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Minor prophets · Old Testament · 4 chapters

The book of Malachi

The last call before the great silence

Author
Malachi (his name means “my messenger”)
Written
Around 430 BC, probably in the time of Nehemiah
Time covered
Post-exilic Judaism, about a century after the return from Babylon, when the second temple is functioning but fervor has cooled
Key word
Faithfulness

Malachi proceeds by disputes: God asserts, the people object (“Wherein?”), God answers. “I have loved you”: the proof is Jacob preferred to Esau (1:2-5). The priests despise God’s name by offering blind and lame animals, although his name will be great among the nations (1:6-14); they have betrayed the covenant of Levi (2:1-9). Husbands betray the wife of their youth: “he hateth putting away” (2:10-16). The Lord will suddenly come to his temple, preceded by his messenger, to purify like the refiner’s fire (3:1-6). Bring the tithes (3:8-10). For those who fear him, a book of remembrance is written and the Sun of righteousness will rise; Elijah will come before the great day (3:16; 4:2, 5).

Main theme

God, who loves his people and does not change, denounces routine worship and cut-rate faithfulness, then announces his messenger, the day of his coming and the return of Elijah.

Outline

  1. Malachi 1 — God’s love and cut-rate worship

    God recalls his elective love, then accuses the priests of offering blind, lame or stolen animals.

  2. Malachi 2 — Unfaithful priests and husbands

    The covenant of Levi is betrayed by the priests, and the covenant of marriage by husbands who divorce their wives.

  3. Malachi 2-3 — The messenger, the judgment and the tithes

    The Lord comes to purify his people; he calls them to return to him, to bring the tithes, and remembers those who fear him (2:17–3:18).

  4. Malachi 4 — The coming day and the return of Elijah

    The burning day consumes the wicked, the Sun of righteousness rises for the faithful, and Elijah is announced.

Key points

  • The book is built on disputes: God asserts, the people answer “Wherein?”, God demonstrates (1:2, 6-7; 2:17; 3:7-8, 13).
  • God’s love for Israel is proved by his choice of Jacob rather than Esau, taken up by Paul in Romans 9:13 (1:2-3).
  • Offering God a blind or lame animal, which one would not dare offer to one’s governor, is to despise his name (1:8).
  • The priest must keep knowledge, for he is a messenger of the LORD of hosts (2:7).
  • Marriage is a covenant of which the LORD is witness: “he hateth putting away” (2:14-16).
  • The messenger prepares the way, then the Lord suddenly comes to his temple to purify like the refiner’s fire (3:1-3).
  • Withholding the tithes is robbing God; bringing them is putting his faithfulness to the test (3:8-10).
  • The book ends with the announcement of Elijah before the day of the LORD, the last prophetic word of the Old Testament (4:5-6).
I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob,
Malachi 1:2 — The starting point of the book: God’s love, disputed by a people who no longer see it.
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
Malachi 3:1 — The announcement of the messenger and of the Lord who comes to his temple, fulfilled in John the Baptist and in Jesus.
For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Malachi 3:6 — God’s unchanging nature is the very reason his unfaithful people have not been destroyed.

Jesus in Malachi

Malachi forms the bridge between the two Testaments. The messenger who prepares the way and the Elijah who is to come are John the Baptist, according to Jesus himself (3:1; 4:5; Matt 11:10, 14), and the angel announces that he will go before the Lord “in the spirit and power of Elias” (Elijah) to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children (Luke 1:17). The Lord who suddenly comes to his temple is Jesus, and the “Sun of righteousness” rises in him, that “dayspring from on high” which has visited us (4:2; Luke 1:78).

Did you know?

  • The name Malachi means “my messenger,” exactly the expression used in 3:1 to announce the one who will prepare the way.
  • In the Hebrew Bible, Malachi has only three chapters: our chapter 4 forms the end of chapter 3 (verses 19 to 24).
  • In the KJV, the last word of the Old Testament is “curse” (4:6), whereas the New Testament ends on grace (Rev 22:21).

Quiz on Malachi

Which prophet does God promise to send before the great and dreadful day of the LORD?

In what way do the people rob God, according to chapter 3?

How do the people respond when God declares: “I have loved you”?

There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start your free trial.