In Matthew 11:10 and Luke 7:27, Jesus identifies John the Baptist as the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1a ("Behold, I shall send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me"). Luke 1:76 also alludes to this.
Malachi proceeds to say, in Malachi 3:1, that the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, in whom ye delight. Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed in the First Jewish Revolt (A.D. 70), and its remains were removed from the Temple Mount after the Second Jewish Revolt (A.D. 134). So, unless one posits a non-literal interpretation for his temple in Malachi 3:1, it would seem that the team of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth are the only individuals capable of fulfilling this prophecy: John prepared the way, and Jesus came to His temple, to purge it.
Side-bar: Malachi 3:1 describes a messenger who shall prepare the way before me. The me in that sentence is not Malachi; its YHWH. But Matthew clearly presents Jesus as the one whose way John the Baptist was preparing. I think this indicates that Matthew would not disagree with the idea that people in the presence of Jesus were in the presence of the Presence of God.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
Malachi proceeds to say, in Malachi 3:1, that the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, in whom ye delight. Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed in the First Jewish Revolt (A.D. 70), and its remains were removed from the Temple Mount after the Second Jewish Revolt (A.D. 134). So, unless one posits a non-literal interpretation for his temple in Malachi 3:1, it would seem that the team of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth are the only individuals capable of fulfilling this prophecy: John prepared the way, and Jesus came to His temple, to purge it.
Side-bar: Malachi 3:1 describes a messenger who shall prepare the way before me. The me in that sentence is not Malachi; its YHWH. But Matthew clearly presents Jesus as the one whose way John the Baptist was preparing. I think this indicates that Matthew would not disagree with the idea that people in the presence of Jesus were in the presence of the Presence of God.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
