Context – Malachi prophecies after the return of Israel from their Babylonian exile, approximately 400 years before Jesus’ birth. While he declares God’s final judgment as the nation continues to break God’s covenant, he also echoes Isaiah’s pre-exile message about the coming messenger who will prepare the way for the Messiah and usher in a new covenant: 

Isaiah 40:2-5, Malachi 3:1,4:5 – Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken… Mal 3:1 “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… 4:5 See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.”

Context – John the Baptist, not to be confused with the disciple John who wrote the book, was a relative of Jesus, miraculously conceived by two elderly parents, filled with the Holy Spirit before birth, and born to prepare the way for the Messiah (Luke 1). He spent His time in the wilderness preaching the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2):

John 1:19,23-27,29-31,34 – Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was… 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” 24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie”… 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel… 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

Context – After enacting judgment on both Satan and the entire world at the end of the age, God’s promised restoration through Jesus has come at last: 

Revelation 21:1-4 – Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

• Who was John the Baptist, and what did he come to do?
• What do we learn about Jesus from John’s message?
• What does life look like for believers at the end of the age?