To accompany your Come Follow Me study for April 8-14
In addition to reading Jacob 5-7, you will enjoy seeing the following related videos:
You will also enjoy reading the following chapter from the Book of Mormon Institute student manual:
If you would like a Kahoot game related to this material which you could use for personal study or use with your family or your class, click here: https://create.kahoot.it/share/jacob-5-7/b3bf8900-1c33-4fef-90d4-905b37f606cd. To use it with a group, after clicking on this link, you will need to log into Kahoot, creating a free account if you have not done so previously, then click on the blue “Start” button. Some of the Kahoot questions may presuppose that the player has read through the suggested answers to the following Points to Ponder and at least has browsed the Institute student manual as well.
Points to Ponder in Jacob 5-7
1. How many of the following elements can you find in Jacob 5? Can you list a verse referring to each?
| Element | Verse which refers to it (sometimes symbolically) |
| The Lord | |
| Prophets | |
| The house of Israel | |
| Apostasy of ancient Israel | |
| Scattering of Israel | |
| Gathering of Israel | |
| The Americas | |
| Gentiles | |
| Conversion of many Gentiles after the coming of Christ | |
| Great apostasy soon after the time of Christ | |
| Nephites | |
| Lamanites | |
| Jaredites | |
| Nephite and Lamanite apostasy after coming of Christ | |
| Restoration of the gospel | |
| Latter-day missionaries | |
| Second Coming of Christ | |
| Millennium | |
| Renewal of the earth at the end of the Millennium |
2. Which elements in Jacob 5 can we not interpret with any degree of certainty?
3. In what ways does the “Lord of the vineyard” labor personally with His servants in the work? (v. 72)
4. What does it mean in 5:74 that “the fruits were equal”?
5. What passage in Jacob 6 do you think could be most exciting to a fulltime missionary?
6. Was Sherem a member of the Church or a non‑member? Why do you think so? Why was he so dangerous and so successful? (Chap. 7)
7. Why was Jacob not affected by Sherem’s arguments, as so many others were? (Chap. 7)
8. What would Sherem and Jacob each say today about each of the following issues?
a. the world’s greatest problem?
b. overpopulation and birth control?
c. pornography?
d. the role of women?
e. the reality of revelation?
9. In what verse does Sherem contradict himself, thus showing his lack of sincerity in what he is teaching?
10. What seems significant to you about what the Nephites did to protect themselves against future Sherems?
11. Some have ridiculed the inclusion of a French word in 7:27, since French wasn’t even in existence when Jacob wrote. How would you respond?
Possible Answers to Points to Ponder in Jacob 5-7
1. How many of the following elements can you find in Jacob 5? Can you list a verse referring to each?
| Element | Verse which refers to it (sometimes symbolically) |
| The Lord | 5:3, etc. The “master of the vineyard” |
| Prophets | 5:7, etc. The “servant” |
| The house of Israel | 5:3, etc. The “tame olive tree” |
| Apostasy of ancient Israel | 5:3 “Waxed old and began to decay” |
| Scattering of Israel | 5:8 Grafting branches throughout the vineyard |
| Gathering of Israel | 5:52 Bringing previously grafted branches back to their original tree |
| The Americas | 5:25, 43 The “good spot of ground” |
| Gentiles | 5:7 The “wild olive tree” |
| Conversion of many Gentiles after coming of Christ | 5:17-18 Grafted wild branches bear good fruit |
| Great apostasy soon after the time of Christ | 5:30-32 “All sorts of fruit did cumber the tree…and there is none of it which is good.” |
| Nephites | 5:25, 45 Part which brought forth tame fruit |
| Lamanites | 5:25, 45 Part which brought forth wild fruit |
| Jaredites | 5:44 That which previously “cumbered this spot of ground” |
| Nephite and Lamanite apostasy after coming of Christ | 5:40 Wild fruit overcame part of the tree which brought forth good fruit—branch withered and died. |
| Restoration of the gospel | Implied in 5:52-70 |
| Latter-day missionaries | 5:70-72 |
| Second Coming of Christ | Implied in 5:74-76 |
| Millennium | 5:74-76 |
| Renewal of the earth at the end of the Millennium | 5:77 |
2. Which elements in Jacob 5 can we not interpret with any degree of certainty?
The “poorest spot” of 5:21 and the spot in v. 23 that was even “poorer than the first,” for example.
3. In what ways does the “Lord of the vineyard” labor personally with His servants in the work? (v. 72)
He performs miracles to protect His servants and to help their listeners recognize the beauty of the gospel message. He inspires His servants to know how to perform His work. He sends His Spirit to testify that their message is true. He gives divine power to those who accept the message to be able to keep their covenants, such as opening the windows of heaven when they pay their tithing.
4. What does it mean in 5:74 that “the fruits were equal”?
There are at least two possible answers, which are not mutually exclusive:
a. Faithful disciples everywhere have equal value in the Lord’s sight and are equally entitled to the blessings of the Church and the gospel here and now.
b. In eternity, those who inherit the celestial kingdom will enjoy the same glory. This is not the case with those in the telestial kingdom, of whom the Lord said “as one star differs from another star in glory, been so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world.” (D&C 76:98.) But of those in the celestial kingdom, we are told, , “he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.” (D&C 76:95.) One can no more be “partly exalted” than a woman can be “partly pregnant.”
5. What passage in Jacob 6 do you think could be most exciting to a fulltime missionary?
Your choice. Mine would be v.3: “How blessed are they who have labored diligently in his vineyard.”
6. Was Sherem a member of the Church or a non‑member? Why do you think so? Why was he so dangerous and so successful? (Chap. 7)
We can’t be sure of Sherem’s membership, but in 7:6 he addresses Jacob as “Brother Jacob.” He could well have been an apostate member, which could have helped account for his initial success, along with his language skills, use of flattery, and the power he had from the devil. (7:4.), all of which made him more dangerous than the average apostate might have been.
7. Why was Jacob not affected by Sherem’s arguments, as so many others were? (Chap. 7)
V. 5—He had had many revelations, including visions of angels and hearing the voice of the Lord from time to time, so he had firsthand knowledge that Sherem’s claims were not true.
8. What would Sherem and Jacob each say today about each of the following issues?
a. the world’s greatest problem?
Sherem: war, or poverty, or crime, or climate change, or even overpopulation
Jacob: sin
b. overpopulation and birth control?
Sherem: Birth control and abortion are every woman’s right and are essential to keeping the planet livable.
Jacob: Children are our greatest source of joy here and hereafter, and the earth has plenty of resources if we will use them rightly.
c. pornography?
Sherem: It’s everyone’s right to look at whatever he wants. It’s fun!
Jacob: Pornography cheapens and defiles human love and procreation, and indulgence therein leads to a loss of the Spirit and a virtually inescapable addiction.
d. the role of women?
Sherem: Women’s greatest fulfillment comes in the workplace. And women are entitled to hold the priesthood.
Jacob: Women’s greatest fulfillment comes in the home. So does a man’s, but someone has to earn the living, and women are better suited biologically and psychologically to bear, nurse, and nurture young children. Men and women alike are blessed by the priesthood, but the exercise thereof is given to whoever God wants to do so at any given time.
e. the reality of revelation?
Sherem: The idea of divine revelation is ridiculous.
Jacob: Would testify that he knows it to be a reality.
9. In what verse does Sherem contradict himself, thus showing his lack of sincerity in what he is teaching?
In verse 9 he insists that he knows there will never be a Christ, whereas in verse 7 he had previously contended that no one could know of things to come.
10. What seems significant to you about what the Nephites did to protect themselves against future Sherems?
v. 23—They searched the scriptures. This would essentially inoculate them against such false doctrines as Sherem had taught. Too bad they hadn’t done more of it before Sherem came along!
11. Some have ridiculed the inclusion of a French word in 7:27, since French wasn’t even in existence when Jacob wrote. How would you respond?
English wasn’t in existence when Jacob wrote either! No one claims that “adieu” was on the plates, but Joseph Smith, being acquainted with the word and its common use even in English to convey the idea of both “farewell” and “God be with you” felt it a good rendering of whatever the original reformed Egyptian word was, and God obviously concurred.
Where do you get all these notes?