Scripture Study - Doctrine & Covenants - Section 2

Scripture Study

Doctrine & Covenants

Section 2

Ann Temperance George and her husband, John Doney, sailed from England to America on April 19, 1856, on the Samuel Curling with their toddler, Ann. Little Ann became sick at sea. Her parents prayed that her life could be spared until they reached land. Their prayers were answered, and they buried their little daughter in Toledo, Ohio. (“Life Sketch of Ann Temperance and John Doney,” in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.)

We now know how to help these pioneers and others like them to become an eternal families...Temple Work. We all have ancestors that need this blessing and we are instructed to do so. Elder John A Widtsoe had this to say about Section 2 of the Doctrine and Covenants, “The beginning and the end of the gospel is written in section two of the Doctrine and Covenants. It is the keystone of the wonderful gospel arch; and if that center stone should weaken and fall out, the whole gospel structure would topple down in unorganized doctrinal blocks.’” (ElRay L. Christiansen, in Conference Report, Apr. 1960, p. 48.)

The message of Malachi is so important that it has been repeated in each of the standard works:

Bible: Malachi 4:5-6

Book of Mormon: 3Nephi 25:5-6

Doctrine and Covenants: Section 2, 27:9, 128:17

Pearl of Great Price: Joseph Smith – History 1:37-39

What it must have been like for Joseph Smith to be visited by Moroni and given instructions. That night was noted in Joseph Smith – History 1:30-32:

• 30 While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor.
• 31 He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.
• 32 Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me.

Joseph Smith would have to wait many years for that night to show fruit. On April 3, 1836, in the Kirtland temple, Elijah returned to restore the sealing power to Earth. But why Elijah? This was expressed by Joseph Fielding Smith: “The keys that Elijah held were the keys of the everlasting priesthood, the keys of the sealing power, which the Lord gave unto him. And that is what he . . . gave to the Prophet Joseph Smith; and that included a ministry of sealing for the living as well as the dead—and it is not confined to the living and it is not confined to the dead, but includes them both. . . .

“Elijah’s mission was the sealing power. He held the keys by which the parents could be sealed together and children sealed to parents. He bestowed these keys upon the Prophet Joseph Smith. And that applies to the dead as well as the living since the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Elijah was the last prophet that held the keys of the priesthood, and who will, before the last dispensation, restore the authority and deliver the keys of the priesthood, in order that all the ordinances may be attended to in righteousness. It is true the Savior had authority and power to bestow this blessing; but the sons of Levi were too prejudiced. . . . Why send Elijah? Because he holds the keys of the authority to administer in all the ordinances of the priesthood; and without the authority is given, the ordinances could not be administered in righteousness.

“But what was the nature of his mission to the earth in these latter days? It was to restore power and authority which once was given to men on the earth and which is essential to the complete salvation and exaltation of man in the kingdom of God. In other words, Elijah came to restore to the earth, by conferring on mortal prophets duly commissioned of the Lord, the fulness of the power of priesthood. This priesthood holds the keys of binding and sealing on earth and in heaven of all the ordinances and principles pertaining to the salvation of man, that they may thus become valid in the celestial kingdom of God.” ( Doctrines of Salvation, 2:111–12, 113-14, 117.)

Who are the fathers and children referred to by Malachi and in Verse 2? “The fathers are our dead ancestors who died without the privilege of receiving the gospel, but who received the promise that the time would come when that privilege would be granted them. The children are those now living who are preparing genealogical data and who are performing the vicarious ordinances in the temples.

“The turning of the hearts of the children to the fathers is placing or planting in the hearts of the children that feeling and desire which will inspire them to search out the records of the dead. Moreover the planting of the desire and inspiration in their hearts is necessary. This they must have in order that they might go into the house of the Lord and perform the necessary labor for their fathers, who died without a knowledge of the gospel, or without the privilege of receiving the fulness of the gospel.” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:127–28.)

What about the curse of an utterly wasted earth if it were not so? Ratification in heaven is given to all ordinances of the gospel through the sealing powers of the priesthood. This sealing power makes possible the welding together of fathers and children, a work essential for exaltation to the living and the dead (see D&C 128:18 ). The curse spoken of by Malachi is clarified by Moroni, who explained that “the whole earth would be utterly wasted” at the Lord’s coming if the sealing powers were not restored. President Joseph Fielding Smith explained why: “The sealing power of Elijah makes it possible for this joining of the families, generation to generation, back to the beginning. Now, if these units of authority were not here, then the work of sealing, by which the family units are preserved, could not be performed; then the binding power by which all blessings are sealed in heaven, as well as on earth, would be lacking. If this were so, the earth would be smitten with a curse, for all work which had been done, without these binding or sealing ordinances, would fall to the ground unfulfilled.” ( Doctrines of Salvation, 2:121–22.)