Here is some follow-on commentary from a FB pal that I thought was excellent:
Last weeks Sunday School lesson was on The Tree of Life. There's several insights I had while reading these chapters... (one is regarding the Man in White who led Lehi into a dreary wasteland. I'll leave that out for now, but if you're interested... let me know) but the one I'd really like to share is regarding the 4 C's.
I'm going to share a series of scriptures from 1 Nephi 8 and I want you to focus on the 4 words I've highlighted:
22 And it came to pass that they did come forth, and COMMENCE in the path which led to the tree.
24 And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and CAUGHT hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, CLINGING to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.
30 But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, CONTINUALLY holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.
Commence
Catch
Cling
Continually
These are the steps of repentance... We must all Commence the journey of repentance, we must Catch onto the word of God, we must Cling to that word with ever fiber of our being, and we must do this continually throughout our life if we are ever to partake of His light and receive the ability to Love as God Loves.
There's an element of despair or fear involved in those that clung to the Rod. Just as the foolish virgins didn't make it to the end neither did these who clung to the Rod. Another lense to look at this is the story of the Wise and Foolish man and the foundations they built their houses upon. A fourth is the Parable of the Sower which matches up exactly with the Tree of Life. The only way to endure to the end is to Hold Fast to the Rod. In other words to know the teachings of The Master and Do them , thus avoiding the counterfeit doctrine of the devil and his cunning deeds of darkness.
ReplyDeletehere is what I have pondered about...2 groups get to the tree. Until then, they did the exact same things that got them there.This group reached up and partook of the fruit, looks around and saw the "pride of the world" building and felt ashamed by the the scoffing of the people who had put themselves in it, so they left and got lost. This indicates to me that they themselves had pride in their hearts that led them to feel ashamed. The other group did a weird thing. Here we find the message given to us in the form of a paradox, because what this last group did doesn't make sense if you are picking fruit from a tree...they fell down...and partook of the fruit.So the lesson is to humble ourselves, because humility made it possible for the "pride of the world " to not have power over them. Humility rends pride powerless...They stayed and received eternal life with God.
ReplyDeleteCloser examination reveals that right before Lehi had his vision of the Tree of Life.......they were gathering seeds of every kind......hmmmm
ReplyDeleteAnd here's another nugget. What was the first recorded "Holy" object?
None other than the Sabbath. A section of TIME carved out by God that was hallowed and called holy. "kadosh" in Hebrew. The Sabbath will always be holy whether we keep it or not and it's WISE we wake up to the holiness of the Sabbath. That separation of time and space one day of the week where we stop and sit at the table of our Father and actually BE WITH HIM, because the tyranny of the world gets us the other six days and He knew His children would have need to STOP in the spiritual cathedral that is the Sabbath to REMEMBER HIM, the SOURCE OF ALL BLESSINGS, our very breath, lives and opportunity to progress, and most importantly to REMEMBER HIS SON, Jesus the Christ. Walk away from the world completely and immerse yourself in the praise of God through prayer and singing. FEAST upon His word! Treasure it up so that in the coming days you will not be deceived. Keep the Sabbath and find your way to the Tree of Life who is Jesus the Christ. God bless all.