To prepare the way
Malachi 3:1-4
For Advent 2, Series C
by Pastor Jim Kreft
Introduction
As we prepare by looking forward to Jesus’ birth at Christmas, it’s also good for us to “look back” at the promises about His birth. If we do this, we can better understand the purpose and meaning of His birth.
Today’s Old Testament lesson comes from the last book in the Old Testament, Malachi. The word “Malachi” means “my messenger.” Malachi was the last “literary prophet” of the Old Testament, that is, the last prophet whose words are written down. We don’t hear God’s Word to His people for the next 400 years or so with the coming of John the Baptist.
Malachi’s prophecy was written to the Israelites who’d returned to Judah and Jerusalem after Babylonian captivity. When the first people came back they rebuilt the Temple (in 516 B.C.). Many years later (in 458 B.C.), Ezra the priest and several thousand more Jews came from Persia. Persian King Artaxerxes encouraged Ezra to further develop Temple worship.
Years later Artaxerxes allowed his cupbearer, Nehemiah, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city walls. As newly appointed governor, Nehemiah also encouraged the people to shun mixed marriages (between Jewish and non-Jewish people), keep the Sabbath, and bring their tithes faithfully to the Temple.
After twelve years (in 433 B.C.), Nehemiah returned to Persia. During his absence the Jewish community fell back into the sinful condition they had been in before. Nehemiah will later come back to Jerusalem. There he discovered that the tithes were ignored, the Sabbath was broken, the people had intermarried with foreigners, and the priests had become corrupt.
It’s at that point that Malachi’s prophecies come. He speaks to the people and problems that developed during the time Nehemiah was gone.
- He reminded the people of God’s covenant love for them, something they doubted at the time.
- He scolded/chided the unfaithfulness of Israel’s priests and people.
- He announced the LORD’s coming, something the people had started to give up upon as well.
It is speaking to this problem that we find our Malachi text for today.
So, with that introduction and a brief look at the background and setting of the text, let’s now turn and look at five major points from the prophecy itself.
The prophecy
Malachi begins, “Look! I will send My messenger…” The word “Malachi” has an important place in this passage. Malachi means “My messenger.” This prophecy begins with the LORD’S promise to send “My messenger.”
Elsewhere in this book of prophecy (4:5) the “messenger” is clearly identified with the prophet “Elijah.” The New Testament will pick up on these prophecies and identify John the Baptist as the person in whom they are fulfilled.
This messenger would come to “prepare a way before Me,” the prophecy continues. He would clear obstacles out of the way. The language here is of the ancient Near Eastern custom of sending representatives ahead to prepare the way for the visit of a monarch. It could also be seen as preparing a processional highway for the Lord’s coming to his people.
In Matthew 3, John the Baptist declares that repentance is necessary to prepare the way for the coming Messiah or Christ. It’s not external preparation that’s needed, not a literal road, but internal preparation, a road straight to our hearts.
Then the prophet adds, “Then the LORD whom you look for will suddenly come to His Temple…” In Malachi’s time, the people were waiting for the LORD to return to the Temple. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that God’s presence left the Temple and went to Babylon to show the people would go into exile. Later Isaiah prophesied that God’s presence would come back from exile. That’s what people in Malachi’s time were awaiting. They understood that God hadn’t yet returned to the Temple, as Isaiah prophesied. So they still looked for the LORD to come. Here Malachi says that the LORD will suddenly come to His Temple. Many see Jesus’ sudden visits to the Temple as fulfilling this part of the prophecy.
Continuing from Malachi, the prophet asks for the people, “But who can we endure His coming? Who can stand firm on the day of His appearing?”
By Malachi’s time, many of God’s people didn’t think God was active any longer in their lives.
Yet in response to their pointed question of “Where is the God of justice?”, Malachi pointed out that those who ask that haven’t considered how terrible His coming will be for them who are now living outside the covenant relationship with God.
So here Malachi announces that the LORD will come to complete God’s work in history, especially the work he outlines in the rest of his book. His word is fulfilled in the work of the Messiah.
Finally, he stated: “He is like a refiner’s fire, like a cleaners’ soap. And He will sit down like a refiner and a purifier of silver, and will purify Levi’s sons and refine them like gold and silver.”
The cleaners’ soap refers to the actions of a fuller. These craftsman cleansed newly shorn wool and newly woven cloth of their natural oils. The alkali used for this purpose was strong and biting.
The refiner would take gold and silver and purify them. This was done by smelting, heating ores to a white heat. Then the metal would run out from the rock and congeal in forms provided for that purpose. Thus gold and silver, tried in the fire, lost the baser materials, the rock, the dross, and dust, with which it had been mixed, and became a fine gold or fine silver.
Malachi applies this same concept to the people of Israel. When Messiah would come He would purify the people. He would remove their impurities. He would make them righteous again. He would bring them back into the covenant relationship with which God wanted them to live. Then they would respond to the LORD with right living, bringing the offerings, and other external signs showing they were back into a right relationship with God.
Looking to the New Testament
This is one of many Old Testament passages that points forward to the coming of two individuals. First, a messenger would come to prepare the way for the Messiah. Then the long-awaited and expected Messiah Himself would come.
The New Testament applies this passage to John the Baptist. We see this in today’s Gospel lesson. John is identified as the voice “calling out in the wilderness” from Isaiah. John is understood to be “My messenger” from Malachi. He is sent to prepare the people for the coming of the Lord’s Messiah.
Can you see how it fits with today’s Gospel? “Prepare the way for the Lord; make the paths straight for Him. Every ravine will be filled; every mountain and hill will be leveled; the crooked will be made straight and the rough roads smooth; and all people will see that God has saved them.”
John came to call people to repentance. He came to help turn them from who they were and what they had become. They were to turn to Christ, the Messiah. People were to have their hearts cleansed like the fuller or refiner. The impurities were to be removed. They were to be cleansed and readied for the about-to-come Messiah.
Our Application
Can you see how this prophecy fits us now? Like the people of Malachi’s time and like the people of John the Baptist’s time, we need to prepare for the Lord’s coming. That’s what Advent is all about: preparing our hearts and lives for Jesus’ coming. Preparing for His coming to us.
With the Lord’s help we remove all that gets in His way—the impurities and sins in our lives—and prepare ourselves—our lives, our hearts—for Him. When we do that, when we come to Christ in faith, then we are the prepared, cleansed people God wants us to be.
Conclusion
We started in the Old Testament lesson and came all the way through the Gospel for today. You need to start in your old life, your sinful self, and see the need you have for cleansing from sin and evil within.
John the Baptist, “My messenger” long-promised by the Lord, seeks to prepare you for Christ’s coming. He wants to draw out the impurities in your live. He seeks to call you away from the life you’ve lead, up to this point, and point you back to the coming Messiah. He wants to prepare your heart for the coming Savior.
Two candles are lit. Two more remain to be lit in Advent. And then the Christ Candle will be lit, signifying Christmas’s arrival. Will you be ready for His coming by the time the Christ candle is lit? Will your heart be cleansed, purified, readied for the world’s Redeemer? That’s the purpose of Advent. May you be so prepared. In His Name. Amen.
