Malachi

About Malachi

Malachi is a series of blunt back-and-forth disputes between God and His people, who had drifted into halfhearted worship, broken marriages, and withheld tithes while asking, 'How have we wearied Him?' God answers their doubts, reaffirms His unchanging love for them, and promises to send a messenger to prepare the way before the Lord suddenly comes to His temple. As the final book of the Old Testament in Christian Bibles, Malachi ends the era of the prophets with a promise that sets the stage for John the Baptist and the Gospels.

Written by

The book is attributed to Malachi, a name that means 'my messenger'; some scholars read it as the prophet's name and others as a title, since nothing else is known about him.

When

Malachi likely wrote around 460 to 430 BC, after the temple was rebuilt but while worship had grown careless, close to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Themes

• God's unchanging love
• Halfhearted worship
• Faithfulness in marriage and giving
• The coming messenger

Key verses

• Malachi 3:1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
• Malachi 3:6For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
• Malachi 4:5-6¶ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.