Is “my messenger” the same as the Lord in Malachi 3:1? By Jack Kettler
“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.” (Malachi 3:1-3)
Introduction:
Malachi’s prophetic ministry took place approximately a hundred years after the decree of Cyrus in 538 B.C. that ended the Babylonian captivity and permitted the Jews to return to their birthplace with the task of rebuilding the temple.
Outline:
· God’s love for Israel: Chapter 1:1-5
· Profanity by the priests rebuked: 1:6—2:9
· God rebukes the people for lifestyle sins: Chapter 2:10-17
· Prophecy regarding the two messengers: Chapter 3:1-6
· God’s rebuke of religious sins: Chapter 3:7-18
· Malachi’s prophecy regarding the day of the Lord: Chapter 4:1-5
Relevant cross-reference passages:
“This is the one about whom it is written: 'Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.'” (Matthew 11:10)
“As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.’” (Mark 1:2)
To rephrase the question in the title of this study:
Is Malachi 3:1 referring to one or two different people, Lord and messenger? Part of the difficulty of this text is that different voices appear in the 1st person or 2nd person.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges favors the one-person view:
“Malachi 3:1. God Himself takes up (Malachi 3:1-6) the challenge, “Where is the God?” &c.
“my messenger] They had been provided, in the priests, with a standing order of “messengers” of Jehovah (Malachi 2:7). From time to time His special “messengers”, the prophets (Haggai 1:13), had been sent to them. The last of such prophets, bearing as his only name, “Jehovah’s messenger”, was now exercising his office among them. But a yet more special “messenger” is to inaugurate that coming of Jehovah which they profess to desire. See Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27.”
“Prepare the way] Comp. Isaiah 40:3; and for the nature of the preparation, “by preaching of repentance”, Matthew 3:1-12.”
“the Lord] “He who had before spoken of Himself in the first person (“I will send”), now speaks of Himself in the third person.” Maurer. For a similar change of person, which is not uncommon in Hebrew, see Malachi 2:16 above. “We are sure He which spake those words was (Jehovah) the Lord of hosts; and we are as sure that Christ is that Lord before whose face John the Baptist prepared the way.” Pearson on the Creed. Article, Our Lord.”
“ye seek … ye delight in] A reference, not without irony, to the demand of Malachi 3:17, “where is” &c.”
“his temple] He, then, who comes is the Lord of the Temple. Haggai 2:9.”
“even the messenger of the covenant] The R.V., by printing “and” in the text instead of “even” (which however it retains in the margin), and also by the punctuation which it adopts, leaves room for the view that “the messenger of the covenant” is to be identified, not with “the Lord”, but with “the messenger” spoken of at the beginning of the verse, who is to “prepare the way” before Him: “And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts”. The weight of argument, however, seems clearly to preponderate in favour of identifying the “Messenger of the Covenant” with “the Lord”, who shall “suddenly come to His temple”. For thus the idea of the messenger, which pervades this prophecy (see Introd. pp. 13, 14) culminates (as do the Old Testament ideas of the prophet, the priest and the king) in the Messiah, who is in the highest sense the Messenger of God to man. The Angel, or Messenger, whose presence in the Church was recognised from the beginning (Acts 7:38; Exodus 23:20-21; Exodus 32:34; Exodus 33:2; Exodus 33:14; Isaiah 63:9), follows up these “preludings of the Incarnation” by being “made flesh and dwelling amongst us”. The covenant, which was before the Law (Galatians 3:17) and yet by virtue of its later introduction “a new covenant” (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:7-13), He comes, in fulfilment of promise and prophecy (Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 55:3), as its Messenger and Mediator (Hebrews 12:24), to inaugurate and ratify with His blood (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 13:20); while He vindicates His claim to be “the God of judgment” whom they desired, by the work of discriminating justice which He performs (Malachi 3:2-5).” (1) (Underlining emphasis mine)
While the above commentary favors the idea that the messenger and the Lord can be understood to be the same, the following passage from Malachi seemingly refutes that view:
Elijah is called a messenger in Mark 1:2, and Malachi 4:5 quotes Isaiah in the following passages:
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3)
“As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” (Mark 1:2)
Therefore, as seen thus far, there are two messengers, one is Jesus, and one is John the Baptist.
Consider the following commentary evidence that further establishes this.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers favors the two-person view:
“(1) I will send. — Or, I send. It is the participle used as the prophetic present. (Comp. Note on Malachi 1:11.)”
“My messenger. — Heb., Malachi, my angel, or my messenger, with a play on the name of the prophet. In Malachi 2:7, he calls the priest the angel or messenger of the LORD. There can be little doubt that he is influenced in his choice of the term by his own personal name (see Introd.). This “messenger,” by the distinct reference to Isaiah 40:3, contained in the words, “and he shall prepare,” &c., is evidently the same as he whom [the deutero-] Isaiah prophetically heard crying, “In the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Moreover, from the nature of his mission, he is proved to be identical with the “Elijah” of Malachi 4:3. These words had their first, if not their perfect fulfilment in John the Baptist (Matthew 17:12).”
“The Lord. — This word “Lord” occurs eight times with the definite article, but always, except here, with the name of God following it: viz., Exodus 23:17, followed by “Jehovah;” Exodus 34:23, by “Jehovah, the God of Israel;” in Isaiah 1:24; Isaiah 3:1; Isaiah 10:33; Isaiah 19:4, by “Jehovah Zebaoth;” and in Isaiah 10:16, by “the Lord of Zebaoth.” And here, as elsewhere, it must mean God Himself, because He is said to come “to his temple,” and because He is said to be He “whom ye seek:” i.e., “the God of judgment” (Malachi 2:17).”
“Even—i.e., “namely,” for so the Hebrew conjunction “and” is frequently used: e.g., Exodus 25:12; 1Samuel 28:3.”
“The messenger (or angel) of the covenant. — This expression occurs only in this passage. Identified as He is here with “the Lord,” He can be no other than the Son of God, who was manifested in the flesh as the Messiah. In the word “covenant” there is, perhaps, some reference to the “new covenant” (Jeremiah 31:31), but the meaning of the word must not be limited to this.”
“Delight in.—Rather, desire.” (2)
In closing:
“The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi 3:1.” In Malachi, the Hebrew word mal’aki means messenger. Thus, LORD Yahweh) is different from the messenger here, in Malachi 3:1. In Malachi 3:2, the refiner is Yahweh. Malachi 4:5 settles this by saying, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Therefore, the LORD and messenger are not identical. The passage is talks about John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ.
As seen above, the New Testament in (Matthew 11:10) and (Mark 1:2) settles the idea, confirming that two distinct individuals are in view. Thus, it can be said that a greater David (Christ), a greater Elijah (John the Baptist). The first messenger being sent is John the Baptist. The other person is Jesus the Messiah, the Messenger, Lord, Lord of Hosts.
The Geneva Study Bible correctly notes:
“Behold, I will send my {a} messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the {b} Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the {c} messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
(a) This is meant of John the Baptist, as Christ interprets it; Lu 7:27.
(b) Meaning, the Messiah, as in Ps 40:17 Da 9:17,25.
(c) That is, Christ, by whom the covenant was made and ratified, who is called the angel or messenger of the covenant, because he reconciles us to his Father, and is Lord or King, because he has the rule of his Church.”
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Notes:
1. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, by Thomas Thomason Perowne, Malachi, (Cambridge University Press, 1890), e-Sword version.
2. Charles John Ellicott, Bible Commentary for English Readers, Malachi, Vol. 5, (London, England, Cassell and Company), p. 606.
Mr. Kettler has previously published articles in the Chalcedon Report and Contra Mundum. He and his wife Marea attend the Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. Mr. Kettler is the author of books defending the Reformed Faith. Books can be ordered online at: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Jack-Kettler/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AJack+Kettler