Elijah the Prophet
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 51, “I Have Loved You, Saith the Lord,” on Gospel Library
Start
The Old Testament ends with a promise. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5).
Read Together
Elijah lived hundreds of years before Malachi and was taken up to heaven without dying (2 Kings 2:11). Many Jewish families still set out a cup for Elijah at the Passover meal and open the door for him.
5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
What It Teaches
When the angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith in 1823, he quoted these verses with a difference. Elijah would reveal the priesthood, and he would plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers (his account).
On April 3, 1836, Elijah came. He appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple and gave them the keys of the sealing power (Doctrine and Covenants 110:13–16). It was Easter Sunday, during the week of Passover, when Jewish families were watching their doors for Elijah.
In general conference, President D. Todd Christofferson taught what the sealing power does. “This sealing power is a perfect manifestation of the justice, mercy, and love of God. With access to the sealing power, our hearts naturally turn to those who have gone before. The latter-day gathering into the covenant crosses through the veil.”
President D. Todd Christofferson, “The Sealing Power,” General conference, October 2023
Turning our hearts to our fathers can start small. We can learn a grandparent’s story, find an ancestor’s name, and take that name to the temple. The last promise of the Old Testament is being kept in our own families.
Talk About It
What do you know about one of your grandparents or great-grandparents? What is one thing we could do this week to learn more?
Take to Church
The Old Testament ends with the promise that Elijah would come. He came to the Kirtland Temple in 1836, and now our hearts can turn to our families on both sides of the veil.