THE MINOR PROPHETS

 

The Prophet Malachi

God’s Love Continues Regardless

Lesson #13

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   We have come to the study of our final Minor Prophet, the prophet Malachi.

 

B.   The book has 4 chapters and 55 verses.

 

C.   There are couple of things that make the book unique.

1.    “Of the fifty-five verses in Malachi, forty-seven are spoken by God, the highest portion of the prophets” (Talk Thru the Old Testament, Wilkinson & Boa, 297).

2.    We often read in the prophets these words:  “Thus saith the Lord.”  In the book of Malachi, we hear these words:  “But ye say,” referring to the words of the people of Israel.  Words like this are found twelve times in the prophecy (1:2, 6, 7, 12, 13, 2:14, 17; 3:7, 8, 13, 14).

3.    Malachi uses an interesting dialectic style not used by the other prophets.

a.    The style of the prophet:

1)    An accusation

2)    An interrogation

3)    The refutation

b.    The seven controversies or debates:

1)    “Wherein hast thou loved us?” (Mal. 1:2-3).

2)    “Wherein have we despised thy name?” (Mal. 1:6).

3)    “Wherein have we polluted thee?” (Mal. 1:7; 2:10-16).

4)    “Wherein have we wearied thee with our words?” (Mal. 2:17).

5)    “Wherein shall we return to the Lord?” (Mal. 3:7).

6)    “Wherein have we robbed thee?” (Mal. 3:8).

7)    “What have we spoken against thee?” (Mal. 3:13).

 

D.   Outlines of the book:

 

 

i.             A Message of God’s Love (1:1-5)

ii.            A Message of Rebuke (1:6-2:17)

iii.          A Message of Hope (3:1-4:6)

 

i.             The Privilege of the Nation (1:1-5)

ii.            The Pollution of the Nation (1:6-3:15)

iii.          The Promise to the Nation (3:16-4:16)

 

E.   Some interesting passages from the book:

1.    “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?  saith the Lord:  yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau…” (Mal. 1:2-3).

2.    “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles…” (Mal. 1:11).

3.    “…for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen” (Mal. 1:14).

4.    “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth:  for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts” (Mal. 2:7).

5.    “For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away…” (Mal. 2:16).

6.    “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me…” (Mal. 3:1).

7.    “For I am the Lord, I change not…” (Mal. 3:6).

8.    “…Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of host” (Mal. 3:7).

9.    “Will a man rob God?  Yet ye have robbed me.  But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?  In tithes and offerings” (Mal. 3:8).

10. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Mal. 3:10).

11. “…and in a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and thought upon his name” (Mal. 3:16).

12. “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels…” (Mal. 3:17).

13. “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…” (Mal. 3:2).

14. “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant…” (Mal. 3:4).

15. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Mal. 3:5).

 

F.    Let’s get into an overview of this final book of the Old Testament.

 

I.             THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

 

A.   The author is named in Malachi 1:1.

 

The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.

 

B.   This is the only reference we have of this prophet.  “Nothing is known of Malachi (not even his father’s name), but a Jewish tradition says that ye was a member of the Great Synagogue…” (Wilkinson & Boa, 295).

 

C.   His name means “my messenger” or “messenger of the Lord.”

1.    There are some who believe that Malachi 1:1 should be translated:  “The burden of the word of the to Israel by my messenger.”  In other words, they believe that the words are not a proper name.  Thus, the writer of the book is anonymous.

2.    By the second century A.D., Malachi had been accepted as a proper name.

a.    The Jews always believed it was a proper name.

b.    If it is not a proper name, it is the only book of the Minor Prophets that is anonymous.

 

D.   There are three messengers noted in the book of Malachi.

1.    Malachi himself was a messenger of God.

2.    The priests are referred to as messengers (Mal. 2:7).

3.    The Messiah is called “the messenger of the covenant” in Malachi 3:1.

 

E.   Once again, we are reminded that the book really comes from God:  “The burden of the word of the Lord…” (Mal. 1:1).

 

II.           THE RECIPIENTS OF THE BOOK

 

A.   The recipients of the book are descendants of the Jews who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity (Mal. 1:1).

 

The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel…

 

B.   Almost 100 years have past since the remnant of Israel was allowed to return.

 

C.   The people had been blessed by God:  Jerusalem, the temple, the restoration of the priesthood and sacrifices.

 

D.   However, the promised Messiah had not come.  It appears the people were growing tired of waiting.  Too, they began to doubt the promises of God. 

1.    “They had lost the spiritual fervor of their forefathers and both priests and people had backslidden.  It was a day of moral and social decline” (A Popular Survey of the Old Testament, Geisler, 297).

2.    “He speaks of their religious decline, their social debasement, and their moral defection, and of their material dissipation” (Geisler, 298).

3.    In the book, The Living Messages of the Books of the Old Testament, brother Lindsey D. Warren discusses the sins of the priests and of the people in some detail.

 

III.         THE DATE OF THE BOOK

 

A.   As you read through this book and compare it with the book of Nehemiah, they each address similar concerns.

1.    Corrupt priests (1:6; 2:8…Neh. 13:1-9)

2.    Neglect of tithes and offerings (3:7-12…Neh. 13:10-13)

3.    Interracial marriages with pagan wives (2:10-16; Neh. 13:23-28)

 

B.   A brief chronology:

1.    536 B.C. – The Jews returned to Jerusalem.

2.    520 B.C. – The prophets Haggai and Zechariah prophesied.

3.    516 B.C. – The temple was rebuilt.

4.    444 B.C. – Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall of the city. (NOTE:  It had been 92 years since Israel returned to Jerusalem and the walls and gates of Jerusalem had not been erected, See Neh. 1:3).

5.    432 B.C – Nehemiah returned to Persia

6.    425 B.C. – Nehemiah comes back to Jerusalem and addresses the problems

 

C.   Since the problems that Nehemiah addressed when he returned to Jerusalem are the same as those addressed by Malachi, most believe that he prophesied sometime between 432 B.C. and 425 B.C. while Nehemiah was away in Persia.

 

IV.         THE THEME OF THE BOOK

 

A.   God’s Love Continues Regardless

 

B.   The book opens with this statement:  “I have loved you, saith the Lord” (Mal. 1:2).

 

C.   The nation of Israel had come to doubt God’s love for them.  Thus, they asked:  “Wherein hast thou loved us?” (Mal. 1:2).  This doubt caused the nation to sink into disrespect for God, neglect and mistreatment of spiritual things, and all kinds of sins.

1.    The doubted God’s love (Mal. 1:2).

2.    They dishonored God (Mal. 1:6)

3.    They offered polluted bread on the Lord’s altar (Mal. 1:7-8)

4.    They took no joy in worship (Mal. 1:12-13)

5.    The priests caused many to stumble at God’s law (Mal. 2:8).

6.    The priests were partial in the law (Mal. 2:9).

7.    The people married the daughters of strange gods (Mal. 2:11).

8.    They dealt treacherously with their wives by divorcing them (Mal. 2:14-16)

9.    They charged the Lord falsely (Mal. 2:17).

10. Malachi 3:5

 

And I will come near to you in judgment; and I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, and against adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord.

 

11. They turned from the ordinances of the Lord (Mal. 3:7)

12. They robbed God in tithes and offerings (Mal. 3:8-9).

13. They claimed it was vain to serve God (Mal. 3:14).

 

D.   Regardless of the sins committed by Israel, God was going to fulfill His covenant promises.

1.    After the prophecy of Malachi, it would be over 400 years before the voice of a prophet would be heard again in Israel.

2.    In the book of Malachi, there is the promise one who will come to prepare Israel for the Messiah.

a.    Malachi 3:1a

 

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me…

 

b.    Malachi 3:5-6

 

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:  and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

 

V.           THE KEY VERSE

 

A.   Malachi 1:2

 

I have loved you, saith the Lord, Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou love us?  Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?  saith the Lord, yet I loved Jacob.

 

B.   Jacob and Esau were twins.

1.    Esau became corrupt and God destroyed that nation (Mal. 1:3-4).

2.    Jacob, however, continued.  They had sinned.  God had punished them.  Then, He restored them to the land of Canaan.

3.    God’s faithfulness to His covenant proved His deep and abiding love for Israel.

 

VI.         CHRIST IN THE BOOK

 

A.   The messenger of the covenant (Mal. 3:1)

 

…and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:  behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

 

B.   The refiner’s fire (Mal. 3:2-3)

 

…for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap:  and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver:  and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

 

C.   The Sun of righteousness (Mal. 4:2)

 

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   A comparison between the Old Testament and New Testament.

1.    The first OT book ends with a coffin (Gen. 50:26).

The last OT book ends with a curse (Mal. 4:6).

2.    The first NT book ends with resurrection (Matt. 28:5-6)

The last NT book ends with a blessing and grace (Rev. 22:14, 21).

 

B.   When the New Testament opens, the nation of Israel is immediately reminded of the last prophet of the Old Testament (Matt. 3:1-6).

 

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye:  for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  For this is that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.  Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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