Introduction

We know nothing about the prophet Malachi other than what is revealed in the book itself. Malachi is a shortened version of the name ‘Mal`akiy’, meaning ‘the messenger of the Lord.’ Malachi’s name defines the nature of his prophecy in reference to the messenger of the Lord that would be sent before the coming of the Messiah. In fact, the word ‘messenger’ refers to three different individuals in the book.

1. The word ‘messenger’ refers to Malachi himself as the messenger who delivered this message to Israel.

2. The word ‘messenger’ refers to John the Baptist as the messenger who would announce the coming of the Messiah.

3. The word ‘messenger’ refers to the Messiah as the immediate messenger of God.

Malachi is like the apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost, he’s a ready, aim, fire kind of man, Malachi was direct in his approach and had a no-nonsense approach in telling God’s people where they are going wrong. Oh, how the world can do with more people like him today!

THE DATE

We know the book was written to those who had returned from the captivity in 536 B.C. and were offering sacrifices at the altar, Malachi 1:7-10. Since the people were under a governor, Malachi 1:8, the audience Malachi addressed would have been living while Palestine was still under Medo-Persian control.

Some of the priests were setting the wrong example by marrying foreign women, Malachi 2:11, which was a problem that existed during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. And so, with all this internal and external evidence, we can safely come to the conclusion that the Book of Malachi was written sometime during the fifth century B.C. when this problem was prevalent among those who returned from captivity.

BACKGROUND TO THE BOOK

During the middle or latter part of the fifth century, the Near East was still controlled by the Medo-Persian Empire under Artaxerxes, 465-425 B.C. However, the expansion of the Persians to the east was upset by the Greeks. The Greeks dealt a stinging blow of defeat to the Persians at the battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. In 480 B.C., the Greeks made a heroic stand against the Persians at Thermopylae. And then Xerxes was defeated at Plataea in 479 B.C. With these major defeats of the Persians, the Greeks were beginning to rise as the third world empire of the prophecies of Daniel 2, and Daniel 7.

The initial exiles returned in 536 B.C. led by Zerubbabel, to reclaim their homeland possessions in the land of Palestine. Both Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the people to rebuild the temple, which was eventually rebuilt between 520 and 515 B.C. Ezra then rose up and told the people how to live properly and worship according to the Law of God.

In 444 B.C. Nehemiah, who was appointed governor of the land, led another group of exiles from the land of their former captors and encouraged them to start rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. In 432 B.C. Nehemiah made a second visit to Jerusalem. Since Malachi doesn’t mention Nehemiah, we would conclude that his ministry took place before the arrival of Nehemiah, possibly between 460 and 450 B.C.

THE CULTURE AND ECONOMICS OF THE PEOPLE

It was a time when the ceremonies of the Law were ceremonially offered by a heartless people, they were just going through the motions. They offered animals that weren’t fit to be offered to God, Malachi 1:8. The priests were neglecting their duties, Malachi 2:7-8. There was intermarriage with foreign women, Malachi 2:11, and it was a time when the people were struggling, so, they complained that God had blessed the nations around them but had ignored them.

The good news is that they seemed to learn from their history the lesson about idolatry, in fact, they never committed idolatry again after their captivity experience but this was a lesson they had to learn the hard way. As to why they were taken into captivity for seventy years, Israel had apparently failed to observe the land’s one-year-in-seven sabbath for four-hundred and ninety years, so the term of the Babylonian captivity was set at seventy years to make up the deficit, Leviticus 25:4 / 2 Chronicles 36:21 / Jeremiah 25:11.

Malachi’s message was against those who returned from captivity who had forsaken the Old Testament concerning their behaviour as the chosen people of God. Through their insincere sacrificial ceremonies and intermarriage with foreign women, they were working against the efforts of God to re-establish Israel in the land as the people of God.

Holman’s Bible Dictionary, says the following.

‘The purpose of Malachi was to assure his people that God still loved them, but He demanded honour, respect, and faithfulness from them. Malachi pointed out religious and social abuses and warned that judgment would come to purge the people of sin unless they repented. The style of the Book of Malachi is that of disputations. This style is not unique to Malachi. Micah and Jeremiah had disputes with false prophets, Micah 2:6-11/ Jeremiah 27-28. Jeremiah also disputed with God, Jeremiah 12:1-6. Job disputed with his friends. The Book of Malachi is made up of six disputation passages and two appendices. The disputes follow a regular form. 1. The prophet stated a premise. 2. The hearers challenged the statement, and 3. God and the prophet presented the supporting evidence.’

OUTLINE

The love of God for Israel. Malachi 1:1-5
The priests reproved for profanity. Malachi 1:6-2:9
The people rebuked for social sins. Malachi 2:10-17
The prediction of the two messengers. Malachi 3:1-6
The people rebuked for religious sins. Malachi 3:7-18
The prediction of the day of the Lord and of the Sun of Righteousness who ushers it in. Malachi 4

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