It is said the old testament is the new concealed and the new is the old revealed and this week, that is my goal.

Malachi 3: 1-2

“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me.

And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple,

Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.

“But who can endure the day of His coming?And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderer's soap.“

Much of Jesus is spoken of here, from His forerunner, his sudden birth, but more than that, Isaiah describes it this way in chapter 53: 1-3

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him

So what was Jesus’ goal on the earth? Malachi 3: 3-4

He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the Lord An offering in righteousness.

“Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years.

Jesus tried multiple times to help the Levites and Pharisees realize their error, although it was up to them to remove those impurities so they could be that pleasant offering.

Isaiah 53: 4-7

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

Yet as we see here, they would reject Him. And sure enough they did.

Revelation 5: 6-10

And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne

Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation  and have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

Now we see the result of that Lamb’s sacrifice. Not only for the Levites, but for all the world! The blood that paid the price for us to be of the kingdom of God is what is offered when invitations are given.