“I Will Write My Law in Their Hearts”

This chapter by Elder Spencer J. Condie, an emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, opens the BYU Religious Studies Center volume Prophets and Prophecies of the Old Testament (2017) and is free to read online. It takes its title from Jeremiah 31:33, part of this week's Come, Follow Me reading (Jeremiah 31–33; 36–39; Lamentations 1; 3, October 26–November 1, 2026).

Why the Old Testament matters

Elder Condie recalls a curriculum committee member asking why members spend so much time on the Old Testament. In reply, he lists ways Restoration scripture points back to it: the many Old Testament references in Doctrine and Covenants section 1, Lehi's sons risking their lives for the brass plates, Moroni quoting Malachi, Isaiah and Joel to Joseph Smith, and the Savior expounding Isaiah and Malachi to the Nephites.

Covenants written on the heart

His theme is the Lord's promise through Jeremiah to "put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." He explains that ordinances are the outward sign of a personal covenant with God, and that the Lord uses symbols to help those covenants sink in. He notes that one symbol can carry different meanings in different settings, using the cup in Psalm 23, Gideon's soldiers and Gethsemane as examples.

A pattern through the ages

He traces covenant-making from Adam's sacrifices to Noah's rainbow, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob's ladder and Joseph in Egypt, then follows the tabernacle and temples of ancient Israel, and how broken covenants led to their loss.

The temple

He concludes that the temple, through repeated instruction, symbols and covenant renewal, is where the Lord writes His law on our hearts. He reads Ezekiel's vision of healing waters flowing from the temple as a promise that the Savior's power can heal broken hearts and strained relationships.