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Book 39 of 39 · Minor Prophets

Malachi

My Messenger
Narrated book coming soon

Overview

Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament in the Christian ordering and the last of the twelve Minor Prophets. "Malachi" means "my messenger". It may be the prophet's personal name or a title drawn from 3:1 ("Behold, I will send my messenger"); nothing else is known about him.

The book is not dated, but its setting is clear. The temple has been rebuilt and sacrifices are offered (1:7–10), Judah is ruled by a Persian "governor" (1:8), and the problems it addresses (careless priests, marriage to foreign worshippers, unpaid tithes) match those Nehemiah faced. Most date it to about 460–430 BC, a few generations after Haggai and Zechariah. The great promises of restoration seemed unfulfilled, and the people had grown cynical and spiritually tired.

Malachi is written as a series of six disputes. God makes a statement, the people object ("Yet ye say, Wherein...?"), and God answers. Structure: God's love (1:1–5); the priests' contempt (1:6–2:9); faithlessness in marriage (2:10–16); the coming day of judgement (2:17–3:6); robbing God (3:7–12); the vindication of the faithful (3:13–4:3); closing appeal and promise of Elijah (4:4–6). (In Hebrew Bibles chapter 4 is counted as 3:19–24.)

Part 1 — "I Have Loved You" (chapter 1:1–5)

God's love questioned (1:2–5). "I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?" God points to the brothers Jacob and Esau: "I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau." The language is covenant language of choosing rather than emotion. Edom, Esau's nation, lies waste and will not be rebuilt, while Israel has been restored. "The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel."

Part 2 — Priests Who Despise God's Name (chapters 1:6–2:9)

Where is my honour? (1:6–10). "A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour?" The priests ask, "Wherein have we despised thy name?" They offer "polluted bread" and bring blind, lame and sick animals. "Offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee?" God wishes someone would shut the temple doors rather than light his altar in vain.

Great among the nations (1:11–14). "From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering." Yet the priests sniff at the altar and say, "What a weariness is it!" "I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts."

The covenant with Levi (2:1–9). God warns the priests that he will curse their blessings. He recalls his covenant of "life and peace" with Levi: "The law of truth was in his mouth... he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. For the priest's lips should keep knowledge... for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts." These priests have turned aside, caused many to stumble, and shown partiality in the law.

Part 3 — Faithlessness in Marriage (chapter 2:10–16)

One Father (2:10–12). "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?" Judah has "married the daughter of a strange god", joining with worshippers of other gods.

The wife of your youth (2:13–16). The people cover the altar "with tears, with weeping" and ask why God no longer accepts their offerings. "Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant." God seeks "a godly seed". "For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away." "Take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously."

Part 4 — The Messenger and the Refiner (chapters 2:17–3:6)

Where is the God of judgement? (2:17). "Ye have wearied the LORD with your words." The people say that evildoers are good in God's sight, and ask, "Where is the God of judgment?"

My messenger (3:1). "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." The Gospels apply this verse to John the Baptist (Mark 1:2; Matthew 11:10).

Refiner's fire (3:2–6). "But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap." He will purify the sons of Levi "as gold and silver", so their offerings will please him again. He will be "a swift witness" against sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers, and those who oppress the hired worker, the widow, the fatherless and the stranger. "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."

Part 5 — Robbing God (chapter 3:7–12)

Return to me (3:7). "Return unto me, and I will return unto you." "But ye said, Wherein shall we return?" Tithes and offerings (3:8–12). "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me... In tithes and offerings." The nation is under a curse. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith... if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing." God will rebuke the devourer, and all nations will call them blessed, "a delightsome land".

Part 6 — The Faithful Remembered (chapters 3:13–4:3)

"It is vain to serve God" (3:13–15). The people complain that keeping God's charge brings no profit; the proud are happy and the wicked prosper. The book of remembrance (3:16–18). "Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him." "They shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." Then the difference between righteous and wicked will be plain. The day like an oven (4:1–3). "The day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud... shall be stubble." "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall."

Part 7 — Remember Moses, Expect Elijah (chapter 4:4–6)

The law (4:4). "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb." Elijah (4:5–6). "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

Key themes, and the close of the Old Testament

  • God's steadfast love. The book opens with "I have loved you" and rests on "I change not".
  • Wholehearted worship. God deserves the best, not leftovers; careless worship despises his name.
  • Covenant faithfulness. Priests, husbands and the whole people are called to keep faith with God and one another.
  • Justice. God will judge those who oppress the vulnerable.
  • The faithful remnant. God hears those who fear him and keeps a book of remembrance for them.
  • The coming messenger. The book looks forward to a messenger who prepares the way, the Lord's sudden coming to his temple, and Elijah's return.

Malachi ends with a promise rather than a resolution. After him, no further prophetic book was added to the Hebrew scriptures, and roughly four centuries followed in which Judah passed from Persian to Greek to Roman rule. The faithful kept the law and waited. In Jewish tradition Elijah is still awaited, and a cup is set for him at the Passover table. In the Christian Bible the next pages, the Gospels, open with "a voice crying in the wilderness" and present John the Baptist as the messenger Malachi foretold. Either way, the Old Testament closes looking forward: "the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple."