Desolate and inhabited

Whenever I notice that certain words tend to appear several times in certain context, I have often found it worthwhile to study it more closely. This is the case with the word "desolate". It often seems to appear when there is a curse, destruction or scattering, especially in the Old Testament and in the Book of Mormon. Given the meaning of the word, that shouldn't come as a big surprise, but it seems that the authors sometimes go out of their way to include the word.

Here are some examples

Ammonihah

Alma 16 tells about the destruction of Ammonihah. In verse 11 we read 

And now so great was the scent thereof that the people did not go in to possess the land of Ammonihah for many years. And it was called Desolation of Nehors; for they were of the profession of Nehor, who were slain; and their lands remained desolate.

This is what happened to a people that Alma called "highly favored" (which I believe to signify a covenant people) that had fallen into transgression.

Nephites at the time of Christ

We see a similar pattern when Samuel the Lamanite warns the inhabitants of the great city of Zarahemla. Samuel declares

And many highways shall be broken up, and many cities shall become desolate. (Helaman 14:24)

And now, my beloved brethren, behold, I declare unto you that except ye shall repent your houses shall be left unto you desolate. (Helaman 15:1)

This is what would happen to a people that Samuel called "a chosen people of the Lord" (Helaman 15:3). In 3 Nephi we read the fulfillment of this prophecy.

And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate. (3 Nephi 8:14)

The Jaredites

The Brother of Jared was also "highly favored" (Ether 1:34). He was given a land of promise along with his brother and their families.

And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth? And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance. (Ether 1:38)

Ether 2 and Ether 13 are also full of promised land/covenant language. The Jaredites are a chosen people who should serve God. Eventually they fall, just like the Nephites. The Book of Ether tells us about their complete destruction. This happens in the land that the Nephites later referred to as the land northward. What was this land called? Desolation!

And it bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bones we have spoken (Alma 22:30)

It started out as a promised land and an inheritance for a favored people, but because of wickedness it became Desolation.

Biblical connections

When a voice is heard from heaven after the signs of Christ's death and the destruction among the Nephites, it says:

6 O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.
7 But if not, O house of Israel, the places of your dwellings shall become desolate until the time of the fulfilling of the covenant to your fathers. (3 Nephi 10)

This is an echo of something Jesus had told his disciples a little more than a week earlier.

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. (Matthew 23)

In Matthew, Jesus goes on to talk about the destruction of Jerusalem and scattering of the Jews by the Romans. Keep in mind the other examples shown here that all ended with destruction. Jesus also goes on to talk about the last days culminating in his second coming. Notice the addition in 3 Nephi: "until the time of the fulfilling of the covenant to your fathers". This leads me to the following insight: When desolation is used in the scriptures, it often describes a promised land not inhabited by its original covenant people. It does not necessarily mean that it is empty. It only means that the covenant people that God established there broke the covenants and were cursed, bringing destruction upon themselves. The scattering of Israel happened in several promised lands with several branches at different times. But in the latter days, they will be restored. That is "the time of the fulfilling of the covenant to your fathers".

There is a lot of desolation language in the Old Testament, often connected to the scattering of Israel as a result of disobedience or breaking covenants. The prophet Jeremiah states

4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.
6 For thus saith the Lord unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited. (Jeremiah 22)

Psalm 69 is another example. This is a Messianic Psalm and contains prophecies about the Jews being scattered for rejecting the Messiah

25 Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.

A few verses later, the Psalmist describes "the time of the fulfilling of the covenant to your fathers". 

35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.

This is a latter-day reversal of the various "desolations". We find plenty of this language in Isaiah too, both the desolation as a covenant curse/scattering and the regaining possession of the promised land/desert blossom as a rose/building Zion etc. in the latter days as a renewal of the covenants. But I think the examples given here suffice for now. I will let Nephi have the final word, though.

36 Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.
37 And he raiseth up a righteous nation, and destroyeth the nations of the wicked.
38 And he leadeth away the righteous into precious lands, and the wicked he destroyeth, and curseth the land unto them for their sakes.
39 He ruleth high in the heavens, for it is his throne, and this earth is his footstool.
40 And he loveth those who will have him to be their God. Behold, he loved our fathers, and he covenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he remembered the covenants which he had made; wherefore, he did bring them out of the land of Egypt. (1 Nephi 17)