Malachi: A commandment and prophecy

Two scriptures in the book of Malachi are often cited when discussing the Spirit of Elijah (temple work/sealing ordinance) & the law of the tithe (paying 10% of one's increase to the Lord), but I don't recall ever hearing the two linked together. I think they may have more in common than we realize:

The commandment
Tithing

Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

The prophecy
Spirit of Elijah

Malachi 4:5 ¶Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Connecting the two

So what does tithing have to do with families, or vice versa? I argue that the two are almost inseparably linked. If it wasn't for the law of tithing being faithfully practiced in the church, it would be nearly impossible for the great work of the temple to take place.

Okay, you say, sure, but the odds of Malachi linking the two intentionally is a reach. Well, hear me out because I think there is good evidence it was very much intentional.

Many Latter-day Saints would say that the work linking families across generations, carried out in temples, is the core tenet of our faith, so it is no surprise that Joseph Smith in his canonized history relates the prophecies of Malachi as given to him from his first meeting with an heavenly messenger:

Joseph Smith – History 1:36 After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament.

[note that so far, the angel's remarks have been fairly limited. These are the first scriptures cited]

36 He first quoted part of the third chapter of Malachi;

[we don't know which part is quoted, but probably the first verse which describes a messenger preparing for the Second Coming of the Savior --- which Malachi follows by saying the Lord will come to his temple!]

36 and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books, he quoted it thus:

37 For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

38 And again, he quoted the fifth verse thus: 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.

39 He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises 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.

So the first scriptures quoted by the messenger in this ushering in of the new and last Gospel dispensation, are those directly citing the need for temples. Where does Malachi make the connection to tithing? I believe it is made in the verse preceding the tithing verse:

Malachi 3:7 ¶Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
8 ¶Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

The Lord is saying how we can return to him, and he makes clear it is through ordinances. Tithing is not considered an ordinance. The Old and New Testaments speak of ordinances as different from laws or statutes. The way to return to the ordinances is through the law of tithing, for it is tithing that will provide the means to build a House of the Lord, a temple, wherein the work of Elijah can go forward and we can return to the Lord, so He can "return unto [us.]."