Elijah

An Old Testament prophet who returned in the latter days to confer the keys of the sealing power on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. In his day, Elijah ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel (1 Kgs. 17–22; 2 Kgs. 1–2). He had great faith in the Lord and is noted for many miracles. At his request, God prevented rain for 3½ years. He raised a boy from the dead and called down fire from heaven (1 Kgs. 17–18). The Jewish people still wait for Elijah to return, as Malachi prophesied he would (Mal. 4:5). He remains an invited guest at Jewish Passover Feasts, where an open door and a vacant seat always await him.

The Prophet Joseph Smith said that Elijah held 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 of Transfiguration with Moses and conferred the keys of the 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). All of this was in preparation for the Second Coming of the Lord, as spoken of in Malachi 4:5–6.

The power of Elijah is the sealing power of the priesthood by which things that are bound or loosed on earth are bound or loosed in heaven (D&C 128:8–18). Chosen servants of the Lord on earth today have this sealing power and perform the saving ordinances of the gospel for the living and the dead (D&C 128:8).