The following scripture that the student is studying is the prophetic book of Malachi in the Old Testament. It is the last book of the Old Testament and the last of the Minor Prophets. The intent of this student is to show that God loves through sin and through ones’ honest love and enduring obedience to Him, He will exalt and glorify. The Hebrew translation of the name Malachi is “my messenger” or “a message” (Strong 1527). Some scholars do not think that Malachi is the name of the author of the book but is rather the title of an anonymous prophet because there is nothing through the text that mentions Malachi by name (“Malachi”).
It is highly unlikely that this book is written by an anonymous writer, it would be the only book in the Old Testament as such, however, at the time prophets and priests were called messengers and the wordplay of Malachi could have been used to address all those due to the content of the message because it brings the actions of the spiritual leaders into question. Some credited the writer of the book of Malachi to be the prophet Ezra (“Malachi”). Malachi is most likely used here as a proper noun.
Malachi introduced the book as his oracle and it was a unique way in the Bible because no other prophet had introduced a book in such a way before. The Babylonian exile for some Israelites ended in 536 B. C. and the people of Judah returned to the province of Judea. This was east of the Mediterranean Sea and was south of Jerusalem. The estimated population of the time was considered to be about 150,000. The economic conditions of the times were less than desirable. There were long drought periods, no crops and pestilence.
The people were becoming discouraged and losing their faith in God because the recovery time of the regrowth of the economy was slow and they did not see the prosperity the Lord promised being fulfilled in an ever halting economy. There was no king being mentioned but a governor of the people was (Mal. 1:8). The people returned to the land while under the leadership of Zerubbabel and was later governed by Nehemiah around 444 B. C. (NIVSB). Considering some passages in the book, it could have been written around the Persian rule time period of between 430 – 420 B. C. and can be compared with the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Each of these prophets had called out the people as to having corrupted leaders, infidelity in marriages and not tithing . The people or audience of the nation of Judah that Malachi was reaching out to and addressing were people who made ethical and moral shortcuts and compromises because they did not want to take the time nor put in the effort to properly worship and show reverence to God.
Malachi came to the people and prophesied about restoring their fellowship with the Father and renewing a covenant of obedience, fidelity, and reverence of Gods glory. Although spiritual leaders were addressed specifically in the message, they were charged with leading the people astray because of their non-committed and mock worship rituals, most of it was supposed to be delivered to and listened by the majority of the people. The most important thing that Malachi wanted the people to know was that God loved them.
This is established at the beginning and at the end of the message and if the people would honestly give God their best, He will give just rewards. A modern comparison to the book of Malachi could be that of a middle-aged husband and father who was an electrical engineer to a major industrial company and had been laid off from a job he loved and enjoyed doing every day. He was there a half hour earlier than his shift began and left a half hour later daily.
He made quite a lot of money in his position and he was able to provide nice material possessions for himself and his family. The company was sold to a foreign investor and because of financial cutbacks within the company; his entire department was laid off. During his unemployment period, the man lost the medical insurance benefits the company provided and it was a struggle to pay for his families’ monthly expenses and be able to provide enough food for them to eat.
After an unemployment period of two years, the owners of the industrial company allowed him and some of the other workers from the laid off department to return, however, it was on an entry-level basis and the position would not pay even half of what they had made before. This position was acceptable to the man because he knows that there is an opportunity within the company for growth in status and in wealth. Over the next three years the man noticed that although he came to work every day and performed his job as required, he was not getting promoted in position or pay as his co-workers were.
It was still difficult to maintain his household financial obligations. The man was asking for a meeting with the company’s owner because it was close to the time for his employee review and he wanted to discuss why he didn’t think he was being treated as fairly as the others who had come back to the company after being laid off. During the meeting the man asked the owner why wasn’t he getting paid more after all this time with the company now, although he was doing his job the way he was told to do it.
The owner told the man the reason why he had not received any promotions was because he was only doing what he was supposed to do and that he was not showing initiative or passion for the job while others did and therefore he did not deserve any higher recognition. The owner also told the man that he could go to a refresher course for his job duties and renew his knowledge of the work so at his next job performance evaluation he would be likely to get the raise that he wants and needs rather than get fired for not performing quality work.
The message that is in the book of Malachi for a modern reader is that God will never take His love away. That even in difficult and lonely situations in life, He is present, and it is up to each one to obey and follow His commandments through every situation. If one remains faithful and steadfast in loving God and keeping His laws, He will give life abundantly in return but if one fails to comment to God and His ways, He will judge accordingly.
