Malachi 3:1
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.
God’s Messenger
After the exile, which was widely interpreted as God’s punishment on Israel because they had strayed from God and were unfaithful to the covenant, they returned to Jerusalem, chastened and committed to living faithfully. However, not long after the new Temple building had been consecrated, they reverted to old patterns of behaviour and Malachi’s condemnation of God’s people is clear; although God’s love for them is evident, they have chosen to defy him, and now they must face his judgement.
But Malachi also foretells of the coming of God’s messenger who will precede the Lord’s own appearance in the temple.
Christians see the fulfilment of this promise in the person of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus. Jesus both taught in the temple, but also prophesied its destruction and that he would rebuild it in three days, not literally, as he was speaking of his death and resurrection. That second temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 and has never been rebuilt, but Jesus, God’s living temple, promises to be with us always, until the very end of the age. Emmanuel: God is with us, the promise of the Incarnation.
Anna B