Although this is not the longest chapter in the Book of Mormon, it is certainly one of the most complex and cool. Prepare to be amazed. Not by my writing, or my insight (alas) but by the cool imagery in this chapter. I heart symbolism (ha!).
So in the previous chapter, as I neglected to mention, Nephi states that his dearest wish is to behold the vision of the tree of life that his father was privileged to see. He starts out this chapter by saying that as he desired to know his father had seen, and believed the words his father had said already, and sat pondering these things, he ended up getting his wish. I have those three verbs circled and linked with pencil lines in the copy of the Book of Mormon that I'm currently using: desire, believe, ponder. I think that's a pretty solid formula for receiving revelation.
So the angel appears to Nephi, and asks him what he wants even though I am positive that he (the angel) already knows. I love it when people ask questions to which they already know the answer. Like when God comes to Adam and Eve after they've eaten the forbidden fruit and he's all like, "WAIT a second? Did you guys eat the fruit??" I think if I were Eve I would have been sassy due to nerves and said something like, "Um, aren't you GOD?" This is why I was not chosen to be the mother of all living. Anyway, I think asking questions can often be a useful educational method. I think it's great. Especially when it backfires. But here it works out quite nicely, and the angel informs him that after he sees the same vision that his father saw, he will also get to see (Double plus bonus!) the future Son of God.
Fact: this angel spirit guide fella says the word "Look!" a lot. Nephi, being the obedient type to begin with, always does so, and every time he looks, he sees something new and interesting. The lesson here is simple: listen to your angel spirit guide. Or you know, the Spirit. Same thing.
Now be sure to hearken back to the previous chapter about the original vision of the tree of life, because I'm not going to repeat everything all over again. Nephi sees all the same things his father saw, and (Triple plus bonus!) also gets walked through the interpretation thereof, courtesy of the angel spirit guide. What I really like about this is that the spirit guide doesn't just spoon feed all the interpretations to Nephi, he just kind of shows him something in response to his question and lets Nephi make the connection himself, which is ultimately more meaningful. It also reminds me a little bit of the ghosts in A Christmas Carol. Which is another great educational vision, although a fictional one.
So when Nephi asks what the tree symbolizes, the angel shows him a vision of Mary, the mother of Christ. Here is something I have always wondered: the scriptures seem to make it pretty clear that Christ was not anything special looks-wise. I mean it doesn't sound like he an unusually ugly guy, but more like he was just ordinary. Not particularly beautiful on the outside. But the first thing Nephi says when he sees Mary is that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen (Ouch, Mrs. Nephi! That's OK, you know who he comes home to every night...) Does that mean she really was physically attractive, or was she just beautiful because of her mission and her deep spirituality? To me, it really does sound like she was a beautiful girl, which raises the following question: why would God choose someone beautiful to be the mother of the Savior but have the Savior be sort of plain physically? Is there some sort of connection between beauty and virtue for women that doesn't really exist with men? Or was it just a product of which spirits got callings in the pre-existence? Was everyone beautiful in the pre-existence?
Perhaps a better question to ask would be, is everyone beautiful now?
I'll get back to you.
Anyway, the angel asks Nephi if he knows of "the condescension of God," which is a very interesting phrase in English. Condescension the way we use it in this modern age generally means talking down to someone. In Hungarian, however, the phrase they use in translation means, "to move downwards" which makes a lot more sense: Christ came down to Earth to fulfill His spiritual mission. Also, Merriam-Webster lists the first definition of condescension as "voluntary descent from one's rank or dignity in relations with an inferior." To be fair, we are ALL inferior compared to Jesus. That's just the way the ball bounces. But I really love that idea of "voluntary descent." That makes Christ's mission seem all the more personal and conscious, like He chose to be our Savior and hang out with prostitutes and tax collectors because He wanted to, not because it was his lot in life by random chance.
Nephi gets the abridged version of Christ's ministry: calls twelve apostles, heals the sick, ministers to children, etc. Then he actually witnesses the Atonement and Crucifixion, which must have been terrible to watch. Frankly, I'm glad it wasn't me. I couldn't even handle Mel Gibson's the Passion of the Christ, for crying out loud. Afterwards (and I think this is very interesting) Nephi witnesses the entire world fighting against the Twelve Apostles and the members of their church. And then--ah, we've come full circle! All those guys persecuting the Twelve Apostles were in the Great and Spacious Building all along! Frankly, reading it over again makes the ending sound a bit Twilight Zone-y. But perhaps that's just me.
Spoiler alert: the Great and Spacious Building, AKA the pride of the world, eventually falls. The angel ends by telling Nephi that the same thing will happen to anyone who rebels against God. Which, to use another movie analogy, kinda sounds like he is setting things up for a sequel.
1 comment:
This is the second of two “What desirest thou”s. It makes a lot of sense to me that that's how a good scripture study goes. It starts with our desire to understand. The first time Nephi answers, to see the tree. Then he's asked whether he believes that his father saw it already. I suppose that matters because it shows that he was not sign-seeking. If he had said, “No, I don't really believe it, which is why I need to see it,” then his purpose in seeking to see the tree would have been completely different. Then he gets to see the tree. Mission accomplished. What else do you desire? To know what it means. But this time, Nephi doesn't get a straight answer. Presumably, the Spirit could just tell Nephi what it means, but instead he has Nephi looking at stuff and explaining what it means himself. It's as if to say, “Seeing is not for those without faith. It is not to convince you of things. It is to help you understand things that you already believe. Which is odd, because looking is not the same as interpreting or understanding. I usually think of looking as the step that precedes interpreting and understanding. Looking is extracting raw visual data to be processed into a coherent picture of the world. But that's not what this chapter is saying. Here “Look!” means “See and interpret!” The angel doesn't give Nephi an interpretation. He has Nephi learn to interpret. He trains Nephi's eyes, as it were. This makes a lot of sense in combination with what Nephi has been saying all along. Laman and Lemuel need not to here more words. They don't need to be told how to interpret their world faithfully. Words can convey rules to follow, but they change the way we see things unless we choose to exercise our faith. This may explain Nephi's frustration with them in the chapter following this vision in which they ask for an interpretation. Also, note connections to Alma 32, in which understanding and light are the rewards of faithfully sowing the seed.
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