1 Nephi 11:14–17

14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou?

15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.

16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?

17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

I think sometimes I take for granted the knowledge and understanding that is available to me through these scriptures, and through modern revelation. But if I stop and put myself in Nephi’s position, I get a whole different perspective. I’m sure he had read the prophets such as Isaiah when they talked about how a virgin would “conceive and bear a son,” (Isaiah 7:14), but I’m not sure he totally comprehended the big picture or that it actually struck him how significant this was before this vision. After Nephi correctly identifies to the angel that what he saw was a virgin, he is asked if he knows what the condescension of God is. Nephi had to have been a bit confused at this point, not knowing where this was going. So he gives what to me is a great answer. He basically says, “I know that God loves His children, but I don’t know what this condescension thing is.” He had to have been wondering what all this had to do with the interpretation of Lehi’s tree. We’ll see that Nephi is a quick study, but I think at this point the angel has taken him by surprise and lead this discussion in an unexpected direction.

1 Nephi 11:13

13 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white.

I find it interesting that Nephi’s direct questions are answered indirectly here. Instead of just being told the meaning of the Tree of Life, he is given visionary clues. From these clues, he is to draw meaning and interpret the dream. It’s a great teaching method because what we discover, we own and remember. The knowledge that I best retain is understanding that I figure out more than information I’m given, unless that information is a clue to a deeper understanding. This also ensures the learner learns what he is ready for and nothing more that may be forgotten, or worse, overwhelming to him. A teacher can lead a student to draw his own correct conclusions (thereby teaching himself) by leading him through a series of lesser, already understood principles.

1 Nephi 11:12

12 And it came to pass that he said unto me: Look! And I looked as if to look upon him, and I saw him not; for he had gone from before my presence.

I used to play with the idea that this verse, coupled with verse 14, where an angel came to replace the Spirit of the Lord, was evidence that the first visitor was the pre-mortal Lord Himself, that His spirit could only be in one place at a time, and it was needed to show the rest of the vision about Him. Therefore, a replacement was needed to talk to Nephi. The Lord’s spirit was needed to be in the vision about Him, and since He couldn’t be in the vision and explain it at the same time, an angel came to do the explaining. Now, I suppose this might be the case, but I have never heard or read anything else about that. So I don’t necessarily subscribe to the idea, but Nephi seems to make it very clear that he was visited by two separate Beings. If the first visitor was the Holy Ghost, he wouldn’t need to leave, since his job is to testify anyway. I had this question while serving my mission. James E. Talmage and Bruce R. McConkie didn’t agree on this, one saying it was Christ, the other saying it was the Holy Ghost. The footnotes used to cross-reference Nephi’s Spirit of the Lord with the brother of Jared’s Spirit of the Lord, which was definitely Christ. The version of The Book of Mormon we currently have doesn’t make that reference. So we’re left to our own now, but my best guess is that this Spirit of the Lord is Christ.

1 Nephi 11:10–11

10 And he said unto me: What desirest thou?

11 And I said unto him: To know the interpretation thereof—for I spake unto him as a man speaketh; for I beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another.

After granting Nephi his first request (seeing the tree that Lehi saw—vs. 2–3), the Spirit of the Lord asks Nephi what he wants now. Nephi’s answer that he wanted to know the interpretation of the tree is what he really wanted all along. He believed his father saw the tree; he just didn’t know what it meant. And, knowing that all interpretation of dreams belong to the Lord (Genesis 40:8), he went right to the source, something that Laman and Lemuel didn’t consider doing (1Nephi 15:7–9). We don’t know exactly who this Spirit of the Lord is, but we know he is a man, in the form of a man. This teaches us something about the nature of spirits—that they have human form.

• Genesis 40:8

1 Nephi 11:8–9

8 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a tree; and it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.

9 And it came to pass after I had seen the tree, I said unto the Spirit: I behold thou hast shown unto me the tree which is precious above all.

The use of a tree to represent the Love of God is particularly fitting, and there are some interesting side thoughts. Such as, why was the tree white? I am not aware of any tree in nature that is close to being white. They all have green leaves or needles. I’m no scientist, but I think it’s the chlorophyll that makes them green. The New Standard Encyclopedia says, “Together with light, water, and air, chlorophyll makes it possible for plants, through the process of photosynthesis, to manufacture food, which is eaten by animals and man. Without chlorophyll there would be almost no life on earth…Chlorophyll is formed only when there is light…” This tree, being representative of the love of God, was a light source of its own and didn’t need chlorophyll, so it’s white. The white also symbolizes the purity of God’s love. The fruit of the tree is renewable and available to all who will take it. As we eat the fruit, it becomes a part of us, particularly as we nurture this love. If we don’t nurture it, it does not prosper within us. There are so many analogies that make this tree a fitting symbol of God’s love, it seems like whole chapters could be written.

• 1 Nephi 11:22 (22–25)

1 Nephi 11:7

7 And behold this thing shall be given unto thee for a sign, that after thou hast beheld the tree which bore the fruit which thy father tasted, thou shalt also behold a man descending out of heaven, and him shall ye witness; and after ye have witnessed him ye shall bear record that it is the Son of God.

The Spirit describes to Nephi what he will be shown in this vision, namely the tree that Lehi saw, then also the coming of the Son of God. He seems to be priming Nephi for the interpretation of the dream. He tells Nephi that seeing the coming of the Son of God will be a sign.

1 Nephi 11:6

6 And when I had spoken these words, the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God; for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all. And blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou believest in the Son of the most high God; wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired.

To me, the most important part of this verse is that Nephi is shown this vision as a result of his belief. If he had not believed, the vision would not have come to him. But there is another part of this scripture that is interesting to think about. For me, it’s pure speculation, but kind of fun to wonder about.

The question is, which member of the Godhead is appearing to Nephi? The next few verses make a definite distinction between the Spirit of the Lord, who has appeared to him at the beginning of the chapter, and the angel who appears a little later. I may discuss this in more detail later, but here it sounds like the Holy Ghost bearing testimony of the Lord, the most high God. Later on it seems like the case could be made that this is the pre-mortal spirit of Christ himself. Again, this is not critical, but it is fun to think about.