Yesterday, we explored how the story of Nephi in the Book of Mormon helps explain the power by which Elijah initiated a multi-year drought. We observed that God gave Nephi both power and latitude to exercise his own agency, based on trust that he would use that agency in accordance with God’s will.
There’s another puzzle related to Elijah in the Old Testament, and the Book of Mormon can help us understand that one as well. The Old Testament’s last prophet ends his book with the following prophecy:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
Malachi 4:5-6
And 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.
When Jesus visited the Nephites after His death and resurrection, He quoted that prophecy (3 Nephi 25:5-6), telling them that His Father wanted future generations to have it (3 Nephi 26:2).
Did the Nephites know about the prophet Elijah? Probably, since their brass plates contained “a record of the Jews from the beginning” (1 Nephi 5:12), and since the Savior apparently didn’t need to explain this passage. If their record of Elijah was similar to ours, then they would have faced the same challenge a reader of the Old Testament faces: a prophecy about Elijah with no obvious connection to what we know about his life. In 1 Kings, we read about Elijah initiating and ending a drought and performing other miracles related to it. We recognize that he received power from God, as did Nephi, to shut the heavens, smiting the earth with the curse of a famine (see Helaman 10:6). But in the historical record, there is no indication that he strengthened families, turning hearts of parents and children toward one another.
But when God conferred this power on Nephi, He didn’t limit it to weather. “I give unto you power,” He declared, “that whatsoever ye shall seal 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” (Helaman 10:7). The most obvious interpretation, especially in context, is that Nephi and Elijah could seal the heavens shut, stopping the rain. But a broader interpretation extends to intangible things, including human relationships and intergenerational covenants with God.
According to Joseph Smith, when the angel Moroni commissioned Joseph to translate the Book of Mormon, he quoted Malachi’s prophecy. However, Moroni’s version was different from the version that appears in the King James Version of the Bible and in the Book of Mormon. Moroni said that Elijah “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” (Joseph Smith—History 1:39). This version aligns closely with two fundamental purposes of the Book of Mormon, as specified on its Title Page: “to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever.” So Moroni framed the purpose of the Book of Mormon in terms of Elijah’s mission: connecting generations by planting ancient covenants in modern hearts.
Elijah sealing the heavens was impressive, but his larger mission of turning hearts and planting promises has eternal significance.
Today I will be grateful for the relationship impact of the sealing power. I will remember that the same power that closed and opened the heavens can open my heart to God’s promises and connect me more closely with my ancestors.
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