Where it fits

Malachi is the 39th and last book of the Old Testament, with four chapters in English Bibles (three in the Hebrew Bible). The name means “my messenger,” and some scholars wonder whether it is a name or a title. The setting is Jerusalem around 450 to 400 BC, after the temple was rebuilt in 516 BC. Enthusiasm had faded, and many of the problems described, including weak worship, unfaithfulness to the covenant, and neglected offerings, match those Nehemiah faced (Nehemiah 13). Read straight through, it takes about ten minutes.

The prophet and his message

Malachi is written as a series of disputes. God makes a statement, the people respond with a challenge, and God replies. The first is the most striking. God says, “I have loved you,” and the people ask, “How have you loved us?” (1:2). God points to his past choice of Israel. Then the questions turn on the people. The priests despise God's name by offering blind and lame animals they would never offer to their governor (1:6–14). The priests, meant to be messengers whose lips guard knowledge, have turned aside from the covenant (2:1–9). The people are unfaithful to each other and to God, including in marriage (2:10–16), though verse 16 is notoriously difficult to translate. They even say evil is good and ask where the God of justice is (2:17).

God's answer is that he is coming. He will send a messenger to prepare the way, and the Lord they seek will suddenly come to his temple, like a refiner's fire and launderers' soap (3:1–3). The people are also robbing God by withholding tithes and offerings, and are invited to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse and test whether God will pour out blessing (3:6–12). When some say serving God is futile, a book of remembrance is written for those who fear him (3:13–18). The day is coming, burning like a furnace for the proud, but for those who revere God's name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings (4:1–3). The Old Testament ends with a promise to send Elijah the prophet before the great day, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and children to their parents (4:5–6).

Three ideas to hold on to

1. God wants our best, not our leftovers. Offering the blind and lame, things we wouldn't offer anyone else, shows how little we value him (1:8).
2. Honest doubt is not hidden from God. The people's questions are quoted, and God answers them, even when the questions are sour.
3. God is coming to his people. A messenger will prepare the way, and the Lord himself will come (3:1).

Passages people ask about

• Malachi 1:6–14. The priests and their offerings.
• Malachi 2:10–16. Faithfulness in the covenant and in marriage.
• Malachi 3:1–5. The messenger and the refiner's fire.
• Malachi 3:6–12. Tithes and offerings.
• Malachi 4:1–6. The coming day and the promise of Elijah.

How it points to Jesus

The New Testament takes Malachi's two promised messengers and applies them to John the Baptist. Mark begins his Gospel by combining Malachi 3:1 with Isaiah 40:3 (Mark 1:2–3). Jesus says that John is the messenger of whom it is written, “I send my messenger before your face” (Matthew 11:10), and the Elijah who was to come (Matthew 11:14; 17:10–13). The angel tells Zechariah that his son John will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning hearts of parents to their children (Luke 1:17). The Old Testament ends with a promise, and the New Testament opens with its fulfillment.

A common misunderstanding

Malachi 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse,” is often quoted as a formula: give to God, and God will make you rich. In its context, it is part of a covenant lawsuit against a community that was neglecting the temple and the people who served there. Christians also differ on whether the tithe is binding today, with some seeing it as a model for generosity and others as an Old Testament requirement fulfilled in Christ. Christians sometimes speak of 400 “silent years” before Matthew, meaning only that no new prophetic book was added in that period, not that nothing happened. Malachi ends by looking forward.