The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple
Sat, 30 December, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
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; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.”
We are winding up the Old Testament with the book of Malachi. With this book, the Old Testament canon was closed and there was 400 years of silence. People were waiting for the promised Messiah. But they should have realized that this Messiah would be more than just a man. He would be God Himself.
What do we learn from this?
Malachi tells us there will be a messenger before the Messiah. We know this is John the Baptist. But the amazing thing here is that the one they are waiting for will be the Lord.
Where is Christ in this passage?
The Messiah they were waiting for was Jesus Christ, the God-Man. He is fully man and fully God. One person with two natures. The people did not recognize Him for who He is, so although there were miraculous things that accompanied His birth, Jesus Christ as an adult was an unknown. When He began His public ministry, He just suddenly appeared on the scene. John the Baptist came first and points to Jesus. The messenger prepares the way and Jesus Christ suddenly appears.
