MALACHI: GOD’S FINAL WORD TO ISRAEL

James Tissot – Malachi.
Created: circa 1896 Public Domain

Light of Israel Bible Commentaries

Jim Gerrish

Malachi: God’s Final Word to Israel

Light of Israel Bible Commentaries
Colorado Springs, CO

INTRODUCTION

Malachi is the last book in our English Old Testament. Malachi is also likely the last prophet who spoke to Israel for about four hundred years, until John the Baptist appeared in the first century AD. We know almost nothing about this important prophet. We do not have his genealogy or the place of his birth. There is no information given about his personal life or his calling from God. We even have to guess at the timeframe in which he ministered. We might note that the prophets Obadiah and Habakkuk also have the same problem with the lack of information.

Some scholars have tried to say that this prophet did not even have a personal name and that his name in Hebrew simply means “God’s messenger.” Jewish historian Charles Feinberg seems to squelch this idea saying: “No prophetic book of the Old Testament has come down to us anonymously, so we can hold with assurance that Malachi was the name of the last prophet in Israel…” ¹

There is quite a question as to when Malachi ministered. He appears to be dealing with very similar problems that were dealt with by Ezra and Nehemiah in the mid to late fifth century BC. The fact that the temple was already built and sacrifices instituted is important in our dating. What is more important is that people had already lost their zeal for God’s things and were growing weary of their religion.

Many people date Malachi sometime after the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah, possibly around 420 BC. He could be later. Feinberg says, “Malachi is the last of the great succession of prophets who foretold the coming of Messiah for over one thousand years.” ²

One of the most interesting theories of Malachi’s dating came from Sir Robert Anderson, who was a theologian and intelligence officer for the London police. He based his theory on Daniel’s Seventy Weeks (Dan. 9:24-27). The Seventy Weeks were seventy time periods of seven years each, leading to the end of the age. This period is considered to have begun with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem in 445 BC. The first period of seven sevens or 49 years is listed separately as if to emphasize it. Anderson feels this marks the date of Malachi’s prophecy and the closing of the Old Testament canon in 396 BC. ³ When we consider the pitiful state of Israel’s faith at the time, it is easy to believe that a good deal of time had passed since the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah. Moody’s Dr. John Phillips has this to say: “The total moral collapse Malachi addressed could hardly have taken place in the short time the reformer [Nehemiah] was away in Babylon.” ⁴

The US President Ronald Reagan once said that “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction…” ⁵ We can probably say the same thing about godliness. One generation can have a revival of religion but by the next generation, the revival is often gone. Sometimes there is hardly a taste of it left. This likely happened in the days of Malachi when even the great revivals of Ezra and Nehemiah were already forgotten.

As to the style of this book, we would have to see it as a diatribe. It is in a question-and-answer format where an objector asks a question and in which the speaker responds to it. In the process, the truth is made plain. Paul and James often used such a method in their teaching. Because of his diatribe method, Malachi is sometimes called the “Hebrew Socrates.” ⁶

CHAPTER 1

A prophecy: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. Malachi 1:1

The prophet begins with the Hebrew word ma-sah, as in Zechariah 9:1 and 12:1. This word can mean a prophecy or oracle, but it can also mean “burden.” ¹ The prophets came with a burden from the Lord – with a difficult weight upon their hearts. That burden was not easily carried or shared. In fact, as many of the prophets related their burdens they were persecuted and even killed for it. “‘Prophets were twice stoned,’ said Christopher Morley, paraphrasing Matthew 23:29-31, ‘first in anger, then, after their death, with a handsome slab in the graveyard.’” ²

When we see the name “Israel” we are apt to think only of the ten northern tribes that revolted and were taken into captivity by the Assyrians in 722 BC. However, Israel never ceased to be a name that was applicable to the whole nation.³

“‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD. But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ declares the LORD. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob,’” (1:2). God is God. He has a right to choose those he wants to love and serve him. He knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10) so choosing is not difficult for him.

But in Israel’s response, we see some unbelief registered. They simply could not believe that God loved them. To their unbelief, God gave them a quick answer. God loved Jacob but he did not love Esau. The two were twin brothers and Esau was the firstborn, who would normally receive the father’s blessing and his special love. However, God loved Jacob instead. We note something here that is seen throughout the Bible and that is God’s election based on his foreknowledge and his grace. God not only loved Israel but he loved them with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3). The Irish Anglican clergyman A. R. Faussett remarks, “God’s love is often least acknowledged where it is most manifested.” ⁴

Undoubtedly, there were some things that made Israel wonder about God’s love for her. Years and decades had now passed since the earlier prophets of restoration, but where were all the beautiful things the Lord promised? Where was all the prosperity they spoke of? Why were they still under the rule of Persia? Why were they still subservient to Gentile nations?⁵ At times God does tend to move exceedingly slow. It was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who penned the lines: “Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.” ⁶

“but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals” (1:3). Feinberg tells us how the Chaldeans invaded Edom five years after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. ⁷ Unlike Israel they were not restored to their land. Earlier they had waited at the crossroads to cut down the Jewish fugitives or hand them over to the enemy (Obad. 1:14). In Obadiah, God announces their sentence: “Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever” (Obad. 1:10). They were later pushed out of their country by the Nabateans and found lodging in the southern portions of Israel. This area was later known to history as Idumea (1 Maccabees 4:29; 5:65; Mk. 3:8).

Now, what can we make of the Righteous God hating Edom? Certainly, we do not subscribe to a double predestination, where God chooses one group and dooms another. We see in Genesis 29:31, that Leah was “hated” by Jacob (Heb. Se-na).⁸ For sure, God did not hate her in any normal sense of the word because he gave her many children. She was also not even hated by Jacob but rather she was loved less than Rachel. Several translations use “unloved” here (NAS, NET, NKJ, NRS).

Feinberg says: “Many interpreters of the book see the word “hate” in a comparative sense and point for this usage in Genesis 29:30-31; Deuteronomy 21:15, 16; Proverbs 13:24; Luke 14:26 with Matthew 10:37, where the thought is love less or love more…” ⁹

“Leon Morris cited examples where hate seems to mean something like ‘loved less’ (Genesis 29:31-33, Deuteronomy 21:15, Matthew 6:24, Luke 14:26, John 12:25). He agreed with Calvin’s idea that the real thought here is much more like ‘accepted’ and ‘rejected’ more than it is like our understanding of the terms ‘loved’ and ‘hated.’” ¹⁰ “A woman once said to Mr. Spurgeon, ‘I cannot understand why God should say that he hated Esau.’ ‘That,’ Spurgeon replied, ‘is not my difficulty, madam. My trouble is to understand how God could love Jacob’” (William Newell in his commentary on Romans).¹¹

In the case of Esau, there was a huge problem and God knew all about the problem long before he was born. He held a grudge and planned to kill his brother (Gen. 27:41). He violated the covenant and married pagan women, mostly it appears to distress his mother and father (Gen. 26:34-35). In Genesis 25:34, we saw that Esau even despised his godly heritage. So, while God initially loved Esau less, that love eventually turned to a pure, holy hatred and judgment. For such transgressions, God wiped out Esau’s nation (cf. Psa.137:7; Isa. 34:5-17; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11-12; Obad.1:1-21).

“Edom may say, ‘Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.’ But this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD.’ ‘You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the LORD – even beyond the borders of Israel!’” (1:4-5). Although God blessed Esau and his people in the beginning, at last the pure wrath of God fell on them for their utter godlessness. They would build but he would tear down. The Bible says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain” (Ps. 127:1). It is interesting that the “Lord Almighty” in Hebrew is known as the “Lord of Hosts,” or the Lord of the armies of heaven. Phillips points out that this “is the characteristic name of God in the book of Malachi, where it occurs twenty-four times.” ¹²

In the Isaiah 34 passage mentioned above we see that Edom will be a desolate land forever with no one passing through. It is amazing how Christians sometimes overlook these passages about Edom’s eternal doom. Today the ruins of Edom are hotspots on the Christian tour circuit. Many Christians feel that during the Great Tribulation the Jews will escape to Edom and to the Rose City of Petra, although there is nothing at all about this in the Bible. Edom was the heart of antisemitism in the ancient world. To send Jews escaping to Edom would be like telling them to escape to Auschwitz.

HALF-HEARTED WORSHIP

“A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you priests who show contempt for my name. But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’” Malachi 1:6

In ancient Jewish society, the father was to be greatly honored. In fact, D. Guthrie of London Bible College says, “…this attitude towards one’s father was stressed above all others.” ¹³ With such demanding requirements in their culture, how could priests show such a disrespectful attitude toward their Father God? Of course, God is presented as the Father of Israel throughout the Old Testament (cf. Exo. 4:22; Deut. 32:6; Isa. 63:16; 64:8). God charged the priests with contempt for his name and they acted surprised that such a thing could possibly happen. We would say today of them that they just didn’t understand the program! It would have been bad enough if the common people had dishonored God, but for priests – it was unthinkable!

“By offering defiled food on my altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible” (1:7). The scripture gives us several examples of what is meant by defiled food. This would include any sacrifice with a blemish or defect (Exo. 12:5; Lev. 22:20-23; Deut. 15:21). We can imagine a selfish and lazy Israelite noticing a little lame sheep among his flock and saying, “Well hallelujah, I feel it is about time for a sacrifice to God!”

Of course, God always required unblemished sacrifices so that they could be a picture of the Perfect Lamb who would someday come and be offered for the sins of the people. The offerings were a type, pattern and shadow of the Perfect Lamb who was to come (1 Pet. 1:19). The Perfect Lamb was unimaginably expensive – it cost everything. David once said: “…I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing…” (2 Sam. 24:24).

All this makes us wonder about some of our sacrifices today, particularly the sacrifices of ministers, of which I am one. David Guzik, pastor, teacher and writer, says: “os. 4:9; Jer. 5:30-31), for no ministry rises any higher thana its leaders. AWier… If the pastor’s sermon is filled with funny jokes, clever anecdotes, and emotional stores but it lacks God’s word – this is like defiled food…If the pastor’s sermon is sloppy, without doing the work in the study when there was the opportunity to do that work, that is like offering defiled food before God…” ¹⁴

I fear that so many sermons today are the polished kind that sound really good. Viola & Barna say: “Chrysostom and Augustine stood in the lineage of the Greek sophists. They gave us polished Christian rhetoric. They gave us the ‘Christian’ sermon: biblical in content, but Greek in style.” ¹⁵ Looking back over the centuries we might wonder about the “biblical” content.

In this postmodern era, we might wonder if many preachers are able to sincerely present a sound biblical sermon due to their physical, psychological, emotional and often spiritual condition. Christian researchers Viola & Barna give us some statistics that may cause us to wonder. Of a half-million active pastors surveyed in the US here are some of the alarming statistics:

94 percent feel pressured to have an ideal family.
81 percent say they have insufficient time with their spouses.
80 percent believe that pastoral ministry affects their family negatively.
80 percent are discouraged or deal with depression.
70 percent do not have someone they consider a close friend.
70 percent have lower self-esteem than when they entered the ministry.
50 percent feel unable to meet the demands of the job
40 percent report that they are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, etc.
33 percent consider pastoral ministry an outright hazard to the family.
33 percent have seriously considered leaving their position in the past year.¹⁶

These statistics would make us think that we either need to change the ministers or else change the ministry.

“‘When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?’ says the LORD Almighty” (1:8). “Every year before Thanksgiving Day, the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line receives hundreds of calls from people seeking advice on how to thaw, prepare, and roast their holiday turkey. One year, a woman called to ask if the turkey in her freezer was still good to eat. The Butterball Turkey expert asked how long the bird had been in the woman’s freezer. The caller replied: ‘Twenty-three years.’ The turkey expert told her that after more than two decades in the Deepfreeze, the turkey would probably have a distinct ‘freezer taste,’ and he recommended the woman discard it and buy a new turkey at the market. ‘That’s what I was thinking,’ the woman said. ‘Well, we’ll just donate the old turkey to the church.’” ¹⁷

We certainly would not feed such an offering to a friend. Neither would we make such an offering to a person of high authority. It would be unthinkable. Yet, we offer such garbage to God. All this reminds me of the shipments of clothing that used to be sent to Israel by Christians abroad. I remember actually finding sacks of their garbage in the midst of their clothes offering. Also, I remember throwing a lot of utterly worn-out clothes away. I do not think God was at all humored by such contributions.

“‘Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?’ – says the LORD Almighty” (1:9). It was the British evangelist G. Campbell Morgan who said, “I am more afraid of profanity of the sanctuary than I am of the profanity of the street.” ¹⁸ Obviously, the Lord was not pleased with their offerings. They were indeed profane. I cannot help but wonder if he would be pleased with some of our other offerings today. We have worship services but do we really worship? Below we have the results of some more Barna surveys on worship:

The biweekly attendance at worship services is, by believers’ own admission, generally the only time they worship God. Eight out of every ten believers do not feel they have entered into the presence of God, or experienced a connection with him, during the worship service. Half of all believers say they do not feel they have entered into the presence of God or experienced a genuine connection with him during the past year.¹⁹

And what about much of our “worship” music?

David Wells analyzed hundreds of modern hymns and praise songs in relation to classic hymns. He concluded that recent worship lyrics express a “postmodernist spirituality” that emphasizes the individual over the church, felt needs over God’s requirements and power over truth…Sadly much postmodernist spirituality expressed in music never addresses God as God at all, let alone reveling in his attributes and praising his person.²⁰

“‘Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will accept no offering from your hands’” (1:10). Bible professors Charles Pfeiffer and Everett Harrison say, “No worship would be better than contemptible worship.” ²¹ London’s Peter Pett adds: “We cannot offer him more than we have, but woe betide us if we do not offer him the best that we have.” ²²

It is hard to imagine God saying a thing like this. He would prefer that the fire would go out on his altar and that the temple doors should be closed rather than receive insincere and contemptible offerings.

When we think of pure offerings and pure worship it may be that William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury summed up true worship best saying: “For to worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open up the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” ²³ World renowned Christian teacher, Derek Prince, describes the pure worship of God by saying of the Seraphim: “Covering the face and covering the feet were acts of worship. The remaining two wings were used for flying, which was service. In heaven, there is twice as much emphasis on worship as on
service.” ²⁴

THE GREATNESS OF GOD

“My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty. Malachi 1:11

Pett tells us: “The verbs ‘is/will be’ are not in the Hebrew text so that the prophet may have in mind both the present and the future…However, the phrase ‘For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same,’ points to an eschatological and therefore Messianic interpretation (cf. Psa. 50:1; 113:3; Isa. 45:6; 59:19).” ²⁵

There is a problem with this verse if we make a claim that that pagan worship is acceptable or honoring to God. Had pagan worship been acceptable, then God’s whole work with Israel and with the Messiah would have been unnecessary. American Presbyterian theologian Albert Barnes says: “A Hebrew prophet could not be an apologist for pagan idolatry amidst its abominations or set it on a level with the worship which God had, for the time, appointed; much less could he set it forth as the true acceptable service of
God.” ²⁶

It is true that God’s name is now praised among the Gentiles all over because of the sacrifice of Jesus and the proclamation of the Gospel message worldwide. However, there was a sense in which the truth of God was proclaimed among the Gentiles in Bible times. At every synagogue door, there were crowds of Gentiles who were known as God-fearers. Although they were not Jews they nevertheless respected the Bible and honored God. They later became fertile ground for the spread of the Gospel as we see from the story of Cornelius in Acts 10.

“But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?’ says the LORD” (1:12-13). The expression “the Lord’s table” as also seen in verse 7 is probably a reference to the altar of burnt offering ²⁷ and could include the tables for cutting up sacrifices. It has no reference to the table of showbread. If the priests were allowing defiled animals to be offered then they were partly to blame for the situation. When there are no standards even the most holy enterprise can become contemptable. Trinity College dean, Joyce Baldwin, comments, “Thus the inadequacies of the sacrificial system, which had so troubled the prophets, were seen by Malachi as about to be transcended, as indeed they were in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.” ²⁸

Because the offerings were defiled by both those offering and by the priests themselves for allowing such offerings, the whole system fell into contempt. We are told that the priests sniffed at it all. In modern language, they turned up their noses at it.²⁹

“‘Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and my name is to be feared among the nations’” (1:14). We have to say that Malachi was bringing some pretty tough language to the influential priestly class. He was a very bold man to do that.³⁰ None of us like to be accused of being cheats. It is always more comfortable for us to put the spotlight on someone else in this regard. Religious broadcaster and writer Warren Wiersbe tells this story: “A church member scolded her pastor for preaching a series of sermons on ‘The Sins of the Saints.’ ‘After all,’ she argued, ‘the sins of Christians are different than the sins of other people.’ ‘Yes,’ agreed her pastor, ‘they’re worse.’” ³¹

CHAPTER 2

UNFAITHFUL PRIESTS

And now, you priests, this warning is for you. Malachi 2:1

We saw how Malachi boldly charged the priestly class in 1:6 and following. Here he continues. The priests were very powerful in Israel as we later see in the trial of Jesus. We have said before that it took a brave man to boldly charge them. Wiersbe says, “‘Like people, like priests’ (Hos. 4:9; Jer. 5:30-31), for no ministry rises any higher than its leaders…the priests were ‘toxic’ and defiled everything and everybody they touched (Matt. 23:15; 25-28). A false minister is an awful weapon in the hands of Satan.” ¹ In the Jeremiah 5:31 passage above, the prophet made a serious charge saying: “The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” Unfortunately, Jeremiah had to live through the awful end of what he prophesied.

C. W. Slemming comments: “The offerings required by God for the priest and the whole congregation were equal, or, in the sight of God the sin of a priest was as large as the sin of a whole congregation, because if a man in an official capacity sins, he can lead a whole nation astray. It was Trapp, one of the old divines, who said: ‘if a teacher sins he teaches sin.’” ²

This surely has some message for Christians today. In 1 Peter 2:9, we read: “But you [Christians] are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” We are to be a royal priesthood and a holy people. Other believers are watching us and in fact, the world is watching us. We can bring either glory or shame to the name of God.

“‘If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me” (2:2). A curse is one thing but a curse upon one’s blessings seems to be something worse. Both mentions of the verb “curse” in this passage are in the Hebrew intensive and are not to be taken lightly.

When Israel crossed the Jordan and possessed the land they were to write the laws of God boldly so that all could see. Then on Mt. Gerizim, some tribes were to recite the blessings and on Mt. Ebal, other tribes were to recite the curses (Deut. 27:15-26). It is interesting that the Levites led in the curses (v. 14). They were cursing themselves and their priesthood if they had accepted a bribe (v. 25) or failed to uphold the law (v. 26). The curses are more clearly spelled out in Deuteronomy 28:15-68, and they likely included many of the offenses of which the current priests were guilty.

Already the curse was falling on them because of their sins. Probably one of their greatest sins was that of not requiring perfect animals for sacrifice. Perhaps they were taking bribes in order to accept blemished animals. In all probability, the crops were beginning to fail because of their own sin, and this was beginning to result in fewer tithes and offerings. “The heavy hand of God had already begun to fall.” ³

“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it” (2:3). For the Hebrew word ze-ra meaning “seed” we see that most of the translations have children or descendants. Children of evil priests would not do well according to God. Not only that, but the priests themselves would have their faces smeared with the dung of sacrificial animals. Phillips says, “No greater contamination and disgrace could be imagined.” ⁴ The dung and inward parts of the animal were to be burned outside the camp according to the law (Exo. 29:14). The implication is that these priests too would have to be disposed of outside the camp.

“‘And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,’ says the LORD Almighty” (2:4). This verse is somewhat disputed however most modern translations agree with the NIV here. In Deuteronomy 10:8-9, God consecrated the whole tribe of Levi to the ministry. This choice is also mentioned in Jeremiah 33:21.

“My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name” (2:5). The covenant of peace with the priesthood and with Israel is mentioned in several passages (e.g. Num. 25:12; Isa. 54:10; Ezek. 34:25; 37:26). This covenant required a great deal of fear, reverence and awe before God. Many of the modern translations use the word “awe” here in the translation of the Hebrew yir-ah (cf. NIV, NAS, ESV, NET, NRS).

Fritz Rothschild interpreting the great Abraham J. Heschel says: “Awe is an intuition for the creaturely dignity of all things and their preciousness to God; a realization that things not only are what they are but also stand, however remotely, for something absolute…Awe precedes faith; it is at the root of faith. We must grow in awe in order to reach faith.” ⁵

The priests were to eat daily from the Tree of Life or the word of God, just as Adam was to eat of this tree. These two trees in the Garden of Eden perfectly describe the human plight and God’s provision (Gen. 2:9). The priests were to be unlike the masses who ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Many are bloated from the fruit of that tree today. That later tree is the “I think tree,” the “I feel tree,” the “My truth tree,” and “I’ll do it my way tree.” What a wreck and ruin that tree has brought us at present. Isaiah 8:12-13 says, “…do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.” Oswald Chambers once said, “The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else.”

Israel’s priests were not only to eat from the Tree of Life but they were to be teachers of the word of God (e.g. 2 Chron. 31:4; Neh. 8:7-9). They were to do so with fear and awe. Those who make up the modern and postmodern royal priesthood of God need to remember the verse in Philippians 2:12-13: “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

“True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin” (2:6). In Psalm 37:30-31, the righteous are described: “The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just. The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip.” In Deuteronomy 33:8-11, we see Levi’s ideal priesthood described. While Levi was a model priest, “the Levitical priests of Malachi’s time were in total violation of every obligation.” ⁶

“For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth” (2:7). In our society today we have an abundance of knowledge. Google chairman Eric Schmidt says: “Between the birth of the world and 2003, there were five exabytes of information created. We [now] create five exabytes every two days.” ⁷ We have too much knowledge and are almost drowning in it. But much of it is from the useless and deceptive Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, we have very little knowledge of God which can bring blessing, salvation and life – even eternal life. It is the job of the priest to preserve and distribute this true knowledge or the knowledge of God. While our society wildly seeks knowledge it scoffs at the knowledge of God, as well as at the priest who brings it.

“‘But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,’ says the LORD Almighty” (2:8). The National Catholic Reporter says: “Nothing chases a person out of the Catholic Church and away from Christ faster than a bad priest. The priest does not have to be a child molester. He may simply be arrogant, patriarchal, insensitive or just stupid. More people leave the church because of bad priests than because of disagreements over dogma.” ⁸

Of course, the Catholic Church has had terrible problems with child-molesting priests in recent years. No doubt, Protestants have had a few problems too. We do not have to think too hard to remember some other priests who have led people astray. Charles Darwin, who helped bring about the spiritual ruin of multiplied millions, started out as an Anglican priest. Even Joseph Stalin trained as a priest at the Tiflis Seminary from 1894–1899. After that, he became a revolutionary and is responsible for the destruction of close to 100 million people.

“So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law” (2:9). Baldwin puts the finger on the serious problems, “failure to walk with God and the desire to curry favor with men.” ⁹ It is easy for people in high places to be guilty of high crimes. When leaders become compromised by currying favor they also become despised and humiliated at the same time.

UNFAITHFUL PEOPLE

Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another? Malachi 2:10

Baldwin comments: “There is scriptural precedent for ‘Abraham your father’ (Is. 51:2)…Malachi intended we to mean fellow Jews, so, even if he had in mind God as the one father, he was not thinking in terms of the universal brotherhood of man…the nation was meant to reflect the character of the Father, who had taught it to walk in his way (Ho.11:1).” ¹⁰

Of course, because we are all made in the image of God it should cause us to honor and respect our fellow human beings. It is because we have lost this biblical concept that we are beginning to see humans abused on a massive scale through the horrors of “active shooters” who gun down droves of people, through sex trafficking of children and such things. We are now seeing workplace violations of all sorts, where people are treated like “things” or “slaves” and often abused sexually as well.

“Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god” (2:11). Now the prophet brings up a very big and longstanding problem, that of marrying pagan and idolatrous women. “Those who entered into such marriages were in direct violation of the first commandment.” ¹¹ Early in Israel’s history, idolatrous women from Moab were taken as wives, thus bringing a curse upon the nation with some 24,000 being put to death (Num. 25:1-9). “Wise” King Solomon still married many pagan wives who led him into idolatrous practices (1 Ki. 11:1-10). King Ahab married the idolatrous Jezebel who led Israel into great evils (1 Ki. 16:29-33).¹²

Later the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah had struggled with this same problem (Ezr. 9:10-12; Neh. 13:23-31). Even the priestly office was involved in this sin (Neh. 13:29). God’s covenant with Israel had clearly forbidden marriage to pagans or non-Israelites (Exo. 34:15, 16; Deut. 7:3-4). God was not trying to discriminate against the pagans. He knew that pagan wives and their families would draw Israelites away into idolatry, which was ever-present at the time.

We surely need to make an application here to Christians in modern and postmodern times. Many Christians end up marrying unbelievers. Likely, some hope that their sweetheart will eventually convert. By the way, that makes for a very poor start in marriage when one partner marries with the idea of changing the other partner. Paul tells us that Christians cannot just marry anyone they please but they must marry other Christians (1 Cor. 7:39). The popular Christian writer, Max Lucado says: “ If you are a child of God and you marry a child of the Devil, you’re going to have trouble with your father-in-law.” ¹³

“As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD remove him from the tents of Jacob – even though he brings an offering to the LORD Almighty” (2:12). Barnes notes that the discipline of removing people from communion for grievous sins was founded on this principle. ¹⁴ Pett comments: “…the idea is that he will be cut off from Israel in God’s eyes, even though he continues to offer sacrifices to YHWH. Thus men’s sacrifices will be seen as unwelcome, not only when they are blemished, but also when they are offered by those whose hearts are not right towards God.” ¹⁵

The whole ideas of religious discipline and especially excommunication have become strange ones in our postmodern churches. In Israel’s day and especially at the time of the early church one’s membership was prized and often came at great cost. It was usually disastrous socially and economically for one to leave a congregation. Today in our “seeker-friendly” churches there is little cost and discipline is hardly mentioned. If it is, people will likely bolt and find a new church that suits them better somewhere down the street.

“Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands” (2:13). The Hebrew word she-nit speaks of doing something again or for the second time as we see also in other versions (ESV, NKJ).¹⁶ Faussett mentions that the “second time” could be a relapse of those who had sinned in Ezra chapter 9, or the “second time” could be the sin against their wives.¹⁷ Obviously, the guilty ones making offerings were the men. However, the Lord may well have been speaking about the prayers and tears of the poor rejected women that we will see in the next verse. The people have expressed a flippant attitude by asking “How?,” “How?,” and “Why?,” to the Lord’s questions and charges. Phillips says, “Their question revealed how eroded was their moral sense and how corroded were their consciences.” ¹⁸ God was not pleased with their offerings but they apparently were not realizing or understanding that. With the next verse, God nails down the charges so there can be no misunderstandings.

“You ask, ‘Why?’ It is because the LORD is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant” (2:14). In Israel during Bible times people married while very young, even in their early teens (cf. Pro. 5:18; Isa. 54:6). Marriage was very serious since God was a witness to it. Pfeiffer & Harrison say: “Since contracts, marriage or other, were consummated with God as a witness (see Gen. 31;49; Prov. 2:17), he deemed guilty the Israelites who had taken to themselves Jewish wives but who now had put them away.” ¹⁹

We see something else in this verse that many are not too familiar with today. Marriage is a covenant relationship that includes God, and it is a relationship for life. It reminds us of the older marriage ceremonies where people traditionally said things like this: “I take you to be my lawfully wedded (husband/wife), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

Barely a couple of months before writing this, my precious wife Betsy went to be with Jesus. We had been married almost 65 years. Including the year of dating, we had been acquainted for well over 65 years. Our marriage was always blissfully happy. The Lord blessed us with three children and a dozen grandchildren. There were even three great-grandchildren. We always considered our marriage to be a covenant that must not be broken. In fact, on our wedding night, we bowed at our bedside and asked Jesus to come in and be the third party to our marriage. I believe that made all the difference.

“Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth” (2:15). Verse 11 indicates that the problem with Israel’s leadership was not just in divorcing their Jewish wives. They were doing this so that they could marry pagan wives who were certainly steeped in idolatry. “This is not so much an inter-racial marriage as an inter-faith marriage.” ²⁰ James Burton Coffman, prolific author and teacher, says: “Evil husbands who marry the young and the beautiful, and then, when the bloom of life has faded, shamefully and heartlessly divorce their wives to marry younger women do indeed deal ‘treacherously’ with their wives.” ²¹ By marrying pagan women they were also dealing treacherously with God and with Israel.

This verse makes clear that marriage is an extremely complex arrangement. It is really built into creation and itself becomes a part of the creation process. Marriage was not invented by judges and lawyers but by God. Pagan people for ages have realized that marriage is special. Barnes says: “…even the pagan knew of marriage, as a religious act, guarded by religious sanctions.” ²² Today, our secular thinkers have happily cast away these thousands of years of good traditions as they have lauded their own recent and crazy ideas of what they think marriage should be. They have even lauded homosexual marriage.

Verse 15 is a little difficult to translate in Hebrew. God did not make only one but he made two who would be bound body and spirit (Gen. 2:18-24; Mk. 10:2-9). His purpose was to bring forth godly children. While God wants husband and wife to be bound together in marital bliss, his ultimate purpose is to bring forth believing children. We have come very near to losing this great purpose in our society today. In a recent Pew Report, it was estimated that a quarter of Millennials will never get married at all.²³ Not only are many young people not marrying, they are marrying much later in life and are not focusing so much on building families. For instance, US birth rates in 2020 indicated a 20 percent decline from 2007.²⁴Of course, homosexual marriages are powerless in themselves to bring forth children.

“‘The man who hates and divorces his wife,’ says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘does violence to the one he should protect,’ says the LORD Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful” (2:16). Here it seems that the NIV makes an unfortunate translation that is disputed by most other versions (cf. NAS, KJV, NET, NKJ, NRS). To this Hebrew speaker, the language of this verse seems quite simple and not at all opaque. It says, God hates divorce or putting away. Perhaps it would help if we used the NRS version which says: “For I hate divorce, says the LORD, the God of Israel, and covering one’s garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless” (Mal. 2:16).

In the Old Testament, Moses allowed divorce (Deut. 24:1-4). But Jesus in Matthew 19:3-9 gave the reason for this allowance. Moses allowed it because of the hardness of people’s hearts. Divorce was not in God’s original intentions and those who divorced and remarried became adulterers in God’s sight. In the above Matthew passage, Jesus gives one of the two allowances for divorce and that is marital unfaithfulness. The other allowance that would be given later was desertion by an unbelieving spouse (1 Cor. 7:10-16). Baldwin comments: “Only when both parents remain faithful to their marriage vows can the children be given the security which provides the basis of godly living. The family was intended to be the school in which God’s way of life was practiced and learned (Ex. 20:12; Dt. 11:19).” ²⁵

Malachi 2:16 reflects an ancient custom regarding marriage. The Israelite would place a corner of his garment over the one to be his wife (Ezek. 16:8; Ruth 3:9). Here in Malachi, that custom is referred to, but the garment turns out to be one of violence (cf. Psa. 73:6; 109:18).

It is rather amazing in the prophets to see how rapidly people fell away from godly patterns and even from great revival movements. Sin is of such a nature that it exerts a constant downward pull on people, much like gravity. The time frame of this downward pull seems to be entirely predictable. In the natural world carbon dating is based on a predictable formula. It appears that all living things absorb radioactive carbon 14 while they live. When the plant or animal dies that absorption ceases. However, the radioactive carbon they have accumulated continues to decay at a steady rate that can be measured accurately over time – hence, carbon dating.

Religious faith is much like that. Whether it be a revival movement, a new denomination, religious reform, religious activity or religious organization, it depreciates at a given and measurable rate. Wiersbe quotes Dr. Vance Havner who has tried to put all this into a formula. He says, “First there is a man, then a movement, then a machine, and then a monument.” ²⁶

“You have wearied the LORD with your words. ‘How have we wearied him?’ you ask. By saying, ‘All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’” (2:17). In all likelihood, they had wearied the Lord by their stupid and repetitive questions of “How?” It is true that these people were discouraged and they were murmuring against their God. Augustine (354-430 AD) said that “such murmurings against God were the result of an unspiritual interpretation of the law.” ²⁷ One thing that obviously discouraged them was the appearance that the wicked prospered while they did not. Such thoughts once almost destroyed the Psalmist. He envied the wicked until his feet had just about slipped. Then he finally entered God’s sanctuary and realized their terrible end (Psa. 73:17). These people probably had spent a lot of time murmuring but not enough time worshipping God in their new temple.

Baldwin sums up their situation by saying: “Disillusionment had followed the rebuilding of the Temple because, though decade followed decade, no supernatural event marked the return of the Lord to Zion…His delays were being taken as an excuse for atheism. The question ‘Where is the God of justice?’ was tantamount to doubting his existence.” ²⁸

CHAPTER 3

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. Malachi 3:1

In this verse, we have the reflection of an ancient custom. When a king would go out to visit an area in his domain, he would send a messenger before him. That messenger would prepare the way. He would fix up the roads and make sure the people and the area were ready for the king’s visit. In modern times there was a good example of this, that happened when the German Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Jerusalem in 1898. For his visit, a portion of the old wall was removed near Jaffa Gate and a road was built directly into the city so the Kaiser and his large entourage could enter.

The prophetic word will sometimes have a double meaning. Job says that true wisdom has two sides or is double to what is (Job 11:6). For instance, one prophetic utterance can cover the events of AD 70 and the end of the world in the same breath. Prophecy sees at one glance the whole spiritual mountain range including the highest peak and all the foothills.

Baldwin speaks of this mysterious messenger of the covenant saying: “The title occurs only here, so there is no aid to interpretation apart from this context. He comes simultaneously with the Lord, if indeed he is not to be identified with him.” ¹The Lord Jesus in his earthly life came suddenly to the Jerusalem temple. He came as the messenger of the covenant. Throughout the Old Testament, this messenger or Angel of the Lord made his appearances (cf. Exo. 23:20-23; Isa. 63:9). It is always clear that he is much more than an angel. D. Guthrie and company say: “The messenger of Yahweh or the angel of the covenant is not a created angel but One who not only bears the divine name but has divine dignity and power, dispenses divine deliverance and accepts homage and adoration proper only to God…” ²

Also, many interpreters connect this passage with Isaiah 40:3-5. So, this scripture is broad enough to include even the work of Elijah or John the Baptist, who were also messengers of God. John the Baptist was certainly the messenger or forerunner of the King (cf. Matt. 3:3; Mk. 1:2; Lk. 1:76; Jn. 1:23). His mission was to prepare the way, to bring down the high places and bring up the low ones. He came in the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah, who appeared many centuries before him. In a real sense, with all this, the Almighty God was coming to pay them a visit. Feinberg says, “This is God’s answer to their brazen and skeptical question of Malachi 2:17.” ³

God’s visitation would come upon them suddenly. Baldwin sees suddenness as associated with a calamitous event (e.g. Is. 47:11; 48:3; Je. 4:20, etc.).⁴ Suddenly, God is in their midst before people realize he is even close. So will it be at the end of the world.

GOD COMES WITH JUDGMENT

But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. Malachi 3:2

In answer to their skeptical and cynical questions God will appear, but will they be able to withstand his appearance? We have two pictures here, one of a refiner’s fire and the other as launderer’s soap. Baldwin pictures the refiner of metals as one who sits before the hot fire until he can see his image in the molten metal.⁵ The picture of launderer’s soap is that of a fuller or bleacher of cloths. Our type of soap was unknown in those days, so lye or potash was applied to whiten cloths.⁶ In many scriptures God speaks of purifying his people (cf. Job 23:10; Psa. 66:10; Isa. 1:25; 48:10; Jer. 6:29; Heb. 12:10; 1 Pet. 1:7). It is interesting that God always begins with his people and not with the godless. Peter says, “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17). Faussett reminds us that the end-time refining process will be hard on the Lord’s people Israel and that according to Zechariah 13:8-9 a third will be refined and purified while two-thirds will not survive.⁷

“He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,” (3:3). Faussett gives us a more complete picture of the refining process. He says: “The purifier sits before the crucible, fixing his eye on the metal, and taking care that the fire be not too hot, and keeping the metal in, only until he knows the dross to be completely removed by his seeing his own image reflected (Romans 8:29) in the glowing mass. So it is with the Lord in the case of his elect.” ⁸ When Jesus appeared he melted down the scribes, Pharisees and priests with his piercing wisdom and hot judgment. It is interesting that after he was risen and ascended there was a great company of priests who had become believers (Acts 6:7).

The prophet continues: “and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years” (3:4). The prophet is likely thinking of the early Mosaic period in the time of Levi’s ministry. Today the subject of making offerings sounds a little strange to us. Phillips says, “In Old Testament times they were anticipatory; they pointed forward to Calvary. In the Millennium they will be commemorative; they will be a vivid reminder of Calvary…” ⁹ Feinberg says it another way, “In the Old Testament economy sacrifices were signposts; in the millennial day they will be memorials looking back to the central event of Calvary.” ¹⁰ From what we know about the Millennium, sacrifices of some type will continue to be made by Israel (cf. Isa. 56:7; 66:20-23; Jer. 33:18; Zech. 14:16-21).

“‘So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,’ says the LORD Almighty” (3:5). Here we have a list of common sins. In our “enlightened” society most of these sins are now quite acceptable. With great help from the popular Beatles, sorcery was introduced big-time to America’s youth. Sorcery is a catch-all term for all types of occult activity and through the ages has included hallucinogenic drugs. However, sorcery of all types is forbidden in the Bible (Exo. 22:18; Deut. 18:10-12). It is forbidden because it is wrong. It is wrong because it hurts people and brings them under the dark power of satanic forces. It causes them to traffic with demons. It makes people live in fear and dread.

Adultery is wrong because the Bible says it is wrong (Exo. 20:14). Adultery has no basis in reality or truth. It wrecks people and families. It weighs people down with guilt. It can be hazardous to one’s health in many ways. Adultery can even get you killed by a jealous spouse.

We need to pause and just state a common-sense truth that is generally overlooked in our Western World. Sin does not work. It has never worked, and it never will work. Sin destroys an orderly society. Sin leads to death (Rom. 6:23). Jesus came to this world and gave his life to free us from sin and its death.

Next, the Lord mentions the sin of perjury or lying and fibbing. It is also against God’s law (Exo. 20:16; Prov. 19:5). In the US we put up with a lot of lies. The writer David Kupelian says, “We elect liars as leaders because we actually need lies if we’re avoiding inner Truth.” ¹¹ One of our politicians in the past by the name of Adlai Stevenson said: “A lie is an abomination unto the Lord, and a very present help in time of trouble.” ¹² Practically speaking, a country cannot run on lies. Even our banks and commercial systems must have a certain degree of integrity to operate and survive.

Next, the Lord mentions the sin of defrauding laborers of their wages. This was a critical thing in the biblical world. There were many day laborers who were depending on their wage to feed their large, hungry families. This was a day before credit cards, so when the wage was not paid on time families went hungry and could possibly experience a downward spiral in their livelihood. It was against God’s law to hold back wages (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14-15; Jam. 5:4). In our society, we have some rather specialized ways of breaking this law. Today many companies employ salaried workers as managers and then work them overtime without extra compensation for those many hours. This is a sin and should be a crime. We need another Lincoln and Wilberforce to stand up and free people from this sophisticated kind of slavery.

The Bible teaches us not to oppress widows, orphans and strangers (Exo. 22:22; Deut. 24:14; 19-22). In Bible times, widows, orphans and strangers had no status and thus no protection. It was up to righteous, kind-hearted folks to watch out for them and ensure their provision. Our society has become so evil and degraded that once again these groups are in danger. Coffman comments: “Social justice never was maintained at any place on earth in any time of human history, apart from the knowledge and worship of the true God. The worship of God and social justice stand related to each other as cause and effect…Jesus himself in giving the ‘first and great commandment,’ made ‘love of God’ first, and ‘love of neighbor second.’ People cannot improve upon this order.” ¹³

STEALING FROM GOD

I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Malachi 3:6

We may change the rules and customs of our society, but God never changes. Because God never changes, the truth of the Lord will stand forever (Isa. 40:8). We need to get used to that fact. Because God never changes we are not destroyed since we all do a lot of really stupid things that would merit our destruction. There is still an Israel today because God never changes and his steadfast covenant love endures forever. “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23).

“‘Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘But you ask, “How are we to return?”’” (3:7). Guzik comments: “In what way shall we return: Israel didn’t know how to return to God. Either they chose not to know, or they simply were ignorant.” ¹⁴

In this passage, we have a verse that is one of the most precious in all of scripture. God promises, “Return to me, and I will return to you.” It is just that simple. In Hebrew it reads shu-vu el-ai, ve a-shu-va a-le-kem. Precious words – precious promise! We also see this promise in the New Testament (Jas. 4:8). Like the Prodigal Son, if we take a step toward God he will come running to meet us.

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. ‘But you ask, “How are we robbing you?”’ In tithes and offerings” (3:8). This is an absolutely unthinkable question and charge – that a human being would try to steal from the Almighty God. Yet, even today, people try this all the time. Baldwin says, “The verb translated ‘rob’ (Heb. qaba) is rare in the Old Testament, though it is well established in the Talmudic literature to mean ‘to take forcibly.’” ¹⁵

In the Bible, we see that God is the owner of everything (Psa. 24:1; 50:10). Whatever we possess is on loan from God. When we make a gift to God we are simply giving him back that which was already his. Once we understand this fact it will simplify the matter of giving.

The principle of giving to God is ancient and came long before the law was given. In Genesis14:18-20, we see that Father Abraham gave a tithe to the priest Melchizedek. Even from that early time, we realize that the tithe was God’s plan to support the priesthood. We see the principle later reflected in the law (cf. Deut. 14:27).

“You are under a curse – your whole nation – because you are robbing me” (3:9). When we break God’s laws it does not go well with us, either naturally or spiritually. Wiersbe gives this illustration in the natural realm.

John D. Rockefeller was the world’s first billionaire. It is said that for many years, he lived on crackers and milk because of stomach troubles caused by worrying about his wealth. He rarely had a good night’s sleep, and guards stood constantly at his door. Wealthy—but miserable! When he began to share his wealth with others in great philanthropic endeavors, his health improved considerably and he lived to be an old man.¹⁶

When we try to steal from God we will surely pay the price. Faussett relates this tale: “The eagle who robbed the altar set fire to her nest from the burning coal that adhered to the stolen flesh. So men who retain God’s money in their treasuries will find it a losing possession.” ¹⁷

“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it” (3:10). Obviously, the Lord is giving out a challenge here. He is inviting his people to test and prove him in the matter of giving. The tithe was to be brought to the storehouse. In Old Testament times that spoke of the temple with its many storage rooms for foodstuffs. This supply was for the priests and Levites serving the temple and supervising the religion of Israel. When the supply of food began to dwindle we see how the ministers of God had to go back to agricultural pursuits (Neh. 13:10) in order to survive.

What do we mean by the whole tithe? For simplicity let us list the tithes first and after that the offerings. The tithe or ten percent of one’s income was to be given to the priests who had no land holdings in Israel (Lev. 27:30-33). The Levites also had to pay a tenth of their income to the priests (Num. 18:26-28). There was then a special tithe every third year. This tithe was stored in the cities for the poor of the land (Deut. 14:28-29).¹⁸

In addition to these basic tithes, there were many offerings of all types. Let us begin with the Firstfruits offering of all the grain, wine, wool, oil and other items (Deut. 18:4). The religion of the Old Testament was a costly religion. Today in our giving we strain to reach the tithe or ten percent. Old Testament religion started at this point. After the tithe and Firstfruits, there was the Sabbatical Year. When one lived in an agricultural society and did not farm his land one year out of every seven, that is effectively another 14.2 percent offered up to God. This does not consider that on the Sabbatical, all Hebrew slaves were freed and all debts to fellow Hebrews were canceled (Deut. 15:1,12). If one did not harvest the corners of his fields or go back for second pickings, so that the poor could glean (Lev. 19:9), there is possibly another 5-10 percent. For those who kept the Sabbath, that lost day of production could amount to another 14.2 percent.

Our Christian organization in Israel had a large food facility where we helped newly arriving immigrants flocking in from Russia and other former Communist lands as well as from Ethiopia. It was difficult to get enough food to give out to these masses. Then we came up with the idea of “gleaning” in the fields like Ruth did long ago. We took our truck with a few volunteers and began to call on kibbutzim or the collective farms around Israel. That worked well. We knew that according to the law they could not go back for second pickings or glean the corners of their fields. On one occasion a farmer gave us all that was left in his tomato house. The tomatoes were grown hydroponically and the vines reached to the ceiling of the building. We happily filled our truck and then the farmer with a grin on his face offered each of us a pair of clippers and asked us to prune the vines. We were hot and tired but we realized that his request was a fulfillment of scripture for us Gentile volunteers. The prophet says: “…foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;” (Isa. 61:5 ESV).

Well, there were a lot of ways that the people of Israel gave offerings to God. There was the year of Jubilee every 50 years. At that time, all property reverted back to its original family ownership and all Hebrew servants were set free. That might amount to another 2-10 percent, depending upon how wealthy a family happened to be. Of course, we are already getting up into the area of 50-60 percent of the total income offered to God. We have not said much about the regular offerings. There were the offerings of the firstborn, plus all males were required to go up to Jerusalem three times each year (Ex. 23:17), and they were forbidden to appear before the Lord empty (Deut. 16:16). They had to bring animals from their flocks each time. Then there were the whole offerings, cereal offerings (grain and meal), drink offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, and trespass offerings (Lev. 1 – 5). All these offerings could easily total up to another 5-10 percent of a family’s income. There are still some offerings we have not mentioned.

Now we should begin to be embarrassed at the thought of only giving a tithe or ten percent to the Lord, and that often grudgingly. Philipps says, “It is difficult to understand how a Christian under grace can give less than a Jew who is required to give under the law.” ¹⁹ Wiersbe remarks: “Paul teaches ‘grace giving’ in 2 Corinthians 8 – 9, which is certainly beyond ten percent.” ²⁰ Coffman comments: “If God considered the non-payment of tithes, or the mere partial payment of them as ‘robbing God,’ what about millions of professed Christians who do not give as much to the work of God as they spend for soft drinks and tobacco?” ²¹

Guzik summarizes what Christian giving should be like from 1 Corinthians 16:1-4. He says it should be periodic, planned, proportional, and private (not making a show). Then he adds in 2 Corinthians 9 that it must be generous, cheerful and freely given.²² So, there are floodgates of heavenly blessing awaiting those who practice giving back to the Lord.

Sometimes it is important that we make a really sacrificial gift to the Lord. Years ago, I remember an instance when my wife and I needed God to do some big things for us. We were trusting the Lord for a change in our geographic location and for the sale of our house, but nothing was happening. I remember at that time we were counting heavily upon my wife’s teaching salary to meet many of our monthly bills. We especially needed it for groceries for us and our three children. As I remember, things were very tight at the time. As we pondered the problem, my wife suddenly suggested that we needed to offer her whole month’s salary to God. I shuddered – actually I think I almost fainted – but I knew she was right. We made that awesome sacrifice and later to our delight, we found that the house quickly sold and the move was made. Miraculously, we never missed the money, and neither did we miss a meal.

“‘I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,’ says the LORD Almighty” (3:11). The blessings of obedience are many-fold. There are thousands of ways that God can bless us and make us look really good. But conversely, there are thousands of ways God can curse us and make us look really bad if we choose to live disobedient lives.

“‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the LORD Almighty” (3:12). This verse seems to be looking far into the future. Perhaps the Psalmist is seeing a similar thing: “May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him” (Psa. 67:3-7).

There is one thing we can say for certain. When God gets through with his work in Israel all nations on earth will stand in awe of her. God’s beautiful government will proceed from Jerusalem and all nations on earth will call Israel the blessed of God. The nations will flock to Jerusalem that they might learn her ways and walk in her paths (Isa. 2:3).

“‘You have spoken arrogantly against me,’ says the LORD. Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ ‘You have said, “It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty?”’” (3:13-14). Throughout this whole conversation, the people have been talking back to God and questioning him in a most contentious and cynical manner. Wiersbe sums up their complaint: “‘We’re not getting anything out of it!’… ‘Things just keep getting worse’…But they had a second complaint: ‘the pagan peoples around them who didn’t know the Lord were in better shape than the people of Judah!…’” ²³

The great Augustine once remarked: “Those who are spiritually immature put much stock in temporal promises and serve God with an eye to such remunerations. Then, when the people of evil life prosper, they are very much upset.” ²⁴ Pfeiffer and Harrison comment: “The consensus of opinion was dangerously close to the conclusion that Jehovah worship might as well be discontinued.” ²⁵

“But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it” (3:15). These early Israelites, who had received a precious second chance at national life, were making a fatal mistake at looking at others and taking their eyes away from God. Pett summarizes their situation: “We have already seen in Malachi 2:17 that there were many who were grumbling that God only seemed to do good to those who did what was evil…To them serving God was a kind of bargain. They did right by him, and he did right by them. And it was his side of it that appeared to be failing.” ²⁶ Centuries before the prophet Isaiah dealt with similar problems with the Israelites: “‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers” (Isa. 58:3). They had taken their eyes off God and judged him when they should have focused their eyes on God and their own sinfulness.

THE RIGHTEOUS REMNANT

Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. Malachi 3:16

There are a few Bible passages telling us that God keeps books (e.g. Exo. 32:32-33; Psa. 56:8; Dan. 7:10; Rev. 20:11-15; 21:27). We see in Esther 6:1-2, that the Persian kings kept books regarding the good deeds of their subjects.

There have been a few precious times of fellowship with other Christians that my wife and I felt something supernatural happened and that God was especially close. We had the sensation that maybe God was making notes of those times. Guzik says, “When God’s people speak to one another in this way, the LORD listens from heaven. He loves to see true fellowship and love among his people.”²⁷ Feinberg adds: “God tenderly keeps before him those that truly reverence him and think on his name.” ²⁸

“On the day when I act,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him’” (3:17). In this passage, the KJV and the NKJ versions speak of jewels, but other versions such as the NIV, ESV, NET and NRS see it as a treasured possession, special property or special possession.

In Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2; & 26:18, Israel is called in Hebrew am se-gu-lah or special people to God. Today in Israel this expression is heard a lot as the people claim the title for themselves. No doubt, it is this expression that is meant in this verse. The passage we noted in Deuteronomy 7:6 does state: “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession [am-se-gu-lah].” Someday all the people on earth will realize just how special the people of Israel are.

“And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not” (3:18). In our day it is not always easy to determine who is really a Christian and who is not. My wife was standing the grocery line one day and the woman next to her made a rather stumbling attempt at witnessing. She asked in her thick southern drawl, “Are you a Christian?” My wife answered, “Yes I am.” The woman replied, “I thought so. Most people down here in the South are.” Really!

The woman was obviously not aware of religious trends in the US. The Christian researcher Josh McDowell says: “The Christian consensus that once governed the public and private life of the United States and other Western nations has crumbled to the point that we no longer live in a post-Christian society; we live in an anti-Christian society, one in which the Christian faith is dismissed or ridiculed and Christians are considered suspect and their motives and behavior berated.” ²⁹

The Christian thinker Francis Schaeffer once said: “Having turned away from the knowledge given by God, man has now lost the whole Christian culture. In Europe, including England, it took many years, in the United States only a few decades. In the United States in the short span from the Twenties to the Sixties, we have seen a complete shift…there was a Christian consensus. Now that consensus is completely gone.” ³⁰

What the well-meaning woman did not realize was that the people in the South are not mostly Christians and neither are the ones in the North, or the East or West. We now live in what is called neo-paganism. That may sound bad, but it may also sound good. It means that the real Christians will finally stand out from the others. They will shine like lights in the darkness. They may soon be severely persecuted in our country but at least everyone will know who is a Christian and who is not.

CHAPTER 4

“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.” Malachi 4:1

The day spoken of here is the “day of the Lord.” This day is a persistent theme of the Old Testament prophets (e.g. Isa. 13:6; Ezek. 30:3; Joel 1:15; Amos 5:18; Obad. 1:15; Zep. 1:7; Zech. 14:1). We observe here that the coming day of judgment will burn like a furnace. The fires of the last- day make up an important Bible theme. The Lord will come again in blazing fire taking vengeance on his enemies (Psa. 50:3; Isa. 66:15; 2 Thess. 1:7-9). Probably the clearest passage about this last day fire is found in 2 Peter 3:7-13. In verse 3:7 we read: “…the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”

Although the earth and heavens will be purged by fire in the last day, there is no idea in scripture that they will be destroyed. Several passages tell us that the earth is established forever (Psa. 78:69; 104:5; Eccl. 1:4). The Bible states that the last destruction of the earth will be similar to its destruction by water in Genesis chapters 7 & 8. In 2 Peter 3:13 that we noted above, we see that there will be a new heaven and new earth. The Greek word for “new” is kainos. It is interesting that we believers are new creations in Christ and the same Greek word is used of us (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17) as for the earth’s renewal. God did not destroy us, but he re-created us after the image of Christ and made us new creatures. Thus, the new earth will look very much like the old earth but the curse will be removed and it will reflect the glory of Christ throughout. Jesus did not only come to redeem human beings but he came to redeem the whole creation.

In 1 Corinthians 7:31, we are given more information about the earth’s passing. This scripture says: “…For this world in its present form is passing away.” It is the “present evil age” mentioned in Galatians 1:4 that will be totally destroyed and pass away. Along with this present evil age will be the present evil people of this age. They will be so destroyed that one will not be able to find a trace of their roots or branches. This is a picture without hope, a picture of total destruction.¹ The Psalmist says: “A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found” (Psa. 37:10). The wicked will be removed from the earth but the righteous will inherit the earth forever.

The coming fire will totally destroy the wicked but the righteous will survive. The wicked will in a sense self-destruct as the heat is turned up. They have built their lives with flammable earthly materials while the righteous have built on the rock of Jesus with non-flammable and eternal materials. (1 Cor. 3:11-13). Psalm 37:29-31 speaks of the godly: “The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just. The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip.” Psalm 1:4 tells us that the wicked are like chaff that the wind blows away. Dear Christian friends, the Lord is making us fireproof through his holy word and his Holy Spirit. We need to let him do his work if it is hard and even if it hurts.

We get a rather graphic picture of the judgment and its effects on some carnal Christians. In 1 Corinthians 3:13, we read of each person’s work, “…their work will be shown for what it is…It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” Paul tells us in this passage that if our work survives, we will receive a reward and if it is burned up, we will suffer loss, although we ourselves will be saved like one escaping the flames. The spiritual things in our lives will survive this fire. However, all the fleshly things, in which we take so much pride and give so much attention, will go up in a puff of smoke. Simply, some Christians will survive the day of the Lord with their shirttails on fire.

We need to remember what we said earlier about prophecy seeing the whole spiritual mountain range together, whether peaks, hills or valleys. Malachi was seeing the day of the Lord and the end of the age, but he was also seeing the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. The city of Jerusalem blazed like a furnace and its people were destroyed with it. We have reason to believe that God spared many righteous people in this holocaust. We know that the Christian community fled the city before the fire and settled safely in Pella, a city in today’s Jordan. According to the historian Josephus, close to a hundred thousand Jews were taken captive while eleven hundred thousand were destroyed in the siege.²

“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves” (4:2). The expression “sun of righteousness” appears only here in the Bible. Some liberal scholars have had trouble with the expression since the word for sun has a feminine pronoun with it. Coffman is amazed that these scholars cannot find Jesus here but they are able to find the Babylonian sun god.³ Guzik says: “From the time of early Christians like Justin Martyr to today, Christians have regarded the Sun of Righteousness as a reference to Jesus.” ⁴

Jesus no doubt wore a tallit or prayer shawl. Had he not worn one he would have broken the law (Num. 15:38). We know that Jews wore them in Jesus’ time for one was found in first- century excavations. From early times the Jews considered the four corners of the shawl as four wings. On one occasion a very sick woman came meekly and touched one of the corners or tassels of his shawl (tsit-tsit) and she was immediately healed. For her, the Sun of Righteousness arose and he had healing in his wings (cf. Lk. 8:43-48). While some doubt, other biblical passages seem to back up the understanding of God as sun (cf. 2 Sam. 23:4; Psa. 84:11; Isa. 9:2; 49:6).

Some scholars have had difficulty with this passage referring to Jesus since “healing” and “rays” or wings are both feminine. Texas Bible professor, Bob Utley points out how we see similar constructions in Isaiah 60:1-3,19-20.⁵

Calves being released from the stall make a lively picture. In my young days on the farm I seem to remember seeing released calves jumping and kicking up their heels with glee. Someday the righteous will no longer mope along loaded with burdens and prayer needs but will be jumping, leaping and praising God for their newfound freedom.

“‘Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,’ says the LORD Almighty” (4:3). As we have implied before, wickedness does not work. The doctrines of the wicked are doctrines of dust. The wicked will have no means of surviving the day of the Lord. How tragic will their cries be when they realize that they have spent their lives fighting against Jesus, who has just taken over rulership of the whole world.

Barnes reminds us of several scriptures that pertain to this eternally tragic situation. Isaiah 66:24 says: “And they [the righteous] will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” Psalm 58:10 states: “The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.” Psalm 107:42 reads, “The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths.” ⁶

“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel” (4:4). For a people so prone to drift away from God, it was essential that they remember the laws of Moses. There would now come an approximate 400-year period where there would be no prophets to correct their course. They would not see another prophet until John the Baptist appeared just before the coming of Christ.

Sometimes the mention of the law makes certain Christians a little nervous. While it is true that we do not live with the law today, neither do we live without it. Jesus has come to make the law second nature to us. He has come to fulfill the law in us. He says in Hebrews, “…I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Heb. 8:10). For instance, the natural laws are so engrained in us that when we come to a stop sign while driving, our foot just naturally slides onto the brake. We do not have to think about it at all. Jesus is doing something like that for us in the spiritual realm with the law.

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes” (4:5). Truly, Elijah was one of the greatest prophets who ever lived. Like Enoch and like Moses he had an unusual ending for his life. He was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind without passing through death. The people of Israel always felt that he would come again at the end of the age. When John the Baptist appeared and began to introduce Jesus as the Messiah, he came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Lk. 1:17). He even dressed and lived a lot like Elijah had lived before him. John denied that he was the prophet Elijah (Jn. 1:21). However, Jesus said that John was Elijah. Jesus said: “‘…To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist” (Matt. 17: 11-13).

So, John the Baptist was a type of Elijah. He did the same work of Elijah, that of healing family structures and drawing folks back to God. Wiersbe comments: “…for those who believed on Christ during his earthly ministry, John the Baptist performed the work of Elijah in their lives: he prepared them to meet the Lord…But Malachi 4:5 promises that Elijah himself will come…Many students believe that Elijah is one of the two witnesses whose ministries are described in Revelation 11:3-12 (They believe the other is Moses).” ⁷ How appropriate it would be for Moses and Elijah, who represent the law and the prophets, to be earth’s final witnesses. They both did appear with Jesus at his transfiguration (Mk. 9:2-4).

There is more to this story. In Matthew 11:14 Jesus says: “And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.” If the Jews had accepted John and followed his teaching he would have been accepted as the Elijah and the history of Israel and the world would have taken a new turn. Israel would have accepted her Messiah and saved herself two thousand years of suffering. In short, the kingdom of God would have come. Instead, they murdered John and crucified their Messiah.⁸ As a result of their actions, Elijah must come again.

“He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction” (4:6) It should be noted here that the word “destruction” appears in the Hebrew as “curse” (che-rem). This was a religious curse that required the total destruction of persons or things.

A lot of people, particularly the Jews, have not been too happy that their prophetic books end with a curse. Our English Old Testament ends with a curse as well. Some have tried to change this over the centuries. Of course, we Christians like the ending of our New Testament much better – “No longer will there be any curse…” (Rev. 22:3).

Thus, the order of these last verses has been slightly altered in both the Septuagint and in the Masoretic text. Baldwin says: “It is frequently argued that they represent two later additions to the book…The continued ethical emphasis, however, and the style of writing are in keeping with the rest of the book and point to Malachi as the likely author. From early times attempts have been made to avoid the harsh ending of the book.” ⁹

In our day of shattered family structure, we can certainly look forward to the ministry of Elijah who will turn the hearts of parents back to their children and the disobedient back to wisdom (Lk. 1:17). Feinberg says, “We should view these final words with solemnity of heart, for chapter four gives us the last message of the Old Testament prophets.” ¹⁰ How important for us and for the Jewish people to hear again the message of Moses and the prophets. Jesus once said of the Jews in Luke 16:31: “If they will not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.”

ENDNOTES

Several sources I have cited here are from the electronic media, either from websites or from electronic research libraries. Thus in some of these sources, it is not possible to cite page numbers. Instead, I have cited the verse or verses in Malachi (e.g. v. verse 1:1 or vs. verses 1:5-6) about which the commentators speak.

MALACHI

INTRODUCTION

1 Charles L. Feinberg, The Minor Prophets (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1948), p. 249.

2 Ibid.

3 John Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids, Kregel Publications, 1998), p. 319.

4 Ibid., p. 317.

5 https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/13915-freedom-is-never-more-than-one-generation-away-from-extinction

6 Dr. Bob Utley, Free Bible Commentary, Int. http://www.freebiblecommentary.org/old_testament_studies/VOL12OT/VOL12DOT_01.html

CHAPTER 1

1 Francis Brown, S. R. Driver & Charles Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Glasgow: Great Britain, 1953, 1957), p. 672.

2 Quoted in Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 1524.

3 Joyce G. Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1972), p. 221.

4 Robert D. Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, Commentary on Malachi, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. 1871-8, v. 1:2.
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/jfb/malachi-4.html.

5 Peter Pett, Commentary on Malachi, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, 2013, v. 1:2-5.
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/pet/malachi-1.html.

6 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/255749-though-the-mills-of-god-grind-slowly-yet-they-grind

7 Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 251.

8 Albert Barnes, Commentary on Malachi, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, 1870, v. 1:2. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bnb/malachi-1.html.

9 Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 251.

10 Quoted in David Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentaries, Malachi, 2018, vs. 1:2-5.

11 Ibid., vs. 1:6-8.

12 Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 321.

13 D. Guthrie, J.A. Motyer, A.M. Stibbs, D. J. Wiseman, The New Bible Commentary: Revised (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970), p. 806.

14 Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentaries, vs. 1:6-8.

15 Frank Viola and George Barna, Pagan Christianity? Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2002, 2008), p. 94.

16 Ibid., p. 138.

17 Michael Youssef, 15 Secrets to a Wonderful Life (New York, Boston, Nashville: Faith Words, 2008), pp. 15-16.

18 Quoted in Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentaries, vs. 1:9-11.

19 George Barna, Revolution, (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2005), pp. 31-33.

20 Douglas Groothuis, Truth Decay (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2000), pp.
272-273.

21 Charles F. Pfeiffer & Everett F. Harrison, eds., The Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), p. 915.

22 Pett, Commentary on Malachi, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 1:10.

23 Quoted in Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 729.

24 Derek Prince, War in Heaven (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 2003), p. 123.

25 Pett, Commentary on Malachi, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, vs. 1:1-12.

26 Barnes, Commentary on Malachi, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, v. 1:11.

27 Pett, Commentary on Malachi, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 1:7.

28 Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 230.

29 James Burton Coffman, Commentary on Malachi, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible (Abilene, TX: Christian University Press, 1983-1999), v. 1:13. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bcc/malachi-1.html.

30 Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 224.

31 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p.1524.

CHAPTER 2

1 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, pp. 1526-1527.

2 C. W. Slemming, Thus Shalt Thou Serve (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1966), p. 42.

3 Pfeiffer, et. al. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 915.

4 Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 325.

5 Fritz A. Rothschild, ed., Between God and Man, An Interpretation of Judaism, from the writings of Abraham J. Heschel, (NY: The Free Press, 1959), pp. 52-53.

6 Coffman, Commentary on Malachi, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, v. 2:6.

7 Scott Cleland with Ira Brodsky, Search & Destroy, Why You Can’t Trust Google Inc. (St Louis MO: 2011), p. 148.

8 https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/signs-times/bad-priests-all-kinds-chase-people-away-christ-and-church

9 Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 237.

10 Ibid.

11 Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 327.

12 Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentaries, vs. 11-12.

13 Max Lucado, Max on Life, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010), p. 135.

14 Barnes, Commentary on Malachi, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, v. 2:12.

15 Pett, Commentary on Malachi, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 2:12.

16 Brown, et. al. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament Brown, p. 1041.

17 Jamieson, et. al., Commentary on Malachi, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, v. 2:13.

“The neglected and divorced wives of the priests came and wept at God’s altar…The priests sinned by forsaking the wife they married in their youth, breaking the goal of marriage (she is your companion) and the bond of marriage your wife by covenant).” (Guzik, vs. 2:13-16).

“They by ill-treatment occasioned their wives to weep there to God…God regarded the tears of the oppressed, not the sacrifices of the oppressors.” (Barnes, v. 2:13).

“The weeping may be that of the divorced wives” (Guthrie, p. 808).

18 Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 32.

19 Pfeiffer, et. al. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 916.

20 Utley, Free Bible Commentary, v. 2:15.

21 Coffman, Commentary on Malachi, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, v. 2:14.

22 Barnes, Commentary on Malachi, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, v. 2:14.

23 Matt Walsh, The Unholy Trinity, Blocking the Left’s Assault on Life, Marriage, and Gender (New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2017), p. 97.

24 https://www.google.com/search?q=us+birth+rate+falling

25 Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 241.

26 Quoted in Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, NT (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 486.

27 Alberto Ferrekiro, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary of Scripture, XIV, The Twelve Prophets (Downers Grove, Intervarsity Press, 2003), p. 298.

28 Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 242.

CHAPTER 3

1 Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, pp. 242-43.

“‘and the messenger of the covenant’ The term ‘and’ can be translated ‘even.’ There is much discussion about the title ‘the messenger of the covenant.’ It is only used here in all of the Old Testament. The rabbinical Midrash sees this as the angel of the Lord because of passages like Exod. 3:2, 4.” (Utley, v. 3:1).

“Lord and the messenger of the covenant all refer to one and the same divine person…” (Pfeiffer & Harrison, p. 917).

2 Guthrie, et. al. The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 808.

3 Ferrekiro, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary of Scripture, XIV, The Twelve Prophets, 259.

4 Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 243.

5 Ibid.

6 Pfeiffer, et. al. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 917.

7 Jamieson, et. al., Commentary on Malachi, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, v. 3:2.

8 Ibid., v. 3:3.

9 Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 331.

10 Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 262.

11 David Kupelian, How Evil Works: Understanding and Overcoming the Destructive Forces That Are Transforming America (New York: Threshold Editions, 2010), p. 13.

12 Forbes Quotes, Thoughts On The Business Of Life. https://www.forbes.com/quotes/111/

13 Coffman, Commentary on Malachi, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, v. 3:5.

14 Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentaries, vs. 3:6-7.

15 Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 245.

16 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, electronic edition.

17 Jamieson, et. al., Commentary on Malachi, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, v. 3:9.

18 Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 332.

19 Ibid., p. 333.

20 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, pp. 1530-31.

21 Coffman, Commentary on Malachi, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, v. 3:8.

22 Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentaries, vs. 3:8-12.

23 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 1531.

24 Ferrekiro, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary of Scripture, XIV, The Twelve Prophets, p. 306.

25 Pfeiffer, et. al. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 918.

26 Pett, Commentary on Malachi, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 3:15.

27 Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentaries, vs. 3:16-18.

28 Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 165.

29 Josh McDowell, The New Tolerance, How a cultural movement threatens to destroy you, your faith, and your children (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1998), p. 135.

30 Francis A. Schaeffer, Death In The City (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1969), p. 14.

CHAPTER 4

1 Jamieson, et. al., Commentary on Malachi, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, v. 4:1.

“Root and branch, as the two extremities of the tree representing the whole, is a proverbial expression for totality.” (Feinberg, p. 266).

2 Josephus Flavius, Wars of the Jews, Bk. 3, Ch. 6, Vs. 9.

3 Coffman, Commentary on Malachi, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, v. 4:2.

4 Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentaries, vs. 4:2-3.

5 Utley, Free Bible Commentary, v. 4:2.

6 Barnes, Commentary on Malachi, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, v. 4:3.

7 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 1532.

8 Phillips, Exploring The Minor Prophets, p. 337.

9 Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 251.

“The order of these verses is slightly altered in the Septuagint (i.e., Mal. 4:5, 6, and 4). The order is also slightly altered in the Masoretic Text. This seems to be related to the rabbinical thought that the Bible should end with a Covenant name for God. They also did this to the books of Isaiah and Ecclesiastes.” (Utley, vs. 4:4-6).

10 Feinberg, The Minor Prophets, p. 266.

TIMELINE OF THE RESTORATION

605 Nebuchadnezzar II becomes King of Babylon (reign 605-562)

597 Babylon’s first siege of Jerusalem, Zedekiah is installed as king

588 Final siege of Jerusalem begins

586 The fall of Jerusalem and exiles removed to Babylon

559 Cyrus the Great becomes king of Persia (reign 559 – 530)

539 Daniel interprets handwriting on the wall

539 Babylon captured by Medes and Persians

538 King Cyrus decrees that the Jewish exiles could return

537 Almost 50,000 exiles return

535 Temple work begins and foundation laid

534 Cambyses II (reign 530-522) stops work on the temple

(His father had put him in charge of Babylonian affairs earlier)

525 Persia defeats Egypt

522 Darius I becomes king (reign 522-486)

520 Tattenai’s letter to Darius clearing way for Temple work

520 Haggai and Zechariah prophesy; work begins on the Temple

516 Completion and dedication of the Temple

490 Persians defeated by the Greeks at the great Battle of Marathon

485 King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) comes to power (reign 485-465)

480 Persians lose the great Battle of Salamis to the Greeks

478 Esther becomes queen of Persia

465 Artaxerxes I (reign 465-425)

458 Ezra journeys to Jerusalem with some additional families

444 Artaxerxes sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem

444 The wall around Jerusalem is completed

433 Nehemiah returns to Babylon

430 Possible time for Malachi’s ministry

424 Darius II (reign 424-404)

404 Artaxerxes II (reign 404-358)

396 Malachi’s ministry according to Sir Robert Anderson

333 Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Empire