Category: Malachi

Malachi wraps up the Old Testament, and this chapter gives us God’s final words to His people before a period of 400 years of silence began. In the book of Malachi, we see God’s care for His people, God’s complaint against His people, and God’s future coming for His people. The book of Malachi begins with the Lord reminding the people of His love and faithfulness. Despite God’s unfailing love, Israel had over and over again had turned away from God and went their own way. This is the storyline of the Old Testament starting all the way back in the book of Genesis. God created man in His image and within a page of God creating man, man rebelled against Him. Man chose to sin and break a relationship with a good and holy God. Despite that, God promised that a rescuer would come to redeem and restore the broken world. 

Malachi 4 begins telling us the result of the wicked and the result of the righteous. There will be a day where the wicked will not stand in God’s judgment. It says, “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire” (v. 1). In the coming day of the Lord, those who do not fear Him will have no hope. However, there is a promise for the righteous and those who do fear Him. Malachi says, “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays” (v. 2). This is considered by many scholars to be a prophecy of the coming Christ. Jesus’ death and resurrection will bring spiritual healing in the form of salvation and the means to be reconciled back to a holy God. This is the promise of redemption that we see woven throughout the Old Testament. God is coming for His people!

In the concluding words of the Old Testament, the Lord calls them to “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel” (v. 4). This is not only a call to remember the Law but to obey it. This echoes the call throughout Scripture to remember the Word of God. We are to write God’s Word on our hearts, meditate on it day and night, and do everything it commands us to do. There would be 400 years of silence to come where they would not hear from the Lord. They were called to remember His faithfulness in the past as they await the coming Savior. Just as the people in the time of Malachi were looking forward to the hope of the future Messiah, we get to look back on the cross and look forward to His return. We can praise God today that despite our brokenness, He is faithful to heal, redeem, and restore His people back to Himself!

Malachi 3 is full of applicable lessons for us to learn. First, verses 1-6 are prophecies of the two coming “messengers.” Even with Malachi’s name meaning “my messenger,” these verses refer to the prophecies of both John the Baptist and the messenger of the covenant, Jesus Christ. In the first verse, the first messenger is described as “clearing the way”, which points to John the Baptist making the way for Jesus. He spoke with authority to the Jewish people and leaders of that day and prepared them for who was to come. 

The beauty in these prophetic books is the hope it gives to those who hear and believe what these prophets said hundreds of years before Christ. God’s people always had a choice in their response to these prophets, and the same is true for us today. Malachi 3:2-6 describes Christ’s purity and holiness that are offered to us as believers. Verse 6 exclaims God’s faithfulness to His people, reminding us God’s love for us never changes. He is always there. As we allow Him, God will manifest His divine nature within us, and this gives us wholeness, joy, and hope now and forever.

In verses 7-15 God spoke three things to His people. First, “return to me.” Second, “you rob me.” Third, “You have spoken against Me.” As we read in the first part of this chapter, God desired their hearts first above all else and their commitment would show in their lives and their temple practices. God convicted the Israelites of their prosperity and personal well-being superseding the laws of God. They were arrogant and self-centered, losing their awe of God and His law. Further, they were failing in their financial support of the temple. Thirdly, they were not trusting God in their current trials and oppression. 

There is so much in this for us today. We must sincerely and honestly ask these same questions of ourselves and our families. God, are you first in my life above all else? Am I “robbing” You, God, in any way? Am I speaking against you? The best test of this is to look at our calendars to see how we are spending our time, and further, look at our check books on how we are using our God given resources. Finally, are we grumbling rather than doing our part and then trusting in His provision for us?  The conviction of God is good and kind because He offers forgiveness and the way to return. No matter the problem, He will open His arms to us as we repent and return. In Verse 7, God lovingly says, “return to Me and I will return to you.”  

Finally, verses 16-17 show the heart of God for those who love and serve Him. His covenant promise to us is His faithfulness. The Lord listened and heard the cries and hearts of those who responded to the message of Malachi, and our Lord will listen, hear, and respond to our same cries. When Christ returns, we will see the difference between the children of God and those who have turned away. The offerings we bring include our money, our time, and our hearts. May we consider the promises of Malachi 3:10 and trust every word God says.

If you picked up on hints of God’s frustrations reading Malachi 1, in this chapter it is explicitly clear and inescapable. In short, God is frustrated with Israel’s priests and how lightly they are taking the covenants. The Merriam-Webster definition of a covenant is “a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement.” All throughout the Old Testament we see examples of God establishing covenants with His people and when they fall short of their end of the bargain (which happens often), it breaks God’s heart. 

In this chapter, the priests have fallen short of their covenant with God and the covenant of marriage (which is made between a man and woman before God) is being taken too lightly. The priests had stopped living up to their end of God’s expectations (v. 2). David Guzik of the Enduring Word commentary outlines the four characteristics God was looking for the in the priests, all based on the way Levi lived (v. 5-7):

• Reverence
• Knowing God’s word
• Godly character
• Preserving and promoting God’s word: God’s servant

As they fell short of that standard, they caused others to stumble as well (v. 8-9). This passage serves as a reminder to anyone leading in any ministry context that your words, actions, and the living out of your faith can impact others, so it’s vital to live authentically and devoted to Jesus (James 3:1). 

Finally, this chapter ends with a reminder of the importance of the covenant of marriage. God doesn’t like divorce. Unfaithfulness is dishonoring to God, so any time you look outside the of marriage for fulfillment in marriage (physically, emotionally, etc.), you’re dishonoring the covenant of marriage and the heart of God. For those reading that are (or will someday be) married, let’s be reminded today that a marriage that points others to Jesus is a great apologetic to the world around us.

As we read through the opening chapter of Malachi, it is easy to pick up on the tone of God’s message he’s delivering through His prophet. This message, delivered to the former exiles about a hundred years after they returned, followed the messages of Zechariah and Haggai. Malachi, likely alive at the same time as Nehemiah, was there to deliver both a message of correction, but also to remind them of God’s love. 

This passage begins with an opening reminder that God loves (and has loved) Israel all along, dating back to the days of Jacob and Esau (v. 2-5). The story that plays out time and time again throughout the Old Testament is God’s love for Israel, despite His people wandering and returning to their own wants and desires. Knowing the meta-narrative of the Old Testament helps us see just how loving God really is after He had given Israel chance after chance after chance to follow Him. Israel, however, had a hard time seeing it. 

Throughout the rest of this chapter we read of God’s frustrations with how careless and thoughtless worship had become, including amongst the priests themselves (v. 6-14). What’s interesting is that the priests weren’t even aware of it themselves (v. 6) and God had to point out to them that they were sacrificing defiled animals to him, which went against the Levitical law (Leviticus 22:20-23). The priests (and Israel) had drifted into this place of going through the motions and thoughtlessly worshiping the God they claimed to follow. 

God even goes as far as to say that it would be better to shut the temple doors than to keep doing what they had been doing! As we read this today, it’s an excellent reminder for us to not just show up and go through the motions of the Christian life. We can attend worship on Sunday mornings, meet with our Life Groups, and read the Bible each morning, but if we miss the heart of God in the process then we have missed the mark, just like Malachi’s intended audience. Let’s remember today that God wants our hearts and for us to offer our lives as a living sacrifice to Him (Romans 12:1).