A Messenger Before Him
“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”Malachi 3:1 (KJV)
The Old Testament closes with a promise and then goes quiet. Through Malachi, God said, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple.” Then the prophets go quiet.
Mark doesn’t start with a manger. He starts with that promise. “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” The silence breaks exactly where God left off.
That is what Advent is about. God had said someone would come, and someone would go ahead of him to get people ready. Nothing in the long wait cancelled the word. It just meant the word hadn’t happened yet.
As December starts, it is a good month to get ready too. The same Lord who came once has promised to come again. A messenger’s job is still to clear the road: in our hearts, and for the people around us.
Read it yourself
Read Malachi 3:1 and Mark 1:1–3 side by side. What does Mark add before he quotes the prophets?
What would it look like to prepare the way for the Lord in your own heart this December?
Lord, you kept your word after a long silence. Prepare my heart for you this season, and use me to prepare the way for others. Amen.