The Coming of the Messenger (Malachi 2:17–3:5)

Malachi begins this section by pointing out to his listeners that their words were burdensome to the Lord. They were making deductions about God’s providence. They had looked around, observed that evil people were prospering, and concluded that the Lord must approve of them and was not interested in justice. It is not clear if the workers of evil refer to foreign nations who were enjoying prosperity despite worshipping idols or if the term describes people in Israel who openly flouted God’s law. In any case, the people assumed that the reason for their own problems was not connected to their own attitudes but to God’s failures.

Of course, a dangerous situation is reached for a people when the Lord becomes weary of them. A similar situation is described in Isaiah 43:23-24: ‘You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honoured me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense. You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.’

Not everybody had this attitude as can be seen in those mentioned in verse 16 who feared the Lord and thought upon his name.  These people were a cause of joy to the Lord, unlike the people in general who were complaining wrongly about the Lord’s dealing in providence. The second group failed to realise that the reason they were not being blessed by God was connected to their disobedience to his will which was expressed in their shallow worship, sinful religious leaders, and sinful actions concerning their wives (which Malachi has already referred to).

Nevertheless the Lord has a word for the people. He himself is going to come suddenly to his temple. His coming will not be immediately but suddenly. The Lord assures them that he will come, but he does not tell them when he will arrive. Yet he gives one sign – his messenger will be sent to prepare the way before him. 

The description of the messenger in verse 1 are fulfilled in John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. Mark links this verse with verses from Isaiah 40 in order to describe John’s role (Mark 1:2-3). Therefore John the Baptist was the sign that the Lord was about to come to his temple. It is obvious from the Gospels that many people were wondering about this possibility.

The Messenger of the Covenant

In verse 1, God is speaking as we can see from the last phrase ‘says the Lord of hosts’. Yet he also describes the coming One as the Lord, which means that in this verse we have one divine person speaking about another divine person. Since the one that is to come is Jesus, the Son, it is likely that the speaker in verse 1 is the Father. 

Not only is the speaker divine, he is also called ‘the messenger of the covenant’.  The term ‘messenger’ means delegate or representative, and could be used of any of the spokesperson that God has sent previously to communicate his message. When Jesus arrives, he is going to teach Israel about the covenant, which is a reference to the way that God deals with sinners.

The Saviour, when he came, gave instructions about the covenant ways of God. As far as the people in general were concerned, he pointed out to them how they had failed to keep their covenant commitments, how they had broken God’s law. Yet he also referred often to the promises made to Abraham; for example, when the centurion revealed that he had faith, Jesus spoke about the great number who would come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which was a reference to the covenant God made with Abraham. Further, he spoke with his disciples in the upper room about the fulfilment of the new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah in which the inner heart of his people would be changed. Again, he referred to the covenant of redemption in which the Father gave a people to his Son in order for them to become his redeemed fellow-heirs of glory.

The teaching of the divine Messenger was clearly different from that of the previous prophets. One obvious difference was the fullness with which Jesus taught, a degree of completeness that is referred to at the opening of the book of Hebrews (1:1-2): ‘In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.’ Not only was the teaching of Jesus fuller than the messages of the prophets, it was also different in that he was the subject of his own teaching. They spoke about him, he spoke of himself. 

Malachi indicates that the people were looking forward to the coming of the Messenger. They are seeking him and delighting in him, or so they thought. Their expectation of him was that he would come to vindicate them and restore them. But their confidence was a delusion. It is impossible to trust in a future deliverance and ignore the Deliverer in the present. The people of Israel were unfaithful to the God they professed to believe in.

Malachi states that the Messenger will come to his temple. Twice Jesus came to the temple in Jerusalem and discovered inappropriate practices taking place. On each occasion he cleared the temple of those who sold animals and other products and overthrow the tables of the moneychangers. The situations he found indicate that nothing had improved since the days of Malachi four hundred years previously.

The effects of his coming

Although the people imagined that they were looking forward to this coming, the reality would be far different. His arrival would cause great changes to take place.  The day of his coming does not refer to the first or to the second comings of Jesus but to both and also to the period in between them. Malachi says that the arrival of the Messenger will result in three effects: purification of the sons of Levi, acceptable worship, and acts of judgement. As is often the case with Old Testament prophecy, we should recognise that divine predictions are given within the limitations of Old Testament circumstances and may contain elements that go far beyond a literal interpretation.

When he comes he will get rid of the dross and the dirt that marked the lives of the people. A refiner burned the dross out of a metal, and soap was used for taking dirty marks of clothes. In particular, the priests would be purified and would be qualified to worship before God. They would only offer suitable sacrifices, which would make the offerings of the people acceptable, as they had been before they began to give to God the worst of their animals. If the people refused to repent and change their ways and begin to live according to God’s law, they would be judged (v. 5). 

Jesus will do this throughout the period covered by his two comings. When he came first, he came to Israel. He taught them about the covenants and called them to repentance. It was predicted of him by John that he would baptise with the Spirit and with fire, and on the Day of Pentecost he sent the purifying Spirit to the people of Israel as they gathered in Jerusalem for that Jewish feast. The mission of Jesus to bless the literal Israel continued for many years until they experienced his judgement when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. So the fulfilment of this prediction was not found in the people of Israel. Therefore, the fulfilment must be found in the spiritual Israel, God’s people from the nations.

Jesus purifies each person who trusts in him. The process begins with regeneration when the Spirit creates spiritual life in an impure heart. It continues throughout the believer’s life through the divine work of sanctification, which can include times of affliction that are used to burn off the remaining dross in the believer’s life. It will be completed by Jesus when he presents each of his people faultless and pure in the presence of God.

Jesus is also creating a community who worship God as he desires. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, believers worship by the Spirit of God and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Instead of the earthly city of Jerusalem being the location of worship, it now takes place in the heavenly Jerusalem. This worship created by Jesus is marked by unity and permanence. Instead of being performed by a special class of people, all God’s children are priests who offer up spiritual sacrifices.

In addition, the coming of the Messenger means that we are living in the period in which the judgement will take place. At present, the work of purification is proceeding, the worship of God is being restored, and we are waiting for the final judgement to take place. When that time will be, we cannot say, except to note that it will come swiftly. Initially the swiftness may be connected to literal Israel’s refusal to benefit from the presence of the Messiah when Jesus sent the Spirit as the Spirit of fire. Yet, as Peter says, we are hastening the day of God when the final judgement will occur.

But we are not to limit the acts of judgement to the final event. God will judge in a temporal way some who offend him. We see this in the case of Ananias and Sapphira who were judged for deception. We see it in the case of Herod who was judged for his pride. While it is inappropriate for us to speculate on why things happen to people, we can be assured that one factor to be considered is that God judges people in this life. And death, even when a person lives a long life, is evidence that God judges. Death is the penalty of sin, although for believers it has lost its sting. Nations are judged for the way that they treat other nations.

The reasons for divine judgement are stated in verse 5. They must have been practised in the days of Malachi and were the causes of divine blessing being withheld. Yet it is also obvious that these practices are common in our society: witchcraft, immorality, indifference to truth, financial oppression, lack of care of the needy, including widows, children and refugees. God takes note of these things, and when a society is guilty of them he will withhold his temporal blessings from them. 

Some applications

As we conclude, let us recall some lessons that this passage details for us. One lesson is that we should listen to the Messenger of the covenant as he teaches us about the ways of God, that we should submit to his purifying process in our lives. He has promised to teach us gently, although sometimes there will be defects in our characters that require stronger means of purification.

Another lesson that comes from the passage is that obedience to God comes out of a heart that fears him. This is clear from the statement that lack of fear of God results in evil social practices. The concept of fearing God is disappearing fast, even within the Christian church. There is little sense of reverence, of respect. Prayer has become a means of telling God what to do rather than an expression of humble dependence upon him. 

A third lesson is that we cannot separate the Christian hope from a Christian lifestyle. The Israelites imagined that the future Messiah would sort out the mess they lived in. What they ignored was that they were responsible for the mess by their failure to honour God as they should have done. Obedience to God accompanies a true longing for the arrival of Jesus to restore all things.