Pilgrim Traveller

Malachi is the last of the Old Testament prophets, but he’s not God’s last word to the human race.

Read: Malachi 3: 1-4 and 16-18

About 100 years have passed since the return from Exile and worship has been going on in the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem for some time. Malachi, whose name simply means the messenger, is prophesying to the people in this context. The book begins with Malachi’s reminding the people just how much God loves them, but the people are not convinced. Despite being back in the land and having rebuilt the Temple, many of God’s promises through the earlier prophets have not been fulfilled. Israel is still under the rule of Persia and the Messiah has not come.

Through a series of disputes, God demonstrates to the people that the fault is on their side, not his. In many ways, they are the same old Israel, constantly returning to the sins and unfaithfulness of the past.

In the first two chapters God focusses on the ways they have broken the Covenant, the solemn agreement between them and God that goes back to the Exodus and Mount Sinai.

Insincere worship, a corrupt and negligent priesthood (the Levites), unfaithfulness in marriage, and growing injustice are all symptoms of a wayward people and a broken Covenant.

So, once again God promises that he will come in person to sort things out, and it will be a tough time for all those who are unfaithful to him. God will put them on trial, and it will be like coming through fire as the people are purified and refined.

Before he comes, God says, he will send another messenger (a play on Malachi’s name) to prepare the way for him, an echo of the prophecy of Isaiah 40: 3-5:

“Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!

[4] Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places.

[5] Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!”

There’ll be more about the future of Israel and the coming messenger in the next episode.

In the meantime, Malachi is God’s last word to the people, and like all the prophets before him the people continue to ignore the message as God reaches out in love. Something better is needed…God’s final word…Jesus.

“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. [2] And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. [3] The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honour at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.” Hebrews 1: 1-3 NLT

Am I being faithful to God in every area of my life? Where do I need the Holy Spirit to teach me faithfulness? Ask God to give you the desire to live his way in all things.