Charles Ellicott Commentary Malachi 3:1

"Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts." — Malachi 3:1 (ASV)

I will send.—Or, I send. It is the participle used as the prophetic present. (Compare to Note on Malachi 1:11.)

My messenger. —Hebrew, Malachi, my angel, or my messenger, with a play on the name of the prophet. In Malachi 2:7, he calls the priest the angel or messenger of the LORD. There can be little doubt that he is influenced in his choice of the term by his own personal name (see Introd.).

This “messenger,” by the distinct reference to Isaiah 40:3, contained in the words, and he shall prepare, etc., is evidently the same as he whom [the deutero-] Isaiah prophetically heard crying, In the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Moreover, from the nature of his mission, he is proved to be identical with the “Elijah” of Malachi 4:3. These words had their first, if not their perfect, fulfillment in John the Baptist (Matthew 17:12).

The Lord. —This word “Lord” occurs eight times with the definite article, but always, except here, with the name of God following it: namely, Exodus 23:17, followed by Jehovah; Exodus 34:23, by Jehovah, the God of Israel; in Isaiah 1:24, Isaiah 3:1, Isaiah 10:33, and Isaiah 19:4, by Jehovah Zebaoth; and in Isaiah 10:16, by the Lord of Zebaoth.

And here, as elsewhere, it must mean God Himself, because He is said to come to his temple, and because He is said to be He whom ye seek: that is, the God of judgment (Malachi 2:17).

Even — that is, “namely,” for so the Hebrew conjunction “and” is frequently used: for example, Exodus 25:12; 1 Samuel 28:3.

The messenger (or angel) of the covenant. —This expression occurs only in this passage. Identified as He is here with “the Lord,” He can be no other than the Son of God, who was manifested in the flesh as the Messiah. In the word “covenant” there is, perhaps, some reference to the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31), but the meaning of the word must not be limited to this.

Delight in. —Rather, desire.