Hello, welcome back to Scripture Central. We're so happy to be able to talk about the scriptures with you today.

I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson, and this is...

I'm Jack Welch, and very happy to be with you, especially on this day when we can talk about Jacob.

Jacob, Chapter 5, 6, and 7.

And be sure to check out more videos about this topic on Scripture Central, such as an interview I recently did with David Seeley.

Jacob Chapter 5 is the longest book in the Book of Mormon. But there's so much more than length here.

This is one of the greatest evidences of the Book of Mormon. It's one of the greatest messages. It's sprinkled all little bits of it.

Ideas are all over the Old Testament, starting in Genesis, all the way down through Jeremiah.

So we believe it was part of the brass plates, but it's not Jacob's allegory.

It's Zinus's allegory, and that's why we see it so frequently there.

The Allegory of the Olive Tree And that's why we see it so frequently there.

The allegory of the olive tree has roots that go deep into Israelite literature. There are places in the Old Testament that talk about the olive tree and how it symbolizes Israel.

But they're very brief. There are references in

Ezekiel and in Jeremiah. Exodus 15 verse 17 talks about how God will plant this plant,

a precious plant. And there's nothing more precious than an olive tree. It produces fruit, but it needs to be tended.

And the fruit is used for so many purposes. The oil, of course, is pressed, and the first pressing,

the oil is very pure. It's used in the temple. It's used in the temple as anointing oil. It's used for

food, cooking oil. Well, it's also used for an ointment and lotion. And after they've pressed

the oil pits and gotten as much out of the olives as you possibly can, they will even take the pits and make briquettes.

And of course, they're filled with olives. But that's all in the ancient world. So the olive oil

is not mentioned. In this allegory, it's more about the fruit. But I think it's good to think of it

in that light

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