1 Nephi 11:24-36
The angel who is directing Nephi through this singular experience declares in verse 26, "Look and behold the condescension of God!" So it doesn't stop in verse 23 with the declarations that the meaning of the tree is the love of God, which is "most joyous to the soul". It goes on.
This idea of condescension is an important one. It is the idea that God being God came down to dwell among man as one of us. Apparently, Nephi, prior to this point, is not aware of the mortal mission of the Savior. Indeed, from a worldly perspective, a Savior who is also called a King or a Deliverer depicts in my mind more of a warrior-leader, someone who is coming to conquer in the sense of war. So when the angel's asking Nephi if he understands how God will come down among his people, Nephi's only response is that he knows (from experience) that God loves his children.
What the angel then shows Nephi, and I suspect it is in more detail than what he was able to write, is the mission of the Savior: His baptism at the hands of John the Baptist, His ministering to the multitudes, the calling of the twelve, His healing of the sick, His condemnation and His death. This is the condescension of God.
The angel who is directing Nephi through this singular experience declares in verse 26, "Look and behold the condescension of God!" So it doesn't stop in verse 23 with the declarations that the meaning of the tree is the love of God, which is "most joyous to the soul". It goes on.
This idea of condescension is an important one. It is the idea that God being God came down to dwell among man as one of us. Apparently, Nephi, prior to this point, is not aware of the mortal mission of the Savior. Indeed, from a worldly perspective, a Savior who is also called a King or a Deliverer depicts in my mind more of a warrior-leader, someone who is coming to conquer in the sense of war. So when the angel's asking Nephi if he understands how God will come down among his people, Nephi's only response is that he knows (from experience) that God loves his children.
What the angel then shows Nephi, and I suspect it is in more detail than what he was able to write, is the mission of the Savior: His baptism at the hands of John the Baptist, His ministering to the multitudes, the calling of the twelve, His healing of the sick, His condemnation and His death. This is the condescension of God.
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