The verse in Mal. 3:1 is actually related to what has been studied in Is. 40:3-5. Both passages refer to the same person, namely the herald of the Messiah, John the Baptist. Nevertheless details in Mal. 3:1 describe John the Baptist as a forerunner of the coming Messiah. In this sense, John the Baptist was the person appointed by the Lord to hold several responsibilities before the Messiah revealed Himself to the people as the Prophet and the Saviour of the world. In preparation of the coming of the Messiah in the midst of the Jews, He first sent His messenger to do the necessary things to stir the hearts of the people so that they would ponder over the nearness of the coming of the Messiah. John the Baptist needed to prepare the hearts of the people morally and spiritually for the coming of the Messiah.
In this regard, John the Baptist as the context of Malachi 3 demanded, displayed his function as an intercessor, “by whom God’s wrath might be mitigated, which the Jews had extremely provoked. This office John the Baptist undertook, who prepared the Jews to hear the voice of Christ.” It was the Lord Himself who prepared John the Baptist to be the way-preparer and furerunner for the coming of Jesus Christ. It was probably because the Lord Himself knew the heart of every man that when His Son came to this world, they would not welcome Him. This was clear at the time of His birth in Bethlehem. None of the Jews realised the coming of the Messiah. In fact, when the news came to them, they did not accept the birth of the Messiah as that of the true Messiah. For this reason, there was a real psychological need among the Jews for one such as John the Baptist to be the forerunner of the Messiah so that the message the Messiah would bring would be welcomed by those who have heard the preaching of John the Baptist.
Mal. 3:1 says, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to this temple, even my messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” The first phrase “I will send my messenger” is actually referring to John the Baptist himself as a way-preparer. In this same verse there is clear indication that another messenger would come suddenly to the temple. He is the messenger of the covenant, namely the Messiah. Thus, what John the Baptist had done as recorded in the gospel was not deleted by the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, He continued and improved upon what John the Baptist had done among the Jews. As Calvin said, "He called John the Baptist at the beginning of this verse a messenger, the messenger of Jehovah; and now he calls Christ a messenger, but he is the messenger of the covenant, for it was necessary that the covenant should be confirmed by him."
It is important to note that when the way-preparer or the forerunner was preparing the way for the messenger of the covenant, the Messiah was in the world. He knew what John the Baptist was doing and confirmed what John had taught to the people. But as a herald and forerunner, John the Baptist must clear a way, “the self-satisfaction which prevents them from feeling the need of salvation and the impenitence which keeps them from acknowledging this need.”
The ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ was truly predicted in the Old Testament. His herald must precede Him to prepare a way for Him in order that His coming would become a blessing to His people. The ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, was testified by all the gospels (Matthew 3:2, 7-12; Mark 1:4-8; Luke 3:7-18; John 1:6-8, 19-36; 3:22-36).
In another occasion, the prophet Malachi also depicted that John the Baptist was not only as the way-preparer, forerunner but also Elijah. These three names were granted to John the Baptist to indicate that his ministry was so important to usher the coming of the Messiah that the Jews might know the Messiah was in their midst. This truth declared how near the coming of Jesus Christ and His manifestation in the midst of the Jews was. When a Jew saw these three functions of a herald in the person of John the Baptist, he should know that the Messiah was nigh. This truth declared how near the coming of Jesus Christ and His manifestation in the midst of the Jews was. When a Jew saw these three functions of a herald in the person of John the Baptist, he should know that the Messiah was nigh. Nevertheless, having been proclaimed this message and informed that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Jews persisted in their wickedness.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself had declared during His ministry, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt. 11:11). When one reads this verse, he can only say that the Lord Jesus Christ acknowledged the ministry of John the Baptist as His herald to usher His coming. In fact He did mention that John the Baptist was the one whom the Lord had promised in the Old Testament to be the Elijah (Mal. 4:5). It is confirmed by the Lord Jesus Christ when He said in Matt. 11:14 “This is Elias, which was for to come.” This verse is clearly referring to John the Baptist himself. As Calvin confidently put it in another way, “But Christ himself took away all doubt on this point, when he said, that John the Baptist was the Elijah, who had been promised; (Matt. 11:10) and the thing itself proves this, had not Christ spoken on the subject.”
The Lord Jesus confirmed that what the prophet Malachi had said in Mal. 4:5 referred to John the Baptist himself. However, in the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry, the Jews asked him whether he was Elijah, and John actually denied it in the literal sense of the word “prophet.” Elijah need not necessarily come literally to this world in order to fulfill this prophecy. When the Lord Jesus said that John the Baptist was the Elijah who was to come, He did not mean that John would come as a literal reincarnation of Elijah or a literal reappearance of Elijah. Instead, he came, “in the spirit and power of Elijah, and it is in this sense that we are to understand the second coming of Elijah.
The ministry of John the Baptist was more excellent than a prophet, because through John himself God reminded the Jews to “turn the hearts of men and restore them to a holy unity of faith.” God intended to raise up John the Baptist for the purpose of restoring the worship toward the True and the Living God for in the time of John, the truth was corrupted and the worship of God vitiated though the Jews did not worship idols, but their hearts were far from the Lord.
Based on this study, it can be summarized that it was prophesied that John the Baptist would come in the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah. His purpose must first be to turn the hearts of the Jews so that when the Messiah comes within their midst, their hearts would be well-prepared to welcome their only Saviour who would save them from their sins. It had been promised to their forefathers that John the Baptist would be sent to precede the coming of the Messiah. The coming of Elijah in the person of John the Baptist would truly be a real sign for the Jews. However what they were supposed to know hindered them. Instead, they killed him who testified the coming of the Messiah.
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