Book of Mormon 3 - “The Vision of the Tree of Life”

I enjoyed preparing Lesson 3 of the Book of Mormon, “The Vision of the Tree of Life”. I spent a great deal of time thinking about dreaming and visions. I am a vivid dreamer and have the most unusual dreaming experiences. But, it is true, that the symbols and items that fill my dreams are those that are familiar to me. If Joseph Smith had “written” the Book of Mormon, the visions would have contained symbols that were familiar to him. The nature of the visions testifies to the divine origin of the Book of Mormon. The symbolism is typical of the time in which the prophets Lehi and Nephi lived. Two examples from An Approach to the Book of Mormon by Hugh Nibley refer to 1 Nephi 8:4-8 and 1 Nephi 8:9 & 20. In 1 Nephi 8:4-8, Lehi’s vision is of a lone traveller in a dark and dreary world, who travels for hours until, in desperation, he pleads to the Lord for mercy. This is a common nightmare of the early Arab poet. Yet, the academic study of the poetry of the Arabs of this time period only occurred in the early 20^th century! The same is true of the imagery of a large and spacious field in the second scriptural reference, 1 Nephi 8:9 & 20. The Arab poet used “maidan” to mean the world and to refer to a large and spacious field, a symbol of freedom from fear and oppression.

One dear sister made my Sunday rather exciting by introducing me to the Deseret Bookshelf. I tried in vain to set this up on my phone and tablet – apparently the software on my Samsung devices is not too happy with the Bookshelf! However, I did manage to set it up on my computer. The Bookshelf releases reading references that accompany each of the Sunday lessons. She showed me two very interesting references. The first dealt with the two trees. I still need to find the details. The tree in the Garden of Eden and the tree in Lehi’s vision may indeed be the very same tree! The second reference spoke about the Lord as our sure foundation and Satan as the Lord of the Air – not too strange that the large and spacious building should appear to be floating in the air! Brother Hugh Nibley (in his Collected Works, Volume 6, pages 257-258) describes ancient, grand Arab houses built after the Babylonian style, and first discovered in the 1930s, that were often 10 to 12 stories high, with windows beginning 20 to 50 feet from the ground, for defense. Windows alight, this high off the ground, would give the building the appearance of floating!

Another part of the lesson that made me reflect on my own studying of the scriptures was 1 Nephi 11. Nephi indeed knew the importance of pondering spiritual matters in his heart, as this pondering leads to personal revelation. I need to spend time reflecting on all scriptures that are contained in the lessons, if I am to understand and teach with the Spirit. From Liberty Jail, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote, “The things of God are of deep import and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out".

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