Malachi Pt. 1 An Introduction

Good morning to each one of you.

Thank you for your desire to learn more about God's Word by reading the studies each day. I have one simple goal for this blog: to carefully and accurately teach what God says and to better understand what God is saying and how it may apply in our lives as believers. I am not here for any other reason except to share truth that builds up the faith of God's people. 

In our last Post, we reached the end of John 12. It will take quite a bit more time to study all the way through John's gospel, so I am pausing for a while like we did previously. This will help us digest what we have learned and allow me to introduce some new studies for a while. 

We will return to John's gospel at a later date. 

Today, I want to go through the last book of the Old Testament with you, which is the book of Malachi. After his prophecy from God, Israel entered a period of 400 silent years where there was no revelation from God and no more prophets. 

I see several parallels between the spiritual conditions of Malachi's time and the present time that we live in. Perhaps those of you living in other parts of the world are also seeing similar troubling trends in the church. 

Introduction to the book.

Malachi 1:1  The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. 

The first verse of Malachi sets the tone for all the things that will follow. This is a book about a prophecy announcing a "burden" from God's Word through the prophet that was to land squarely upon Israel.

God had a justifiable dispute with Israel.

We have spoken about the word translated "burden" before. It is from the Hebrew word "massa" and it refers to a heavy, weighty load that must be carried, in this case by Israel. There are at least 27 places in the Prophets where this same word introduces a sure threat of divine judgment for Israel's sins. (See Isaiah 13:1; 15:1; Nahum 1:1 & Habakkuk 1:1 as examples).

Malachi's prophecy is a "burden" that establishes a sober sense of deepening anxiety and foreboding throughout the book.  Judgment from God always follows the announcement of a "burden."

Meaning of Malachi's name.

The name "Malachi" means "my messenger" and from the text it is clear that Malachi is a messenger who spoke for Jehovah. Malachi tells us nothing about his personal history or who his parents were. Like the prophet Elijah, he suddenly appeared on the scene to deliver a powerful message from Jehovah to close out the Old Testament. It is helpful to remember that the name "Israel" means "God prevails" and this message was communicated to the nation by Malachi. 

Jehovah is speaking to His people.

The phrase "the word of the LORD" is used often in the Old Testament (245 times) to remind us who is speaking to us. In this book the burden is from Jehovah. In particular, the book focuses upon Jehovah as the promise keeping and covenant keeping God. 

We will see that the phrase "saith the LORD" is used 25 times in the book of Malachi. The book is only 55 verses in length and has a heavy emphasis upon what Jehovah said to His people through Malachi. God sought to gain their attention by including consistent reminders that He is speaking to His people and His people need to listen and obey. 

Thus, we will see that the burden God gave Malachi to proclaim exposed severe problems in the covenant relationship between Jehovah and His people, Israel. Things were not right because God's covenant people were not living in the manner that they should. We know that Jehovah always keeps His word and He is always faithful; therefore, the problems Malachi addressed were a result of Israel's unfaithfulness to Jehovah.

When was Malachi written? 

The text indicates that Malachi ministered sometime after the King Cyrus gave a decree for the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and city. The conditions described are similar to those encountered by Ezra and Nehemiah which means it was written around 450 to 430 B.C.

Jehovah's covenant people drifted away. 

Malachi gave us a glimpse into the heart of God's people at the closing of the Old Testament. There were the chosen people of God and Abraham's descendants. They were custodians of the Holy Scriptures and their role was to bless all the nations of the world by teaching them about the One,True God and to maintain the right worship of Jehovah. 

Yet, we have studied enough Old Testament together to know that the Jewish people often strayed from God and fell into idolatry. Other times they were rebellious against God. In all cases God sent prophets to call them back to repentance in order that He might restore their relationship. 

Israel's priests were corrupt in their faith and practice and this led to apathy and spiritual lethargy among the people. The people blamed God for the difficulties that they faced instead of confessing their sins. They even questioned whether God even loved them. 

Malachi was given a strong message where God put His finger on each issue of sin that the people needed to take action and make corrections. 

Jehovah's heart was that they turn from sin and embrace their God.

Proverbs 1:23-25  Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 24)  Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25)  But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 

This text from Proverbs summarizes God's heart toward His people in all ages. He promises to hear when we repent of sin and turn back to Him. He promises to pour out His Spirit to give us understanding of His Word. The problem in King Solomon's day, in the days of Malachi and even in our time is that the people of God refused(refuse) to turn from sin and return to Him. Rather, God's people disregarded the Word of God just as they are doing today. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

As we begin to study this book I think a most relevant question for us to think about is this one. Do we have trouble consistently following God? Do we struggle to obey God?  

These are age old questions but they get at the issues and struggles in our heart. Our challenges begin when we decide to sit on the throne of our heart instead of allowing Christ to sit as King over our life. 

Barna Research Group surveyed more than 100,000 young people from the Millennial and Generation Z age groups. Their top three priorities were almost identical: Finish education, begin career and become financially independent. Such trends may be noted in other nations as well. 

Knowing God, submitting to His authority and learning His word are the priorities that have eternal consequences. Nothing satisfies the emptiness in someone's heart except knowing Jesus Christ as Savior. 

Malachi points out the specific problem areas but he also holds out hope for those who will hear and heed what God said. I trust and pray that this will be the response each of us will have toward our gracious, loving Father.

Bob