Olive branches do not survive on their own

[Sevenbak]

I see how it can be read to apply to the Jaredites and Lehi's branch, but I don't think that is the only reading. Couldn't these verses also apply to other groups? In any regard, after reading the olive tree website you linked to, as well as skimming Jacob 5 again in light of the website, I see that in the allegory branches were not only grafted, but also planted on their own. So I was wrong to conclude that because Lehi's group viewed itself as a branch, it must have been grafted on a wild tree. That said, I still think the allegory supports the view that Lehi's group was not alone. Every branch in the allegory is cross-pollinated with its opposite. Natural branches grafted on wild trees; wild branches grafted onto natural trees. Whether Lehi's branch was grafted onto a wild tree, or a wild branch grafted onto a tree that grew from Lehi's branch, the result is the same.The Canannites come to mind.

Well, it's certainly an interesting idea.

But I still hold the view that this land was their inheritance, and the Lord removed the Jaredites to make room for them.

I've said enough on this thread. Thanks for the thought provoking discussion!

[Buckeye]

I've said enough on this thread. Thanks for the thought provoking discussion!

Ditto!

[LeSellers]

Who else, besides the Jaredites, did the Lord destroy to make way for another people?

The Canaanites, Hittites, etc., in Joshua.

Lehi

[Sevenbak]

The Canaanites, Hittites, etc., in Joshua.

Lehi

OK, I'll chime in again.

Here's why it can't be any of those.

#1. The Nephite branches were, according to Zenos, one of 3 branches planted in the "nethermost" part of the vinyard, the last of the 3 is what we are talking about. Cananites, Hittites are in the same vicinity as the Mother tree. They couldn't be "nethermost"

39 And it came to pass that they went down into the nethermost parts of the vineyard. And it came to pass that they beheld that the fruit of the natural branches had become corrupt also; yea, the first and the second and also the last; and they had all become corrupt.

40 And the wild fruit of the last had overcome that part of the tree which brought forth good fruit, even that the branch had withered away and died.

#2. The Nephite branches are planted in a good spot of ground, greater than any in all the vinyard.

vs. 43: 43 And behold this last, whose branch hath withered away, I did plant in a good spot of ground; yea, even that which was choice unto me above all other parts of the land of my vineyard.

The BOM is full of many references to this land being the choicest land on the face of the earth, a land favored by God. Here's one example.

1 Nephi 2:20

And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.

[LeSellers]

Who else, besides the Jaredites, did the Lord destroy to make way for another people?

The Canaanites, Hittites, etc., in Joshua.

OK, I'll chime in again.

Your question, while in the context of the Lehites and America, was pretty general.

However, there is a pattern in all things. The Lord rarely does anything new. He established a covenant with the Hittites, Canaanites, etc. They broke the covenant. Joshua brought the covenant Israelites in, defeated or supplanted the old covenant people (as prophesied to/by Abraham).

The Jaredites were a covenant people. They broke the covenant. God sent the covenant Nephites to displace them.

The Nephites were a covenant people. They broke the covenant. God (waited a while, then) sent "Gentiles" from Europe to take their place (and to re-establish His covenant through the Restoration).

We do not have all the records from all of the covenant peoples. Jesus told the Nephites that He had to visit yet other sheep, easily seen as other covenant people. Were some of them in other parts of America? Possibly. In any event, just because Zenos and Zenock seem to have been Israelite prophets, it is possible that the "wild olive trees" in Jacob 5 were not Israelites, but other covenant communities.

Lehi