Jacob 5 — LDS 12 Step Book of Mormon Insights
The fifth chapter of Jacob is second only to the Isaiah passages for being a mystery and headache to the casual Book of Mormon student.
Olive orchards, olive trees; old ones, new ones, tame, wild, natural; plucking, grafting, planting and transplanting–what in the world does all this have to do with God?
That is the typical reaction to the 77 verses of this, the longest chapter in the whole Book of Mormon.
I know it was my reaction before being awakened by the cleansing of the inner vessel the twelve-step program gave me. With the phrase, “willing to go to ANY length,” (found on page 58 of Alcoholics Anonymous) running through my mind, suddenly Jacob five became a message of the greatest hope I’ve ever read.
Suddenly I have eyes to see past the olives, the trees and the busy workers laboring diligently to save the Lord’s vineyard–suddenly I see the Lord.
Suddenly I see what the entirety of Jacob 5 is trying to convey to us:
that THE LORD IS WILLING TO GO TO ANY LENGTH TO RECOVER US, His vineyard.
He did so in Gethsemane. He did so on the cross. And He is still laboring with us to restore us. How can we ourselves then withhold anything from the process of recovery? When He asks us to go to any length to recover, He’s only asking what He is willing to do Himself.
Leave a Reply