MALACHI: My Messenger

Feature 2 – December 2013 – Grace & Truth Magazine

MALACHI:
My Messenger

The position Malachi occupies at the very end of the Old Testament is not without significance. His was the final prophetic voice to be heard before a 400 year period of silence began – not to be broken until the words of John the Baptist echoed across Judea signaling the dawn of a new era. The name Malachi means “My Messenger” or “Messenger of Jah.” If this was the name given to him by his parents, it indicates their faith; for in the purposes of God, Malachi was to become His last Old Testament messenger. He is mentioned nowhere else in that part of the Bible.

Life In Those Days
It will be helpful to set the scene for this Old Testament book. The temple in Jerusalem had already been rebuilt (515 BC) and sacrifices were again being offered on its altar after the Babylonian exile. Ezra had ministered, teaching the law of God in Jerusalem (Ezra 7:10). Almost 100 years earlier, two significant prophets had also brought God’s revelation to the people: Haggai and Zechariah.

Like those two servants of God, Malachi also had a contemporary – not a fellow-prophet, but a civil leader. Nehemiah had returned from Persia in 433 BC to be governor in Jerusalem. Therefore, Malachi’s prophecy needs to be read against the background of the book of Nehemiah. Sadly, God’s people had already departed from the ways established by those earlier reformers. The sanctity of the temple was being disregarded (Neh. 13:1-9), the people were being slack in bringing tithes and offerings to the Lord (vv.10-14), the Sabbath was not being observed as it should have been (vv. 15-22) and mixed marriages were taking places among God’s covenant people (vv. 23-27). Malachi appeared into this scene bringing God’s message to a failing people.

It is clearly evident in today’s world that we have departed from God’s ways and His Law has become unpopular. The challenges that Malachi brought to his generation also apply to us. Do we give God what is rightfully His – whether it is money, time or talents? Are we concerned for God’s holy standards and do we allow them to regulate our lives? Do we uphold the sanctity of marriage? Malachi certainly has a timely message.

Straight To The Point
Without any introduction Malachi launches into his attack. He was a man with a “burden” (Mal. 1:1 KJV). The solemnity of the message weighed heavily upon him for he was the bearer of “the word of the LORD.” His opening sentence ought to have kindled a proper response from his hearers. Instead, his audience quickly sought to justify themselves. The word from the Lord, “I have loved you,” deserved a better response than the unthinking reply, “Wherein hast Thou loved us?” (1:2).

Israel only had to look back to Egypt to recall God’s mighty deliverance. Was that not evidence of His love for a wayward people? Today, we can look back to a greater deliverance. Should we ever be tempted to ask for proof of God’s love as they did, we can remember the very fact that “Christ died for us,” fully demonstrating His great love (Rom. 5:8). The cross is our place of safety, for there we learn the profound extent of God’s love and grace – and our own sinful and worthless state. Having this humble view, we will not think of questioning the unfailing love of God.

The people’s initial sharp answer indicated that things were not right. God was not receiving the “honour” and the “fear” that were rightly His, and so once again the priests scolded (Mal. 1:6). How could they, the religious elite, possibly have despised Him? Malachi saw through their feigned ignorance. Their excuse, “The table of the LORD is contemptible” (1:7) betrayed contempt for God Himself. Did they regard the sacrificial altar (which was outside the temple courts) as not being sacred? Was this the reason the people were allowed to bring inferior animals to God for sacrifice – blind, lame or sick creatures? By doing such a thing they were insulting a perfect God who had stated clearly that only animals “without blemish” should be offered to Him (Ex. 12:5).

Before listening to more of Malachi’s scathing attack, we need to apply his message to ourselves. Consider their words: “The table of the LORD is contemptible” (Mal. 1:7). It is all too possible today to become so familiar with “the Lord’s Table” that we approach those times of remembrance with complacency. We cannot partake of the things of heaven and at the same time indulge our fancies in the sinful pleasures of life without provoking the Lord to anger (1 Cor. 10:21-22). That is why we are to examine ourselves before partaking of the bread and wine in memory of our Savior (1 Cor. 11:27-28). Connected with this is the thought of whether we are genuine in giving God what He deserves. Is our worship half-hearted, plain and thoughtless? Do we offer to Him the best or the “left-overs?” And, do we use our strength for our own pleasures or for Him?

A Sovereign God
The people of Jerusalem living in Malachi’s day had clearly lost sight of the sovereignty of God. The LORD their God deserved to “be magnified from the border of Israel” (Mal. 1:5) for:

• He was both their Father and their Master – rightly entitled to respect (1:6).
• He was the true Governor of His people – whom they should seek to please (1:8).
• He had given them His Law (4:4) and would judge them justly (2:1-4; 3:1-5; 4:1).

Yet this same God was the potential Source of all their blessings (3:10) and could preserve them from the coming day of judgment (3:17; 4:2-3).

Although the Church today is not the same as Israel of the Old Testament, the truth of His sovereignty remains unaffected. The Lord Jesus Christ is our “Master” (Mt. 23:10) and we have “one ... Father ... in heaven” (Mt. 23:9). “The peace of God” is to rule in our hearts (Col. 3:15) and we are to honor both the Father and the Son (Jn. 5:23). When we obey His commandments we will know the blessing of the Lord (Jn. 14:15; 15:11-14).

Another Messenger
Malachi introduces another messenger to us. “Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me” (Mal. 3:1). The 400-year period of silence was broken when John the Baptist emerged upon the scene. The Lord Jesus Himself connected Malachi’s prophesy with the ministry of John when He declared, “For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee” (Mt. 11:10). Indeed, John’s cry in the wilderness was to “prepare ye the way of the Lord” (Mt. 3:3). Like Malachi, John commanded God’s professing people to repent in preparation for their King. The Lord Jesus also likened John the Baptist to Elijah of old on two separate occasions (Mt. 11:14, 17:12-13).

And Another
However, a third “Messenger” is also seen in Malachi’s book. The writer of Hebrews tells us that after speaking to our forefathers by the prophets, God has now “spoken unto us by His Son” (Heb. 1:1-2). John the Baptist was in one sense the last of the Old Testament prophets. The era “Before Christ” closed when the voice of John fell silent and people turned to follow the Son of God. That transition is seen in Malachi 3:1, where we read that “the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant.” The four New Testament gospels record those occasions when the ultimate Messenger, through whom God would speak, literally entered the temple at Jerusalem. When He came, Jesus found that same temple defiled by sin and had to exercise His authority to cleanse it from the profiteering that had invaded its sacred courts (Jn. 2:13-16; Mt. 21:12-13).

Although all this happened, we must not imagine that Malachi is a closed book. There are prophecies within its four chapters that have yet to be fulfilled. The Lord’s first coming was in grace for He did not come to judge the world at that time (Jn. 3:17). The language employed in Malachi 3:2-3 takes us to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ: “who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth?” After that precise judgment of evil there will be blessing for a cleansed and forgiven people, for then “the Sun of Righteousness [will] arise with healing in His wings” (4:2).

Curse Or Blessing?
Malachi’s prophecy, as we have seen, is strategically placed. Through His prophet, God pleaded with His people, seeking to restore them to Himself. The formalism displayed by the priests and people in Malachi’s day led to the Pharisaical movement of the New Testament, while unbelief can be linked with the Sadducees. The last word in the sacred text is “curse” (4:6). Contrast this with the concluding benediction of the New Testament in Revelation 22:21: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” What has brought such a change?

The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ has made all the difference! He alone can replace the curse with a blessing. Do we love Him? What place does He have in our hearts? Some, in Malachi’s day, responded and “feared the LORD.” As a result they “spake often one to another.” The Lord took note of their godly desires and recorded their names in His book (3:16). Today we also can bring Him pleasure by fearing Him and sharing His interests with one another. Those with hearts like this are regarded by Him as His “jewels.” We anticipate the happy moment when He will “make up” those jewels (3:17) and come again for His own, just as Malachi prophesied.

By Martin Girard