Elijah and the Restoration of the Sealing Keys #11

Elijah and the Restoration of the Sealing Keys

Introduction:
Today's lesson covers the appearance of Elijah to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on April 3, 1836 in the Kirtland temple to restore the sealing keys. This is a story that I thought I was familiar with. But to start with the restoration story is to shortchange what we could potentially understand from it. I want to begin with what I learned about Elijah the man and the prophet. If we delve into learning of Elijah first, it will enable us to understand the appearance to Joseph Smith anew.

Outline:
Before preparing for this lesson I knew the basics about Elijah. I knew about how he was venerated in the field of family history for turning the hearts of fathers to children. I knew he appeared to Joseph to bestow the sealing keys. I knew the story of the Widow at Zarapath because I have a church movie about it. I knew the story of the worshippers of Baal who challenged him to have God light the pyre on fire (first they failed after 24 hours. Then he doused his pyre and God lit it in a minute) but truthfully, I didn’t remember that Elijah was the one in that story. I just knew it was some Old Testament prophet. So, that’s it. That was the full extent of my knowledge. If I had met Elijah on the street—and he’s never died so it is possible--about the extent of a conversation I could have with him would be, “So, good job on that whole turning the hearts business. Hey, and A+ on the sealings.”

I took this lesson as a challenge to come to know Elijah better. Here are some of the questions I wanted to answer for myself when I started studying about him:

Who is Elijah?

What did he accomplish in life?

Why is he significant? / Why should we care?
What is his role? (What does he have the power to do? How is he unique?)
and then . . .

Why has he been and will he be present at many of the most significant moments in all of our earth’s existence?

When I began to learn the answers to these questions I was utterly amazed. In the same way that in doing genealogy I can only love my ancestors when I learn about their lives and come to know their stories, Elijah was just a name to me until I learned who he is. Now I do honestly love him. Now I have such a richer testimony of what he contributes to our gospel.

I. Who is Elijah?
a. His name:
i. El-i-yah: literally, in Hebrew, “My God is Jehovah.” Appropriate enough name as he has always stayed true to that. But even better than that, even more beautiful, is the symbolism hidden in his name. “El,” of course, represents the Father. And “Yah” or “Jah” represents the Son. So even within his actual name his is linking father and son.
b. Where did he come from?
i. Born around 900 B.C. so nearly 3,000 years ago.
ii. He appeared suddenly. We don’t know much about his lineage other than he was known as “Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead.” This tells us a bit about where he was born but nothing about his ancestry.
iii. Lived under the reign of King Ahab of Israel (who did more to cause Israel to sin than all the kings who were before him).
c. First appearance in scripture is in Kings I 17 saying to Ahab:

1 As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor crain these years, but according to my dword.

It is meaningful that the very first words he utters in all of recorded scripture are about rain but we will come back to that significance later.
d. Where did he end up?
i. In the Apocrypha (not officially sanctioned scripture but believed by many, particularly the Jews, to be valid scripture which just hasn’t been canonized) in the book of Ecclesiasticus it states: Elijah “who was taken up in a whirlwind of fire, and in a chariot of fiery horses: who was ordained of the Lord . . . to turn the heart of the father unto the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob. Blessed are they that saw thee, and slept [died] in love [families]; for we shall surely live [forever].” Interesting as that has the connotation of living past the death of mortality.
ii. Elijah has not yet tasted of death—in other words, he has been translated just as John the Beloved and the Three Nephites. Another prophet in the Old Testament who has been is Moses. One reason that beings might be translated is if someone’s physical body had to accomplish something before Christ’s resurrection took place. Moses and Elijah both ministered to Christ, Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration before Christ’s Death. They literally laid their physical hands on the heads of the three prophets.
e. Apparently in that interim time of not dying and not yet appearing to Joseph Smith, Elijah becomes a significant man of legend.
i. Greeks: patron saint of the mountains—many mountains in Greece named for him.
ii. Roman Catholic Church: regarded as the founder of the order known as the Barefooted Carmelites.
iii. Mohammedans: believed him to be “the eternal wanderer,” who, having drunk the waters of life, remained in everlasting youth and appeared from time to time to correct the wrongs of men. iv. Jews: beloved prophets.

II. What did he accomplish in life?
a. The Widow of Zarapath:
i. A poor woman gathering sticks to make a fire and die.
ii. He asks her to use her last handful of meal and drops of oil to make him a cake.
iii. As a result of her faith in a prophet of God and her sacrifice, her barrel of meal was always full and her cruse of oil never failed.
b. Confrontations with Wicked King Ahab (most evil thus far, idolatrous, tried to kill Elijah repeatedly, married to Jezebel whose name has become synonymous with seductive scheming).
c. Priests of Baal (sun god) challenge him to light up a bullock sacrifice to God simply through prayer. Priests try first and are foiled after a day. When it is Elijah’s turn he builds a trench around it, pours water over it until the trench is full, prayed, and fire consumed his offering.

III. Why is Elijah significant?
a. Joseph Smith said he was “the last of the prophets [of the OT] that held the keys of the priesthood” (Teachings of the Prophet, p.172) and had to come in this dispensation to restore them (Elijah the Prophet and His Mission, p. 3). While other prophets revealed far more by prophecy in relation to the mission of the Savior, we do not read of any that came after who were bestowed power and authority equal to what was conferred on Elijah.
b. A link in all ways. He is the last person mentioned in the Old Testament. No one else has that honor.
Malachi 4:
5 ¶ Behold, I will asend you bElijah the prophet cbefore the coming of the dgreat and dreadful eday of the LORD:
6 And he shall aturn the bheart of the cfathers to the dchildren, and the heart of the echildren to their fathers, lest I come and fsmite the gearth with a hcurse.

He acts as a link from the Old Testament to the New just as he does from the Old World to this dispensation.

IV. What is his role?
a. Power to Bind Husbands and Wives in Marriage
b. Power to Ratify, Bind, and Seal all Ordinances Pertaining to Salvation: though we can receive our endowments, we must live up to all of the covenants in the endowments before it can be ratified by the Holy Spirit of Promise and made real. Elijah held the power of ratifying all ordinances. Only one person on the earth can hold this power at a time. In latter-days it is the Prophet of the Church who is also the President of the High Priesthood. Obviously he can’t perform marriages for everyone so he delegates the ability to marry, seal children, and seal the dead. He does not delegate the power to ratify (ETP and HP p. 31-32).
i. D&C 132:7 And verily I say unto you, that the aconditions of this law are these: All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, boaths, cvows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and dsealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is eanointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by frevelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this gpower (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this hpower in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the ikeys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead.
c. Power to Seal Heavens: Beyond the power of sealing family members together on heaven as on earth, “The Lord gave to Elijah the power of sealing, even to the closing and opening of the heavens, to call down fire and regulate the elements” (ETH and HM, p. 4). [Thus his first scriptural message where he seals the heavens against rain and dew those causing a famine for Ahab’s people.]
i. Nephi the Second: We know of one other only one other prophet in ancient times to possess powers over the heavens to that extent: Nephi, son of Helaman—Nephi the Second. In Helaman 10:

6 Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God. Behold, I declare it unto thee in the presence of mine angels, that ye shall have power over this people, and shall smite the earth with afamine, and with pestilence, and destruction, according to the wickedness of this people.
7 Behold, I give unto you apower, that whatsoever ye shall bseal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven; and thus shall ye have power among this people.
8 And thus, if ye shall say unto this temple it shall be rent in twain, it shall be done.

In Helaman 11:

13 O Lord, wilt thou hearken unto me, and cause that it may be done according to my words, and send forth arain upon the face of the earth, that she may bring forth her fruit, and her grain in the season of grain.
17 And it came to pass that in the *seventy and sixth year the Lord did turn away his anger from the people, and caused that arain should fall upon the earth, insomuch that it did bring forth her fruit in the season of her fruit. And it came to pass that it did bring forth her grain in the season of her grain.

V. Why has he been and will he be present at many of the most significant moments in all of existence?
a. Mount of Transfiguration (probably Mount Hermon) : Moses and Elijah appeared to Peter, James, John, and the Savior on the Mount. While this event may have had the fringe benefit of a spiritual manifestation to strengthen the three apostles and an appearance to give comfort and preparation to the Savior before the crucifixion, the real purpose of this event was to pass on the keys of the priesthood to the three apostles: the Aaronic Priesthood through Moses and the temple ordinances of the Melchezidek Priesthood through Elijah.
i. The Bible Dictionary states “This event is important in many ways . . . necessary priesthood authority was conferred . . . the significance of the Savior’s work was emphasized . . . and the unity of various dispensations was demonstrated.” Again, Elijah is being associated with unity, binding, bringing together.
ii. The BD goes on to state “Few events in the Bible equal [this event] in importance.”
b. Restoration of Keys in the Fullness of Times
i. Fulfillment of Jewish Seder. On the second day of Seder a door is left open and a chair vacant at the head of the table. There is a goblet of wine set out. QUOTE FROM SEDER SCRIPT. April 3, 1836 was the second day of Passover that year. Elijah did come to a home—the Lord’s home. He came to a goblet of wine—sacramental wine. And he did turn hearts—he sealed them.
c. Two Dead Prophets in Jerusalem: (Rev. 11:3-12) Though in my mind I had always imagined it to be two 21-year-old missionaries, Jewish apocalyptic tradition firmly believes that the two witnesses who preach for three years in Jerusalem right before the second coming and then lie dead in the streets for three days are, in fact, Elijah and Enoch (Madsen The Temple p. 81). In reading these verses again, knowing what we now do about Elijah, I am almost convinced.
i. These to have to be seasoned prophets and not young men. They are even referred to as prophets.
ii. Verse 6 is the most interesting: “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy.” As it is only stated in the scriptures that two people have this power: Elijah and Nephi the 2nd, maybe it does make sense that it is him.
d. Greatest Family Reunion Sacrament ever held (D&C 27:5-14). “The hour cometh that I will drink the fruit of the vine with you on the earth.”
i. Christ
ii. Joseph Smith
iii. Moroni
iv. Elias
v. John the Baptist
vi. Elijah
vii. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph
viii. Adam
ix. Peter, James, and John
x. “all those whom my Father hath given me out of the world.”
VI. The Prediction: “had he not come, the whole earth would be cursed; or utterly wasted at Christ’s coming.” What does this mean to you? Could it have more than one meaning?
a. If all ends at death, all of life has been a waste.
b. It is as if our houses are barren if we cannot produce seed that lives on beyond death. I like the allusion with the seed / plant life image as he does have control over the water which nourishes them.

VII. We think of Elijah linking us to our ancestors but that is not all. He brings two halves together. Sometimes that is between two things that are broken apart. He is said to heal things. He can heals children to parents in THIS life as well. In what ways could we aid him in that mission?]
a. If we are not families welded in the true love of Christ, we won’t be able to bear His presence. Without the priesthood are we able to prepare for that?
b. We need to forgive. It might be hard to forgive your enemies but harder still to forgive your loved ones.
c. We need to care more about our parents and children than ourselves.
d. We cannot truly love the Savior until we love what is His. The people around us—our family—belongs to Him.

VIII. The Appearance in the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836: now when I hear the account, it is much more meaningful to me. READ D&C 110:13-16
a. The spirit of the turning of hearts which Elijah delivered was not confined to just the Latter-day Saints. In 1836, virtually no one was working on genealogy.
i. In 1837, Great Britain had begun to have duplicate records kept and filed in archives there.
ii. In 1844, the first organization in the world for the gathering of records of the dead was organized in Boston.
iii. Joseph Fielding Smith reports of a man writing him in 1903 and saying “Thirty-five years ago [1878] the interest in such matters was mainly antiquarian. . . .Genealogical research was not the powerful factor it is today.”
iv. I think JS would be amazed to see the level to which the internet has brought things.

IX. Conclusion:
a. Now when I DO meet Elijah, I’ll have much more to talk to him about than just, “Good job on the sealing.” For one thing I can add, “How’s the weather?”
b. I would like to end by quickly showing you three pictures.
i. Ruth Clarkson: This is my great grandmother. She was born in NYC, then rode on a steam ship to Missouri and walked the plains the SLC. It took her 6 months to walk and she was 3-years-old. All my mother ever told me about her (and she died when my mom was 21) was that she loved to sing, loved the temple, and loved everyone she met. She never told me how hard her life had been. My Lily’s middle name is Ruth because I hope she can be kind and loving no matter what she goes through. Because of the spirit of Elijah I have a 20 volume journal of Ruth’s. Lily and I are sealed to her. And I have been inspired by her.
ii. Emma Jane Howland: This is my second great grandmother. Emma was also a pioneer at age 3 but she left from Nauvoo. Everyone’s favorite story of her is how she was brave with the Indians who came to her cabin and insisted she sew for them. She not only sewed what they wanted but went the extra mile and made beautiful shirts for them. She was daring, kind, friendly, and did more than she was asked to do. She was my mother’s all-time favorite relative. My mother never got to meet her grandmother Emma Jane or her granddaughter Emma Jane in the flesh but because of the sealing power of Elijah, she will get to.
iii. Mary Sophia Reed Crockett: This is another second great grandmother. You can tell this picture is the oldest. She was born in 1833. To understand what kind of woman she was, on the birth of her first of 11 children, her and Alvin’s house was unfinished. There were no windows or doors and their were only willows on the roof. Of course, it was a huge rainstorm. By the time of the birth her bed was soaking wet. Though Alvin lit fires and tried to dry off all the bedding she told him she was “Fine as can be and wasn’t bothered a bit.” Of Mary and Alvin’s 12 children there were two: Ozro Ozias and Delia Ann who were just 4 years apart and quite close though after she married they lived two hours apart. Ozro is my great grandfather and Delia is Denise Andersen’s great grandmother. We lived next door to each other for five years before we figured out that we were 3rd cousins. Elijah has helped to back to my ancestors and even across to my friends. Here are five Crockett names that Denise are working on in the temple. They now need their initiatories done and then we will do their endowments together.
c. When you go home tonight, think of the multitude of ways in which Elijah has blessed your life. For those of us who have been blessed enough to be sealed in the temple, we won’t have to look farther than our dining room table.


Best moment of the lesson: I was asking people what Elijah’s powers were and they all came up with much better idea than I had. The best was MaryAnn’s. She said that with the Spirit of Elijah it felt like a magic spell came over her. She came to know and love ancestors that she could care less about before. And it was contagious with the ancestors surrounding them and infectious to those around her.



Elijah the prophet and his mission : a discourse delivered under the auspices of the Genealogical Society of Utah, October 13, 1920, at the Assembly Hall