Malachi means “Messenger of the Lord” or “My Messenger.” Malachi prophesied somewhere around 445 BC and 425 BC. He is thought to have lived a hundred years after Zechariah.
During the time of Malachi, God’s people had just been restored to Jerusalem and they were in the process of having the temples and walls reconstructed to their former glory.
As most humans do, the people of Malachi’s time had fallen victim to sin. They had become selfish and careless in their ways and turned away from God. Their doubts and discouragement of God’s power led them to become suspicious of Him.
This, in turn, led them to neglect and abuse His glory. Not only were the everyday people living in sin against the Lord, but the priests were also living in rebellion against God.
Malachi, the Prophet
Malachi came in as the last Old Testament prophet. His purpose was to warn and rebuke God’s people for dismissing and turning away from God.
Malachi’s purpose was to bring a revival back to the people and enlighten them with the Holy Spirit through God. Through the Book of Malachi, we see how Malachi acts and works as God’s messenger (Malachi 2:17-4:6).
From these passages of the Bible, we are told that God will judge His people and that His Messenger will distinguish the righteous from the wicked, which is what Malachi did throughout his time as a prophet.
The history of the prophet Malachi is unknown. According to research, it is highly probable that Malachi was a contemporary of Nehemiah. It is believed that Malachi’s prophecy was delivered while Nehemiah was a second-time governor of the Jews.
The Book of Malachi appropriately closes the Old Testament, and it is the last honest words of the prophetic Spirit under the earlier covenant made with God.
The voice of prophecy was not heard again until the messenger (John the Baptist) of the Messiah predicted the second volume of revelation.
The priests of Malachi’s time were worldly and abusive to God’s commands. Malachi was told by God to try to save the people and priests in order for their lineage and lands to be restored.
Malachi was to invite the priests and people to transition into reformation by God’s blessings and promises. If the priests and people refused, God would put a wrath of awful turmoil on them.
Similar to other prophets of the Old Testament, if the people of Israel listened to God, He would spare His wrath from coming upon them; however, if they refused to turn back to Him, He would bring wrath upon their land.
The Distinct Parts of the Book of Malachi
Even in Malachi’s way of writing, we can still separate the book into three distinct parts. In the first part of the book, the mind of God is loving, fatherly, and pitiful towards mankind.
In the second part of the book, God is viewed as the only God and Father. In the third and last distinct part of the Book of Malachi, God’s mind is set on the final and justified decision of His people. He will judge them, and His decision will be just.
Moreover, the prophet Malachi contrasts the state of Judah with that of Edom which then was left for waste. This showed how illogical the faint murmurs of the Jews were against God, as though He loved them not at all.
Malachi then moves forward to reprimand the people and the priests for their abandonment of God’s commandments.
He also reprimands them by reminding the priests of the grace given to them as their original appointment of becoming priests to serve the Lord. Malachi even goes as far as to threaten them with God’s punishment and shame.
Malachi tells the priests and people that God will inflict a curse upon them unless they repent and change their ways. The people of Israel and the priests were committing sins with no shame. Malachi shows disapproval of intermarriage with foreign strangers, and he also rebukes divorce.
It should be noted that there is nothing wrong with intercultural marriage as this is not what Malachi is referring to in this book of the Bible.
Rather, he was telling the people of Israel that they did not need to marry foreign wives because they served false gods, which would, in turn, cause them to reject the true God.
Malachi had great importance to his prophecies, and he prophesied the coming of the Messiah and his predecessor, John the Baptist. The whole plan by God for prophets was that they were His witnesses to Israel, witnesses against wicked evildoers, and witnesses of righteousness and faith.
God chose His prophets carefully and for a great purpose. Malachi brings forth prophecy of the coming days, leading up to the Messiah.
He was a very courageous prophet and even dared to defy the priests of his time, even though they were ranked as closest to God through the appointment of judges.
Despite these judges being declared “closest” to God, Malachi knew their hearts were far from Him. Instead of following God, the priests became wicked and rejected God.
They did not have any desire to follow the Lord nor to serve Him. They wanted to follow after the evil practices of the world and in so doing, desecrate the name of the Lord.
In this way, we can see that Malachi was not afraid to address the sin of his day because he truly knew the Lord and rightfully condemned the people of their evil practices.
The Purpose and Authorship of the Book of Malachi
The whole purpose of Malachi as the last prophet of the Old Testament was to symbolize salvation to come. The Book of Malachi is written by the prophet Malachi himself.
There are other theories that state Malachi was written by the writer Joshua Ben Sira; whereas other theories believe Ezra the prophet wrote this book of the Bible.
Concerning the theory that Joshua Ben Sira wrote Malachi, it was believed Malachi was included in his overall main book, formerly known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus, commonly known as Sirach.
Joshua ben Sira was a Jewish scribe, who taught and established a school in Egypt. Despite this view, it is not in agreement with the Bible or history.
Other scholars believe that Malachi was written by Ezra, which is contrary given that Ezra was a priest. Upon reading the Book of Malachi, we see that neither Joshua Ben Sira nor Ezra wrote the Book of Malachi.
The Bible clearly tells us that Malachi wrote the Book of Malachi himself (Malachi 1:1). Thus, it is best to acknowledge the authorship of this book of the Bible to Malachi.
Over the chapters in the Book of Malachi, we can draw out the key purposes that the author wants to convey.
The first is the promise of the coming Messiah (Jesus) and his forerunner (John the Baptist), the reproof to Jews for their corrupting of God’s decrees, a detailed description of the wicked who speak against God, and finally, a detailed description of those who turn to righteousness to witness the glory of our Father.
At the end of Malachi, it sets up the beginning of a new life, the new life of the Messiah. The time period between Malachi to Matthew is the course of 400 years with no documentation. Malachi is a key biblical figure for building up to the grand subject of the New Testament, who is Jesus.
For further reading:
What Are Prophets in the Bible?
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