A messenger is someone who brings messages or news from one person to another. The Bible uses the word “messenger” in four ways:
People who bring messages between others. The messengers might bring news (2 Samuel 11:22), requests or instructions (1 Samuel 11:3; 16:19), or speak for one country to another (Isaiah 37:9). In the New Testament, we read of messengers of the churches (2 Corinthians 8:23; Philippians 2:25). Proverbs 25:13 talks about how valuable a good messenger is. It compares a trustworthy messenger to cool snow during harvest time. Such a messenger brings refreshment to the people who sent them.
People who bring messages from God. Israel was meant to be God’s messenger but often did not listen or see well (Isaiah 42:19). Prophets (Haggai 1:13) and priests (Malachi 2:7) were God’s messengers. God sent many messengers to his people, even when they were often ignored (2 Chronicles 36:15–16).
Malachi 3:1 talks about a special messenger, “Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming.” This verse is quoted in the New Testament in Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, and Luke 7:27. These books say that this quote refers to John the Baptist.
In both the Old Testament and New Testament, the most common word for “messenger” is also the word for “angel.” God’s angels are his special messengers. See Angel.
The word "messenger" is sometimes used to explain ideas by comparing them to something else. Proverbs 16:14 says, “The wrath of a king is as messengers of death.” In 2 Corinthians 12:7, Paul’s ongoing health problem is called “a messenger of Satan, to torment” him.