The Presentation Of Christ In The Temple.

Psalm 48:1-7, Malachi 3:1-5, Galatians 4:1-7, Luke 2:22-40.

A). PRAISING THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS.

Psalm 48:1-7.

This psalm begins with a simple statement of fact: “Great is the LORD” and, because of the greatness of the LORD, He is “greatly to be praised” (PSALM 48:1a).

Where is the LORD to be praised? In the place that God has chosen (cf. 2 Chronicles 6:5-6), “the city of our God” (PSALM 48:1b). A city is a place of civilisation. We could speak of the civilising influence of the church, wherever the gospel has flourished. This city is, “in the mountain of His holiness.” Jesus said, ‘a city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid’ (cf. Matthew 5:14). True Christians cannot remain hidden for long.

The Psalmist talks about the beauty, or elevation, of Mount Zion (PSALM 48:2). This is the site of the Temple Mount within Jerusalem. Like Zion, the church is founded upon a rock. Jerusalem is both “the city of our God” (PSALM 48:1) and a Royal city: “the city of the great King” (PSALM 48:2; cf. Psalm 2:6). Jesus, who is ‘the rock of our salvation (cf. Psalm 95:1), is the ultimate and final king of David’s descent (cf. Matthew 1:1; Isaiah 9:6-7).

It is God who is known in the palaces of the city as a refuge (PSALM 48:3). It is Jesus who is our city of refuge. He is the sacrifice whose blood atones for our sins. He is the high priest whose death sets us free.

PSALM 48:4-6 may well be a reference to the attack against Jerusalem by the Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites during the reign of King Jehoshaphat. On that occasion, the LORD told the king, and ‘all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem’ that ‘the battle is God’s,’ (2 Chronicles 20:15) and that they need not fight, but just ‘stand still and see the salvation of the LORD’ (2 Chronicles 20:17). Jehoshaphat set singers in the forefront, that they should ‘praise the beauty of holiness;’ and ‘the LORD set ambushes’ against the enemy so that they ended up destroying one another (cf. 2 Chronicles 20:21-22).

Or it may refer to a later deliverance, during the reign of King Hezekiah, when 185,000 Assyrians were struck down by the LORD, causing the king of Assyria to return to Nineveh where he was assassinated by his own sons in the temple of his ‘god’ (cf. Isaiah 37:33-38).

It is God who broke the ships of Tarshish with an east wind (PSALM 48:7; cf. 1 Kings 22:48; 2 Chronicles 20:36-37). It is God who scatters the army of the enemy (cf. Job 27:21). ‘Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:57).

B). THE TWO MESSENGERS.

Malachi 3:1-5.

One of the God-wearying and impertinent questions of the people had been, as it is often today, ‘Where is the God of justice?’ (Malachi 2:17). We have the answer in today’s text (Malachi 3:1). Watch carefully, exhorts the LORD. First I will send my messenger (cf. John 1:6-8), who will prepare the way for the One whom you are seeking.

Notice that John the Baptist’s ministry is nothing without Jesus, and always points to Jesus. This is reflected in the song of his father, Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79). At the forefront of the old priest's mind was not first and foremost his own son, but the visitation of God to His people: a visitation which was about to occur in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then, says the LORD, ‘the Messenger of the Covenant in whom you delight will suddenly come to His temple’ (Malachi 3:1). Jesus appeared in the Temple as a baby, without being noticed by many more than two people (Luke 2:22). Then Jesus appeared in the Temple as a boy of twelve: He astonished all, yet still remained unrecognized (Luke 2:47). But as a man He appeared once more, and announced, ‘You have made my Father’s house into a den of thieves’ (cf. John 2:16).

Yet Jesus came to establish a new covenant, and to make the once for all, final, and satisfactory sacrifice for the sins of His people (cf. Hebrews 9:28). This is the ultimate ‘righteous offering’ (cf. Malachi 3:3) to which all the sacrifices have always been pointing: the fulfillment of all the rites and ceremonies of the Old Testament era.

The “house of Levi” (Malachi 3:3) stood as representatives of all Israel: and now the Lord creates a new worship and a new people, and establishes a priesthood of all believers. Our offerings to God, whether in worship or giving, are acceptable to Him only when our worship is centred on our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a return to the worship of former times, to the “days of old” (Malachi 3:4).