Malachi - Week 4 - Day 2

A Messenger 

READ 

Malachi 3:1 

1 “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 

Many prophecies have a near, partial fulfillment and a distant, complete fulfillment. The “messenger” referred to in this passage has a near, partial fulfillment in John the Baptist at the first advent of Jesus. The distant, complete fulfillment will be found in the Lord Jesus Christ at His second advent.  

REFLECT 

Have you realized that some prophecies have a near, partial fulfillment and a distant, complete fulfillment? 

RESPOND 

An example of the near, partial fulfillment and a distant, complete fulfillment can be seen in Isaiah 7:14. The larger context in Isaiah 7:13-16 reveals there was a son born at that time as a sign to King Ahaz. The distant, complete fulfillment was the birth of the Lord Jesus to the virgin Mary, as seen in Matthew 1:18-23.