Commenting on this, the prophet said the reason that generation would have to answer for the blood of the righteous from Abel to Zacharias, was that in their day the privilege of performing the ordinances in behalf of the dead, was within their power, while it had been denied anciently. Hence, as they possessed greater privileges than any other generation, not only pertaining to themselves, but to their dead, their sin was greater, as they not only neglected their own salvation, but that of their progenitors, and hence their blood was required at their hands.[C] [Footnote C: Times and Seasons 3:761.] In this same article the prophet declared that Obediah was speaking of salvation for the dead when he said, "And saviors shall come upon Mount Zion, to judge the Mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's."[D] [Footnote D: Obediah 21.] The work of saving the dead has practically been reserved for the dispensation of the fullness of times, when the Lord shall restore all things. It is, therefore, the duty of the Latter-day Saints to see that it is accomplished. We cannot do it all at once, but will have the thousand years of the Millennium to do it in. In that time the work must be done in behalf of the dead of the previous six thousand years for all who need it. Temples will be built for this purpose, and the labor in them will occupy most of the time of the Saints. One of the most important prophecies, pertaining to the dead, is that of Malachi. He prophesied that the Lord would send Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, for the purpose of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest the earth be smitten with a curse, when the Lord should come. This prophecy, which is not understood by the world, has come to pass. When the Angel Moroni appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith, September 21, 1823, among the passages of scripture he quoted that were about to be fulfilled, was this prophecy of Malachi's; but he quoted it with this variation: "Behold, I will reveal unto you the priesthood by the hand of Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promise made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming."[E] [Footnote E: History of the Church, Vol. 1:12.]