Malachi was the last written prophet and the final prophet before the 400-year gap till the coming of the Messiah. His name means “my messenger”. Jewish tradition identifies Malachi as a member of the Great Synagogue that collected & preserved the Scriptures. This book was written in roughly 430 BC, nearly a century after Haggai & Zechariah. Since Malachi’s words were the last prophecy that would be uttered for those 400 years, the condemnation of the sins of Israel would ring in their ears for all that time. The next prophetic voice would be that of John the Baptist, whose word from God was revealed in Matthew 3:2; “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It was at that time in Israel’s history that both Abrahamic & Davidic promises from God would be fulfilled. The Messiah had come.
Getting back to the content in Malachi, repairing a relationship with God is infinitely easier than dealing with men because of the Lord’s mercy, grace, and unconditional love for His creation. As you have seen throughout this series of devotionals on the Minor Prophets, the Jewish people have had a rollercoaster existence with their God. Warnings regarding their disobedience seemed to be continual. Sometimes they repented, other times they didn’t listen and suffered the loving judgment from a Heavenly Father that sought their undying devotion. This book is yet another warning to the people of Jerusalem, capital of Judah, regarding their sins and broken relationship with God.
Malachi’s words reminded the Jews of their willful disobedience. In other words, they knew what to do, yet did the opposite anyway. Their broken relationship with their God was due to the following sins: 1- Showing contempt for God’s name (Mal 1:6); offering defiled sacrifices (Mal 1:7-14); leading others into sin (Mal 2:7-9); breaking God’s laws (Mal 2:11-16); calling evil ‘good’ (Mal 2:17); keeping God’s tithes and offerings for themselves (Mal 3:8-9); and being arrogant. With God nothing is beyond repair. Grace is undeserved favor. God chooses to administer grace and mercy because he knows his creature came from dust and to dust will return.
The Prophet shares a promise from God that tells of the coming of the prophet Elijah, who will offer God’s forgiveness to all people thru repentance and faith (Mal 4:5-6). The prophet Elijah was the greatest prophet who ever lived, yet it was not Elijah raised from the dead, but rather Elijah in the form of John the Baptist who would announce the Messiah’s coming.
In the final (4th) chapter, Malachi gives us all some practical guidelines regarding our commitment to God. The Lord deserves our absolute best each day; we must be willing to change our wrong ways of living; we need to make our family a lifelong priority; we should be sensitive to God’s refining process in our life; we should tithe our income and leave no room in our hearts for pride.
This ends our study of the 12 minor prophets of the OT. Next we shall do a short study on the period BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS. Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing!
In His Name & for His Glory,
RL Keller
Bread of Life Ministries
Resource: The Life Application Study Bible; The MacArthur Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2005, p.1077.
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