1 Nephi 12:17-18

17  And the ^amists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which ^bblindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into ^cbroad roads, that they perish and are lost.

18  And the large and spacious ^abuilding, which thy father saw, is vain ^bimaginations and the ^cpride of the children of men.  And a great and a terrible ^dgulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the ^ejustice 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.

Verse   Symbol                                    Interpretation

16        filthy water/river                     depths of hell

17        mists of darkness                    temptations of the devil (which blinds eyes/hardens hearts)

18.            large/spacious building          vain imaginations/pride of children of men

great gulf                                word of the justice of God

      “imaginations”

-the sad part for the wicked is that their vanity and pride isn’t even real.  It’s made up in their own minds:  its “imaginations”.

     “a great and terrible gulf divideth them, yea even the word of the justice of the Eternal God”

-notice the nature of the “word of God” in its comparison to a “great gulf”  -the word of God separates the good and evil.  That is bad for the sinner (they have no part nor place) but good for the righteous (they are safe on ‘their’ side:  kept away/insulated from sin).

1 Nephi 12:12-16

12  And I, Nephi, also saw many of the ^afourth generation who passed away in righteousness.

13  And it came to pass that I saw the multitudes of the earth gathered together.

14  And the angel said unto me: Behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren.

15  And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the people of my seed gathered together in multitudes ^aagainst the seed of my brethren; and they were gathered together to battle.

16  And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of ^afilthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the ^briver of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of ^chell.

            -the angel continues to apply the symbols of the vision to specific events of Nephi’s reality.  The general symbols of the vision are applicable to us.  We should consider ourselves as objects or participants of the dream, not just outside observers.

1 Nephi 12:11

11  And the angel said unto me: Look! And I looked, and beheld ^athree generations pass away in righteousness; and their garments were white even like unto the Lamb of God.  And the angel said unto me: These are made white in the blood of the Lamb, because of their faith in him.

     “these are made white I the blood of the Lamb"

            -we are not naturally “white” or pure.  Our normal state is, as King Benjamin identified it, a natural man who is an enemy to God because  he is governed by the carnal, devilish and base drives of the flesh.  Neither do we become “white” through hard, dedicated work.  These qualities and other measures of self-discipline and dedication are requisites to be sure BUT we are made white.  There is a transforming power entirely outside of us that takes the willing, humble, pentitent soul and makes, or should we say re-makes him into abeing of purity.

1 Nephi 12:4-10

4  And it came to pass that I saw a ^amist of ^bdarkness on the face of the land of promise; and I saw lightnings, and I heard thunderings, and earthquakes, and all manner of tumultuous noises; and I saw the earth and the rocks, that they rent; and I saw mountains tumbling into pieces; and I saw the plains of the earth, that they were ^cbroken up; and I saw many cities that they were ^dsunk; and I saw many that they were burned with fire; and I saw many that did tumble to the earth, because of the quaking thereof.

5  And it came to pass after I saw these things, I saw the ^avapor of darkness, that it passed from off the face of the earth; and behold, I saw multitudes who had not fallen because of the great and terrible judgments of the Lord.

6  And I saw the heavens open, and the ^aLamb of God descending out of heaven; and he came down and ^bshowed himself unto them.

7  And I also saw and bear record that the Holy Ghost fell upon ^atwelve others; and they were ordained of God, and chosen.

8  And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the Twelve Disciples of the Lamb, who are chosen to minister unto thy seed.

9  And he said unto me: Thou rememberest the ^aTwelve Apostles of the Lamb?  Behold they are they who shall ^bjudge the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, the twelve ministers of thy seed shall be judged of them; for ye are of the house of Israel.

10  And these ^atwelve ministers whom thou beholdest shall judge thy seed.  And, behold, they are righteous forever; for because of their faith in the Lamb of God their ^bgarments are made white in his blood.

    “they are righteous forever”

            -what a compliment, accomplishment and blessing!  Could that be said of me?  I am righteous for much shorter periods than “forever”.  I struggle to be righteous for an entire day; for a week at a time and a month is nearly impossible.  What is it going to take so that my righteousness never falters?  How can I arrive to a level where I am unfailingly righteous FOREVER?  That will be a glorious and blessed life!

    “because of their faith in the Lamb of God their garments are made white”

            -faith is the key to obtaining the greatest gifts of God.  Faith must mean something more than simple belief.  In fact, the twelve ministers who are here credited with faith as the reason for their being made white did not need to believe.  They saw, handled and knew the Savior firsthand with their physical senses.  So faith as a strong belief is not what we are talking about.  Faith is an action, it is disciplined and devoted action.

1 Nephi 12:2-3

2  And it came to pass that I beheld multitudes gathered together to battle, one against the other; and I beheld ^awars, and rumors of wars, and great slaughters with the sword among my people.

3  And it came to pass that I beheld many generations pass away, after the manner of wars and contentions in the land; and I beheld many cities, yea, even that I did not number them.

    -the next verse (4) provides a solid time anchor if we assume Nephi’s vision is progressing along a temporal continuum.  Verse four introduces events that transpire around 34 AD.  This would lead us to place the multitues spoken of in verse 2-3 between approx. 550 BC and 33 AD.  The writers of this period (Benjamin, Alma, Helaman, etc.) clearly provide an account of  a vast population who engage and re-engage in warfare.

1 Nephi 12:1

Chapter 12 Summary

Vision of Tree of Life:  Fulfillment historical summary

Verse	Event	Reference
1	Vast multitude of people on/in the promised land	Mosiah - Alma
2	Wars among the Nephites and Lamanites	Alma 50 – Helaman
4-5	Destruction at Christ’s coming	3 Nephi 9
6-10	Christ’s visit to the Nephites (appointed 12 disciples)	3 Nephi 11
11-12	Generations of righteousness	4 Nephi
13-15	Battles leading to and Cumorah	Mormon

All of a sudden the angel breaks away from the historical tour and puts meaning (interprets) elements of the dream… why?  What is he illustrating?

1  AND it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Look, and behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren.  And I looked and beheld the ^aland of promise; and I beheld multitudes of people, yea, even as it were in number as many as the ^bsand of the sea.

            -the ballpark figure for the pre-Columbus population of the Americas is hotly contested but even taking the most conservative figures fits squarely with Nephi’s declaration of “as many as the sand of the sea.”  To Nephi, even a few million springing from the families of Lehi and Ishmael (even acknowledging the peoples already established in the land of promise) is fantastic:

Noted scholars and the range of their proposed population figures of Natives inhabiting the Americas previous to European exploration/"discovery".

1 Nephi 11:36

36  And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the ^apride of the world; and it ^bfell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great.  And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

     “was the pride of the world”

-this pride is not even real, it is a fabrication of one's own mind. Compare this to evils and temptations that take on a temporal formation.  At least stealing, adultery and malicious treatment of others have a physical manifestation, pride is an intangible (although its behavioral effects are just as real as any of the sins).  This quality does not make it worse or better, as far as sins are concerned... each is opposed to the nature of God and an affront to Him.  Each puts the illegitimate desires of the self above the innocent and legitimate claims of others.  Sin is always fundamentally self-centered in nature and abuses the needs of others which we, as divine beings have a duty to preserve and defend, never to violate or diminish.

“and it fell”

-of course it will fall, its not real or true.  It is an illusion, a hollow shell. It is unsustainable as it has not foundation in truth.

What Lehi saw was not simply a vision of a tree or even the tree of life with its associated representations.  With Nephi’s more expanded vision we understand that Lehi’s vision was the mission and mortal ministry of the Savior Jesus Christ.  Even more, it is the life and person of Jesus Christ made applicable to our life.  That is we can see our life in parallel to the Savior’s life.  We are living his existence.  Like the Savior who faced a multitude of the earth who was gathered together to fight and slay him, that same multitude –“the world and the wisdom thereof”- is gathered to fight against and spiritually (and perhaps physically) slay us.  We can see this same parallel in each symbol of Lehi’s dream and in the corresponding reality of the Savior’s life.

1 Nephi 11:33-35

33  And I, Nephi, saw that he was ^alifted up upon the cross and ^bslain for the sins of the world.

34  And after he was slain I saw the multitudes of the earth, that they were gathered together to ^afight against the apostles of the Lamb; for thus were the twelve called by the angel of the Lord.

35  And the multitude of the earth was gathered together; and I beheld that they were in a large and spacious ^abuilding, like unto the building which my father saw.  And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Behold the world and the wisdom thereof; yea, behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to ^bfight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

            -No!  Where and how did the go so far astray?  The house of Israel, the family of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the chosen people of the Lord are the ones providing the opposition to the church and the efforts of the Messiah?  They should be His biggest champions but rather they war against His apostles and seek to annialate them. How did ancient Israel go so far astray as to be on the exact opposite side of their Savior?

1 Nephi 11:32

32  And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was ^ataken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was ^bjudged of the world; and I saw and bear record.

            -if Nephi saw (was shown) these things in advance, they were surely known and seen also by the Father and by the Savior.  These things were not known in general, but in specific detail.  The Savior knew what he was “getting into” before he stepped into mortality. 

     “the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world”

            -there is some serious irony that speaks to conditions of the telestial world versus the celestial. Bodies (including spirits and characters) belonging to the celestial sphere are judged with disdain, scorn and ultimate prejudice by those of a telestial sphere.  Christ was judged by the men of the world.  He will judge these same men.  That judgement will include, in part at least, their indictment and sentence of the pure son of God.

1 Nephi 11:30-31

30  And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the heavens open again, and I saw ^aangels descending upon the children of men; and they did minister unto them.

31  And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men.  And I beheld multitudes of people who were ^asick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with ^bdevils and ^cunclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me.  And they were ^dhealed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.

            -Condescension #3:  the Savior serving and assisting mortal man in all of his infirmities, weaknessed and infirmities.  Many men of nobility would hardly concern themselves with the plight of those so far beneath their social standing (which discrepancy is simply a social construct) much less the real differential that existed between God and mortal man.  Christ had every legitimate reason to avoid the sinful rabble and corrupted nature of mortal man… instead he made himself their servent.  He engaged them in their ugly physical infirmities and in their pathetic spiritual tragedies and filthiness.  We cannot begin to comprehend the nature of God we have and the full capacity of love that defines the divine!

1 Nephi 11:29

29  And I also beheld ^atwelve others following him.  And it came to pass that they were ^bcarried away in the Spirit from before my face, and I saw them not.

            -why were the twelve carried away and hidden from Nephi’s view?  A view of these specifics was, apparently, outside the perview of this vision.  This revelation, like others, has a particular objective and is not comprehensive in nature.  We are given what we need and what we are prepared to receive.  Our growth, like that of the greatest prophets is “line upon line and precept upon precept”.  Truth is distilled upon man as the dews from heaven and this, as he is ready for it.  While God is imparting his tender mercies to man, it is one of those tender mercies that we are not given more than we are ready to be held accountable to.  Our agency and capacity always forms the glass ceiling that protects us from inevitably falling to live up to what we cannot yet endure. We think we want more but struggle to abide by what we already have.