The last of the OT prophets, Malachi served the community of Judah who had returned to their homeland after their exile under the Babylonians. Though the temple in Jerusalem and the wall protecting the city had been rebuilt, life was still difficult for the people, as would have been evident already from the opposition they faced from the surrounding peoples as reflected in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
We know very little about him as a person. Some commentators even doubt if his name is Malachi. This is because his name means "my messenger." Mal 1:1 may, therefore, be translated "A prophecy: the word of the Lord to Israel through my messenger" without losing any sense. The name appears nowhere else in the Bible to help clarify the question. Unlike his near contemporaries Haggai and Zechariah, Malachi also did not "date stamp" his oracles; so we are not able to date his ministry with precision. Nonetheless, what he says reflect the circumstances of the post-exilic period after the temple has be rebuilt (see, e.g., 1:10, 3:1), and most biblical scholars posit Malachi about 450 BC, in the reign of Artaxerxes I, r464-424/3 (See also Persian Kings), i.e., about a century after the edict of Cyrus was pronounced that permitted the Jews to return to their homeland.
Malachi's prophecy consists essentially of a series of six "disputes" (A-F below) between the Lord and a certain "you" whom we can identify from the context as referring to the Jews. The main trust of these dispute was to rebuke the people for their spiritual apathy and to recall them to trust and covenant faithfulness to Yahweh. Malachi's oracles conclude with a prediction of the return of Elijah (4:4-6). The disputes may be summarised thus:
A. 1:2-5 - reaffirmation of God's elective love for Judah (called Israel here), which should have called forth a response of obedience and sincere worship; instead it is greeted by the questioning of His love.
B. 1:6-2:9 - failure of the priestly community to provide moral and spiritual leadership to the people, as reflected in their failure to encourage the best in worship,
C. 2:10-16 - the failure of the community to maintain their covenant faithfulness by their divorce of their wives and taking foreigners,
D. 2:17-3:5 - warning against spiritual apathy among the people—they have "wearied the Lord by their cynism (v17)—Malachi prophesies the imminent coming of the Lord.
E. 3:6-12 - continues with the people's spiritual apathy as reflected in the manner of their tithing, with a divine challenge to "test me in this, 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" if only they would "bring in the whole tithe" (v10).
F. 3:13-4:3 - returns to the people's cynism as reflected in their sayings that it was futile and profitless to serve the Lord. Malachi's response is to point to the day of judgment that was coming when the righteous will ultimately be vindicated.
G. 4:4-6 - ends Malachi's oracles with a promise that, before that day comes, God will send Elijah to "turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents."
At the heart of Malachi's preaching is the message of God's great love. Unfortunately sermons on Malachi almost always turn soon to two issues—divorce and tithing—which serve only as illustrations of the people's faithlessness (in the NIV the adjective 'unfaitful' occurs 5x in Malachi; 8% of 63x in the Bible), their failure to appreciate God's love and to respond appropriately. It is imperative that we get back to the heart when we do preach it.
Malachi is a particular useful book to preach from for relatively new preachers. It has the advantage of being short, and most of the issues he raises are relatively easy to understand, and his message of failing to love God is a perannial problem and is, therefore, immediately relevant.
Six sermons, each of about thirty-minutes each (which common in many traditional churches) should give your congregation much to feed on. An alternative, if you preach in a church, camp, or conference, where you have perhaps up to an hour each, is three or sermons organized by pairing the six disputes, with a concluding exposition based on the last three verses to explore the meaning of Malachi in the light the coming of Christ and his foreshadowing by the new Elijah John the Baptist.
Low Chai Hok
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