Isaiah 24: 5 says, “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” According to some Latter-day Saints, this refers to an event called the Great Apostasy.

The everlasting covenant described here is certainly a reference to the Mosaic law, which would have been the understanding of the Jewish readers of Isaiah. This covenant was believed to be “everlasting” and would be efficacious forever. However, because Israel had disobeyed God, they broke the covenant that God made with them. According to one commentary, “The reason for the judgment emerges (notice the double ‘therefore’ of v. 6) in man’s flouting of all laws and obligations” (The New Bible Commentary Revised, p. 604). To try to say this verse is a prediction of all Christian authority being taken off the earth is nothing more than out of context.

For other passages discussing common passages used by Latter-day Saints, click here.