THE MIGHTY ELIJAH PART 5

The Lord is My Shepherd by LDS Bookstore

I used to think that Elijah’s mission to turn our hearts to our fathers solely meant motivation to do proxy baptisms for the dead, as was practiced in the meridian of time according to Paul who used this practice as proof to the Sadducees of the reality of resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:29). Temple work for the dead was well and truly operational in the meridian of time because of Elijah’s visit on Mount of Transfiguration conferring the priesthood power on Peter, James and John (Matt 17:3). Consider, however, how much more can be accomplished by this practice:

"Perhaps we regard the power bestowed by Elijah as something associated only with formal ordinances performed in sacred places.  But these ordinances become dynamic and productive of good only as they reveal themselves in our daily lives.  Malachi said that the power of Elijah would turn the hearts of the fathers and the children to each other.  The heart is the seat of the emotions and a conduit for revelation.  This sealing power thus reveals itself in family relationships, in attributes and virtues developed in a nurturing environment and in loving service.  These are the cords that bind families together, and the priesthood advances their development."  (James E. Faust, Father Come Home, May Ensign 1993)

Sometimes in ‘turning our hearts to our fathers’, some resolutions need to happen and most often than not they involve some form of forgiveness. Some of us hail from dysfunctional families, some from abuse, some from abandonment but all come from flawed humanity. If something is holding you back from the sealing ordinances, know that forgiveness is the key. It will free and change you and it will replace all the grief that is in your heart with unearthly love.

I know something of ‘turning the hearts to the fathers’. I struggled with a sense of powerlessness most of my life. I knew instinctly that this is not who I really am but the feeling persisted for most of my adulthood which led me to feelings of inadequacy.

 

I came to a realisation at one stage that this weakness had come to me from many generations of my family. I come from a long line of poor oppressed European peasants who had lived under the oppression of feudalism followed by socialism, the oppression which drummed into them that they could never rise above their station in life. I had seen this mentality of powerlessness perpetrated in my family throughout my childhood and early adulthood in Europe. I have known my family's negative thoughts and their beliefs that influenced their lives and invited suffering.

 

From the time my family immigrated to Australia when I was 14, and the Gospel came into my life, I could not understand why I was born into my family. I am the different one, the one that seeks and knows and loves God. One day some years ago my frustration over my life which I felt was controlled by this sense of powerlessness sent me to my knees where through bitter tears I spat out to God that I hated my family and all the generations I have come from; that I hated who they were and what they had saddled me with. I felt I could not rise to my potential because of it.

 

I had never expressed such venomous thoughts before, to myself or to others, let alone to God. I begged to understand why I was sent into this family and why I carried their burden.  Within half an hour of my prayer, my heart and mind were flooded with immense understanding.

 

When the Saviour said 'my sheep hear my voice' (John 10:27) he was referring to those who are  spiritually advanced and who, because of it, recognise and wholeheartedly embrace the truth when it is presented to them. Bruce R. McConkie taught that this is a spiritual gift that was developed in pre-earth life (Mormon Doctrine, p 81). I count myself as one of His sheep. I was brought up in a strong Catholic community but I wanted to know God and I found the religion of my youth inadequate. I was 16 years of age when I sought and immediately accepted the Gospel into my life.

 

What has all this got to do with my ancestors? It has everything to do with our hearts being turned to our fathers. It was given to me to understand that those who are His sheep are often sent to families who need a spiritual shepherd. Someone who will, through their belief, give strength to those who need to be saved from their disbelief.

 

I understood through my revelation that what once was a physical oppression of my ancestors had become a spiritual stumbling block. I understood that they still lived in a state of powerlessness even though they had passed over into the spirit world. They needed the saving grace of Christ and they needed saving. When I understood this my heart was ‘turned’ to my fathers and the saving ordinances of the priesthood took on a new meaning for me. This understanding also gave me compassion towards the generations of my family and freed me to be who I truly am and not what my programming made me to be. This energy of freedom, I am convinced, reached my ancestors where they are now and paved the path to acceptance of Christ’s gospel.

 

If you are the shepherd in your family, you stand on holy ground. You do not stand alone. The ultimate Shepherd stands beside you gathering all the sheep. You are in good company. You are the under-shepherd…..yours is a sacred work……

See Father,

I brought home the sheep!

I did all that I could

To save them in my keep.

 

They come to You Father

In whose arms they belong,

They come to You,

Whom they loved all along.

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE MIGHTY ELIJAH PART 4

 

When angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith on 21 September 1823, he told him of an important part of the restoration that will take place 13 years later. He told Joseph that the sealing power of the Priesthood will be restored to the earth by the very hand of Elijah the prophet who will ‘plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers’ (D&C 2:2)

This sealing power comes in two parts. The first part is the planting into our hearts the promises made to the fathers: “Who are the fathers? They are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the promises were made. What are the promises? They are the promises of a continuation of the family unit in eternity” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millenial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man [1982], 267l; see also D&C 27:10; Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual commentary for D&C 2:2).

These eternal promises made to the fathers are known as the Abrahamic Covenant and they are:

1.       Abraham’s posterity would be numerous (see Genesis 17:5-6; Abraham 2:9; 3:14).

2.       His descendants would receive the gospel and bear the priesthood (see Abraham 2:9)

3.       Through the ministry of his seed “all the families of the earth would be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even life eternal” (Abraham 2:11)

4.       Abraham’s righteous descendants will inherit the earth. Following the Millenium plus ‘a little season’ the earth will die, be resurrected and become sanctified, immortal and an eternal state where the god-fearing and the righteous shall live as celestial beings with the Father and the Son forever and ever (D&C 88:14-26, 111; McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p 211)

“A person can receive all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant – even if he or she is not a literal descendant of Abraham – by obeying the laws and ordinances of the gospel (see Galatians 3:26-29; 4:1-7; D&C 84:33-40)”. (Gospel Topics, LDS Gospel Library: Abrahamic Covenant). This is called ‘adoption into the House of Israel’ by baptism.

The second part of Elijah’s sealing power is the turning of our hearts to our own ancient fathers. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve said that not only has God made these promises to the ancient patriarchs but that we “undoubtedly made them to our own lineal fathers and mothers, those who came to earth before the gospel was restored but whom we promised to provide its saving ordinances” (Christ and the New Covenant 1977, p. 297). This is done by proxy in the temples that are now on the earth.

So it is through this sealing power and the saving ordinances we provide for our kindred dead that we inherit the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. If not, the creation of this earth would be utterly wasted because a sealed, united, celestially saved family of God is the ultimate purpose of mortality and the creation of this earth. (see Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, p 297-98)

The spirit of Elijah rests upon the human family today who are actively seeking their roots. Even the ones who don’t know why, will one day give thanks to the God of this universe who made the family ties eternal and preserved the love that binds us together, now and forever…..

Your life has come and gone

But your footprints remain

And your blood courses through my veins.

Because of God’s eternal grace

We will once again embrace.

I weep not that we are now apart,

For I carry you with me,

I carry you in my heart. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art by AI)

THE MIGHTY ELIJAH PART 3

 

Jehovah Creates the Earth by Water Rane

The most important part of Elijah’s mission was the Melchizedek Priesthood sealing power by which things that are bound or loosed on earth are bound or loosed in heaven (D&C 128:8-18). He was the last prophet to have this power before the time of Jesus Christ.

He appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and conferred the keys of this priesthood on Peter, James and John (Matt 17:3). He appeared again, with Moses and others, on April 3, 1836, in the Kirtland Ohio Temple and conferred the same keys upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery (D&C 110:13-16). It is for this purpose that he did not taste death. This was the second part of his earthly mission.

Elijah’s ascension into heaven on a chariot of fire is one of the most endearing accounts in the Old Testament. Elisha’s grief at the parting is heart rendering. As he cried after him, calling him ‘father’, he rent his clothes into pieces in his distress (2 Kings 2:11,12).

There is a significant connection between Elijah’s mission and the planet we presently live on. When Moroni delivered his message to Joseph Smith, he said that the earth would be wasted if Elijah didn’t come to restore the sealing power (D&C 2:2-3). Malachi goes so far as to say that if it were so, the Lord would smite the earth with a curse at His coming (Malachi 4:5).

Our Mother Earth which gave us physical birth (Moses 2:7) was foreordained and consecrated to establish on its face a family system patterned after the order of heaven and to become the future celestial abode of exalted sons and daughters of God. She also has a mission to accomplish like the rest of us.

Had Elijah not come to restore the sealing priesthood power to bind us together, the earth would not have accomplished its foreordained purpose and would not have been able to answer the end of its creation. All men and women would be forever without root and branch, meaning without ancestry and posterity that would otherwise extend into eternity.

Enoch learnt from his encounter with Mother Earth that she had a soul as deep as the river. Grief came  over him and made him weep when he heard her call us her children and witnessed her mourn over our wickedness (Moses 7:48). So overcome was Enoch at her suffering that he asked God three times, ‘’when shall the earth rest” (v 49,54,58).

You think the earth has no soul? Consider how she groaned when the Son of Man was lifted up and all nature suffered at the death of its creator (Moses 7:56; 1 Nephi 19: 12). Imagine this big beautiful perfect planet, the workmanship of God’s hands, with a soul as tender and real as you and I, utterly wasted at Christ’s coming…..Imagine how Father Adam and Mother Eve would feel to see this earth wasted after they paved the way for humanity by ‘the sweat of their brow’ (Moses 5:1). We think we have it hard…..we don’t even have to slice our bread…

When the end comes, this earth will be celestialized and crowned with the Father’s presence to be an eternal abode for those who will accept the sacrifice of His Beloved Son who was lifted upon the cross of redemption so that we can return to live with Him on this Mother Earth forever (D&C 88:17-20). 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE NEEDED MOTHER

 

According to scripture, our Mother Earth has had a very special and mandatory role in our progression. We usually think of the physical birth she gave humanity (Moses 2:7) but this is not her only role. She was foreordained and consecrated to establish on its face a family system patterned after the order of heaven and to become the future celestial abode of exalted sons and daughters of God (D&C 88:18-20).

If we study the process of creation in the Pearl of Great Price, we come away with the understanding that all the elements involved in the Creation are living organisms, including the planet we live on. What convinces me of this fact is Enoch’s encounter with Mother Earth and what impact it had on him.

The grief that took over him made him weep when he heard her call us her children and witnessed her mourn over our wickedness (Moses 7:48). So overcome was Enoch with her suffering that he asked God three times, ‘’when shall the earth rest”? (v 49,54,58). When we consider how she groaned when the Son of Man was lifted up and all nature suffered at the death of its Creator, we can conclude that her soul is as deep as the river (Moses 7:56; 1 Nephi 19: 12).

I know next to nothing about physics but I am fascinated with gravity. Without gravity we would be flying off the surface of this planet and into the unknown but gravity, like a spiritual umbilical cord keeps us grounded to Mother Earth so that we cannot be lost. The reason why she wept though over the wickedness of her children has to do with her foreordination to establish a family system of eternity. If this fails, the earth could be smitten with a curse and utterly wasted at the Saviour’s coming (D&C 2:2-3; Malachi 4:5).

Enter Elijah who came to restore the sealing priesthood power to bind us together so that the earth could answer the end of its creation (see Matthew 17:3; D&C 110:13-16; 128:8-18). Without that power all men and women would be forever without root and branch, meaning without ancestry and posterity that would otherwise extend into eternity.

Imagine this big beautiful perfect planet with a soul as tender and real as you and me, utterly wasted at Christ’s coming.  It is not our carbon foot print that would destroy our Mother Earth but our wickedness that can destroy her purpose of creation.

Imagine the waste of Creation, imagine the struggle of Father Adam and Mother Eve as they paved the way for humanity by ‘the sweat of their brow’ (Moses 5:1).  Now imagine the waste of Calvary. Yes, Elijah had to come to restore the priesthood power which could bind the root to branches but without our faithfulness the binding is null and void.

Right now we live in a world that promotes the ‘me and my truth’ mentality. Satan strives to divert us from a greater picture. We are a link in the chain of something marvelous and eternal. Each one contributes to the success of that picture. I know many of us love nature and the beauty of this earth. May we include in our daily gratitude this ‘needed mother’, this extraordinary planet that seeks to lift us to higher ground than the one we are currently standing on.

His gift, the beauty of the earth,

To soften the blow of turbulence

So relentlessly near;

With every movement of the trees

And the rustle of its leaves,

He whispers:

“I am here”

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Made New by Chris Brazelton)

THE PROMISES

 

I often see a close and loving family outside the Church and wonder how they will feel after this life, unconnected with no ties throughout eternity. Some of them will never join the Church in this life.

Herein is the mercy of our God….

When angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith on 21 September 1823, he told him of an important part of the restoration that will take place 13 years later. He told Joseph that the sealing power of the Priesthood will be restored to the earth by the hand of Elijah the prophet who will ‘plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers’ (D&C 2:2)

This sealing power comes in two parts. The first part is the planting into our hearts the promises made to the fathers: “Who are the fathers? They are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the promises were made. What are the promises? They are the promises of a continuation of the family unit in eternity” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millenial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man [1982], 267l; see also D&C 27:10; Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual commentary for D&C 2:2).

The second part is the turning of our hearts to our own ancient fathers. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve said that not only has God made these promises to the ancient patriarchs but that we “undoubtedly made them to our own lineal fathers and mothers, those who came to earth before the gospel was restored but whom we promised to provide its saving ordinances” (Christ and the New Covenant 1977, p. 297)

So it is through this sealing power and the saving ordinances we provide for our kindred dead that we inherit the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. If not, the creation of this earth would be utterly wasted “as a sealed, united, celestially saved family of God is the ultimate purpose of mortality”. (Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, p 297-98)

But the earth’s purpose will not be 'utterly wasted' at the Saviour's coming (D&C 2:3) because the sealing power of the priesthood was restored to the earth by Elijah in the Kirtland Temple in 1836 through Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.

The spirit of Elijah whispers to Church members and non-members alike in the world today who are desperately seeking their roots. Even the ones who don’t know why, will one day give thanks to the God of this universe who made the family ties eternal and preserved the love that binds us together, now and forever…..

 

Your life has come and gone

But your footprints remain

And your blood courses through my veins.

Because of God’s eternal grace

We will once again embrace.

I weep not that we are now apart,

For I carry you with me,

I carry you in my heart.

 

-  CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Elijah Appearing in the Kirtland Temple by Dan Lewis)

THE MIGHT OF ELIJAH

I am in awe of Elijah. He would have to be the most prolific of all the Old Testament prophets and the most significant. Elijah made such a deep impression upon the life of the Israelites that it is their fixed belief that he will return one day and to this day he remains an invited guest at the Passover, for whom a vacant seat is reserved and the door is opened. Among his many significant earthly accomplishments, Elijah holds the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood and was the last prophet to do so before the time of Jesus Christ. He appeared on the Mount with Moses and conferred the keys of the priesthood on Peter, James and John (Matt 17:3) and he appeared again with him and others on 3 April, 1836, in the Kirtland Temple in Ohio and conferred the same keys upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. "Thus the keys of his power are once again operative on the earth and are used in performing all the ordinances of the gospel for the living and the dead". (Bible Dictionary, p 664) What an incredibly important person Elijah is for where would mankind be without the saving ordinances of the priesthood and the sealing power which keeps our families intact forever. Imagine the honour of having your name associated with the responsibility of 'turning the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers' (Malachi 4:5,6). Imagine being remembered throughout history by something as powerful and important as 'the spirit of Elijah'. It should be an absolute joy for us to study his life so we can appreciate fully the making of this great man.

Elijah is known as the prophet of fire who performed many mighty miracles and who had power to control the elements. When the people of the northern kingdom had almost entirely forsaken the worship of the true God and become worshippers of the Phoenician god Baal, Elijah the Tishbite was most appropriately called to lead Israel back to their forsaken God for the name Elijah means 'Jehovah is my God'. "His recorded words are few but forceful, and his deeds are explicit evidences of his strength of will, force of character, and personal courage. He was an example of solid faith in the Lord." (Bible Dictionary, p 664)

Elijah's boldness of character would be difficult to replicate. He stands as an example of spiritual confidence of one who knows God on a personal level. He was called to preach repentance to one of the most evil kings of Israel, as the scriptures record: "And Ahab, the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him." (1 Kings 16:30)  Not only did he walk in the footsteps Jeroboam who turned Israel to idolatry but he did one better than that, he married Jezebel, the daughter of king of Zidonia, who worshipped Baal. He made a grove for the worship of Baal and 'did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him' (1 Kings 16:33)  Baal was the Phoenician deity and pre-eminent god of the Canaanites and is mentioned in the Old Testament 58 times. He was worshipped as the god of storm who had power over water. In the words of one LDS scholar: "Canaanite vegetation, particularly in the north, was rich and the soil fertile. Consequently many Israelites were tempted to ask their Canaanite neighbours, 'How does your garden grow?' The Israelites were deceived into thinking the Canaanite storm god Baal regulated the water supply. Thus, the question of who controlled the water became critical issue, particularly in the northern kingdom. The allegiance of Israel vacillated among many idolatrous gods, but primarily between the two gods who claimed power over water: Baal, the Canaanite storm god, and the Lord Jehovah, who had delivered the Israelites" (Fred E. Woods, "The Water Imagery in John's Gospel", in The Lord of the Gospels: The 1990 Sperry Symposium on the New Testament, p 190). It is no wonder then that Elijah, as a fitting punishment to Israel who worshipped Baal believing he sent water to enrich their pastures and ensure their crops, sealed up the heavens for three and a half years. You would think that during three and a half years of drought, worshipping a god who was supposed to be a god of water and rain, Israel would come to their senses and realise they were on the wrong track but this did not happen.

From the time of his proclaimed drought on the kingdom of Israel, Elijah was a wanted man and spent much of his time in hiding. So severe had the drought become that Ahab searched for him far and wide, among all nations, blaming him for the misfortune that had befallen his kingdom (1 Kings 18:10). All the nations and kingdoms Ahab searched had to swear an oath that they were not hiding him and whoever reported seeing him would be executed if Elijah was not there by the time Ahab's search party arrived (1 Kings 18:12). Sealing the heavens began Elijah's life on the run dotted with miracles. From the ravens which fed him by the brook Cherith to the poor window of Zarephath in Zidon who fed him and never went without again and whose son Elijah raised from the dead, he was guided in all his wanderings by the God of Israel who preserved his life. When the time came for God to show forth his power once again by lifting the drought, Elijah was instructed to return to Israel where he engaged in the most outlandish contest with the false prophets of Baal who failed to show forth Baal's power in igniting the sacrifice they were offering. Elijah, however, drew the hosts of Israel to him so they could properly see, repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down with 12 stones signifying the 12 tribes of Israel and saturated the wood and the sacrificial animal with four barrels of water, three times. He then appealed to Jehovah to show that He is the true God of Israel (1 Kings 18:37). Of course the fire came down and consumed the whole altar with the surplus water that was in the surrounding trench (1 Kings 18:30-39). He then instructed the astonished Israelites to capture all 450 prophets of Baal, took them to the brook Kishon and slew them there (1 Kings 18:40).

With Jezebel at his heels seeking his life, Elijah fled again. What follows is I believe the most intimate and loving experience Elijah had with the Lord. Running away from those who sought his life, he received sustenance from an angel of the Lord. When he arrived to mount Horeb, so incredibly disheartened and dejected, believing he had failed in his ministry, God in his mercy spoke to him, but not by the wind which rent mountains and not by the earthquake which followed, but by a 'still small voice' (1 Kings 19:12). In other words, not by any ostentatious show of power but by something so personal as the whisper of His voice. He might as well have said: 'they can have their miracles Elijah, but you have me'. And here is where the God of us all knows how to lift us up. To prove to Elijah that he had done well and that his service as a prophet was accepted, the Lord assigns him another mission. He instructs him to go and anoint the king of Syria and the next prophet who will take over from him. What a merciful and loving God who accepts the work of his faithful children and who cares about the tender feelings of their hearts. I imagine Him saying to Elijah: "You did well Elijah, you are still the prophet and your service has been accepted". Because of his un-daunting faith in the God of Israel, Elijah was blessed with power over water like Moses and Joshua and divided river Jordan prior to his ascension into heaven, never to taste death (2 Kings 2:6-11).

"The story of Elijah's return can be found in D&C 110.  Obviously there is no need to wait for him any longer.  This became the subject of conversation between Elder LeGrand Richards and the Mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek.  Elder Richards had just dedicated the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden on the Mount of Olives.  After the ceremony, the two conversed as they ate their lunch:
Elder Richards said:  "Mayor, I want to tell you something".
"What's that?" asked the Mayor.
Looking Mayor Kollek directly in the eye, the apostle said:
"Ten years ago I was here in Jerusalem and one day I went into three synagogues and hanging up on the wall in one of them was a large armchair.  I asked the rabbi what it was there for (I knew but I wanted him to tell me, which he did).  He said that it was so that if Elijah comes 'we can lower the chair and let him sit in it'.  Now Mayor, I want to tell you something and what I tell you is the truth.  Elijah has already been.  On the third day of April 1836 he appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple".
The Mayor said:
"I guess I better tell them to take that chair down."

(Beloved Apostle, p.301)