Behold, I will send my messenger
These are the words of Christ, in answer to the question put in
the last verse of the preceding chapter ( Malachi 2:17
) , "Where [is] the God of judgment?" intimating that he would
quickly appear, and previous to his coming send his messenger or
angel; not the angel of death to destroy the wicked, as Jarchi
thinks; nor an angel from heaven, as Kimchi; nor Messiah the son
of Joseph; as Aben Ezra; nor the Prophet Malachi himself, as
Abarbinel; but the same that is called Elijah the prophet, (
Malachi 4:5 )
and is no other than John the Baptist, as is clear from (
Matthew
11:10 ) ( Mark 1:2 ) called a
"messenger" or "angel", not by nature, but by office; and
Christ's messenger, because sent by him and on his errand; and
which shows the power and authority of Christ in sending forth
ministers; his superior excellency to John, and his existence
before him, or he could not be sent by him, and so before his
incarnation; for John was sent by him before he was in the flesh,
and consequently this is a proof of the proper deity of Christ:
and the word "behold" is prefixed to this, in order to raise the
attention of those that put the above question, and all others;
as well as to show that the message John was sent upon was of the
greatest moment and importance; as that the Messiah was just
ready to appear, his kingdom was at hand, and the Jews ought to
believe in him; though it also respects the coming of the
Messiah, spoken of in the latter part of the text: and he
shall prepare the way before me;
by declaring to the Jews that he was born, and was in the midst
of them; by pointing him out unto them; by preaching the doctrine
of repentance, and exhorting them to believe in him; and by
administering the ordinance of baptism in general to all proper
subjects, and in particular to Christ, by which he was made
manifest to Israel; (See Gill on Mark
1:2) the allusion is to kings and great men sending
persons before them when on a journey, to give notice of their
coming, and provide for them: and the Lord, whom ye
seek;
this is the person himself speaking, the Son of God, and promised
Messiah, the Lord of all men, and particularly of his church and
people, in right of marriage, by virtue of redemption, and by
being their Head and King; so Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it
of him, and even Abarbinel F17 himself; the Messiah that
had been so long spoken of and so much expected, and whom the
Jews sought after, either in a scoffing manner, expressed in the
above question, or rather seriously; some as a temporal
deliverer, to free them from the Roman yoke, and bring them into
a state of liberty, prosperity, and grandeur; and others as a
spiritual Saviour, to deliver from sin, law, hell, and death, and
save them with an everlasting salvation: shall suddenly
come to his temple;
meaning not his human nature, nor his church, sometimes so
called; but the material temple at Jerusalem, the second temple,
called "his", because devoted to his service and worship, which
proves him to be God, and because of his frequency in it; here he
was brought and presented by his parents at the proper time, for
the purification of his mother; here he was at twelve years of
age disputing with the doctors; and here Simeon, Anna, and
others, were waiting for him, ( Luke 2:22 Luke 2:25 Luke 2:27 Luke 2:38 Luke 2:46 ) and we often
read of his being here, and of his using his authority in it as
the Lord and proprietor of it; and of the Hosannas given him
here, ( Matthew
21:12-15 Matthew
21:23 ) the manner in which he should come, "suddenly", may
refer to the manifestation of it, quickly after John the Baptist
had prepared his way by his doctrine and baptism: even the
messenger of the covenant;
not of the covenant of works with Adam, of which there was no
mediator and messenger; nor of the covenant of circumcision, at
which, according to the Jews, Elias presides; nor of the covenant
at Sinai, of which Moses was the mediator; but of the covenant of
grace, of which Christ is not only the Surety and Mediator; but,
as here, "the Messenger"; because it is revealed, made known, and
exhibited in a more glorious manner by him under the Gospel
dispensation, through the ministration of the word and
ordinances. De Dieu observes, that the word in the Ethiopic
language signifies a prince as well as a messenger, and so may be
rendered, "the Prince of the covenant", which is a way of
speaking used in ( Daniel 11:22
) : whom ye delight in;
either carnally, as they pleased themselves with the thoughts of
a temporal prince, and of great honour and grandeur under him;
and as they would have done, had he submitted to have been made a
king by them in this sense; or rather spiritually, and so is to
be understood of such who had a spiritual knowledge of him, and
joy in him; who rejoiced and delighted in the contemplation of
his person, offices, righteousness, and salvation: he shall
come, saith the Lord of hosts;
this expresses the certainty of his coming, being said by
himself, who is the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies in heaven
and in earth, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. This passage
is, in some Jewish writers F18, interpreted of the world to
come, or times of the Messiah.