“Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

“And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

“If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.”  (D&C 2).

Those verses are tremendously important.  They’re so important that they’re found in all four of the Standard Works.  Malachi is the original author, as recorded in the very last chapter of the Old Testament.  Malachi’s words were so important that Jesus quoted them to the Nephites when He appeared after His resurrection.  (3 Ne. 25: 5, 6).  Moroni quoted them to Joseph Smith five times in less than 24 hours when he first visited Joseph in 1823.  Joseph Smith recorded the words of the prophecy both in the Pearl of Great Price (Joseph Smith—History 1:38, 39), and in the Doctrine and Covenants where it comprises section 2.

The Jews took note of this prophecy, and have been looking forth to its fulfillment for over 2000 years.  They’re looking for Elijah to come.  They set a place for him at their annual Passover feast, for that is when they expect him to appear.

What they don’t know, and what the world needs to know, is that Elijah has already come.  He came—at the Passover, on the Sabbath, and on Easter—on 3 April 1836.  He appeared to Joseph Smith and to Oliver Cowdery and committed his keys to them.

The scripture says, “I will reveal unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet.”  It’s interesting to me that the word Priesthood is capitalized in section 2 of the Doctrine and Covenants, just as is also done in the book of Abraham whenever the word is used.  The capital underscores the importance of the Priesthood and the reverence with which we should treat it.

Joseph and Oliver had already received the Priesthood nearly seven years previous to Elijah’s appearance.  The Priesthood that Elijah was conferring was the sacred sealing power.

It was to be revealed “by the hand of Elijah.”  Keys are transferred and conferred by the laying on of hands, so no doubt Elijah laid hands on Joseph’s and Oliver’s heads when he appeared to them.

Elijah’s appearance was to be before the “great and dreadful day of the Lord.”  This refers to the Lord’s Second Coming, which is not far off.  The day will be “great” to those who are ready, and who are anxiously looking forward to His coming.  The day will be “dreadful” to those who have made no preparation, and who are to be burned at His coming.

“And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers…”  The promises made to the fathers are those made both in the pre-earth existence, and those made by prophets in mortality, that a way would be provided for all mankind to be baptized and to have the opportunity for salvation in the kingdom of God.  Before coming to earth we covenanted with our fathers that if they would make the sacrifice to come to earth and prepare the way for us when the opportunity for Priesthood ordinances was not available, that we would see to it that they should receive those ordinances vicariously through our efforts in the temple.

Elijah planted those promises in our hearts and has turned our hearts to the fathers.  We in the Church understand these things, do research, and go to the temple to perform work for our ancestors.  People outside the Church don’t understand these things, but many have had their hearts turned to their fathers, too.  They avidly do family history research without knowing why they feel so compelled to do so.  We, and our fathers beyond the veil, are the benefactors.  The world doesn’t know it, but family history research and temple work are the reason that computers and the Internet were invented.

The renditions of Malachi’s prophecy in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon are a little different from those in the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.  The Bible and Book of Mormon say that Elijah will “turn the heart of the fathers to the children.”  This is correct, also.

Elder Melvin J. Ballard said that, “It was made known to me that it is because the righteous dead who have received the Gospel in the spirit world are exercising themselves, and in answers to their prayers elders of the Church are sent to the homes of their posterity so that the Gospel might be taught to them, and that descendant in the flesh is then privileged to do the work for his dead kindred.  I want to say to you that it is with greater intensity that the hearts of the fathers and mothers in the spirit world are turned to their children now in the flesh than that our hearts are turned to them.”

That, to me, is a beautiful thought.  It is very likely that I’m a member of the Church today because of the prayers of my fathers and mothers that pointed me toward the gospel.  I’m unspeakably grateful that I’ve been able to see to the temple work of many of my ancestors.

The capstone of the ordinances and covenants, and of everything that we do in the Church, is sealings.  These are performed in the temple.  Everything points us toward the altar in the sealing room where we kneel with our companion and parents, and are welded together in an unbreakable bond for all eternity by one whose authority has come through a direct line from Elijah and Joseph Smith.

“If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.”

But for sealings, this whole earth experience would have been for naught.  The earth was created to be the habitation of the righteous forever.  It’s to be the Celestial Kingdom for those who qualify themselves to live together as families for eternity.  If these sealings were not to take place, the earth would ultimately be empty and void and have been an utter waste.  All the Lord’s efforts would have been for naught.