What makes Malachi special?

Malachi is the last book of the “Scroll of the Twelve” in the Hebrew Bible (and what Christians sometimes call the “Minor Prophets”).

The name “Malachi” means “my messenger.” This may be the name of the author, or it may simply be a description of the author as a “messenger” of God. This is how the word is used in the Hebrew text of Malachi 3.1.

Malachi may have intended to write his book as if he was reporting a legal case in court. His message takes the form of an argument, with charges and responses being traded back and forth between God and the people of Judah.

Why was Malachi written?

In love, God chose the people of Israel to be his precious children. In love, God promised to bless the people if they would obey his commands, which included rules for right living and proper worship. God longed for the people to respond to his love with joyful obedience. But the people kept forgetting that God loved them, so God’s rules and rituals seemed to be hard and demanding. Sacrificial animals had to be “perfect”! Offerings to support worship in the temple were supposed to be “generous”! And a husband’s marriage promises to his wife were meant to last “forever”!

As the people forgot about God’s love, or no longer believed in it, they also lost their desire to keep God’s rules and rituals. The priests and the people simply ignored some of them and were careless about the way they carried out others. Malachi was written to remind the people of God’s love, and to call them back to a joyful obedience to God.

What’s the story behind the scene?

In 586 B.C., Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed by the Babylonians. Many of the leading citizens of Judah were taken as captives to Babylon. In 538 B.C., after the Persians defeated the Babylonians, some of the Israelites who had been taken into captivity returned to Judah and its capital city Jerusalem. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the people to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. They promised that a new day of success and prosperity would follow. The new temple in Jerusalem was completed and dedicated in 515 B.C. But Judah did not gain its independence from Persia, nor did it become prosperous. The Jews, as the people who returned from Babylonia came to be called in this period, remained a small nation and were under the control of more powerful nations (by Persia until around 333 B.C. and thenby Greece until the time of Roman rule in the first century B.C.).

Malachi was probably written around 470-440 B.C., after the rebuilding of the temple and around the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (see Ezra 7.1-25; Neh 1.1-11; 8.1-13). At this time, Judah was under Persian control. Taxes were probably high (1.8), and periods of drought and crop damage caused by locust swarms had brought about famine (3.10-11). Life was difficult. Many people in Judah, including the spiritual leaders, began to question whether the Lord God really was concerned about them. Perhaps they wondered if it made any difference at all if they lived as God expected or worshiped God in the proper way.

How is Malachi constructed?

Malachi is written as a series of questions and responses between God and the people of Israel. The message can only be understood clearly if the reader keeps asking “what is the question?” and “who is speaking now?” Some of the questions are stated clearly in the text, but sometimes the reader has to figure out the questions that prompt Malachi’s messages. The following outline is a general overview of the book:

• Malachi declares God’s love for Israel (1.1-5)
• Unfaithful priests and broken promises (1.6—2.16)
• God promises to judge evil and reward good (2.17—4.6)

Malachi Declares God’s Love for Israel

The people of Israel can find no evidence that God loves them. Malachi reminds them of God’s love by comparing their situation to that of their relatives, the Edomites.

Unfaithful Priests and Broken Promises

The people of Israel have forgotten how to love and honor both God and each other. God questions the priests because they do not make sacrifices in the proper way, and their false teachings are leading people to do sinful things. God also questions those who break their marriage vows.

God Promises To Judge Evil and Reward Good

God’s people see no immediate reward for obeying God and giving generous gifts to support God’s temple. They question God’s concern to do what is right. But Malachi says that God will send a special messenger to destroy evil. God’s slowness to act has been an act of kindness: God is giving the people of Israel another chance. If they will keep his law and give generous offerings they will see God provide “blessing after blessing” (3.10). M alachi concludes with a final reminder of God’s coming judgment. God will trample evil but reward those who obey God’s laws.

Questions about Malachi

1. Some of God’s people doubted God’s love for them (1.2). What did Malachi say to respond to their doubts?

2. What were the priests doing wrong that made God wish that all their acts of worship would stop? (1.6—2.12)

3. What did Malachi say about divorce? (2.14-16) How is marriage like the relationship that the people were to have with God?

4. Keeping promises is an important theme in Malachi. List all references to “prom-ises” that you can find. What promises does God make? How are these promises related to the behavior of God’s people?

5. Choose one passage from Malachi and explain why it is meaningful to you.