Malachi

Malachi 1–2 begin to address several interconnected failures within the postexilic Jewish community.  These failures demanded the people's attention.

The name Malachi means ‘my messenger’ or “the Lord’s messenger.”  The name Malachi could be a generic term for the prophet or the prophet’s specific name.  The writing is dated to 430 BC, about a hundred years after returning from exile.  Haggai and Zechariah ministered during the rebuilding of the temple.   Although they completed the temple, the people had not adopted long-term devotion to the Lord and His ways. 

Malachi deals with the priests and then the people who had shown such willful disobedience to the Lord.  The people's attitude is revealed as a sense of superiority over God.  They dared to question God’s judgment and attempt to bring Him down to their human understanding of their human morality. 

As we read this, we have the opportunity to evaluate our own attitude and probe the depth of our commitment and devotion to the Lord.  Is our worship sincere?  Is there fruit in our life that stands as evidence of our relationship with Him 

In some ways, Malachi prepared Israel for the prophetically silent years to come.  Malachi challenged them to build a relationship of fear, obedience, and devotion to the Lord.  The period of silent years allowed God to orchestrate geopolitical shifts, preserve Jewish identity through diaspora and translation, and position the world for the Messiah’s entrance. Don’t mistake the silence for emptiness.  God was still at work in the world and individual lives.  It was a time pregnant with divine activity, preparing the Jews and the nations for Christ’s arrival.