“‘Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold He is coming’, says the Lord of hosts.” (Mal. 3:1)
Are you ready for the coming of the Lord “to” His temple? As we read the book of Malachi, we realize that the Lord is talking about coming “to” His people, before the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Mal. 4:5). The coming of the Lord “to” His temple is a great outpouring of the Spirit of God. You can read more about this outpouring in my “End-time Vision” articles on this website. We often pray for a great end-time revival, but are we ready for it? When God’s presence is manifested, great miracles occur but also judgment. We only need to read the account of the first great outpouring to understand this (Acts 5:1-16).
Being ready for this last day event is so important that God is sending His messenger to prepare the way. We must recognize the messenger and receive his message to be ready for the Lord’s coming. This promise in Malachi is both for the nation of Israel and for the Church. In speaking to the Church, the messenger is a group of ministers with the same end-time message. In speaking to Israel, he could be one of the two witnesses of Revelations Chapter 11. We know from the Gospels that John the Baptist was this messenger, but Jesus also said that Elijah will come again (Matt. 17:10-13). The end-time message is similar that of John the Baptist, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt. 3:2). The Church needs to hear this message because repentance is one of the conditions for revival: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2Chron. 7:14). Let us look more closely at the promise of His coming.
“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in the former years.” (Mal. 3:2-4).
When the prophet asks, “who can endure the day of His coming?”, he is referring to the “fiery trials” which will come to test us (1Pe. 4:12). By asking, “who can stand when He appears?” he is implying that some will not need this purifying work because they will already have clean hands and pure hearts (Ps. 24:3,4). If the Lord must come as a refiner, it is because there are many who believe in Christ as Saviour but do not have clean hands and pure hearts. They do not pursue holiness. Instead, they accept their immaturity and trust in God’s mercy to forgive them for their sins. They do not have a reverent fear of God. They wrongly believe that God’s mercy means there are no consequences for their sins. When David sinned with Bathsheba, he was forgiven for his sin, but he did not escape punishment.
In the manifested presence of God, sin cannot exist without judgment. Paul explained this in his instructions concerning the Lord’s supper (1Cor. 11:27-32). We must be quick to repent for any known sins, trusting in the Lord’s sacrifice for forgiveness. When it comes to judgment, however, there is a difference between willful sins and unintentional sins. In the Old Testament, if the congregation sinned unintentionally, the priest could make atonement for them through the sin offering. On the other hand, those who sinned intentionally would fall into judgment. (Num. 15:22-31). In the New Testament, willful sin is also punished. “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries…For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay’, says the Lord. And again ‘The Lord will judge His people.’” (Heb. 10:26,27,30). “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1Pe. 4:17).
The coming of the Lord to His temple will bring to completion the times of the Gentiles and result in the salvation of the nation of Israel as explained by Paul in Romans Chapter 11. In the Old Testament, the sons of Levi were the priests and the Levites. They were the tribe given to the Lord to offer sacrifices on behalf of the nation. Unless they were themselves devoted to the Lord, the sacrifices would not be acceptable to the Lord. The Church today is a royal priesthood that offers spiritual sacrifices to God (Heb. 13:15,16). The sons of Levi represent the Church; Judah and Jerusalem represent the nation of Israel. The Church must fulfill its purpose before the remaining nation of Israel can be saved. This will happen because God’s plans will be accomplished. The question remains, where will we be individually concerning the will of God?
Having clean hands and a pure heart does not come without effort. “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;” (2Pe. 3:14). In the days of Elijah, the Lord found seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1Ki. 19:18). Will you be one of the faithful ones who will rejoice and stand at His coming?
Highway in the Wilderness 