I have discussed Joseph Smith’s use of “Elias” to denote a “forerunner” in the following article:
In his recent book on eschatology, Avraham Gileadi proposes that the Elias of D&C 77 is not John, but a separate eschatological figure:
On another occasion, Joseph Smith received a revelation identifying the endtime Elias who restores all things as the “angel from the east” in John’s vision of the end of the world: “The angel ascending from the east is he to whom is given the seal of the living God over the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, he crieth unto the four angels having the everlasting gospel, saying: Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And, if you will receive it, this is Elias which was to come to gather together the tribes of Israel and restore all things” (Doctrine & Covenants 77:9) . . . As directed by the “Elias” which was to come to gather together the tribes of Israel and restore all things” (Doctrine & Covenants 77:9; cf. Matthew 17:11), the sealing of the 144,000 servants of God with the “Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Revelations [sic] 14:1) thus forms an integral part of the “restoration of all things.” In other words, assuming that the “angels” whom Jesus sends to “gather together his elect from the four winds” and John’s 144,000 servants of God comprise one and the same category of angelic emissaries, then both are identical with Isaiah’s seraphs/saviors who assist God’s endtime servant to restore Israel . . . Those events, however, follow long after Jehovah/Jesus restores his pure gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith in the early nineteenth century. Because the power to seal God’s servants to the seraphs or translated level lies beyond the authority of the restored church, moreover, that two awaits the coming of Elias—the angel from the east.
Not surprisingly, Isaiah’s endtime servant who restores God’s people Israel is a perfect match for the Elias who restores all things who comes from the east: “Who has raised up Righteousness from the east, calling him to [the place of] his foot? . . . I have raised up one from the north who calls on my name, who shall come from the direction of sunrise” (Isaiah 41:2, 25; emphasis added); “I summon a bird of prey from the east, from a distant land the man who performs my counsel. What I have spoken, I bring to pass; what I have planned, I do. Hear me, you suborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness: I have brought near my righteousness; it is not now far off—my salvation shall no longer be delayed (Isaiah 46:11-13; emphasis added); “Who among you fears Jehovah and heeds the voice of his servant, who, though he walk in the dark and have no light, trusts in the name of Jehovah and relies on his God? But you are lighters of fires, all of you, who illuminate with mere sparks” (Isaiah 50:10-11) . . .
Messianic Prophecies of the Book of Mormon
Perhaps anticipating uncertainty about the identity of his servant—the Elias who is to “gather together the tribes of Israel and restored all things” (Doctrine & Covenants 77:9)—Jesus clarifies the matter after his resurrection as recorded in the Book of Mormon. Using the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 52:13-15 as a jumping off point, he says, “It shall come to pass that kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. For in that day, for my sake, shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil” (3 Nephi 28:8-10; cf. Isaiah 52:14-15; 57:18-19).
While one can piece this picture together from internal links in the Book of Isaiah, in this case Jesus does it for you. At the same time, he establishes several important points: (1) Jesus identifies himself with Jehovah in the biblical passage; (2) the servant is someone other than Jehovah/Jesus; and (3) Isaiah 52 describes an endtime scenario. The timeframe is clear from the context of the passage, which deals with the gathering of God’s people Israel “from their long dispersion” and the simultaneous destruction of the Gentiles who don’t repent (3 Nephi 21:1, 12-21). Like Isaiah, Jesus portrays a series of concurrent events rather than giving a timeline. The Gentiles who do repent, for example, assist God’s servant to gather endtime Israel to lands of inheritance in a new exodus resembling Israel’s ancient exodus out of Egypt (Isaiah 52:11-12; 3 Nephi 21:22-29; cf. Isaiah 49:22). Because Elias’ endtime role is to “gather the tribes of Israel and restore all things,” God’s servant is very evidently that same Elias. (Avraham Gileadi, Endtime Prophecy: A Judeo-Mormon Analysis [San Diego: Hebraeus Press, 2018], 137, 138-39, 148-49)