Malachi
Book Type
Prophecy; 39th book of the Old Testament.Introduction to the Book of Malachi
The book of Malachi addresses the situation in Judah sometime after the temple was rebuilt in 516 BC, following the return of Jewish exiles from Babylon. The message of the book is about the covenant—Israel’s contract with God (compare Exod 24:1–8). The book records six legal disputes in which God either defends His own faithfulness or accuses the people and their leaders of forsaking their covenant. The book ends with a promise of the coming of Elijah and the Day of Yahweh. Malachi addresses how God is faithful to His covenant love, even when we doubt His faithfulness.Malachi had a multifaceted ministry. As a sensitive pastor, Malachi offered God’s love to a disheartened people. As a wise theologian, he instructed the people of Judah in basic doctrine that emphasized God’s nature. As a stern prophet, Malachi rebuked corrupt priests and warned of God’s judgment. As a spiritual mentor, he called his people to more sincere worship and challenged them to live by the ethical standards of God’s covenant. Malachi conveys God’s simple but vital word to Israel: “I have always loved you” (1:2).Malachi is the last prophetic message from God before the close of the Old Testament period (although non-prophetic books such as Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles may have been written later). This small book captures the essential message of the Old Testament and shows the reader the nature of God and our relationship and responsibility to him and to others in the covenant community.Theme & Overview
The prophet Malachi assures the postexilic Jewish community that the Messianic King will come not only to judge his people but also to bless and restore them. The book of Malachi was written to confront the spiritual complacency and indifference that had overcome the people of God. According to the NIV Quest Study Bible, it begins by presenting a word from God, followed by a complaint from the people, followed in turn by an answer from God. Look for God’s passion in this exchange. God loves you with an unfailing passionate love and wants you to return his love by demonstrating faithfulness, integrity, purity, and justice in human relationships, especially in regard to the powerless. Malachi holds a mirror before you, helping you assess your relationship with God and your loyalty to him. Malachi addresses the motive behind people’s worship. Merely going through the religious motions does not guarantee that God will bless a person or community. When religion is practiced for personal gain, it can cause great harm. The people’s accusations against God reveal their true motives: They were performing their religious duties and thought that God owed them for their obedience, even though their worship was halfhearted and hypocritical. Although the people had a temple in which to worship, the nature of their worship had not been changed by the exile: They were still living as if religion could save them. Instead, they must remember that they are God’s cherished possession and that He loves them as a father loves a son, just as He loves us today (Mal 3:17–18).
The prophet calls for renewal, both in the temple and in the community as a whole. He calls out the people for failing to worship properly and failing to honor their covenant with Yahweh. The prophet also proclaims that while sin demands God’s judgment, a faithful remnant of people will survive—with the help of a new Elijah (Mal 3:1–5; 4:5–6). These actions set the stage for the Messiah, the one who will bring justice and salvation to the world (Mark 8:28; 9:11–13). Malachi shows us that what we really need is a transformative relationship with Yahweh Himself.Malachi’s contemporaries may have been free from blatant idolatry (though see 2:11) and relatively orthodox in their beliefs, but theirs had become a dead orthodoxy. They were all too ready to make ethical compromises and to dilute the strenuous demands of proper worship. In response to the cynicism and religious malaise of his contemporaries, Malachi’s prophecy comes as a wake-up call to renewed covenant fidelity (see Key Themes).Key Themes: Malachi’s Sixfold Wake-up Call to Renewed Covenant FidelityDisputation 1(Reference) Malachi 1:2–5 (Summary)Malachi begins by defending the reality of God’s elective love for Israel, a love which calls for robust covenantal obedience and sincere worship as its proper response. Instead, the people were dishonoring God by their worthless offerings and the hypocritical formalism of their worship.(Focus) Israel is to remember the Law of Moses.Disputation 2(Reference) Malachi 1:6–2:9(Summary)Malachi exposes these offenses and rebukes the priests for condoning them and thereby violating the Lord’s covenant with Levi.Disputation 3(Reference) Malachi 2:10–16(Summary)Malachi condemns marriage to an idolater as infidelity against Israel’s covenant with the Lord, and he condemns unauthorized divorce as infidelity against the marriage covenant between a husband and his wife, to which the Lord is witness.Disputation 4(Reference) Malachi 2:17–3:5Malachi broadens his indictment as he promises that the Lord will vindicate his justice. This will take place when “the messenger of the covenant” comes to judge the wicked (when the Lord will function as a witness not only against adulterers, as in 2:10–16, but also against other offenders) and to purify his people so that their offerings will be acceptable at last.(Focus)Israel is to remember the promise of Elijah and the coming day of the Lord.Disputation 5(Reference) Malachi 3:6–12Malachi returns to the subject of Israel’s begrudging offerings. The people experienced material adversity and were under a curse—not in spite of their behavior, but because of it. Accordingly, Malachi challenges them to conscientious tithing, which will be rewarded with divine blessing.Disputation 6(Reference) Malachi 3:13–4:3Malachi assures his grumbling contemporaries that evildoers, who seem to escape divine justice because of their prosperity, will yet be judged, while the Lord will deliver those who fear him.Overall Summary(Reference) Malachi 4:4–6Malachi summarizes the main points of his prophecy: remember the Law of Moses (the focus of disputations 1–3), and remember the promise of Elijah and the coming day of the Lord (the focus of disputations 4–6).Author
Malachi, literally Mal'akiy, meaning "My Messenger." Malachi 1:1 is the only place in all of Scripture where this name appears. Therefore, this might be a title, rather than the name of a specific person.Recipients
The nation of Israel. Unlike most other Old Testament prophets, Malachi does not include any particular warning to nations other than Israel. Date
Somewhere between 500 and 400 BC. Most likely just before the return of Ezra (460 BC), or possibly around the beginning of Nehemiah's second term as governor (435 BC).Background
Based on the book’s opening verse, the author is traditionally thought to be a prophet named Malachi. However, “Malachi” is the Hebrew word for “my messenger,” and it might not be used here as a proper name. No date is given in the book, but the prophet’s ministry seems to have occurred sometime between the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple (516 BC) and the time of Nehemiah (ca. 444–432 BC). Although the temple had been rebuilt, Malachi shows that the reforms inspired by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (starting in 520 BC) had little effect.Malachi concludes the Old Testament canon of the Protestant Christian tradition. Thus, the Old Testament ends with Malachi’s promise of God’s messenger who is to come (Mal 4:5–6). When you turn the page to the New Testament, the Gospels show the fulfillment of this expectation. The Gospel writers show how John the Baptist, in the spirit of Elijah, prepares the way for Jesus (Mal 3:1–4; 4:5; Luke 1:16–17).Malachi wrote to Jews in the Persian province of Judea, probably during the reign of King Darius I of Persia (521–486 BC). Jewish exiles returning from Babylon had recently resettled in Judah, joining others who had not been deported.At the time when Malachi preached, the Temple had been rebuilt, but it paled in comparison to Solomon’s Temple. The priests and the Levites were the power-brokers of Judah, yet Temple worship was in a sorry state. The apathetic priests actually led people into sin, not out of it. Worshipers offered inferior animals as sacrifices and neglected God’s requirements for tithes and offerings. The hopes raised by Haggai and Zechariah for a revival of David’s dynasty through Zerubbabel seemed to have disappeared.Malachi confronted a people given to religious cynicism, political skepticism, and spiritual disillusionment. They expected prosperity (Hag 2:7, 18–19), a king from David’s line (Ezek 34:13, 23–24), and the new covenant promised through Jeremiah (Jer 31:23, 31–34), but they saw none of these things. In the minds of many, God had failed his people.The Setting of Malachi, 400s BC. When God’s people in Judea became discouraged and unfaithful in the decades following their return from exile, Malachi spoke words of encouragement and correction.
The Purpose & Audience (Reasons for the letter)
Malachi seeks to motivate people to conform to God’s plan. Malachi’s preaching has an overarching concern with the covenant that established a relationship between God and Israel, with its attendant obligations and responsibilities.Three of Malachi’s messages deal with right relationships. The prophet’s premise is that right knowledge is essential to maintaining right relationships. He addresses right relationships in marriage by decrying divorce and encouraging marital loyalty. He also addresses right relationships in the community at large by focusing on honesty and integrity in the light of God’s character.Malachi calls God’s people back to a right understanding of God as Israel’s Father, Master, and covenant God. Malachi urges a return to right worship through participation in the Temple sacrifices with integrity. Malachi also encourages appropriate giving to God, because God is gracious and generous in his response to those who are faithful.Like Nahum (Nah 1:1) and Habakkuk (Hab 1:1), this book is called a “pronouncement” (Mal 1:1). This Hebrew word massa is found twenty times in the OT (e.g., 2Kg 9:25; Is 13:1; Zch 9:1; 12:1). Once thought to mean “burden,” it is now understood to refer to a divine pronouncement through God’s prophet.INDICTMENT Malachi presented Judah’s sins largely by quoting their own words, repeating their own thoughts, and describing their own attitudes (1:2, 6–7, 12–13; 2:14, 17; 3:7–8, 13–15). Malachi was faced with the failure of the priests to fear God and to serve the people conscientiously during difficult times. This had contributed to Judah’s indifference toward God. Blaming their economic and social troubles on God’s supposed unfaithfulness, the people were treating one another faithlessly (especially their wives) and were profaning the temple by marrying pagan women. They were also withholding their tithes.INSTRUCTION God commanded sincere worship with genuine faith and humility. This included honoring him with pure offerings, being faithful to human covenants, especially marriage covenants, and renewing the tithe of all they acquired to signify their recognition of the LORD as their God and King.JUDGMENTIf the priests would not change their behavior, God would curse them and remove them from service. Malachi also announced a coming day when the “God of justice” would come to judge the wicked and refine his people (Mt 3:12; 13:24–30).HOPEAs other incentives to obedience, Malachi pointed to: (1) God’s demonstrations of love for Israel (1:2), (2) their spiritual and covenant unity with God and with one another (2:10), and (3) a coming day of salvation and blessing for those who fear him (3:1–6; 3:16–4:3).CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIBLEMalachi was the last prophetic message from God before the close of the Old Testament period. This book is a fitting conclusion to the Old Testament and a transition for understanding the kingdom proclamation in the NT. Malachi spoke to the hearts of a troubled people whose circumstances of financial insecurity, religious skepticism, and personal disappointments were similar to those often experienced by God’s people today. The book contains a message that must not be overlooked by those who wish to encounter God and his kingdom and to lead others to a similar encounter. We have a great, loving, and holy God, who has unchanging and glorious purposes for his people. Our God calls us to genuine worship, fidelity to himself and to one another, and to expectant faith in what he is doing and says he will do in this world and for his people.God’s love is paramount. It is expressed in Malachi in terms of Yahweh’s election and protection of Israel above all the nations of the world. Since God had served the interests of Judah out of his unchanging love, he required Judah to live up to its obligations by obedience, loyalty, and sincere worship. This love relationship between God and Judah is the model for how people were expected to treat other members of the redeemed community. They were required to be faithful in all their dealings with one another.As a community devoted to God, his people enjoy his protection and provision. But failure to live right before God and one another will bring God’s judgment. Thus, God’s people could not expect the joy of his blessings if they continued to fail in their duties to him and to one another. Before God would hold Judah in the balance of judgment, he would grant one last call for repentance. A forerunner would precede the fearsome day of the Lord and herald the coming of God’s kingdom on earth.Key Verses (ESV)
Malachi 1:2–3: "'I have loved you,' says the LORD. But you say, 'How have you loved us?' 'Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?' declares the LORD. 'Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.'” Malachi 1:8: "When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts."Malachi 1:10–11: "Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts."Malachi 1:13: "But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD."Malachi 2:11: "Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god."Malachi 2:16: "For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless."Malachi 3:1: "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; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts."Malachi 3:6: "For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."Malachi 4:1: "For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."Malachi 4:5–6: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."Key Passages (NLT)
Mal 1:1–4:6 This is the message that the Lord gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi. “I have always loved you,” says the Lord. But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?” And the Lord replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob,…Structure & Outline 1
StructureJust as priests would help resolve legal conflicts (Deut 17:8–13), Malachi is mediating a court case between God and the people. The book contains a series of six disputes that have a similar pattern: God speaks, the people question Him, and God delivers a rebuttal. The theme of the first dispute (Mal 1:2–5) is that God loves Israel. When the people ask how He has loved them, He contrasts His unwarranted kindness toward them with His anger toward their neighbors, the Edomites. In the second dispute (Mal 1:6–2:9), God rebukes the priests for failing to honor Him. In the third dispute (Mal 2:10–16), He criticizes His people for being unfaithful to Him and to one another. The theme of the fourth dispute (Mal 2:17–3:5) is that God is just, but the people have acted unjustly. In the fifth dispute (Mal 3:6–12), God speaks against the people for withholding tithes from Him. In the sixth dispute (Mal 3:13–4:3), God draws a distinction between those who speak arrogantly and those who revere Him. Those who revere God will be blessed on the Day of Yahweh. The book ends with a reminder to uphold the law of Moses and a promise that God will send Elijah the prophet before the Day of Yahweh, which is a promised day of judgment and restoration (Mal 4:4–6).Outline • First dispute: against Edom (Mal 1:1–5) • Second dispute: against the priests (Mal 1:6–2:9) • Third dispute: God despises unfaithfulness (Mal 2:10–16) • Fourth dispute: the messenger of Yahweh (Mal 2:17–3:5) • Fifth dispute: withholding tithes (Mal 3:6–12) • Sixth dispute: the Day of Yahweh (Mal 3:13–4:3) • Summary and the prophecy of Elijah to come (Mal 4:4–6)Outline 2
Malachi is the last word of prophecy delivered to Israel prior to 400 years of silence. The next prophet of God will not come until John the Baptist begins proclaiming the arrival of the Messiah. At this point in history, Israel is at the bottom of a long, slow spiritual decline. Earlier books of prophecy, such as Hosea, depict Israel as an unfaithful, but repentant wife. Later, in Ezekiel, Israel's sins have become blatant, and they show no signs of repentance. By the time of Malachi, God's chosen people are spiritually numb. Not only are they faithless and disobedient, they are bitter towards God for their difficult circumstances.Malachi was written while Israel was still under the control of Babylon. They had been allowed to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple. And yet, they were still dominated by a pagan nation. This was also a hard time economically. Rather than seeking God's promises, as given in the Law, Israel is disobedient, bitter, and faithless. And yet, they blame God for their troubles, rather than their own mistakes.Malachi uses a nuanced structure, formed like a series of waves. Modern chapter and verse divisions do not show this arrangement. There are three primary messages, each directed at a particular group. The first is aimed at the priesthood. The second is directed to the men of Israel. The third is for the nation as a whole. Each of these messages is composed of two "oracles," for a total of six. Each pair of oracles is a mirror image of the other, so that themes flow to a major point, then reverse back through those same themes.Each of Malachi's oracles is accompanied by specific accusations. In a unique, conversational style, God charges Israel with some error. Israel, in almost every case, responds with disbelief and doubt. Major allegations include improper sacrifices, rampant divorce, pagan intermarriage, and spiritual irreverence.Malachi's three-fold message focuses on God's faithfulness to Israel, despite their failures. The people cannot disobey God, then rationally blame Him for the consequences of their sins. Regardless of human failure, God promises to send messengers preparing the way for Messiah. The priesthood will be purified, all nations will glorify God, and the wicked will be forever defeated.