MALACHI: The Last Word

Feature 1 – December 2013 – Grace & Truth Magazine

MALACHI:
The Last Word – An Overview

Last words are always important. The last words to a son or daughter before he or she leaves for college, to troops before they go into battle, or from a dying parent may be remembered for years. The last words of many are recorded in God’s Word, and they are quite significant. Consider these examples: Jacob’s blessing of his sons in Genesis 49 (note the far-reaching blessing that referred to the Messiah in verse 10); the last addresses that Moses gave to the Israelites during the final months of his life, recorded in Deuteronomy; and the very significant last words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to His disciples in John 13-16. The last words of the Old Testament, contained in the book of Malachi and very pertinent to the people of his day, are still applicable today.

The Setting
It is important to understand the setting or context of the writers (or books) of Scripture because it gives relevance, insight and application to God’s Word. The following points regarding the particular setting of Malachi could prove helpful in a deeper study of the book:

• Malachi’s prophecy was after the Exile, when the Jews had returned to their own land. The approximate date of this prophecy covered 450-400 BC.
• The conditions described in Malachi most likely apply to the period after the rebuilding of the temple during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, probably about 100 years after the first exiles had returned from Babylon. Thus the rebuilding of the temple had been completed and sacrifices were being offered.

The Message
It might be helpful to get the big picture of the overall message of Malachi to better understand its detailed study:

• The enthusiasm that had marked the return of the Jews to Jerusalem a century before was no longer evident; they were discouraged. Crops were very bad because of a drought. They had expected an age of prosperity but it had not come. Did God care?
• It was also a time of spiritual decline when the Jewish religion had degenerated to mere formality.
• The prophet Malachi was appalled at the religious coldness and social laxity of the nation. He spoke as a reformer – calling the people to repentance.
• Malachi emphasized the covenant relationship which existed between God and the nation. He called on the people to fulfill their obligations under the covenant. He accused them of having robbed God!
• The book is largely in the form of a dialogue between God and the people – God’s confronting the various skeptical statements made by Israel.

The Messenger
Nothing is known about Malachi outside of his book. His name means “my angel” or “my messenger.” The word “messenger” occurs three times in this short book and refers to the priests of the Lord (Mal. 2:7), John the Baptist (3:1a), and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (3:1b). The Lord used Malachi to focus attention on God’s special messages.

Malachi represents the end of an era. The 400 years following are known as “the silent years” during which no prophet spoke or wrote. Malachi is the bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The literary style is unique: Malachi made accusations, raised the people’s objections, and then refuted those objections in great detail. He used the question-and-answer method. At least 23 questions are asked in the book.

The Application
Important principles from this book can help us when we are tempted to drift from God, as people of any age can easily do. Indifferent and unconcerned, they grow hardened against God.

First and foremost, we need to realize that God loves us even when we sin. Of course God hates sin, but He continues to love the sinner and has given man His remedy for sin in the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Another important principle is that God always demands the best, not the “blemished” things of life. When the Jewish people offered defiled animals, the Lord said, “I am not pleased with you” (1:10). In all we do and say, we need to give God the best and do our utmost to please Him.

How we spend our money often shows our true priorities. God confronts Israel for misusing their funds. Regarding their tithes and offerings, He said, “Yet you are robbing Me!” (3:8 NASB). Putting God first in our financial matters provides tangible evidence that He is also first in our lives.

The Conclusion
These last words of complaint and condemnation would linger for more than 400 years. The New Testament begins where the Old Testament leaves off. It speaks of the blessings found in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. That’s why we need both the Old and New Testaments – why the Bible is one complete book. And that’s why we need to put our faith and trust in the One who came to save man from his hopelessness. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (Jn. 14:6).

By Ray Miller

Wherein have we despised thy name? He tells them, “You despise my name.” The response to this charge brings out a characteristic of all of Malachi. “Wherein,” they say, “have we despised thy name?” (see Mal. 1:2,6-7; 3:7-8,13 KJV). Not only were they pursuing a course of forgetfulness of God and dishonoring His name in all that they did, but, what was still worse is that they were also ignorant of their actual condition. Hence in reply to the charges brought against them, they say, almost in surprise, “Wherein” have we done this or that? The counterpart of this may be seen in every age. Together with declension, spiritual perceptions grow ever more feeble while keeping up, diligently and zealously, the outward forms of religion.

Souls are astonished if their attention is directed to their state. “An evil prophet,” they say; “he takes a gloomy view of things; it is not well to be occupied with evil. Are we not the Lord’s people? Ah! he should see us as the Lord sees us, and then he would look more constantly on to the time when the Church will be presented to Christ in all her spotless beauty and glory.” But the work of a prophet is to deal with the state of the people and to set their consciences in exercise in the presence of God; to cry with Paul, “I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2 KJV).
By Edward Dennett (adapted)