A really short post today as a lead-in to my final Examining the Scripture post.
Who is the "Messenger of the Covenant" in Malachi 3:1?
If we refer to the original Hebrew of Malachi 3:, the Hebrew tells us the messenger is [Strongs H4397: mal’ak] “messenger-of-me/Me” or literally “a messenger; specifically, of God. Whomever this is is coming directly from God himself. This first messenger will also prepare the way for God or in this context/case Jesus Christ and as suddenly as this messenger will come, the Lord they are seeking will come to His temple. This verse is the Old Testament counterpart to Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2 and Luke 7:27. It is also the Old Testament companion to Isaiah 40:3: “A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. The Messenger is John the Baptist.
Knowing this makes the identity of the One that will usher in the New Covenant and the One who will abrogate the Old Covenant obvious in hindsight. It is Jesus Christ or the One who will prove He is God by purifying His people like a “refiners fire” and punishing sinners. He will fulfill the ceremonial law once and for all. He will up the ante on the moral laws as these laws were not abrogated but further elaborated upon and the true implications are brought to the surface by Christ in places like the Sermon on the Mount. "You have heard it said...but I say to you..."
He will be the fulfiller of the Old Covenant in that He will fulfill the demands of the covenant in His life and with His life. When He rises from the dead he will usher in the new covenant with His marvelous work of redemption.
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