Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Synoptic Gospels 1: Messenger of the Covenant (7)
Pray Psalm 105.1, 2.
Oh, give thanks to the LORD!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
Sing Psalm 105.1, 2.
(Warrington: Give to Our God Immortal Praise)
Give thanks unto the LORD Most High; call on His Name, before Him cry!
Make known His deeds in every land; sing praise for all the works of His hand.
Read Malachi 3.1-18; meditate on verses 1-4.
Preparation
1. Who is coming, and what will His coming be like?
2. What keeps sinners like Israel from not being consumed?
Meditation
Malachi 3 points forward to the coming of two messengers. The first will prepare the way for the second. We recognize in the first (v. 1) a prophecy concerning John the Baptist. The second Messenger (also v. 1) is He Who comes as Judge and Redeemer, even our Lord Jesus Christ.
God promises to send the Messenger of the covenant to His people, to refine and purify them for righteousness. He will make their offerings acceptable to God and will cleanse them of evil (vv. 1-5). God does not change, and only because He is faithful to His Word have His people not been destroyed, for they have not keep His ordinances (vv. 5-9). Yet again the Lord calls them to repent and promises to bless them abundantly and make them a blessing to the nations (vv. 10-12). The people have not been faithful (vv. 13-15), but those who heed His Word shall be His and shall have discernment to serve God according to His covenant (vv. 16-18).
Jesus is the Messenger of the covenant. He held out the ancient promises as being fulfilled in Himself; and He took upon Him the curse of His people’s disobedience and sin (cf. Gen. 15). The covenant with Abraham, extended through Moses and David, is realized in its fullness in our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1.20). He came in judgment to purge the sins of His people and to equip us to offer sacrifices of righteousness to our God (v. 3). And the Word of God remains unchanged to this day (v. 5). All who repent and turn to the Lord will find Him ready to receive them as His people through faith in Jesus Christ (vv. 7, 16-18). All nations will see the blessing of God on His people and will look on them as “a delightful land” (v. 12).
Jesus is the Messenger of God’s covenant, but He is also its Message. He is the Good News. For only in Him are we saved from the curse of God’s covenant and translated into the blessings of His Kingdom.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
As we read this passage of Scripture, containing these two evocative questions, the strains of Handel’s Messiah play in the background of our minds:
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? (Mal. 3.2)Truly, without the work of the Messenger of God’s covenant, no one will be able to endure or stand.
Soon after John prepared the way, Jesus spoke these words:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel…Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men” (Mk. 1.15, 17).
Then after His earthly work was completed, Jesus said:
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
and lo, I AM with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28.18-20).
I AM the fulfillment of the covenant, and the way of escape (Jn. 1.29; Rom. 6.23).
I AM and have all authority (Matt. 28.18).
Regardless of your circumstances, “You follow Me” (Jn. 21.22).
After being confronted with the truth, the people in Malachi’s day—and today, ad nauseum ad infinitum—always seemed to respond with the wrong questions. God, with infinite, amazing, gracious love, said, “Return to Me, and I will return to you” (Mal. 3.7). And their rejoinder? “In what way shall we return?” (Mal. 3.7) What? In what way? No folks. Try again. How about just: We have a chance to return to You? And You will return to us? After all we have done to displease You, You are willing to keep Your covenant of mercy and grace with us? How utterly divine! How amazing! Thank You. Yes, I accept Your gift. With humbleness, appreciation, thankfulness, and praise!
“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,
and the LORD listened and heard them;
so a book of remembrance was written before Him
for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His Name.
‘They shall be Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘on the day that I make them My special treasure.
And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him’” (Mal. 3.16, 17).
He left His Father’s throne above, So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam’s helpless race;
’Tis mercy all, immense and free; For, O my God, it found out me.
No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne, And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me.
(Charles Wesley, 1738)
The Messenger of the Covenant brought not just Good News; but the Best News ever.
We will be able to stand and endure the Day of His return! We are His and He is ours.
Reflection
1. Every day God visits us (Job 7.17, 18) and every day we must return to Him. What does that entail for you?
2. How do you encourage your fellow believers to return to the Lord every day?
3. Why do we say that Jesus is both the Messenger and the Message of God’s covenant?
Here is a prophecy of the appearing of John the Baptist. He is Christ’s harbinger. He shall prepare the way before him, by calling men to repentance. The Messiah had been long called, “He that should come,” and now shortly he will come. He is the Messenger of the covenant. Those who seek Jesus, shall find pleasure in him, often when not looked for. The Lord Jesus, prepares the sinner’s heart to be his temple, by the ministry of his word and the convictions of his Spirit, and he enters it as the Messenger of peace and consolation. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Malachi 3.1-6
Pray Psalm 105.3-11.
Thank God for His covenant, and that Jesus has fulfilled all its promises in Himself and taken upon Himself all its threats and curses. Rejoice in the salvation Jesus has accomplished for us!
Sing Psalm 105.3-11.
(Warrington: Give to Our God Immortal Praise)
Glory in God, rejoice in heart, all you who seek His holy part.
Him and His strength and Presence seek; His works proclaim, His judgments speak.
You holy children of Abraham, you chosen ones of Jacob, stand!
He is our LORD, of wondrous worth; His judgments are in all the earth.
He will His covenant faithfully guard—His oath, the promise of His Word.
That which He to our fathers swore, He will perform forevermore!
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: We continue reading excerpts from the book, Revived! in our Read Moore column. Why not listen in? Do you ever wonder about what God’s will for you is? Patrick—echoing Paul—makes in clear, as you can see in last week’s Crosfigell. Our current ReVision series, “Pray for Your Church”, teaches us how to pray for the ministries of our church, beginning with worship. And new in our bookstore, our book, The Ongoing Work of Christ shows us how the book of Acts provides a template and footprint for all who take up the work of building Jesus’ Church.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
