The Book of Mormon has a message for all; for Jew and for Gentile. Every nation under heaven; every kindred, tongue, and people who dwell upon the face of the Earth will hear its voice, and "They shall know that I am He that doth speak." (Jesus Christ, III Nephi 20:39)
The promises of the Book of Mormon to the Gentiles are indeed great. To them, it says that they shall be blessed upon this land, that is, Zion, the Land of America; literally, the Land of the King, or the Land of the Lord, our King. "This land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no king upon this land...for I the Lord, the King of Heaven, will be their King, and I will be a light unto them forever, that hear My words." (II Nephi 11:14)
To the Jew, its message and promise is contained in the verses we now have under consideration. It is one of the greatest prophecies ever uttered, and its fulfillment is being accomplished with an ever increasing rate of speed by some of the most powerful forces on the Earth.
The Holy Land or Palestine, The Land of Jerusalem. "This is the land ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portion, saith the Lord God." (Ezekiel 47:13 to 48:29)
In connection with the prophecy of Ezekiel it is well to keep in mind the last three verses of Chapter five, above noted.
The Holy Land would, some have estimated, extend from about 30 to 34 degrees north latitude, and from 34 to 37 degrees east longitude. It would be about 280 miles in length and 150 in width. It would be divided into twelve provinces, each named for one of the sons of Jacob and contain a strip of land 20 by 150 miles. Between Judah and Benjamin there would be a holy oblation. This reservation dedicated to the public service, would be about 50 by 150 miles, and the City of Jerusalem, with its suburbs would occupy an area in it 10 miles square.
The entire area of the Palestine of Ezekiel's vision is small, but it is only a beginning of a "Greater Palestine" which will, in all probability, extend from the River Euphrates in the north to the Red Sea, and from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates in the east. For the deserts will be made to blossom as the rose, just as has come to pass, by the power of God, where Israel has gathered on the American Continent. The country which the Lord promised to give to Abraham and his seed after him is, according to the divine Covenant, bounded by the River of Egypt and the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18), and Abraham's descendants will sometime come into possession of their inheritance.
Palestine will once more become the gathering place of the scattered Children of Judah, through the power of the Mighty One of Jacob, but He always accomplishes His purposes in human history through the instrumentality of His children. When Israel was to be brought out of Egyptian bondage, Moses was raised up and made the instrument through which their deliverance was made a reality. At the end of the Babylonian Captivity, Cyrus, the mighty prince of Persia, was moved upon to set the captives free and his successors continued to extend to them their protection while they were restoring their Temple and repairing the ruined walls of their city. In the same way, it is to be expected that, when the time comes for the last gathering and final restoration, the promises of the Lord will be fulfilled by means of natural agencies.
Cyrus was entrusted with power for the very purpose of enabling Israel to return to Palestine. For, about two hundred years before his birth, the Prophet Isaiah foretold his mission in these words: "Thus saith the Lord...that saith of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the Temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." (Ezra 1:2-3) That was a graceful act of acknowledgment of divine providence in the military and diplomatic achievements through which Cyrus had risen to eminence and power.
Is there, we may ask, a prophetic word by which we who live today may know by what human instrumentality the restoration of Palestine will be effected?
There is!
For the same prophet who indicated Cyrus as the deliverer from captivity, directed us to look to the real sovereign of Egypt for the final restoration and deliverance of the Holy Land, when he placed on record the following word of the Lord: "For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom." (Isaiah 43:3)
Has not God in our own day literally entrusted Egypt to the care of the great world powers? This is true notwithstanding the present turmoil which seems to confuse the vision of all who hope to see the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.
Let us acknowledge the hand of the Lord in this, as in all further developments. He has given Egypt to them and, as He says through His prophet, as a ransom for Israel. It rests with these great powers, having accepted the price, to restore the property to the Lord.
There are indications that the thoughts of men are now being directed, as never before, toward the political necessity of restoring Palestine to its native glory, and the establishment there, in the City of David, of a kind of international court that will solve the problems that now divide and array nation against nation. Such an action would be due recognition of the interest all enlightened nations naturally have in the place where the cradle of their civilization stood.
The establishment of the independent state of Israel is an auspicious beginning that will yet grow until all the kingdoms of the Earth shall become the Kingdom of our Lord.
"Israel, youngest true democracy in the world, enters its seventh year amidst austerity, sacrifice, and violence. These elements are not new, historically, to young states nor to the indomitable people who carved their homeland out of the hostile desert. Achievements have been noteworthy since Israel was born in 1948. Not the least of these was the rounding of a nation in an unproductive, ferment-ridden area. Thousands of persons, persecuted and discriminated against in other countries, hailed Israel as their own free country and flocked there in a historic migration. They set up, truck farms and factories where jackals once roamed and nomads grazed their sheep. They made the desert blossom; they conquered disease where pestilence had made it unsafe for humans. They established compulsory education; they gave women the right to vote and other rights. They created a symbol of man's faith in himself and his great potentialities."
"Six years ago the United States was the first nation to recognize the Israeli Republic. Without this action and other friendly acts the state would not have survived its fight for life against the superior armies of its neighbors. Irrespective of what else we may consider necessary to compromise the thorny issues of the Middle East, the United States should make it abundantly clear to the Arabs and the world that we are resolved that Israel has come to stay. Recognition of Israel as an entity is the prerequisite to any formula for peace in this part of the globe." (Salt Lake Tribune, May 10, 1954)
The gathering of the Children of Israel and the rehabilitation of Palestine must be considered from the widest possible panoramic view. It is, by no means, a matter of sentiment. That measure would be the beginning of a regenerative movement affecting the entire world. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, takes this view, when he says: "For if the casting away of them (the Jews) be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" If, in the dispersed condition, they were an influence for good in the world, how much greater will that influence be when they are reunited and can take a place in the family of nations? That will be to the entire world, as "life from the dead."
There is no other salvation for the world than the establishment of that Kingdom of which the prophets have spoken from the beginning. All merely human governments have proved inadequate to the moral, spiritual, and physical needs of the children of men. No matter how well the machinery has worked to begin with, after a while it has become deranged, and, in many instances, unfit for the service for which it was intended. Therefore, God, Himself, will give to the world a form of government, perfect and adequate to all its needs. And this form of government will come from Zion and Jerusalem.
The race that has given to mankind such lawgivers and leaders as Moses and Ezra; such philosophers as Solomon and poets as David; and, in later years, such teachers as Miamonides and Mendelssohn, will yet bring forth the genius, the religious force, and the statesmanship necessary for the true solution of the moral, social, and political problems that cause trouble in the world today, and with this, the establishment of the Universal Brotherhood of Man. For that is the next stage to which our civilization must advance.