President Russell M. Nelson taught, “Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him” (“The Everlasting Covenant,” Liahona, October 2022).
But what if we break the covenant? What if we willfully turn away from Him and abandon the covenant? The answer, as the Lord dramatically declares in Leviticus 26, is this: The covenant doesn’t disappear, even if we break it. God loves us, and when we repent and return to Him, we will find the covenant still intact.
Leviticus 26 is a prophecy in the form of a multi-scene story. Each scene is framed as a choice with many consequences. Here’s my reading:
| Scene | If… | Then… |
|---|---|---|
| 1. v. 3-13 | Keep God’s commandments | – Bountiful harvests – Victory in battle – God will walk among you |
| 2. v. 14-17 | Break God’s commandments (and therefore break His covenant) | – Disease – Conquered by enemies |
| 3. v. 18-20 | Continue to rebel | – Heaven as iron and earth brass – Crops will not grow |
| 4. v. 21-22 | Continue walking contrary to Him | – Wild beasts |
| 5. v. 23-26 | Still not reformed | – Conquered by enemies |
| 6. v. 27-39 | Continue to walk contrary | – Cities will be waste and desolation – Scattered among the heathen – Survivors will lose all courage |
| 7. v. 40-45 | Confess sins, humble self, and accept punishment | – I will remember my covenant – I will not cast them away |
These scenes are characterized as cumulative. Despite the ‘if’ framing, the scenes are sequential rather than alternative — each one presupposes the previous one. Notice that each “if’ from scene three to six describes continued rebellion in the face of unpleasant outcomes. For example: “If ye will not for all this hearken unto me…” (v. 27).
So by the time we get to verse 40, the Israelites have passed through five stages of rebellion and sorrow. Which makes the Lord’s promise in verse 44 all the more astonishing:
And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.
Leviticus 26:44
This promise is repeated multiple times in the Book of Mormon. Nephi writes, “When that day cometh, … that they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, then will he remember the covenants which he made to their fathers” (1 Nephi 19:15). Jesus says, “Ye are of the covenant … and I will remember the covenant which I have made with my people” (3 Nephi 20:25, 29; see also 3 Nephi 16:11). And the Title Page states that one of the book’s purposes is to help the descendants of Israel “know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever.” If you really understand the covenant, then you recognize that it is not so easily broken. It may lie dormant for years as people intentionally reject it. But it is still there, like a buried burning ember, waiting to be discovered so that it can rekindle the flame.
Today I will be grateful for my covenants. I will remember that God knows we’re human, and that He does not abandon us even when we abandon Him. He patiently waits for our return, so that we can resume our covenant relationship with Him.
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