This article concludes a series on Old Testament Christophanies. For important background information, see An Introduction to Old Testament Christophanies–with Justin Martyr.
From when He walked in the Garden of Eden to when He cleansed the high priest Joshua, the Son of God’s many appearances in the Old Testament led up to His incarnation and messianic ministry. In the final book of the Old Testament, there is a prophecy about the coming of the Messiah. And He is called by a name that identifies Him as the Angel of Yahweh.
The Angel of the Covenant
Several decades after the dedication of the second temple in 516 BC, the prophet Malachi delivered the Lord’s messages to the people of Israel. Haggai and Zechariah had prophesied that rebuilding the temple would lead to restoration and incredible blessings, including the return of the glory of Yahweh and Jerusalem becoming the place where people from the other nations of the world would come to worship the Lord (see Hag 2; Zech 1:16–17; 2; 8–10). Yet in Malachi’s day the nation was in a state of spiritual and economic decline, and the people lived under Persian rule. The outlook must have seemed bleak to the average citizen. The Lord, however, had some good news for the people in Malachi 3:
“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts (Mal 3:1).
The first messenger mentioned, “My messenger,” was John the Baptist—a fact confirmed by Jesus Himself (Matt 11:10). John the Baptist cleared the way before Messiah Jesus (John 1:23; 3:28). John testified that he was the forerunner of the Word made flesh and of the Son of God (John 1:14–15, 26–34). Here, in Malachi 3:1, Yahweh said that His messenger would clear the way before “Me.” The Godhead as a whole, including the Son, spoke to the prophet.
The “Lord” (Heb. adon) and “the messenger of the covenant” refer to the same person: the divine Messiah. Yahweh spoke in a way that made Him one with the Messiah. “Messenger” is translated from the Hebrew malak, which may also be translated as “angel.” The Messenger (or Angel) of the Covenant was used as a title for the Angel of Yahweh (malak YHWH). Thus, in Malachi 3:1 we have a convergence of the preincarnate Son of God, the Angel of the Lord, with the incarnate Son of God, the Messiah.
The Messiah suddenly coming to His temple has application to the First Coming, as Jesus entered the temple on numerous occasions. However, this part of the prophecy won’t be fulfilled until the Second Coming, when the glorious Messiah suddenly enters His temple (Ezek 43:2–7). The “covenant” that the Messiah was the messenger of is the New Covenant that the Lord had promised He would make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah (Jer 31:31–34; Ezek 37:26). Jesus sealed the New Covenant with His spilled blood on the cross (Matt 26:28), and He became the guarantee of a better covenant (Heb 7:22). The Messiah is also the covenant messenger in that in Him all the promises in the Old Testament covenants are fulfilled. The Angel of the Lord was the covenant messenger in the Old Testament. He delivered God’s covenant promises, He guided and protected the covenant people, and He led the Israelites to the Promised Land.
Edward Pusey (1800–1882), who was the Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford, explained that the Angel of the Lord would become the mediator of the New Covenant:
. . . the special presence of God was often indicated in connection with the Angel of the Lord, so, here, He Who was to come was entitled the Angel or messenger of the covenant, as God also calls Him the covenant itself [Isa 42:6] . . . He it was, the Angel of His Presence, Who saved His former people [Isa 63:9], in whom His Name was, and Who, by the prerogative of God, would not pardon their transgressions [Exod 23:21]. He should be the Mediator of the new and better covenant which is promised [Jer 31:31–33; Heb 8:6; 9:15].[1]
The people sought the Lord, and they delighted in the Messenger of the Covenant; they longed for the Messiah. For He would fulfill all the messianic prophecies, bringing restoration and miraculous blessings to the nation. “Yahweh of hosts” promised to send the Messiah—the Father promised to send the Son. There was a sense in which the people had always known the Son of God, and now He was coming in a new way.
While the Messiah’s coming was ultimately good news, there was judgment and cleansing that would come with it. Continuing in Malachi 3, the Lord asked who could endure the day of “His” (the Messiah’s) coming and who could stand when He appears? The Messiah would be like a refiner’s fire and like laundrymen’s soap. He would sit as a purifier of silver; like gold and silver being refined, He would purify the Levites by burning away their impurities. This would enable the Levites to present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Once this happened, the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem would be pleasing to the Lord as they were earlier in Israel’s history (likely during the time of the tabernacle and the first temple). “Yahweh of hosts” said that He would draw near the nation for judgment and that He would be an eager witness against those who practiced all types of sin, against those who didn’t fear Him (vv. 2–5). According to the Targum, Yahweh would still draw near the nation for judgment, but it was specifically His “Word” who would be an eager witness against those who practiced sin.[2]
In verse 6, the Lord stated, “I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.” Without the imputed righteousness of the Messiah, no one is righteous enough to withstand His coming. By calling them the “sons of Jacob” instead of the “sons of Israel,” the Lord named the people after their patriarch’s rebellious side. Judgment was and is necessary for the nation to be purified and cleansed. The Messiah brought judgment a few decades after He ascended to heaven, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. And He will bring even greater judgment at the time of His return. Shortly before the Second Coming, the people of Israel will go through a great tribulation (Matt 24:21). Most of the people will perish in that tribulation, but God will bring a remnant through the “fire” (Zech 13:8–9). They will repent and come to faith in Messiah Jesus (Zech 12:10—13:1). When this happens the nation as a whole will enter into the New Covenant (see Rom 11:26–27). The people, including the Levites, will be fully cleansed of their sin by the blood of Jesus. This will make their worship pleasing to the Lord. It should come as no surprise that the Messiah will bring judgment and cleansing. As we’ve seen, the Angel of the Lord had the authority to punish sin and sinners (Exod 23:20–21; 1 Chr 21:11–12; Isa 37:36), and He had the authority to forgive and cleanse people of their sin (Zech 3:4).
The Father’s Messenger
Justin Martyr concluded his argument that the Son of God appeared throughout the Old Testament by making a critical distinction:
. . . neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other man, saw the Father and ineffable Lord of all, and also of Christ, but [saw] Him who was according to His will His Son, being God, and the Angel because He ministered to His will; whom also it pleased Him to be born man by the Virgin.[3]
The Angel of Yahweh became a man. He ministered to the Father before and after the Incarnation. The Son serves the Father by directly representing His will.
Jesus characterized His earthly ministry by presenting Himself as the Father’s Messenger. He made a point to say things like, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19); and, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.” (John 7:16); and, “I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak” (John 12:49). Because He Himself is God, Jesus is the truest messenger of God to mankind. In the future, the Son will continue to make the Father known. In the coming New Jerusalem, the Lamb will be the lamp that illuminates the city with the glory of God (Rev 21:23; 22:5). The Son of God was, is, and always will be the divine Messenger.
[1] Pusey, Minor Prophets, Mal 3:1.
[2] Targum Jonathan to Malachi 3:5.
[3] Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 127.1.
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