Malachi 3:1-6 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom you seek… Taking John the Baptist as only the precursor of the Lord Jesus, let us look at what is here predicated of Him. 1. It is declared, "He shall suddenly come to His temple." "His" temple implies that He was Lord of the temple. The Jewish people anxiously looked forward to His coming, but greatly mistook its object. They little thought what a searcher of heart and correcter of wrong He would be. 2. Notice how He acted in respect to His temple when He came. (1) One of His early acts was to cast out them that bought and sold there. (2) Observe His righteous indignation against evil wherever He met with it. (3) This was the proximate cause, no doubt, why the Jews put Him to death. 3. Notice the result of His coming as respects others. (1) It would subject men's characters to a severe trial. Fire separates between the gold and the dross: and the fuller's soap fetches the spots out of the stained cloth. How would this be done? By the preaching of the Word. By His dealings with His people. (Stephen Jenner, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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