MALACHI
(Malachi 1:1)
(C3548-3618, 456-386 BC)
The name Malachi, translation of the Hebrew “mal'a¯khi¯” that translates as “my messenger”, does not appear in any other book of the Bible. Some assume that the name of the book is simply a
title describing the function of the author - messenger of the LORD - and not his name.
It is unclear when the prophecy was given, but it is the last book in the Old Testament to be written, and it was around the year 420 BC according to some commentators. The same conditions described were found by Nehemiah when he returned to Jerusalem in his second trip in 432 BC, so the author was possibly a contemporary of Nehemiah (compare Malachi 2:8, 2:10-16, with Nehemiah 13:15; 13:23), having written the prophecy shortly before or after the return of Nehemiah from Persia (Nehemiah 13:6), and certainly after Haggai and Zechariah, because he is not mentioned by Ezra; the construction of the temple had been completed (nothing is mentioned about its reconstruction), the rituals had been reintroduced and the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt.
The prophet urged the people to remember the Law of Moses, which was read in public by Ezra in 444 BC. Texts of the book are mentioned six times in the New Testament, of which five by the Lord Jesus, but its name is not disclosed (Matthew 11:10, 17:12; Mark 1:2, 9:11,12; Luke 1:17; Romans 9:13). According to Jewish tradition the author belonged to the "great synagogue" and was a Levite originating from Supha in the southeast of the Dead Sea.
Malachi records the last call made by the LORD to His people in the Old Testament, pointing to the need for major reforms to prepare the way for the Messiah who would be coming. There were no more prophets to be heard until John the Baptist, four centuries later.
The book paints a sad picture of the chosen people of God at that time, because the spiritual decline had established again. Malachi was a brave and severe writer, committed to draw his people to return to the relationship they had established with the LORD.
Through the book the prophet reminds Israel of the LORD's love for them. The content of the book is divided into four chapters, but consists of three sections, after this introduction. In the Hebrew text chapters 3 and 4 are merged into one.
The first section (Malachi 1:6 - 2:9) is addressed to the priests who had despised the name of the LORD, and had been leaders in a departure from His worship; it contains a stern rebuke to them for this, and for their partiality in administering the law.
The second section (Malachi 2:9-16) is addressed to those among the people who had intermarried with idolatrous Gentiles.
The third section (Malachi 2:17 - 4:6) is addressed to the people as a whole, warning them of the coming of God for judgement, preceded by the advent of the Messiah.
The word of the LORD was a burden (an oracle, a prophecy, a judgement) for Malachi to pass on to Israel. The LORD had not withdrawn His covenant with Israel, nor would He forget the promises that He had made to their patriarchs.
The temple had already been rebuilt a century ago and the people were losing their godliness. There was apathy and disappointment because the encouraging messianic prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Micah had not been fulfilled yet. Many of the sins that had attracted the attention of Nehemiah and Hosea were being practised again. Malachi presents a figurative dialogue between a righteous God and His hardened people.
The LORD appeals to His love for Israel, yet the people say "In what way have You loved us?" They had been blind to the love of God. Heavily involved in the pressures of the day-to-day, they no longer thought about everything that God had done for them in the past.
God recalls how He had preferred their ancestor Jacob to his twin brother Esau (Genesis 25:19-26). Esau was the first to be born, therefore had the birthright, involving the inheritance of his father’s properties, as well as, they thought, the promises of blessing of God to Abraham, passed on to their father, Isaac.
But early on Esau had given little value to spiritual things, while Jacob longed so much for the blessing that he was willing to blackmail his brother and deceive his father in an attempt to inherit it himself.
God took care of the people of Israel in a special way, because He had chosen Jacob, to whom he gave the name of Israel, to be the one from whom would come the nation through which the world would be blessed, as promised to Abraham. Ironically, this people had rejected God several times even though it had been chosen by Him.
The phrase "Esau I have hated" does not mean an implacable hatred against Esau or his eternal destiny. It only means that God chose Jacob, and not his brother Esau, to be the man through whom the nation of God and the Messiah would come (see Romans 9:10-13).
God also allowed Esau to have a nation from his offspring, but this nation, Edom, later became one of the main enemies of the people of Israel, and God punished them because of that. Edom means "red" and the name was given to the people descended from Esau because of red stew which he accepted from Jacob in exchange for his birthright (Genesis 25:30).
The land of Edom stretched from the north of the Gulf of Aqaba just to the south of the Dead Sea (1 Kings 9:26), and belongs to the kingdom of Jordan today. It is a mountainous region, and it still is a wild and hilly area, crossed by fertile valleys. The first inhabitants were the Horites, but they were taken over and mixed with the Edomites (Deuteronomy 2:12). These later refused passage to the Israelites through the land they had conquered (Numbers 20:14-21), and thereafter always maintained an attitude of hostility towards them.
The edomites were defeated and conquered by king David, but they rebelled against his descendant, the evil king Jehoram of Judah, and became independent again. They joined the Chaldeans when Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, and later invaded and took possession of the south in the land of Israel as far as Hebron. But Edom eventually was extinguished under the growing power of the Chaldeans (Jeremiah 27:3,6).
Its ancient capital was known as Bozrah (Isaiah 63:1), and there is a city of that name in that region today. But recently the rocky city of Selah (Isaiah 16:1, Obadiah 1:3), better known now by its Greek name Petra (rock) (2 Kings 14:7) was rediscovered by the western world and has been recognized as the true ancient capital of Edom. It is near the mount Hor, close to the wilderness of Zin, and its destruction had been prophesied.
Its population completely abandoned it in the fifth century AD, and it is now visited by tourists, who marvel at the great city carved into the rocks.
There are many prophecies concerning Edom (Isaiah 34:5,6; Jeremiah 49:7-18; Ezekiel 25:13; 35:1-15; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11; Malachi 1:3,4) that were fulfilled faithfully. The desolation in which that land is found currently is a concrete testimony of God’s inspiration of these prophecies. After an existence through more than seven hundred years as a nation, the Edomites disappeared completely and even their language was forgotten forever.
The book of Malachi is commented upon HERE.