Malachi 0 (Introduction)
11/19/24 5:17 PM
Solitary Man
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20241111
Introduction
This last book of the old testament is perhaps one of the most misused books in the entire bible. If you have heard anything preached from this text, it is most likely about one of two things: Either that God hates divorce, or that you are under a curse if you do not tithe! And who is the one who tells you these things? Why, your local pastor, of course! These 2 sermon topics that are based on a couple verses of this short book have been used over the centuries to justify the placing of guilt, and the application of pressure, on the poor, beleaguered sheep of the flock.
In actuality, what we will discover as we properly analyze the text, is that the entire book is mainly about God’s indictment of the pastors! The book details the corruption of the spiritual leaders of Israel, with hardly a word spoken against the congregations. So, in what has been used as a cudgel with which to beat the sheep, manipulating the text to fleece the flock, is in fact one of the strongest portions of scriptures that you will encounter as to the condemnation of the wicked priests that are supposed to be serving God and their congregation, and not themselves.
This prophecy was most likely written during Nehemiah’s return to Persia from 433 to 424 BC, almost a century after the writings of Haggai and Zechariah. The temple had been rebuilt almost 100 years ago. Israel was back from their Babylonian exile, however existing as but a shadow of their former glory. Nevertheless, God had certain expectations of his people, especially their spiritual leaders. We will find out that these expectations were not being met in the slightest.
If we can imagine the setting as to when this was written, we will come to appreciate the spiritual challenges that the people of God were facing in that day. They had had no new word for almost 100 years. The temple was rebuilt and was functioning, but the nation itself was under direct control of foreign powers, subject to their whims and arbitrary injustices, with no sign of this situation ever abating. The word of God, much less the miracle working power of God, was in very short supply. Would this not be a sore challenge to maintain one’s faith in a dry time such as this?
In hindsight, this final word would be the last official word that would be added to holy text for the next 450 years. Of course, the people would have never dreamed that the words of God would go silent for such a long a time as that. Now no one can say for sure that there weren’t certain prophets during this time period until the birth of Christ, but certainly nothing has been permanently recorded that has been widely accepted by the vast majority of the churches. We do know groups such as the Essenes sprang up, and lived a very isolated, ascetic life. They preserved and even produced certain writings, which can be a source of some fascination even today, but this is beyond the scope of this lesson. Suffice it to say that this four chapter book represents the final certain words of Yahweh to his people, before a long period of silence occurs until the revealing of the Messiah. The period is even longer than when they were in bondage in Egypt.
That is not to say that nothing happened between Malachi and the New Testament. As a concession to our Catholic and Orthodox friends, most of the so called Apocrypha was written during this time period. While these extra books have not been included in the Protestant canon, that does not mean that there is no useful and edifying information contained therein. Books such as Maccabees fills in much of the historical gap between the old and new testaments. I am not here to argue pro or con on the appropriateness of the apocryphal texts. Such things have divided the true body of Christ for far too long. I have read all the books, and in reality, there is very little within that most would consider problematic or heretical. I personally find the writings of a lower level of inspiration than the generally accepted canon, and even many of the traditional theologians over the ages would agree with that sentiment.
We are not here to debate that point, but to focus on Malachi. The name Malachi means ‘my messenger’. Mal-aw-kee comes from the root mal-awk, meaning messenger, or angel. Nothing is really known about the prophet himself. Because the Hebrew word for messenger and angel are the same, some church fathers suggested that Malachi was really an angel. I certainly do not go there, but include this tidbit for your amusement.
Some think that he was a priest, given the subject matter within. I prefer to think that God likes to keep a certain number of his messengers anonymous (such as myself!), in order that the reader may focus on the message, rather than the messenger.
Malachi’s reference to a governor (Mal 1:8) lends credence to this being written during the time of Persia’s dominance during Nehemiah’s time of revisiting Persia (Neh 13:6), at the end of his known public ministry. He used the rhetorical style called the dialectic, which is investigation through discussion and reasoning. He would pose a hypothetical and then describe the priest’s response, and God’s rebuke. This became a popular teaching style in later Judaism.
Remember that only around 50,000 returned from the Babylonian exile. The temple had been rebuilt but like almost every generation, the passage of time corrupted the sincere worship of God, and degenerated into dead formalism. It is such a challenge for each successive generation to keep the genuine fire of God burning in our lives and in our communities, especially if there are no major moves of God himself occurring within that time. Is this not true right here and now, as the great reset is rolling along, seemingly unstoppable and unrelenting, with very few victories for the people of God to rejoice in? However God does not give his people a free pass, especially when it comes to the leadership.
While most of the work directly concerns the sins of the priests, the nation can also be said to be spoken to in certain passages, as we shall see. While leadership is primarily in view, that in no way means that the laity cannot find much that is applicable to their own personal spiritual life.
What is most encouraging is that the true remnant is spoken to at the end of the book. While the bulk of the writing concerns the ever present and crucial topic of the judgment of God, the sweet promises of Yahweh are alluded to and given before we complete the study.
While God’s primary purpose is to warn his wayward people, so as to rescue and preserve them continually, he does not break our spirit with unrelenting negativity. If we read the entire word of God very carefully, the word of judgment will always serve to motivate us to pursue the genuine fear of the Lord first and foremost. But that does not mean that we will not also discover many, many passages that speak of the great and precious promises of God, to give us spiritual sustenance and nourishment, providing all the strength that we need to be able to do our master’s will, even until the end of our own personal appointed path.
Let us now begin to plunge into this most blunt of works, and be careful not to be offended when we encounter language of such an exceedingly caustic nature, that we may be tempted to wonder if this is really the way Yehovah speaks from time to time! Well, fear not, because Yahweh will employ whatever vocabulary that is needful in order to shake his people awake unto genuine repentance, and the salvation of our souls!
Solitary Man
