Jacob 5/Comment 1
The fifth chapter of Jacob is second only to the Isaiah passages for being a mystery and a 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 which twelve-step program gave me. With the words “willing to go to ANY length” running through my mind, suddenly Jacob 5 has become the greatest message of hope I have 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 the HE IS WILLING TO GO TO ANY LENGTH, TO RECOVER US, His vineyard. How can we then withhold anything from the process of our own recovery? When He asks us to be willing to go to any length to recover, he is not asking for more than He is willing to do Himself.
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