Tree symbolism and the hierarchical plan of salvation

This post is based on a few axioms that I do not want to spend too much time on, since they should be well established on this blog by now.

1. Central to the plan of salvation, the scriptures and the gospel contained therein, is the creation. The first 3 chapters of Genesis are extremely dense, chock full of symbolism and set the stage for mankind (Hebr. Adam) and the role of the Savior.
2. Central to the creation account are trees. They are also full of symbolism (as I will discuss soon), they were created on the third day, and they played a central role in the Garden of Eden

I have written about tree symbolism in the scriptures several times before, like here, here and here. Still, I keep learning. One fascinating aspect of a tree, is the way it symbolizes structure and hierarchy. Consider this picture of a branch below. We recognize it as a branch because it is horizontal. But flip it counterclockwise 90 degrees and it looks like a tree. Similarly, we can take a twig from the branch, place it in an upright position and it will look like a mini-tree. This way, trees symbolize order and a hierarchical structure.

In Zenos' allegory in Jacob 5, we read about branches being cut off and planted as trees. The trees in this allegory symbolize nations and people with the fruit symbolizing their works. The whole earth with its people, various nations of the earth and individuals within a particular nation, all reflect different hierarchical levels, just like the tree. Often the same principles apply on different levels. It is a recurring theme in the scriptures, often related to trees. Here are some examples:

Cut off

This is a theme we have discussed before but not in this context. Those who break the covenant are cut off (Hebr. kareth). Usually, this is in the context of an individual who sins and is being cut off from the covenant people. But it applies on different levels. For instance, in 1 Kings 9:6-7, Israel is cut off from the earth or land. This is from the Hebrew, adamah, which can mean both.

6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:

7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:

When the whole nation falls into apostasy and sin, they are cut off collectively, just like an individual who sins can be cut off individually.

But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. (Leviticus 7:20)

This is just one of many examples to illustrate the same principle as in 1 Kings 9, just on a lower hierarchical level. It goes even further than that. These words by Jesus are well-known:

Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. (Matthew 18:8)

Here we even get an explanation. Whatever part that sins, may corrupt the whole and is better cut off. Presumably, this applies to all levels. Wicked individuals can corrupt a nation and a wicked nation can corrupt the whole earth.

The fruit and the cup

This example is perhaps not the best one to get my point across, but I find this part of King Benjamin's speech very interesting:

23 And now I have spoken the words which the Lord God hath commanded me.

24 And thus saith the Lord: They shall stand as a bright testimony against this people, at the judgment day; whereof they shall be judged, every man according to his works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil.

25 And if they be evil they are consigned to an awful view of their own guilt and abominations, which doth cause them to shrink from the presence of the Lord into a state of misery and endless torment, from whence they can no more return; therefore they have drunk damnation to their own souls.

26 Therefore, they have drunk out of the cup of the wrath of God, which justice could no more deny unto them than it could deny that Adam should fall because of his partaking of the forbidden fruit; therefore, mercy could have claim on them no more forever. (Mosiah 3)

The Lord God had commanded Benjamin, through his angel, to say certain things to his people. They would stand as a bright testimony against them. "Bright" is an interesting adjective to use there, but off topic, so I won't go there. The relevant part is the people who, after hearing the words and still choosing bad works, will drink of the cup of the wrath of God. This is compared to Adam eating of the forbidden fruit. The point is that Adam represents mankind, it is even the meaning of his name. What he did personally and the consequences thereof can be applied on the macro level in the hierarchy of the plan of salvation.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12)

I don't know if it is stretching the symbolism too far to interpret the cup of the wrath of God to be made of the bitter fruit from the tree of knowledge?

The tree of life

On to the other tree in the Garden of Eden, the tree of life. This is referenced several times in the Book of Mormon, but the two most detailed references operate on different levels in the hierarchy. In 1 Nephi 8, Lehi sees the tree in a dream. It is a tree accessible for all people who are able to find their way to it. It was standing by a field representing the world (see 1 Nephi 8:20). This is the macro level version. In Alma 32 we find the micro level version. It is a seemingly very different account where the tree of life is grown within your heart instead. There is a tree-man symbiosis. But the two versions are really not that different, they are just applied on different levels. The same principles apply on all levels. The word of God (either represented by the iron rod or the seed planted in our hearts) is what leads us to the tree of life, collectively and individually. 

Karath (כָּרַת): to cut

The following has been mentioned on this blog before but is repeated because it is important for the context of this post. Strange as it sounds, in Hebrew you don't make a covenant, you cut a covenant. (It is still translated into "make" in English to make sense to us). In Old Testament tradition, a covenant agreement was formally made by cutting animals in half and walking between the carcasses. It symbolized "what happened to these animals will happen to me if I break this treaty". In a time when literacy was rare, this act was the dramatic, and through a modern lens a bit grotesque, signature.

As far as I know, nobody was ever cut in half when breaking a covenant, so you would think of this as merely symbolic. But I just realized that this has everything to do with the common scriptural expression, "cut off", that I wrote about here a while back. Frequently, I see a topic that I have studied before in a new light as I learn more. This is one of those. As explained in the linked post, you are usually cut off from the people in the Old Testament and cut off from the Lord's presence in the Book of Mormon. But the consequence is really the same. Being cut off from the people, the covenant people of Israel, implies being cut off from the Lord's presence, because he dwelled in their midst where the tabernacle/temple stood containing the ark of the covenant.

The Hebrew word for cut is karath (כָּרַת). When you make a covenant or are cut off from the people in the English translation of the Old Testament, the Hebrew word is the same, karath in both cases. So we have in fact many examples of people being cut (off) as a consequence of breaking the covenant they cut. For instance, in Genesis 15, the Lord makes/cuts a covenant with Abraham and promises him numerous offspring and a promised land. In Genesis 17, circumcision is introduced as a token of the covenant.

And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off [Hebr. karath] from his people; he hath broken my covenant. (Genesis 17:14)

The Mosaic covenant describes the same consequence. From Exodus to Deuteronomy there are all kinds of laws that come with a warning that those who break them will be cut off from the people, whether it is breaking the sabbath, touching unclean things, eating blood, eating sacrificial meat reserved for the priests, not keeping the passover, etc. In each case, being cut off is the consequence of breaking the covenant they have cut.

In the Book of Mormon, "cut off" is part of the standard phrase that I have called the Book of Mormon proverb.

Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence. (2 Nephi 4:4)

This post explains that this is a metalepsis of the Mosaic covenant as outlined in Deuteronomy in particular. The Nephites have the same covenant terms and consequences as their fathers.

It is interesting to note how this applies both on a personal and collective level. Individuals who broke the covenant were cut off from the people. But when the people of Israel by and large had fallen into apostasy, their kingdom was cut in half and split into a northern and southern kingdom. After that, they were cut off from the promised land and the temple (and thereby cut off from the Lord's presence) as prophesied by King Solomon

6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:

7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people (1 Kings 9)

Ezekiel also talks about a sword going through the land cutting off Israel

Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it (Ezekiel 14:17)

This all made me think of Nephi's vision. He sees, like his father saw, a gulf separating the righteous from the wicked, or the tree of life from the great and spacious building.

And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever. (1 Nephi 12:18)

Royal Skousen has postulated, quite convincingly in my opinion, that the "word" in this verse should have been "sword". This was simply a typo by Oliver Cowdery when copying from the original manuscript to the printer's manuscript. Nephi explains to his brothers:

28 And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.

29 And I said unto them that it was a representation of that awful hell, which the angel said unto me was prepared for the wicked.

30 And I said unto them that our father also saw that the justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire, which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever, and hath no end. (1 Nephi 15)

This gulf, representing a division or separation, is caused by the "sword of the justice of the Eternal God" with "brightness of a flaming fire". I believe that this wording would create certain vivid images in the mind of an ancient Israelite. One is the flaming sword with the cherubim guarding the way to the tree of life, that Lord Wilmore discussed here, and Adam and Eve who were "cut off from the tree of life" (Alma 42:6). Another is the sword that cuts the animals in half whenever a covenant is made, symbolizing the consequences of breaking the covenant. The divine sword that cut Israel also ultimately creates the gulf by cutting off the wicked from the tree of life. So there is a covenant setting to Lehi's dream as well. This is not far fetched at all. After Nephi's vision, his brothers quarrel over the words of their father. Nephi, who had just seen what his father saw, explains

18 Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days; which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

19 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake much unto them concerning these things; yea, I spake unto them concerning the restoration of the Jews in the latter days. (1 Nephi 15)

This is just before he goes on to tell about the gulf a few verses later. The restoration of the Jews in the latter days results in a modern Israel of which we are part. Only those who keep their covenants will not be cut off from the tree of life.