"And he shall go before him in spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared fro the Lord."
I hadn't noticed before the part of "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children". I sounded like Elijah's mission. I looked at the footnote it even said "This is the Greek form of the Hebrew name, Elijah." Yet, I knew John the Baptist was an Elias (preparer/forerunner) and not Elijah. So I turned to this wonderful April 1965 General Conference talk by Theodore M. Burton, "The Work of Elijah". I will just quote it.
"Because of a misunderstanding of Luke 1:17, which states that the child later to be named John the Baptist would come in the spirit and power of Elias to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children many persons have thought that John the Baptist who held the office of an Elias, or messenger, was the Elijah who was to return. This verse explains that John's work was a preparatory work to "make ready a people prepared for the Lord" and not the work of sealing or completion, which keys Elijah held. When John was bluntly asked the question, he said:"
. . . I am not the Christ.
"And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias [Elijah]? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No"
This, of course, had to be true, for the prophecy stated that Elijah the Prophet should return before the second coming of the Lord, when Jesus was to come in great power, majesty, and glory as judge of all the earth. The mission of Elias held by John the Baptist comes first, and so just as John came before Elijah in the days of Jesus Christ, so John came before Elijah in these latter days to restore the preparatory Aaronic Priesthood before the greater power in the priesthood was given."
Day 1549
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