Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Malachi 3:1-4 (NIV)
3 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.
The prophecies contained in the book of Malachi are among the latest recorded in scripture. This means that Malachi contains some of the last recorded words of God to his people. …before sending his Son, Jesus. Contained here, in these ancient words written hundreds of years before the time of Christ, we hear of God’s promise to send a messenger. Further, that messenger will prepare the way for God himself. Sound familiar? I am continually impressed with the extent of God’s faithfulness. Generations before the time of Christ, throughout Israel’s history, God spoke tenderly to his people. God promised a savior. And, faithful to his word, Christ has come and will come again. Together, let us reflect on God’s faithfulness.