What happensPermalink
Answering the previous chapter’s dispute, God promises a messenger to prepare His way before the Lord comes to His temple. His coming will purify the Levites and bring judgment against sin and oppression. God then accuses Israel of robbing Him by withholding tithes and calls them to return and experience His provision. When people call serving God useless because the wicked prosper, those who fear Him enter a book of remembrance. God will distinguish them from the wicked on the day described in chapter 4.
Why it mattersPermalink
God answers Israel’s cynicism with the promise that He really is coming, both to purify and to judge. Israel therefore must return to wholehearted covenant faithfulness rather than withholding from God or treating obedience as pointless. In the New Testament, Jesus identifies the preparing messenger as John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10), while Christians understand the Lord who comes to His temple as Jesus Himself.
Key versePermalink
Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare 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.