Answering the question "Isn't 2 Nephi 10:7 a false prophecy?" Jeff Lindsay writes:
Several critics have been alleging that 2 Nephi 10:7 is a false prophecy. Referring to the Jews, this verse says:
"But behold, thus saith the Lord God: When the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the lands of their inheritance."
Today the Jews are back in their lands, but generally do not believe that Jesus is the Christ. The allegation is made that the Book of Mormon is wrong, for the Jews have been gathered and, for the most part, do not believe in Christ. I think they overlook the possibility that this is a prophecy in the process of being fulfilled, with many years yet to go. It's far too early to complain about this verse!
Ray Woodward has granted me permission to quote his response to this issue:
Although some critics claim 2 Nephi 10:7 is a false prophecy, the truth is this prophecy has already been partially fulfilled: since the first publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830, some Jews have believed that Jesus is the Christ. As a result, they have returned to some of their lands with the assistance of the nations of the Gentiles (vv. 7-9). But for the most part, the Jews have not believed. Consequently, they have not been restored in the flesh unto "all" their lands.
Even though "all" is not mentioned in 2 Nephi 10:7, it is mentioned earlier in 2 Nephi 9:2:
". . . when they shall be gathered home to the lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise." (Emphasis mine)
Here, the comma after "inheritance" indicates that the previous quote is not a single clause with a compound predicate; but rather, two clauses. In the second clause, the subject is omitted, but understood. In addition, these two clauses are written; so that, the expression, "the lands of their inheritance," is in parallel with the expression, "all their lands of promise." This parallelism reveals that in the author's mind these two expressions are synonymous:
"'Parallelism' is a stylistic form in which what is essentially the same idea is expressed twice over (or even more often) in parallel clauses or groups of clauses: the thought is the same, but the words are different." (F.F. Bruce, "Introduction to the Poetical Literature," in The International Bible Commentary, ed. by F.F. Bruce, Zondervan Publ. House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986, p. 91)
With this parallelism in mind, we now have a better understanding of what the same author meant in 2 Nephi 10:7:
"But behold, thus saith the Lord God: When the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto [all their lands of promise]."
Therefore, because the Jews are not restored in the flesh unto "all" their lands, 2 Nephi 10:7 can and will be completely fulfilled in the future when the Jews as a whole believe that Jesus is the Christ.
Other texts support this conclusion, such as:
Nevertheless, after they shall be nursed by the Gentiles, and the Lord has lifted up his hand upon the Gentiles and set them up for a standard, and their children have been carried in their arms, and their daughters have been carried upon their shoulders, behold these things of which are spoken are temporal; for thus are the covenants of the Lord with our fathers; and it meaneth us in the days to come, and also all our brethren who are of the house of Israel . . . Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel. Wherefore, he will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. (1 Nephi 22:6, 11-12)
Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless, the Lord will be merciful unto them, that when they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer, they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance. (2 Nephi 6:11)
That he has spoken unto the Jews, by the mouth of his holy prophets, even from the beginning down, from generation to generation, until the time comes that they shall be restored to the true church and fold of God; when they shall be gathered home to the lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise. (2 Nephi 9:2)
D. Charles Pyle, when answering a similar objection ("24. II Nephi 10:7, a false prophecy. The Jews are back in their own land, only in unbelief. Compare with Deuteronomy 18:20-22") from Marian Bodine, wrote:
This is hardly a false prophecy! It is not completely fulfilled. According to the 1994 CIA World Factbook, Israel had an approximate total population of 5,050,850 people, 83% of which are of Jewish ethnic background. That makes a Jewish ethnic population of about 4,192,205 persons. Since there are more than 14 million Jews scattered throughout the globe (not counting descendants of the lost tribes), there are nearly 10 millions of Jews (not counting the children of the lost tribes), out of 14 million, that are not back in their own land! To make matters worse for Ms. Bodine's assessment of this prophecy, the population of Jews in the United States alone, was 5.728 million, in 1984, and some Jews do believe in Christ (see Arthur W. Kac, The Messiahship of Jesus)! Patience is a virtue and we can confidently await the future fulfillment of this prophecy!
It should be noted that there are some Jewish groups that do not believe that modern Israel is a complete fulfilment of biblical prophecy and that such is awaiting a complete fulfilment with the appearance of the Messiah (similar to the belief that 2 Nephi 10:7 and other texts will have their complete fulfilment with the parousia):
There are some reservations and protests on the part of certain orthodox Jewish groups such as, for example, the Jewish Mea-Shearim group; they do not recognise that the present state fulfils God’s promises concerning Israel’s final gathering because the Messiah has not come and the present return of Jews to their land is not yet, as it ought to be, marked by a total repentance and rebirth. (Markus Barth, The People of God [Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 5; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1983], 68)
Compare and contrast this with the following from Matthew Paulson in his Breaking the Mormon Code, a book (lamely) attempting to answer Daniel Peterson and other contemporary LDS apologists:
False Prophecy in the Book of
Mormon
It has been said that 2 Nephi 10:7
is a false prophecy. In 1948, the Jews arrived back in their own land, Israel,
but only in unbelief of Christianity. This prophecy is a simple prophecy,
entirely possible when it was first published in 1830. . . . When the Book of
Mormon was published in 1830, the Jews were dispersed and they were without a
homeland. . . . It is undeniable that the Jews are back in their homeland. The
creation of the State of Israel in 1948 was preceded by more than 50 years of
effort by Zionist leaders to establish a sovereign nation as a homeland for the
Jews…Jewish migration grew solely in the 1920s; it increased substantially in
the 1930’s…on May 14, the State of Israel was proclaimed.
Three events in the Book of Mormon
have failed to come to pass. Firstly, the migration by Jews to Israel did
happen from all four corners of the globe in the 20’s and 30’s. Secondly,
Israel has been established as a nuclear superpower. Finally, the Jews are back
in their homeland, re-established as a nation and they have as yet come to
believe in Christ. (Matthew A. Paulson, Breaking the Mormon Code: A Critique
of Mormon Scholarship Regarding Classical Christian Theology and the Book of
Mormon [Livermore, Calif.: WingSpan Press, 2006], 258, 259)