Advent – Day 8

“‘I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty.'”
– Malachi 3:1

Have you ever waited expectantly for something you felt the Lord had promised? Perhaps you’ve waited for an opportunity or a position, for rest or rescue. I have friends who have waited for children they knew in their hearts were promised, but the children didn’t come. Years went by. Years of infertility and negative pregnancy tests and broken hearts that seemed as if they would never mend unless they felt the weight of a baby swaddled in their arms. One dear friend waited ten years for a child. An entire decade of waiting and hoping and praying. Countless days of wondering if God had forgotten his promise. Weeks and months spent trusting him in the drought and the emptiness of the wilderness. And then one day there was the positive pregnancy test and the impossible flicker of abundant hope. Months later, a little girl took her first breath and the manifestation of God’s promise filled the room. When we received news of her arrival, tears flooded my eyes. This baby was the fulfillment of a long-awaited promise and the tangible expression of God’s goodness and his faithfulness. 

A decade is a long time to wait. Hope begins to wane during that time. Doubts and despair creep in. Sorrow becomes a constant companion. And yet ten years was nothing compared to the waiting the ancient Israelites endured. For thousands of years, the Lord had revealed prophecies concerning his son throughout time. These prophecies spurred the Israelites on and kept hope alive. Then around 432 BC, the prophet Malachi pens his book. In Malachi 3:1, he writes, “‘I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty.'”

This passage is the last recorded Old Testament prophecy concerning the events surrounding the coming of the Messiah. Malachi wrote these words more than 400 years before the birth of Jesus, and then the prophecies went quiet. Four centuries of a silent void. Four centuries of waiting and hoping. Four centuries of praying and expecting. Can you imagine the doubt? Can you imagine the long-suffering ache. Surely they wondered if perhaps the Lord had forgotten his promise?

And yet, God is faithful. He is ALWAYS faithful, and four hundred years after Malachi delivers this promise, the fulfillment arrives when angel appears to Zechariah and tells him Elizabeth will have a son. This son is John the Baptist, and it is he who is the messenger foretold in Malachi 3. And his appearance points to the most triumphant arrival of all … the revelation of the promised one. John points to Jesus even before his birth when he leaps in his mother’s womb at the news of Jesus’ conception (Luke 1), and he points to Jesus later in Matthew 3 when John baptizes Jesus and the Lord says from heaven “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

At this revelation of the arrival of Jesus, the waiting melts away, and the years of doubt and wonder are extinguished in the present reality of the answered prayer. Messiah has arrived. The promised one is born. Immanuel has come. 

Today, if you’re questioning the goodness of God or doubting his timing or waiting with a broken heart for the completion of a promise, know that the Lord has proven his faithfulness through thousands and thousands of generations, and he will prove it to you as well. Take heart dear one, the Lord you are seeking will come. Dear Lord, we are so utterly grateful for your Word that has endured throughout time and has been passed down through generations to remind us of your unfailing faithfulness. Your ancient promises are an assurance to our own heart that you are a good, good father, and we submit ourselves to you. Thank you for the gift of Jesus, and his perfect fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Swing your robe low, Lord, and be near us today.

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