Malachi
If I remember, it was from my brother, that I first heard the designation: “Malachi (jokingly pronounced muh-LAH-chee), the Italian prophet!”
Malachi means, “My messenger.” Last in the English Bible, Malachi is also the last of the prophets, just after Haggai and Zechariah, and, possibly, a contemporary of Nehemiah.
Malachi wrote both to rebuke and affirm the struggling post-exile community in Israel.
Here are some of the rebukes: You doubt the Lord’s love! (1:2-5) You bring defective offerings and sacrifices! (1:7-14) You priests do not set your hearts to honor God’s name! (2:1-2) You priests are teaching people to stumble and sin! (2:7-8) You people have been immoral and have broken your marriage vows! (2:10-16) You have robbed God by not bringing him the full tithe! (3:6-12) Malachi is straight-forward and up-front concerning Israel’s sins.
But amidst the rebukes (and, possible, a part of them!) is Malachi’s affirmation: the great “day of the Lord,” promised by so many of the prophets, is coming! It is the “day of his coming,” Malachi says. He asks, “Who can endure it?” because it is also a day of fiery purification, intense cleansing, and judgment (3:1-5). This “day of the Lord” will bring joy to the righteous, as they see “the sun of righteousness rise with healing in its wings,” (4:2) and it will be introduced by the prophet, Elijah! (4:5)
The last word of the Old Testament is a word for men of every age. When Elijah, the forerunner of the Messiah, comes, “he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers;” this will save the land from a curse. Family dissolution is a curse that must be reversed by Christ in every generation.
Speaking of generations, tomorrow, we read the incredible “genealogy of Jesus Christ” at the beginning of Matthew!
The Old Testament is ended; behold, the New!
Your fellow pilgrim through the Bible,
Pastor Gary
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