The Messenger Of The Covenant Is Coming To His Temple! But First...

Today's Word Of Encouragement From Wayne:

“‘Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts."

Malachi 3:1

Hallelujah, beloved child and priest unto our gracious God! This is how God would solve the problem of a dead priesthood, representing a moribund religion. He was going to solve it by Himself, and He would solve it in Himself!

First, God was going to send a messenger, “and he will clear the way before Me.”

In the Gospels, Jesus quoted this verse from Malachi, specifically, as being about John the Baptist, “What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You” (Matthew 11:9-10). Take notice of how Jesus viewed this message from God, regarding John, as being spoken personally to Himself (“who will prepare Your way before You”).

God had also announced John’s arrival through Isaiah saying, “A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). This verse is also quoted in the Gospels. “Now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.... this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when He said, ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight’”(Matthew 3:1,3).

Finally, John the Baptist’s own father, the priest Zacharias, quoted this verse from Malachi as being about his own son, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways” (Luke 1:76).

Let’s return to Jesus in Matthew, continuing His words about John the Baptist, “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). Wow! That's quite a big statement and, yet, look at what Jesus said next, “Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11)!

To further understand the meaning of this, see what Jesus said in Luke’s Gospel, “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached” (Luke 16:16).

According to our “Lord” and “Priest Forever”, Jesus, John was “one who is more than a prophet” (Matthew 11:9), and “among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11), and the only reason given is, “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached” (Luke 16:16). Further understanding into what is being revealed to us is also gleaned in Jesus statement about John being the greatest of those born of women, when He followed those words, saying,“Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11).

John was the final prophet from the Old Covenant, a transitional prophet truly, who was raised up by God to proclaim a singular message, not “the Law and the Prophets” of the Old Covenant, but “the kingdom of God,” pointing to the New Covenant in Jesus Christ.

John was clearing the way before Jesus, as Malachi prophesied. He was getting everything out of the way so that Jesus Christ, our Savior, our eternal ”Lord” and “Priest Forever,” might be clearly seen, understood, responded to, received, and glorified, by His soon to be New Covenant people.

Yes, John was clearing the way “in the wilderness”, as Isaiah prophesied, the wilderness of an inwardly dead religion at that time, and he was making “smooth in the desert a highway for our God,” in a desert filled with dry, thirsty people for the presence, truth, way, life, and Person of God.

“Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” he.”

John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. When we look into the precise words, in all of these Scriptures, surrounding this event, we clearly see that a new “Kingdom of God” was coming which would surpass “the Law and the Prophets,” so that even “the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than” John the Baptist!

Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus!

We know this to be true, right now in our eternal King and High Priest, Jesus Christ! The truly awesome, amazing, grace of God is right here! That we would be so blessed to be the recipients of this new life in Christ, this New Covenant life in Christ, where He truly has fulfilled all prophecies and covenants in the Old testament within Himself, so that we might live forever with our High Priest in His kingdom, His New Covenant kingdom, is such exceeding grace and love given on our behalf!

O beloved, let us minister to our Lord Jesus today in His presence. Let us clear all obstructions out of our way by being with God. Let’s not be in a desert. Let’s be in His presence where the abiding, loving, living water of Christ springs up, in our praises to God, always changing the desert into an oasis, within us, to Abba Father in Jesus’ precious Name and Spirit!

This brings us to the next part of this concluding Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament concerning the true identity and purpose of Messiah, “And The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Hallelujah!