Jacob Reads Zenos’ Writings of “the Olive Tree,” a Metaphor of the House of Israel

Remember the words of Zenos:

The Lord said the house of Israel (the Jews, or Judah, the lost tribes, and the tribe of Joseph) is like a tame olive tree, which a man planted in his vineyard and took care of. The tree grew, became old, and started to decay.

Seeing this, the Master of the vineyard said, “I will prune out its wicked leaders, divide it into two kingdoms, and water it by sending many prophets, who will declare righteousness to the people (prophets such as Jehu, Elijah, and Isaiah). Then perhaps the house of Israel will repent, sprouting new, righteous young branches, and not die.”

So He pruned it, dug around it, and watered it—sending many prophets to both kingdoms

After much time, part of the house of Israel began to grow in truth, but the main branches at the top of the tree (their kings) began to die spiritually (by worshipping idols).

Seeing this, the Master of the vineyard said to His servant, “Losing the entire house of Israel, the whole olive tree, would grieve me. Therefore, bring in the branches from a wild olive tree (the Assyrian and Babylonian kings). We will pluck out and burn the dying main branches (the apostate kings of Israel) and replace them with wild branches.”

The Lord of the vineyard said, “I will pluck out the young and tender branches and plant them in other parts of my earth. Then I will not lose the whole house of Israel if the roots die, and I will still preserve the good fruit (those who keep their covenants). Now take the branches of the wild olive tree and graft them into the tame tree.”

The servant did as he was told and grafted the wild branches into the olive tree. But in His mercy, the Lord of the vineyard cared for the house of Israel’s spiritual roots. The Lord told the servant to go and watch the tree, and nourish it.

Then He said, “The tender branches will be preserved for myself, that I may lay up their fruit before the last day, for it would grieve me to lose the house of Israel and its fruit.” The Master hid the natural branches that had been plucked out in separate places upon His earth. He planted them here and there according to His will and pleasure.

After many years had passed, the Lord said to His servant, “Come, let us go down to the vineyard.” They both went down to labor, and the servant said to his master, “Look at the tame olive tree, the roots of Israel!” The Lord of the vineyard saw the mother tree in which the wild branches had been grafted. The tree had begun to bear much good fruit (keeping the laws and commandments of Moses).

Even though wild branches had been grafted into the mother tree, it bore good fruit, just as good as the fruit of the natural branches that had been transplanted to other places. The Lord then exclaimed to His servant, “Look, the branches from the wild tree have taken hold, getting strength from the spiritual roots of the house of Israel (the prophets of Judah). The wild branches are now bearing tame fruit! It is good that we brought in the wild branches (many who converted to the Lord) or else the tame roots would have died by now, having no branches to nourish them. Now I will have much fruit (covenant people) before the last day. “Come, let us now go to the other parts of the earth to see if the transplanted natural branches of the house of Israel are also bearing good fruit.”

They went to the other parts of the earth, and the Master said to His servant, “Look at these!” The servant saw the first tree (scattered Jews and or tribes) bearing much good fruit. The Master told the servant to harvest the fruit, for He had nourished that tree for a long time. Then the servant asked his master, “Why did you plant the first branch in the poorest spot in the vineyard?” The Master replied, “Do not counsel me. I knew this was a poor spot, and so I nourished it for a long time. Now you see that it has brought forth much good fruit (many people keeping their covenants).

“Look over there, where I planted another branch (scattered Jews and or tribes). You know this spot of ground was poorer than the first. But look at them. I have nourished them for a long time and they bring forth much good fruit. Harvest that tree as well.”

And the Lord of the vineyard again said to His servant, “Look over here, where I planted and nourished another branch (scattered Jews and or tribes). It bears much fruit.

“And look over here and see the last branch that I planted (Mulek, Lehi, Ishmael, and their families) in a very good part of my earth. I have nourished them for a long time, but now only part of them are righteous, bearing good fruit (the Nephites). The rest of them (the Lamanites) bear wild fruit that is not good. Let the Nephites completely destroy the wild branches (their brethren the Lamanites) who don’t bear good fruit.” But the servant said, “Let the Nephites preach to the Lamanites a little longer. Maybe the Lamanites will yet bear good fruit for you to keep on the day of judgment.” Then the Lord of the vineyard and His servant nourished the entire earth.

A long time passed, and the Lord said to His servant, “Come, let us go down in the earth, for the end is near, and I must have good fruit (celestial souls) for myself before the last day.” They went to the tame olive tree again (the mother tree) whose natural branches had been broken off, and whose grafted-in wild branches had borne good fruit. Now all types of fruit burdened the tree. The Lord of the vineyard tasted each type of fruit from the mother tree, sorted and counted them, and said, “We have taken care of this tree for a long time. In the past the wild branches were fed by the natural roots and this tree gave me much good fruit. It still bears much fruit, but now it is all bad (general apostasy in Jerusalem). This tree no longer profits me, in spite of all our work, and I will be sad to lose it now. What do we need to do for this tree to help it bear good fruit again?”

The servant answered, “The wild branches that we brought in, which once bore good fruit, are all corrupt again. However, the original roots are still good.” The Lord of the vineyard replied, “But even with good roots, this bad fruit is worthless to me. I also know the roots are good. Because of their great strength, they once nourished the wild branches, which for a time bore good fruit. But now look. The corrupt branches (governing powers) have overrun the spiritual roots. This is why their fruit is bad. Because this tree bears so much bad fruit, it will die unless we do something to save it. “Let us go down to the other parts of the earth to see if the other natural branches are also bearing bad fruit.” And sure enough, all of the natural branches (scattered Jews and or tribes, and the descendants of Mulek, Lehi, and Ishmael) had also become corrupt. The wild fruit of the last tame tree (the Lamanites) had overcome the part of the tree that had once borne good fruit (the Nephites, who had rebelled against the light and had been swept off the earth). Upon seeing this, the Lord of the vineyard wept while saying to His servant, “What more could I have done for my vineyard? I knew all the fruit had become corrupt, except for these (the Nephites). Now even they who once bore good fruit have become corrupt and are gone! Now all the people of the earth are good for nothing except to be burned. Look at this branch of the last tree (the Nephites) which has withered away. I planted it in the best part of my earth—in the choicest land! You saw me remove what was here before (the Jaredites) so that I could plant this tree (the Nephites) in its place. You saw this tree bear good fruit and wild fruit. Because I did not destroy the wild branches (the Lamanites) long ago, they overcame the good branch. Now in spite of all the care we have given to my earth, all the people in it have become corrupt. I had hoped to save them—to have preserved their souls to myself before the last day. But look at them. They have all become like wild olive trees, good only for burning. Losing all of them grieves me.

“What more could I have done? Have I ever stopped nourishing my vineyard? (Sending prophets, giving scriptures to the people, etc.). It grieves me to cut down all the trees of my vineyard and burn them. Who has corrupted my vineyard?” The servant answered his master, “The proud people (the lofty branches) have overcome their spiritual roots. They have grown too proud and rich to be fed by their spiritual roots. The lofty branches have stolen the strength (governing power) from their spiritual roots, starving and overcoming them. Isn’t this why your world has become corrupted?” The Lord of the vineyard replied, “Yes. Now let’s cut down the trees and burn them, for I’ve done everything I can to save them.” But the servant said, “Spare them a little longer.” The Lord answered, “I will spare them a little longer, for it would be a sad thing to lose all the trees of my vineyard. Let us gather the branches planted in the outer parts of my earth (the Jews, the ten tribes, and the tribe of Joseph) and bring them back to their spiritual roots. Let us pluck out the branches with most bitter fruit (the most wicked), and replace them with the natural branches. I will do this to save their roots for my own purpose. The roots of the house of Israel are yet alive. To preserve these roots, I will graft their original, natural branches back into them, even though the branches have become corrupt. When these corrupt natural branches are strong again, maybe then they will bear good fruit for me, that I may yet have glory in the fruit of my orchard.”

Then the Lord and His servant took branches from the mother tree that had become corrupt, and grafted them into the transplanted natural trees, which also had become corrupt.

Then they took the corrupt branches from the transplanted natural trees and grafted them back into their mother tree.

The Lord of the vineyard said to the servant, “As we do this, only remove the most wicked from the corrupt natural trees before doing as I have said. As we do this, we will send prophets to these corrupt natural branches once again. We will destroy only the most wicked (those most ripe). We will do this so that the good, spiritual roots of the house of Israel will again be able to nourish their corrupt natural branches, and help them overcome evil. Because I have saved the natural branches and their roots, perhaps the people of the house of Israel throughout my earth will bear good fruit once again, and I will have joy in them.

“Now go. Give power to other servants, that we may all labor together diligently with our might in the earth, preparing the way, that I may yet have natural, good fruit again (the most precious fruit of all)! Let us labor with our might this last time, for the end is near. This is the last time that I will destroy the wicked of my earth.

“Gather the corrupt natural branches of the house of Israel back to both Jerusalems. But bring the gospel to the Gentiles first (the latter-day restoration). Then gather the scattered Jews last. Gather in Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph), the ten tribes, and Judah (the Jews), that they may all be taught the gospel one last time. Nourish the house of Israel one last time, for the end will soon come.

“If these last grafts bring forth good fruit, then according to their strength and numbers, clear their way for them to grow even more by destroying the wicked. Do not destroy the wicked all at once, but only as fast as the natural, good fruit can take their place. By doing this, Israel’s descendants will rely on me, and I will not lose them. Their roots (spiritual power) and high branches (governing power) will be kept equal in strength until they will again bear enough good fruit to completely overcome the bad. Otherwise, I would lose the good fruit, which would grieve me.

“This is how I will sweep the wicked from my earth. I will bring the corrupt natural branches back to their mother tree (gathering), and I will graft corrupt branches from the mother tree into the transplanted corrupt natural trees (dispersion). After the natural branches have come together (the mingling of latter-day Israel), they will again bear good fruit as one, natural tree, and all the wicked in the world will be removed during this last cleansing.”

Then the Lord of the vineyard sent His servant, who gave other servants power to preach and cleanse. These servants were few when compared to the hosts of the wicked. The Lord of the vineyard said to them, “Go and labor in my earth with all your might, mind, and strength because this is the last time I will work in my earth, for the end is near. If you labor mightily with me, you will have joy in the fruit that I will preserve to myself against the day of judgment, which soon comes.”

Then the servants labored with their might, obeying all the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard, who labored with them. The natural, good fruit grew again in the earth. The servants did as they were commanded, keeping the spiritual roots and the governing tops of the trees in balance. The servants labored with all diligence, according to the Lord’s commandments, until all the wicked had been swept off the earth and the Lord had preserved to Himself the natural fruit. Now all of Israel’s house had become unified in love, as one body, and were all equal. The Lord of the vineyard had preserved to Himself the natural fruit (His righteous children) which had been most precious to Him from the beginning.

When the Lord of the vineyard saw that His fruit was good, and that all the corrupt had been destroyed, He called up all His servants and said to them, “We have nourished my earth for the last time, and you have seen me do my will, preserving the good, natural fruit, like it was in the beginning. You are all blessed for having diligently labored with me in my earth, keeping my commandments, bringing the natural fruit to me again and destroying all the wicked. Because of the good souls of the earth that you have gathered, you will have joy with me in my house. I will preserve these souls to myself for a long time after the last day, which soon comes. I have nourished my people and have destroyed the wicked for the last time.

When evil comes upon the earth again, I will gather the good and the bad. I will preserve the good to myself and throw the bad out to their own place. Then the final judgment will come, and I will celestialize my earth with fire.”