Isaiah 29:17

“[Is] it not yet a very little while, &c.] In a short space of time, in a few years, what follows would come to pass; when there would be a strange change and alteration made in the world, and by which it would appear, that the Lord not only knows, but foreknows, all things: and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field; the forest of Lebanon should be as Carmel. The meaning is, that the Gentile world, which was like a forest uncultivated, and full of unfruitful trees, to which wicked men may be compared, should through the preaching of the Gospel be manured, become God’s husbandry, and be like a fruitful field, abounding with people and churches, fruitful in grace and good works: and the…”

“turned--as contrasted with your "turnings of things upside down" (Isa 29:16), there shall be other and better turnings or revolutions; the outpouring of the Spirit in the latter days (Isa 32:15); first on the Jews; which shall be followed by their national restoration (see on Isa 29:2; Zac 12:10) then on the Gentiles (Joe 2:28). fruitful field--literally, "a Carmel" (see on Isa 10:18). The moral change in the Jewish nation shall be as great as if the wooded Lebanon were to become a fruitful field, and vice versa. Compare Mat 11:12, Greek: "the kingdom of heaven forces itself," as it were, on man's acceptance; instead of men having to seek Messiah, as they had John, in a desert, He presents…”

“As a forest - The forest of Lebanon, which was a barren mountain, shall by God's providence, become a fruitful and populous place; and these places which are now fruitful and populous, shall then become as barren and desolate, as that forest. This is a prophecy of the rejection of the Jews, and of the calling of the Gentiles. Isaiah 29:18”

“29:17 The forests of Lebanon are usually an image of luxuriant growth (see 2:13; 14:8), but here they represent desolation.”

“yet a very: Isa 63:18; Hab 2:3; Hag 2:6; Heb 10:37 Lebanon: Isa 32:15, Isa 35:1, Isa 35:2, Isa 41:19, Isa 49:5, Isa 49:6, Isa 55:13, Isa 65:12-16; Hos 1:9, Hos 1:10; Mat 19:30; Mat 21:43; Rom 11:11-17 the fruitful: Isa 5:6; Eze 20:46, Eze 20:47; Hos 3:4; Mic 3:12; Zac 11:1, Zac 11:2; Mat 21:18, Mat 21:19; Rom 11:19-27 Isaiah 29:18”

“But the prophet's God, whose omniscience, creative glory, and perfect wisdom they so basely mistook and ignored, would very shortly turn the present state of the world upside down, and make Himself a congregation out of the poor and wretched, whilst He would entirely destroy this proud ungodly nation. "Is it not yet a very little, and Lebanon is turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field esteemed as a forest? And in that day the deaf hear scripture words, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness. And the joy of the humble increases in Jehovah, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For tyrants are gone, and it is over with…”