Sign 31 – Keys of the Priesthood Restored

Year:1836

Scriptures:

Doctrine and Covenants 110:12

12 After this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed.

Elias who committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham is the prophet Noah, as explained by Joseph Fielding Smith.

“Noah is Gabriel and … he came to the Prophet Joseph Smith in his calling as an Elias and restored the keys of the dispensation in which the Lord made covenant with Abraham and his posterity after him to the latest generations.

“The term Elias means forerunner. Noah, Elijah, John the Baptist and John the Revelator have been referred to as Elias in scripture, though the references to Elijah by this name are mistranslated.

“Summarizing the facts—Joseph Smith revealed that Gabriel was Noah; Luke declared that it was the angel Gabriel who appeared to Zacharias and Mary; and the Lord has declared that Elias appeared to Zacharias and Joseph Smith. Therefore, Elias is Noah.

“As part of the restoration of all things, a prophet named Elias came to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on April 3, 1836, and committed unto them the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham. The scriptural account of this glorious event specifies: ‘Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed.’

“Now what was the gospel of Abraham? Obviously it was the commission, the mission, the endowment and power, the message of salvation, given to Abraham. And what was this? It was a divine promise that both in the world and out of the world his seed should continue ‘as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore ye could not number them.’

“Thus the gospel of Abraham was one of celestial marriage (including plurality of wives); it was a gospel or commission to provide a lineage for the elect portion of the pre-existent spirits, a gospel to

provide a household in eternity for those who live the fulness of the celestial law. This power and

commission is what Elias restored, and as a consequence, the righteous among all future generations

were assured of the blessings of a continuation of the seeds forever, even as it was with Abraham of old.

“This committing to man of the gospel of Abraham, of the great commission which he had, should not be confused with the spirit of Elias or the doctrine of Elias. The commission which the man Elias conferred was not an authorization either to operate in the spirit of Elias or to preach the gospel. The spirit of Elias had been manifest long before the man Elias came. The commission to preach the gospel was restored by Peter, James, and John in 1829, and the gospel had been preached for nearly seven years before Elias came. In their mortal ministry, Peter, James, and John had been given this commission: ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’ In other words, the gospel of Peter, James and John, their great commission, was to preach the gospel of salvation. When they came in modern times that, among other things, was what they restored.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966] 200)