Malachi Chapter Three, Behold He Is Coming

 

Malachi 3:1 Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me, and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.

 

Verse 17 of the previous chapter concluded with a flippant reversal of holy conduct, punctuated by the mocking inquiry, “Where is the God of justice?” The answer given in this verse is twofold, addressing both the Suffering Servant’s arrival, and the King coming to His temple to purge the dross from His people and judge the earth in equity.

Before either, the Lord sends His messenger, twice referenced in Malachi. The second instance is at the end of his burden where we read, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord,” Malachi 4:5. While this verse does suggest a future fulfillment in the days of the Tribulation in the person of the witnesses heralding the advent of the Messianic kingdom (Revelation 11:3), it also describes another man’s ministry. “He (John the Baptist) will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘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 for the Lord,” Luke 1:17. The Holy Spirit clearly associates John’s vital ministry before Christ’s public revelation as fulfilling the spirit of the passage. Moreover, Jesus testifies that John specifically is the man that Malachi wrote of in this verse, quoting the prophet directly while testifying of the purpose of John’s ministry, Matthew 11:10. Mark 1:2 also claims John’s ministry as the fulfillment of this prophetic statement made by Malachi, linking his prophecy to a passage in Isaiah that tells us, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God,” Isaiah 40:3, see also Luke 3:4-6. John himself owned the prophecy of Isaiah, quoting it verbatim when asked by the religious authorities what his purpose was, John 1:23.

 

Though Malachi foresaw John the Baptist preceding the Christ, and the advent of the Millennial Kingdom when the Lord came in glory, he did not see the dispensation of the church era between John and Jesus’ first advent, and His Second Coming, visible and with power. Jesus told His apostles, “assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it,” Matthew 13:17, see also 1 Peter 1:10-12, Hebrews 11:13. Thus the prophets of the Old Testament saw both advents in a holistic sense, such as Isaiah’s numerous prophecies detailing Jesus’ atoning death and triumphant return.

 

Whereas John is the messenger, or herald, the One addressing errant Judah is following after. “He will prepare the way before Me,” we are told. Then the Lord (Adonai) that Jews seek shall come to His temple. The term for Lord in this verse is Adon, or Adonay (Adonai), variously translated “master” or “lord.” Whereas Baal, a Caananite god means “possessor or owner,” Adonai signifies someone who occupies the position of a slave owner. The title anticipates His divine lordship over Israel. The Law made provision for a servant to be released from his master upon the seventh year of servitude, save for a special circumstance. Moses writes, “if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go free,’ then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and then he shall serve him forever,” Exodus 21:5, 6. Certainly Israel freely agreed to perpetual servitude to the God that delivered them out of Egypt. No longer an indentured servant, or purchased slave, they serve their Lord for life. God’s title of Adonai references the divine prerogative as the ruler and owner of Israel. The title is used just this once in Malachi, and recalls the numerous parables Jesus spoke to the Jews about the Master going away for a time and returning to His servants, e.g. Matthew 25:14-30.

 

John’s arrival prepares the way for the Lord Israel claims to seek. Obviously this is a sardonic statement made to rebuff the profane wondering of the Jews that inquired, “Where is the God of justice?” God’s answer is short: He’s coming. He will come suddenly to His temple. The Messenger of the covenant is poised to arrive. As stated in chapter one, “messenger” in Hebrew can also translate into “angel.” In this instance, “angel” seems the more accurate rendering, as seen in the Jewish Tanakh. Why? The “Messenger (Angel) of the covenant,” is likely also the OT Angel of the Lord, seen and mentioned so frequently in Scripture. For example, in Judges we read, “Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you,’” Judges 2:1. For a second instance in Judges alone we find Manoah, Samson’s father, speaking to the Angel and asking His name. The Angel replies, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?” Judges 13:18. Of course this mention of His name invites a comparison to a powerful messianic prophecy from Isaiah. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9:6, emphasis added. Two names unique to deity (Counselor and Everlasting Father) generally ascribed to the Holy Spirit and God the Father are given Him as well, demonstrating the identical essence the Trinity shares: one substance, One God in three persons.

 

One final example to cite in regards to the Messenger or Angel’s identity I put forth is from Exodus. We learn when Moses arrived at Horeb that, “the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush…God called to him from the midst of the bush…moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God,” Exodus 3:2, 4, 6. If we accept Jesus’ testimony, “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father,” John 4:46, the identity of this mysterious Angel becomes clearer still. He appears to be the pre-incarnate Son of God, or the Word of God as He was known before incarnating as a Man, John 1:1, 14.

 

Malachi warns the Jews that He is coming quickly, the Messenger in whom they delight, once more mocking at the spiritual myopia that has engendered such a dangerous presumptive arrogance in His people. “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure,” Psalm 2:4, 5. Though initially addressed to the nations that plotted to cast off the yoke of God’s reign, these verses likewise describe the spiritually dangerous ground Israel has ventured into, and the subsequent consequences that must follow, should they refuse to yield to the generous warnings of a compassionate God. This exchange makes me think of what Paul wrote to the Corinthians as he prepared to visit them: “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and I shall be found by you such as you do not wish,” 2 Corinthians 12:20. Paul had two choices available to him. Both were entirely contingent upon the spiritual condition of the church when he arrived. “What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?” 1 Corinthians 4:21. Paul was making ready to discipline those who were “puffed up” or arrogant toward him and his authority as an apostle. The leaven of this disobedience infected the whole of the church at Corinth, permitting rampant moral decay. Corinth, like Israel, was given two options: by introspection and careful study of the word, purge the leaven to regain the purity and love they once possessed, or have it beaten out of them by the apostle when he came, so to speak. In other words, the Lord’s arrival was really the last thing Israel in its current state genuinely wanted.