2 Nephi 27:28

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Reference Search: 2 Nephi 27:28

28 But behold, saith the Lord of Hosts: I will show unto the children of men that it is yet a very little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field; and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest.

Quotes for Discussion

Lebanon

Lebanon was the northernmost portion of Palestine. It was part of the land promised to the Israelites when they crossed into Canaan. Isaiah’s prophecy has been interpreted to include the entire land of Canaan. President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote of the “deplorable condition” of this land prior to its redemption in recent years, which redemption was in fulfillment of prophecy. (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:260-261). Elder Orson Pratt noted that this changed condition would occur only following the publication of the book which Isaiah saw; at which time Lebanon and all the land of Canaan is again to be blessed, while the fruitful field occupied by the nations of the Gentiles, “will be esteemed as a forest:” the multitude of the nations of the Gentiles are to perish, and their lands which are now like a fruitful field, are to be left desolate of inhabitants and become as Lebanon has been for many generations past: while Lebanon shall again be occupied by Israel, and be turned into a fruitful field. These great events could not take place until the Lord should first bring forth a book out of the ground (Orson Pratt’s Works, pp. 276-277).

Hoyt W. Brewster, Jr., Isaiah Plain and Simple, pp. 171-172

Palestine had been a desolate and arid place for centuries. In 1917, during World War I, it was taken from Turkey by a British army under General Allenby. A short time later came the Balfour Declaration, and the United States and Great Britain sponsored the establishment of a homeland for the Jews.

As is well known, the nation of Israel has developed a vast reclamation project in the Holy Land. The Jews not only opened up large areas to agriculture with an irrigation system involving both the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee, but they planted literally millions of trees throughout the valleys, and on the mountains as well.

Palestine is now a “fruitful field” as the scripture foresaw, and this has all evolved since 1917. But the book [book of Mormon] which Isaiah saw was destined to come forth before that happened; that is, before 1917!...

The farms of Palestine are fruitful, the mountains are covered with forests, and the nation is exporting large volumes of fresh produce with its own fleet of merchant marine.

Mark E. Peterson, This Is Life Eternal [salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982], 78