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.
Ver. 1. Behold, I will send my messenger] It is well observed by the learned, that this whole prophecy of Malachi, though distinguished, as now, into several Chapter s, yet is but one entire sermon, at once delivered. Those atheists that asked in the precedent verse (and they did it with an accent too, that they might not be slighted), "where is the God of judgment?" are here fully answered; and that they might the better attend, they have it with a note of pregnancy, "Behold, I will send," &c. q.d. differtur quidem iudicium sed non aufertur. Tandem veniet, profecto veniet. Judgment comes not as soon as you call for it; but come it will, be sure it will. For, behold, I send, in the present tense, my messenger, the Baptist, and, at his heels, as it were, Messiah, the Prince, who shall reform and rectify all disorders. "For judgment," saith he, "come I into the world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind," John 9:39. And then, you that call for judgment shall have enough of it; when ye see my messsenger, harbinger, or herald, know that I am hard at hand. "Behold": this is set here as the sound of a trumpet before some proclamation, to arouse men's attention.
I will send] Heb. I do send, or, am sending; though the thing was not done till four or five hundred years after; but in God's purpose and promise it was a done thing already. All things are present with him, for he is a pure act; his whole essence is wholly an eye, or a mind; he is all things eminently, exemplarily, and contains all things in himself. Hence he knows temporal things after an eternal manner, mutable things immutably, contingent things infallibly, future things presently. Hence he calleth things that yet are not, as if they were, Romans 4:17; and this, as in the works of creation, renovation, resurrection, so in the accomplishment of his promises, which we must not antedate, as we are apt to do; but learn to live by faith, Habakkuk 2:2. Possibly the calendar of heaven hath a post-date to ours. Strive to be strong in faith, and glorify God.
My messenger] Not Christ, as Eusebius doted (lib. 5, de Demon. Evang. cap. 28), nor Messiah, the son of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Joseph, as Rabbi Abraham would have it (for the Jews foolishly expect two Messiahs, one the son of David, and the other the son of Joseph), nor an angel of heaven, as Rabbi David interprets it, according to Exodus 23:20; but John Baptist, as our Savidur expounds himself Matthew 11:10, who is here called Christ's messenger, or angel, by reason of his office: one by whom he would manifest his mind to his people. "He was a burning and a shining light," John 5:35, or lamp, and shone for a season, till the Sun of righteousness came in place: as lights and candles are of good use till the sun riseth. See 1 Samuel 3:8 .
And he shall prepare the way] Expurgabit, everret, emundabit. He shall clear the way, sweep it, accoutre or dress it. He shall remove all rubs and remoras out of the way, he shall pare and pave a path for Christ into the soul, open those everlasting doors, that the King of glory may come in; he shall make "ready a people for the Lord," Luke 1:17. Man's heart is full of mountains and valleys, Luke 3:5. These must be levelled ere Christ can be admitted: and that is not done but by repentance unto life. As John Baptist was Christ's forerunner into the world; so must repentance be his forerunner into the heart: for he that repenteth not, the kingdom of heaven is far from him; so that he cannot see it (as the Hebrew word here used imports he must do), for his lusts that hang in his light, פנח viam aperture et oculis intuentium conspicuam faciet.
And the Lord whom ye seek] Dominator, that Lord paramount, of whom David speaketh, Psalms 110:1, and for whose sake Daniel desireth to be heard, Daniel 9:17. Messiah the Prince, Daniel 3:25, the Prince and Saviour, Acts 5:31, Lord and Christ, Acts 2:36, the God of judgment, whom they called for, Malachi 2:17, and whom they are said to seek for. As God, he is not very far from any of us, saith Paul, Acts 17:27, not so far as the bark is from the tree; for in him we all live, and move, and subsist. And as Godman, he
shall suddenly come to his temple] Suddenly, that is, in the fulness of time (which is but a short time in respect to the long expectation of the patriarchs), and speedily after John Baptist's birth; suddenly also, because unexpectedly to the most, who stood amazed at his preaching, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter, &c.? To his temple he came, when presented there to be circumcised, Luke 2:21,39, when he put forth a beam of his Divinity there, in his disputation with the doctors, Luke 2:46,49. But especially when he purged the temple; 1. By his doctrine, Matthew 5:1,12; Matthew 15:1,20; and 2. By his discipline, John 2:14,16; John 12:12; at which time, "Tell ye the daughter of Sion," saith God, "Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass," Matthew 21:5; not upon a stately palfrey, a as an earthly potentate. And that was the very cause that these in the text, that are said to see him when they had him among them, could by no means think well of him, in respect of his mean and despicable condition. They had a certain notion of the Messiah, and were in expectation of him, and of temporal deliverance and felicity by him, of which, when disappointed, they were as blank as the time they saw the hoped issue of their late Jewish virgin turned to a daughter; or when they saw Mahomet eat of a camel; whom till then, when they saw him arising in such power, they were ready to cry up for their long looked for Messiah (Dr Hall's Peacemaker).
Even the messenger of the covenant] viz. Of the covenant of grace; for in Christ God reconciled the world to himself. And of this covenant Christ is the angel, or messenger, because, 1. He revealeth it, and we must take heed how we slight it, Hebrews 2:3, shift it, Hebrews 12:25 Hebrews 12:2. He mediateth it, 1 Timothy 2:5, and in and by him it hath accomplishment, 2 Corinthians 1:20. Hence, Isaiah 9:6, he is called the Prince of peace, and, according to the Septuagint there, the Angel of the great counsel: Mεγαλης της βουλης αγγελος. Let all that would receive mercy from God get into Christ, and so into covenant; for as the mercy seat was no larger than the ark, so neither is the grace of God than the covenant of grace; and as the ark and mercy seat were never separated, so neither are such from God as are found in Christ.
Whom ye delight in] They delighted in his day, the better sort of them, though afar off, John 8:56; they anticipated him, and were recognised by him, Hebrews 11:13. They promised themselves, through Christ, malorum ademptionem, honorum adeptionem, freedom from all evil, and fruition of all good. Hence he is called, "the desire of all nations," Haggai 2:8. The Church in the Canticles saith he is totus desiderabilis, altogether desirable, Song of Solomon 5:16. The Church in Isaiah desires him with her whole soul, Isaiah 26:9; Isaiah 64:1; as impatient of further delays, crieth out, "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence." "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down, righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation," &c., Isaiah 45:8. Lo, what earnest rantings and disquieting ways were in those ancient believers after Christ, what continual sallies, as it were, and egressions of affection.
Behold, he shall come] He shall, he shall; nay, he is even come already: for so the Hebrew hath it, Hinneh ba, behold, he is come; methinks I even see him. A like text there is Habakkuk 2:3. The duty required is, wait; the promise is delivered doubled and tripled: It shall speak, it will come, it will surely come. Nay, doubled again: It shall not lie, it will not tarry. It is as if God had said, Do but wait, and you shall be delivered, you shall be delivered, you shall be delivered; you shall, you shall. Oh the rhetoric of God! oh the certainty of the promises! A Lapide's note is not here to be passed by. This word "Behold" signifieth that this coming of Christ in the flesh should be, 1. New, admirable, and stupendous. 2. Sure and certain. 3. Desirable and joyful. 4. Famous and renowned.
Saith the Lord of hosts] And that is assurance good enough; for hath he said it, and shall he not do it? Here is firm footing for faith; and men are bound to rest in God's Ipse dixit. He spoke for himself. Abraham did, and required no other evidence, Romans 4:16,22. He cared not for the deadness of his own body or of his wife's womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. No more must we, if we will be heirs of the world, with faithful Abraham. God's truth and power are the Jachin and Boaz, the two pillars whereupon faith must repose; believing God upon his bare word, and that against sense, in things invisible, and against reason, in things incredible.
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