Meet God in Scripture

Meet God in Malachi 3:1

“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.”

Malachi 3:1 (KJV)

Six ways to encounter God here

A passage is not only to be understood; it is to be lived with. Choose how you want to meet God in Malachi 3:1, and Living Bread opens it right there.

Read itSit with the words themselves in The Word.Study itContext, cross-references, and questions in Bible Study.Be still in itLet it quiet you in the Sanctuary.Pray itTurn it into a prayer of your own.Hide it in your heartMemorize it, word by word.Encounter it togetherGather a few people to walk through it.

The passage in its setting

Meeting God in a verse begins with hearing it where it lives, in the flow of Malachi 3. Read it slowly, and let the focal verse settle into its own context.

1 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.

2 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:

3 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.

The web of Scripture around it

Where this passage echoes across the Bible, from the cross-reference graph, 14 connected Scriptures. Each one is a door to meet God there too.

  • Malachi 4:5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
  • Luke 1:76And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
  • Mark 1:2As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
  • Isaiah 63:9In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
  • Matthew 11:10For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
  • Luke 7:26But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
  • Malachi 2:7For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
  • Acts 19:4Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
  • Isaiah 40:3The 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.
  • John 1:6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
  • Luke 1:16And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
  • Exodus 23:20Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
  • Matthew 17:10And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
  • Psalms 110:1The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

More to meet God in Malachi

Malachi 3:16Malachi 4:2Malachi 3:5Malachi 2:10Malachi 1:11Malachi 3:3Malachi 1:6Malachi 3:2Malachi 3:7Malachi 3:17Malachi 2:15Malachi 3:6Malachi 3:15Malachi 1:14

How it points to Christ

Every Scripture ultimately leads to Jesus. See how the whole Bible points to Him in Christ in all Scripture, then meet Him for yourself.