spacious building, or in the strange roads, or the forbidden paths. But what happens to those people that try to find joy and sweetness in other places in the dream? They are lost, they are drowned in the river, they are crushed in the fall of the building. If you were to leave the tree and its fruits for the love of the world, you will have made a very, very poor choice.  You will have chosen the lesser.

C.S. Lewis said:

"What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could . . . invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history--money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery--the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy."

C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity, 53-54"

It reminds me of that story in the New Testament in John 6 where many of Jesus’ disciples turn away from him because they are offended by his hard sayings. And then he turns to the apostles and poignantly asks, will ye also go away? And Peter steps forward and says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life”. See, Peter understood the principle of the tree of life. There isn’t anything out there that is better. There is no other real fruit to turn to.

Now Satan has his fruits right? Lust, greed, cruelty, materialism, power,  and they have a sweetness to them too don’t they? I would compare them to RUNTS. Have you ever had those candies before?

Perhaps pull out a box of them and then compare a candy banana to a real banana

Q: What’s the difference between these two? They are both sweet, they are both yellow, they both have the same basic shape, so what’s different?

A: Satan’s counterfeit fruits may taste great for a short moment, but in the end, all he provides is empty calories. They have no long term value. His fruits have no nutritional benefit. If they are the only kind of fruit you eat, eventually they rot your teeth and give you a stomachache. God’s fruit, on the other hand, has long term nutritional value. It’s satisfying and filling.

Now, what do we say about people that don’t seem to like the fruit of the tree? What’s happening there?

C.S. Lewis again. The story of Edmund in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe who is given Turkish Delight—a kind of sweet candy—by the white witch. Turkish Delight was Lewis’s symbol for sin or the kind of food they serve in the cafeteria of the Great and Spacious Building. Later on in the story, Edmund is fed, good, real, wholesome food and he doesn’t like it. Lewis then says this: "There’s nothing that spoils the taste of good ordinary food half so much as the memory of bad magic food.”

C.S. Lewis

(The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)

Perhaps that’s the problem. We get so used to the quick rush that comes from the sugary sweetness of Satan’s fruits, that we grow to dislike or fail to recognize the goodness of God’s fruit when it’s presented to us. Maybe a quick word of advice to parents. Make sure your children are familiar with the good fruit so that when the counterfeit fruit comes along, they’ll be sure to recognize the difference. Show them good, uplifting movies, so that they’ll be able to recognize the bad ones. Expose them to good music, so they’ll know the difference when bad music is played. Take them to good places and environments, so that they’ll be sure to avoid the bad ones. Give them practice in distinguishing the fruit of the tree from the Turkish delight of the adversary.

Application Question: What are some of the most delicious fruits of God’s love you have tasted thus far?

TESTIFY

Do you get the message?! There is no fruit like God’s fruit. Believe that, trust that, take Lehi and Nephi’s word for it. The fruit is worth it!

THE 4 PURPOSES OF THE ROD

1 Ne. 8:19

1 Ne. 8:19

1 Ne. 8:20

1 Ne. 8:23

• 
  
• 
  

COMMENTARY

1 Ne. 8:19 It extends along the bank of the river. Now, why would he put the rod there? Remember the river represents the consequences of sin. If you saw a rushing dangerous river and there was a big solid iron rod running along its bank, what would you suppose its purpose would be? Protection right? A guard rail to keep you from falling in. That is one of the major purposes of the word of God, to keep you out of the river. The scriptures and the words of living prophets are intended to keep you safe from the consequences of sin. Studying them, and listening intently to them will protect you from poor choices and the drowning effects that they have.

1 Ne. 8:19 It leads to the tree. And remember that the tree represents the love of God. The scriptures and the words of the prophets will lead us to God’s love and blessings. They help us to see those blessings more clearly and offer us the motivation to press forward to obtain them.

1 Ne. 8:20 It keeps us on the straight and narrow path. The scriptures and the prophets will keep you on that path. It’s a lot easier to stay on a path when you have a rail to hold on to right?  They will help you to make the right choices.

1 Ne. 8:23 It gets us through the mists of darkness. The mists of darkness represent temptation The scriptures and the prophets will help us navigate through the mists. There is certainty in that rod, safety in that rod, and confidence in that rod. Things may be pitch black around you, but as long as you hold tight to the rod, you know you’re going the right way, and you’ll be safe. You won’t get lost, you won’t fall into the river, you won’t be overcome by the mists. So the rod leads us successfully from one side to the other of temptation and gives us the strength to pass through it.

Application Question: When have you seen the word of God do one of these things for you?

THE 4 C’S OF HOLDING TO THE ROD

1 Ne. 8:22

1 Ne. 8:24

1 Ne. 8:24

1 Ne. 8:30

AND

1 Ne. 8:33

• 1 Ne. 8:22 Commence

• 1 Ne. 8:24 Catch Hold

• 1 Ne. 8:24 Cling

• 1 Ne. 8:30 Continually Holding Fast

• AND

• 1 Ne. 8:33 Heed not the building

COMMENTARY

This is what I would call Lehi’s version of the parable of the sower. It’s the same basic idea. You have different ways that people interact with the word of God.  I see at least 5 different groups of people in this section. There is the group of people that never even get to the path. They begin in the great and spacious building, or they are like Laman and Lemuel in the dream. They never try the path. These are the people who never let the seed even get inside their hearts. They have no desire to even try God’s path.

Then we have the first C. We have a group of people in vs. 22 that Commence in the path. It appears as if this group never even grasps on to the iron rod. They make a half-hearted effort to get to the tree, but as soon as there is any sign of opposition or persecution, they are out. The mists of darkness cause them to lose their way, and they wander off and are lost. The best description of this group comes from Jesus.  I would compare them to the stony soil in the parable of the sower.

(Matthew 13:20-21)

20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

That is the “Commence group” in Lehi’s dream. They dureth for a little while, but when the mists arise, they are lost. They have nothing to hold on to.

The second and third Cs are in vs. 24. Some people “Caught hold”, and they “Cling” to the rod. Now there may be some that catch hold to the rod, but they don’t cling to it. They eventually end up leaving it. Others catch hold and cling to the rod. But still, that’s not enough to get us to and keep us at the tree.

There is one more C-word we need to add. This is the step that sets people apart. These are the individuals who not only enjoy the fruit of the tree, but they never leave it. What is their secret? What do they do that the others fail to do? In vs. 30, this group of people commences, catches hold, clings, but most importantly, they continually hold fast to the rod of iron. They have staying power. They are in it for the long haul and they endure to the end.

To me, though, there is one more important step to this process that I would like to add here. Is partaking of the fruit enough to guarantee us a place in God’s kingdom? No, there is a group of people that leave the tree. They leave it because of the mocking of the people in the building. It seems like this is the activity of choice for people in the building.

I love what Neal A. Maxwell suggested:

“. . . they are intensely and busily preoccupied, pointing fingers of scorn at the steadfast iron-rodders. Considering their ceaseless preoccupation, one wonders, `Is there no diversionary activity available to them, especially in such a large building--like a bowling alley?"[Neal A. Maxwell, "` Becometh as a Child,'" Ensign May 1996: 68].

I love that, it’s like “Haven’t they got anything better to do?” But what does that tell you about the influence of the building? If that mocking can draw people away from the fruit? Remember, this is the most sweet, most desirable, most joyous fruit in the world. That tells me the building is powerful. Don’t underestimate the power of the great and spacious building. If it can draw away people who have tasted the fruit, then it is a force to be aware of and reckoned with. So what is the key to avoiding being drawn away by the great and spacious building because certainly, we are going to hear the mocking. I’m sure you already have because it is all around us. Lehi says “we heeded them not”. We’ve got to learn to pay no attention to their ridicule. This is where the phrase “Have an eye single to the glory of God” would apply.

So what is your relationship to the building? How do you view the world and its influence? Do you spend a lot of time looking longingly at the fads, the entertainment, the lifestyle, the dress, the language and the philosophies of those that are in the building? The more you give your attention to the things of the world, the looser and looser your grip on the iron rod becomes. How much of your time to you give to the world compared to the time you give the iron rod? I know that many wish to have the best of both worlds. They try to bend the iron rod to pass through the great and spacious building. Unfortunately, that’s impossible. It’s an iron rod! It’s not bendable. Either you hold to it, or you have to let go in order to get to the building. We’ve got to try and put on the blinders so to speak. Maybe “living in a bubble” or “sheltered” isn’t the worse thing in the world after all.

So there we have it. If we wish to enjoy the fruits of the tree forever, we must commence, catch hold, cling, continually hold fast, and “heed not” those that are in the building. That’s the key. That’s the secret to Lehi’s dream, never let go of the rod.

Q: What does somebody that is “continually holding fast" to the rod look like?  It’s good to put some of these ideas down in concrete examples. I’ll tell you what I see. This is a person who feasts on God’s words daily. They study and search the scriptures continually. This is the person who not only studies and knows the gospel but acts on it. They seek to pattern their lives after what they learn in the scriptures. This is the person who pays close attention to the words of living prophets. They not only watch general conference, but they study the words of the brethren and apply their counsels to their lives. This is the person who seeks the guidance of the Spirit in their lives and acts on the promptings. The word is an integral part of their life. They think about it often, they speak about it often. It’s a part of their daily conversations. That’s what I see. But, what do you see?

THE 4 THINGS THE MISTS HIDE

The mists of darkness are the temptations of the adversary. According to 1 Nephi 12:17, their purpose is to blind eyes, harden hearts, and lead people away to perish and be lost. Now, this is more of an exercise of the imagination. But put yourself in the dream. When the mists of darkness arise, what can’t you see anymore? What does the adversary not want you to see? And what might that symbolize?

Possible answers:

You can’t see the tree anymore. Satan does not want you to see God’s love. He’s always trying to tell you that God doesn’t love you, or that he’s not a loving God in general. That there’s no hope for you. No blessings in living the gospel. He tries to get us to say things like, “Well if God really loved me, he wouldn’t have allowed this tragedy to happen in my life”. OR “I’ve sinned too greatly, "How can God ever love me again after what I’ve done, I’m hopeless.” Don’t let the mists blind you to God’s love.

They hide the path and the rod.  Satan doesn’t want you to see the truth or the difference between right and wrong. He wants to hide it from you with the philosophies of men and the theories that are pleasing to the natural man. There is no real truth out there, he whispers. Everything you’ve been taught about prophets, and angels, and miracles and the afterlife is all made up! It’s a big hoax. You’ve been fooled. And there is no real right and wrong. It’s all relative, all dependent on your environment or your upbringing. You don’t really have agency, you’re just a product of your surroundings. So it’s ok to be dishonest, you’ve got to look out for your own self-interest. It’s ok to give indulge in lust, it’s only natural, it’s in your biology.  It’s ok to get angry, you can’t control things like that. So, the mists of darkness will seek to blind you to the clear truths taught by the scriptures and the prophets.

They hide the river. At all costs, Satan does not want you to see the consequences of your poor choices. He does not want you to see the misery and the suffering that awaits those that leave the path. All he’ll show you is the fun of the building, not its crushing collapse. That’s why he whispers in our ears in 2 Nephi 28:22 “there is no hell;...I am no devil, for there is none”. So it’s ok to do whatever you want, you want to have to pay. This is where the real party is! Unfortunately, he never shows you the addiction, or prison, or the broken hearts of spouses and children, the STD’s or unwanted pregnancies, the loss of trust, and lost opportunities and blessings. He’ll never show any of that. He keeps that safely veiled behind the mists of darkness. But through the darkness, if you strain your ears, you can still hear the rushing waters of the filthy river and the gurgling cries of those drowning in it. Hold tight to the rod, stay away from the river.

They hide the fact that the building has no foundation. Satan would never want to hide the building from you. Lehi tells us that it “stood as it were in the air, high above the earth”. In my imagination, the building is high enough that you can always see it, even from within the mists of darkness. But what part of the building can’t you see? He hides the fact that there is no foundation. Why does he not want you to know that? Because what is going to happen to a building with no foundation? It’s going to fall. And it does. Nephi tells us that in 11:35, and "great was the fall thereof". The adversary wants you to think that his kingdom is powerful and eternal. That he can’t lose. Unfortunately for him and all those that are a part of it, it’s all temporary, it’s propped up on stilts and rubble. It won’t last. It’s like that for us as individuals as well, a life built on sin, indulgence, lust, greed, pride, or hedonism, can not last. Eventually, you will fall. The tree is forever, the building is fleeting.

Application Question: What has helped you most to get through the mists of darkness?

THE 4 PATHS YOU CAN TAKE (BONUS CATEGORY)

There is one other numbered activity that you could do that I’ll throw in here as a bonus but there is so much you can discuss about the dream that I usually don’t have time for this one, but I’ll give it to you for your benefit. But it’s also interesting to look for the 4 different paths described in the dream?

1 Ne. 8:20

1 Ne.  8:28

1 Ne.  8:32

1 Ne. 12:17

• 1 Nephi 8:20 You have a straight and narrow path. It’s straight because it leads directly to God. You can see where it’s going, it has nothing to hide. Where Satan wants to obscure everything with mists, God is always clear and direct. Do this, and this will be the result, he says. However, the path is also narrow. It’s narrow because it’s challenging. It’s very specific and requires concentration and effort to stay on.  It’s also narrow because not many people take it. I’m a hiker, and a path that not many people take is going to be narrower, not as well worn.  

• 1 Ne. 8:28 Forbidden Paths

• 1 Ne. 8:32 Strange Roads

• 1 Ne. 12:17 Broad Roads

• On the other hand, you have forbidden paths, strange paths, and broad paths. I can’t think of three better words to describe the ways of the world. There are many forbidden things out there the world gives in to. There is still forbidden fruit out there. Things that God does not intend for us to experience in this life. There are strange things the world does. It’s all about extremes, pushing the envelope, or living on the edge. Look at the way they dress, or what they do to their hair and bodies, or the movies they watch, the music they listen to, the lifestyle they live. It’s not natural. It’s strange.   And then broad. A broad path is one that everybody can walk. Everybody’s doing it. It’s not challenging to live a life on the path of least resistance. Those on the broad path always give in to what comes easily. It’s easy to be lazy, to be prideful, to get angry, to give in to lust and greed. There’s no challenge to it. So I guess what you have to decide is would you rather be on a hard trail, but know exactly where you are? Or on an easy trail, but be completely lost. As an avid hiker, I know which I would choose. Being lost is not fun. I’ve been there and I don’t recommend it.

Application Question: So what path are you on right now? And Is it leading you to where you want to go?

APPLY

Personal pondering question:

Where do you see yourself in the dream?

• Are you under the tree enjoying the fruits of the gospel?

• Are you drowning in the consequences of poor choices?  

• Are you wandering forbidden, strange, and broad roads?

• Are you feeling your way to the building?

• Are you holding fast to the rod as you push through some mist of temptation?

• Are you partying in the great and spacious building?

• Are you feeling ashamed at the mocking and considering leaving the tree?

And the fact of the matter is that you can probably see yourself in multiple locations at different times of your life and daily experiences. I don’t believe the dream is meant to be interpreted linearly but holistically. Sometimes you’re under the tree,  sometimes you’re pushing through the mists of darkness, sometimes you may feel you're wandering, sometimes you’re in the river suffering the consequences of a poor choice, and maybe even sometimes you’re eyeing the great and spacious building.

CONCLUSION

Wherever you see yourself,  I’ll end with this thought from the very beginning of Lehi’s dream. Look at how Lehi describes his surroundings.  A dark and dreary wilderness. And a dark and dreary waste. He says he travels for many hours in the darkness before he is driven to cry out for mercy from the Lord. What was the purpose of giving Lehi this experience before showing him the tree? Couldn’t he have just started the dream with the tree? Why this agonizing loneliness and darkness? I think it’s because he wants him and us to understand what life is like without the tree. To really emphasize the stark contrast between the two. Without the tree, life is dark, dreary, lonely, tedious, and a waste. That’s probably the best word to describe it. Life without the tree is a waste. So my friends, if this is how you are feeling in any degree. If you’ve strayed from the tree, if you’ve spent enough time wandering the empty halls of the great and spacious building, if you’re drowning in the river, if you’re tired of traveling the dark and dreary wasteland of the world. Come to the tree, come feast on its fruits!

1 NEPHI 9 TRUST OBEDIENCE

Chapter 9 tells us of Nephi’s plan to make two sets of plates at the direction of the Lord. And then he says this in vs. 5

5 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not.

So he doesn’t know why he’s doing it, he’s just going to do it because God has commanded him to. Now we know why he makes two sets of plates. It’s to prepare for the future loss of the 116 pages, But Nephi didn’t know that.

What does this teach me? Well, I think that members of the church are often accused by the world of being blindly obedient. That we don’t think for ourselves. Or that we’ve been brainwashed. The prophet speaks and we blindly follow.

Well this may not be the best place to teach this principle, Moses 5 is much better where Adam and Eve make sacrifices without knowing why, but this is a good example of that same idea. I believe that there is a difference between blind obedience and trust obedience. Blind obedience is when you are so caught up in the charisma of the giver of the command and the emotions they produce and the sheep mentality of everyone around you that you don’t even stop to think about what they’re asking, you just do it. That is not the type of obedience Christ’s church asks of us. It asks for trust obedience. There are times when we may be asked to do things we don’t completely understand, but because of our prior experience with the giver of the command. Our recognition of their integrity and character, the positive results that following them in the past has produced, and the confirmation of the Spirit we receive when we seek to know if it is God’s will all come into play in our decisions. We’re not following blindly, we’re following smartly, educatedly, and faithfully.

And you know what the cool thing about trust obedience. Eventually, it becomes enlightened obedience. God assures us that at some point in the future, we will understand.

1 NEPHI 10

Chapter 10 contains some of Lehi’s teachings about the Savior.  Try looking for and marking all the different titles for the Savior that Lehi mentions. And then verses 15-22 are a great example of what we spoke about in my last video about gaining a testimony and the process of revelation. Look for the steps that Nephi goes through that were similar to Lehi’s in chapter 1.  And remember that:

19 For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.

And that promise applies to you!