Me and My Messenger

“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:

And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Mal. 3:1-5).

In this post we will see that the Messenger was divine, and agrees with the “Messenger of the covenant”, as it should. It is a given that Jesus was the Messenger of the covenant, as He was “the Prince of the covenant.” (Dan. 11:22). Jesus was the Servant who He foretold and who He would send. Literally speaking, His Father would send Him; but in His communications of the prophetic writings, He, speaking in behalf of His Father, sends a Servant-Messiah, which is Himself.

“Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

As many were astonied [astonished] at Thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men:

So shall He sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at Him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider….

For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa. 52:13-15; 53:1-6).

“Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.

A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench: He shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for His law.

Thus saith God the LORD, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

I the LORD have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will keep Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house….

Who is blind, but My Servant? or deaf, as My Messenger that I sent? who is blind as He that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’s Servant?

Seeing many things, but Thou observest not; opening the ears, but He heareth not.

The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honourable.” (Isa. 42:1-7,19-21).

“I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” (Gen. 3:15).

In all these prophecies the pre-incarnate Christ was representing His Father who was sending Him. He, the Word, was inspiring the prophecies as God’s designated Spokesman. Christ was given authority to speak in His Father’s place, and all communications between earth and heaven came directly from the only Mediator between God and man.

“All through the pages of sacred history, where the dealings of God with His chosen people are recorded, there are burning traces of the great I AM. Never has He given to the sons of men more open manifestations of His power and glory than when He alone was acknowledged as Israel’s ruler, and gave the law to His people. Here was a scepter swayed by no human hand; and the stately goings forth of Israel’s invisible King were unspeakably grand and awful. {PP 365.4}

In all these revelations of the divine presence the glory of God was manifested through Christ. Not alone at the Saviour’s advent, but through all the ages after the Fall and the promise of redemption, ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.’ 2 Corinthians 5:19. Christ was the foundation and centerof the sacrificial system in both the patriarchal and the Jewish age. Since the sin of our first parents there has been no direct communication between God and man. The Father has given the world into the hands of Christ, that through His mediatorial work He may redeem man and vindicate the authority and holiness of the law of God. All the communion between heaven and the fallen race has been through Christ. It was the Son of God that gave to our first parents the promise of redemption. It was He who revealed Himself to the patriarchs. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses understood the gospel. They looked for salvation through man’s Substitute and Surety. These holy men of old held communion with the Saviour who was to come to our world in human flesh; and some of them talked with Christ and heavenly angels face to face. {PP 366.1}

Christ was not only the leader of the Hebrews in the wilderness—the Angel in whom was the name of Jehovah, and who, veiled in the cloudy pillar, went before the host—but it was He who gave the law to Israel. [SEE APPENDIX, NOTE 7.] Amid the awful glory of Sinai, Christ declared in the hearing of all the people the ten precepts of His Father’s law. It was He who gave to Moses the law engraved upon the tables of stone. {PP 366.2}

It was Christ that spoke to His people through the prophets. The apostle Peter, writing to the Christian church, says that the prophets ‘prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.’ 1 Peter 1:10, 11. It is the voice of Christ that speaks to us through the Old Testament. ‘The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ Revelation 19:10.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 365, 366.

Scripture and Ellen White do not say, “The testimony of the third person of the Trinity is the spirit of prophecy”. The gift of prophecy does not come through the third person of the Trinity. Scripture says, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”. All true prophecy comes directly from Jesus with only angelic mediation. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him…and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.” (Rev. 1:1).

The quotation from Patriarchs and Prophets, above, says that the Person of the Godhead with whom Abraham normally held direct converse was Michael, Christ Himself, and not through an alleged third person Holy Ghost intercessor for Christ. We know Abraham’s communion with Christ was direct without an intercessor third person because the quotation goes on to say that Abraham also spoke with the same Person face to face, and no more directly then than when communing with the Spirit of Christ from heaven. Therefore, Christ Himself was the Spirit who Abraham heard speaking to his spirit, and not a third person of the Trinity. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” (Rom. 8:16). “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (Rom. 8:9). Christ is the Spirit who we commune with. “Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” (Job 8:9).

In the Servant prophecies of Isaiah 42, 52, and 53 Christ Himself is speaker for His Father and pointing to Himself. Rather than the reality of the Father actually speaking of His Son when He would be incarnated and anointed for His ministry, it was Christ in His divine Spirit form speaking in all the authority of His Father and prophesying of His own incarnated ministry to save man. This aligns with Christ speaking to Moses’ spirit about the Spirit Angel in the cloudy pillar, which was Himself. And Christ on Mt. Sinai speaking of Himself in the angelic pillar  aligns with Malachi 3:1 where Michael—Messiah pre-incarnate—speaks through Malachi of His future incarnation, yet would retain His pre-incarnate Spirit fullness of the Godhead glory as He would inhabit the body that His Father prepared for Him. Michael, “who is like God”, says He would send His Messenger, who would be Himself.

Christ speaking and prophesying of Himself through Isaiah and Malachi also aligns with John 14:16,17; John 15:26; and John 16:7, as we will see at the end of this post. This Messenger (Christ who is Michael who is like God), the “Messenger of the covenant”, will go before “Me”, “the Spirit of Christ” (1Pet. 1:11), “the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21), the Spirit of Michael—the Spirit.

But, this is different from the way Matthew and Mark learned the “messenger” in Malachi.

“And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,... For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee.” (Matt. 11:7,10). “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee.” (Mark 1:1,2).

Here, Jesus refers to His Father as the speaker to Himself, with regard to John the Baptist. “I [God] will send My messenger [John]….before Thy face [Jesus].”

However, John’s “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1) and Paul’s “They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1Cor. 10:4), as Christ’s larger revelation of Himself being the only One who inspired the holy prophets, agrees with the way Ellen White understood the Spirit of Christ as the one God of the Old Testament, as she also, at least in one instance, interpreted the Malachi prophecy, below.

“Through His servant God declares: ‘Behold, I will send My Messenger, and He shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. And who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap; and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.’” Signs of the Times, March 15, 1899 par. 11.

In the above quotation the Messenger in “My Messenger” must be Christ, the Messenger of the covenant who would come near to dispense judgment upon the Jewish nation which “hath dealt treacherously” (Mal. 2:11) through backsliding again into pagan religion and sorcery. He would also bring judgment against them for saying, “Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delighteth in them”; and, “Where is the God of judgment?” (Mal. 2:17). The Messenger of the covenant would also come to His temple and purify the sons of Levi. “But, who may abide the day of His coming?” (Mal. 3:2).

“Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.” (Amos 5:18-26). Through Malachi and Amos, this was all Christ speaking.

“I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Mal. 3:5).

Doesn’t chapter 4 sum up Malachi’s whole message of warning?

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

But, now Elijah is the messenger of the covenant that came through Moses. Jesus interpreted the prophetic Elijah to be John. “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.” (Matt. 11:13,14). And at John’s announcement Gabriel agrees with Christ’s witness.

“And when Zacharias saw him [the angel Gabriel], he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.

And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:12-17).

The John and Jesus ministries are also seen in the prophecies from Isaiah.

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God….

O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” (Isa. 40:1-3,9-11).

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.

Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem….

Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” (Isa. 52:7-9,13-15).

This last scripture from Isaiah 52 connects the coming of John with the gospel preaching of Paul. And Paul claimed the messengers of the gospel for the apostolic church. “And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! ” (Rom. 10:15). “Stand therefore, …your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” (Eph. 6:14,15).

This makes it appear as if John the Baptist and Paul the New Testament Moses, as bookends for the work of redemption and with the Messiah at their center, are all three the symbolic Elijah who would come at the beginning of the Christian dispensation—the Early Rain. And He will come again at its conclusion—the Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit—just prior to the day “that shall burn as an oven” “in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (Mal. 4:1; 2Pet. 3:10). “And all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble”.

So, if Christ and His anointed assistants are the capitalized Messenger, the divine Servant, who prepares the way before “Me” at the Early and Latter Rains, then who is “Me”? The pronoun, “Me”, must represent God, who through the pre- and post-incarnate Christ always spoke and acted for the King. “Me” is the Spirit of Christ, with “the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven” (1Pet. 1:10)—the Spirit of His Father reunited with His Son working together to put all enemies under the feet of Christ.

Based on this conclusion, I will re-quote the Malachi prophecy using red font for Christ while He was the pre-incarnate Spirit of Christ, blue font for Christ after He was incarnated, and red font again for the post-incarnate Spirit of Christ after His ascension. I will use the words “the Spirit of Christ through God” in the place of “God”, as Sr. White also wrote it in the above Signs of the Times article. I make this replacement because of her overarching concept that repeated the apostles’ revelation of the mystery that Christ had been the Lord God of the Old Testament. This we read from Patriarchs and Prophets, quoted previously in this post.

[Before going on, I first want to say that we must recognize the Spirit of Christ after His ascension as the main source and force of the gospel work throughout the book of Acts because that is the way Revelation shows it. “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (Rev. 5:6) and, “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals…. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and He that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto Him: and He went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Rev. 6:1,2).]

So, let us continue on with the Malachi prophecy.

“Through His servant God [the pre-incarnate Spirit of Christ through God] declares: ‘Behold, I [the pre-incarnate Spirit of Christ] will send My Messenger [of the covenant, the Spirit of Christ incarnated], and He [the Spirit of Christ incarnated] shall prepare the way before Me [the pre-incarnate Spirit of Christ]; and the Lord [the Spirit of Christ incarnated], whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant [Messiah the “Prince of the covenant” (Dan. 11:22)], whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts [the pre-incarnate Spirit of Christ]. And who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap; and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord [the post-incarnate Spirit of Christ] an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord [the post-incarnate Spirit of Christ], as in the days of old, and as in former years.’” Signs of the Times, March 15, 1899 par. 11.

In other words, “My Messenger” and “He” being capitalized, Christ is once again speaking to Malachi about Himself as He had spoken to Isaiah. This time He was foretelling that He would purify the Jews and have the pangs of birth for His people in exchange for the redemption of their transgressions in Gethsemane and Golgotha and bring His church into the world at Pentecost. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem would be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years.

“Then [the Jews] that gladly received his [Peter’s] word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:41-47).

Being that Christ was speaking for His Father in Malachi 3, as He had ever done throughout the Old Testament, He was not only foretelling of John the Baptist and then of Himself incarnate, but He was also first telling of His incarnation, and then of His return as His Spirit, “the seven Spirits of God”, this time divested of human personality and independent thereof. Christ would first come physically in truth and grace, the Convicter of sin and the Comforter of all who God justified by faith in the Spirit of His Son while He was dwelling in a corporeal body, and then He would come later as the Spirit of truth and grace while He sat at His Father’s right hand, for the same purpose that He had while one earth, but on a much larger scale.

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you.” (Acts 3:19,20).

Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent. Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, p. 23.3.

After Christ’s departure in the clouds of heaven He returned in the Early Rain of the Holy Spirit. He, in the flesh, had prepared the way for His return in Spirit. And no angel—only He—could have prepared the way for Himself. “I [the Spirit of Christ] will send My Messenger, and He shall prepare the way before Me.” It’s a new way of seeing the mind of Christ, but, He requires us to adapt to Him if we will know the mysteries in the mind of His Father.

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall (although unseen by you), [THIS PHRASE WAS ADDED BY ELLEN WHITE.] teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" [John 14:26]. "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will come not unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you" [John 16:7]. Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, p. 23.3.

In John 14:16, 17, 26; John 15:26; and John 16:7 John recorded Jesus as saying metaphorically that He would send another Comforter, but the soon-coming Comforter He also said would literally be Himself. “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:18). Later, John, in his epistle, collaborated this. “But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” (1Jn. 2:27,28).

This divinely inspired construct of the-subject-is-the-object was not a new paradigm that Christ was establishing. It was as old as the Diaspora from Babylon (given through Malachi), the Messianic prophecies through Isaiah, and the exodus from Egypt (given to Moses at Sinai).

This mystery construct was new to the disciples because they hadn’t studied the scriptures, and it returned to a mystery in the Church leadership and populace as they apostatized. Ever since then the true meaning of Jesus’ words concerning the Comforter has been overlooked. Today, everyone is still missing it. But, missing the mark on this has been a huge mistake, and has opened the door to paganism of the most archaic kind and of the darkest hue. From antiquity, that error has given Satan a sure place among the Father and Son team of Redeemers in order for the deceiver to hide Their redemption from our fallen race and to complete his usurpation of the Godhead, as all the world loves, focuses on, prays to, and worships “the Spirit”.

There would have been no argument against anti-Trinitarianism if Christ had been uplifted by pen and by voice, from the pulpits and the laity alike. Jesus “in the house”, Jesus “at the table”, Jesus “in the closet”, Jesus “in the field”. Steps to Christ, p. 72. There would have been no argument against anti-Trinitarianism if scripture had been laid over scripture and prayerfully analyzed by the Protestant pastors and people. The Old and New Testaments teach the same anti-Trinitarianism, and the Spirit of Christ certainly is not condoning the Trinity to those who are listening to Him.

Will the people of the Lord shut the door on Lucifer’s foot as he continues to solidify his position as highest among the Godhead in a global, United Nations, multi-religion Trinity? Will we return to the Godhead truth of the original apostolic church? Will we fall on the Stone and be broken until we hear Jesus through His written word, His precept and promise, His Law and love combining? “It is the voice of Christ that speaks to us through the Old Testament. ‘The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ Revelation 19:10.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 365, 366.