The book of Malachi was written by the prophet Malachi around 430 BC. Malachi (My Messenger or The Lord’s Messenger) could be a formal name for the man who was God’s prophet, but we can derive from the opening of the book that Malachi was indeed the prophet’s name.
The book of Malachi was written during a time that Jerusalem was in upheaval spiritually. The Jews had returned from Babylon after their 70 years of captivity and had already built the temple. When they returned to Jerusalem, the temple was first built, then the walls around it were erected by Nehemiah in 424 BC. In that time, the remnant, who had returned for the express reason to rebuild the temple, had slipped into apostasy. This is illustrated in the book of Nehemiah (Neh 13). Malachi’s prophecy fits neatly into this narrative, as God’s condemnation of Jewish conduct parallels what Nehemiah found on his return to Jerusalem.
Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, the 39th book that closes out the old account and ushers in the New Testament. It is the last writing of scripture that occurs until that of the Gospels 400 years later. In that, we will see that Malachi gives us a doorway into the Intertestament Period and also is the beginning of the rise of the Persian, Greek and Roman cultures. The Intertestament Period also gives rise to the Pharisees, which is important to note. They rise from the corruption of the people and the chaos of the times.
In this book we will see seven disputes addressed. The disputes will come from Malachi and will be opposed by the Jews themselves. The narrative is simple: Dispute answered by the Opposition, then a definition of how God has cared for and shown His people a way forward.
The 7 questions are:
1. How have you loved us?
2. In what way have we despised your name?
3. In what way have we defiled you?
4. How have we wearied Him?
5. How should we return?
6. How have we robbed you?
7. How have we spoken against you?
These questions illustrate just how far the Israelites have drifted from God.3
1 A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi
First, we see that this book is a prophecy from the Lord. The Lord, in ancient times, spoke through the prophets for correction and clarity. Oracle, another word for prophecy, may be in the version you are reading. You’ll also note that this prophecy is for Israel. That is important to note. Not all scripture is for all Christians for all time. Often, the Old Testament prophets are speaking to a certain people during a certain time period for a certain purpose. In this case, Malachi is speaking to the people of Jerusalem about how they have drifted away from the Lord in specific ways which we will discover in the following passages.
2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord.
“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’
This is the first dispute. The prophet, speaking for the Lord, immediately expresses His love for His people. But as the Israelites answer, there is a sense of misunderstanding. How have you loved us?
This question possibly is born form the idea that times are bad, the struggle has been difficult in Israel, and because of the suffering, there is a sense that God’s love isn’t present inside that suffering. If He is a loving God, then why am I struggling? Shouldn’t He be blessing all of my endeavors?
It may be helpful to understand the reply by looking at a different translation:
NLT
“I have always loved you,” says the LORD. But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”
This is the fundamental flaw of the Jewish people during this time frame. They don’t understand God’s love for them. But in the next section, God tells a story they would understand, and it’s a story of election.
“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
4 Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.”
But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. 5 You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’
In the story of Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25-27), we see that God chose Jacob over Esau. But for what reason? Let’s look at it (Genesis 25:24-34):
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
The “her” who is giving birth is Rebekah, the wife of Isaac. Because Rebekah was childless, Isaac prayed to God and she became pregnant with twins. But the pregnancy was chaotic. The two babies inside her jostled relentlessly. So she prayed to God and God told her this:
23 The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
Jacob (also called Israel) represents Israel, while Esau (Also called Edom), the older son, will represent Edom. The stronger of the nation with be Israel. In this story, we see Esau being born first (representative of the hairiness) and Jacob second holding onto Esau’s heel. In that culture a “heel-catcher” meant “trickster”.
Esau grows up to be a hunter while Jacob is more of an in-doors guy. The parents are also split on the very different boys, Isaac preferring Esau while Rebekah loving Jacob.
So when we get to the sale of the birthright, a few things must be understood. In this culture, the birthright meant much, both physically and spiritually. It was the double portion of the first son, it was the spiritual epitome of the favored son. So when Jacob (heel-catcher) tricks Esau into selling his birthright, we have to understand that both are operating in a fallacy:
- Esau was hungry and the birthright meant little to him. He was prioritizing his human needs over his spiritual needs
- Jacob schemed over something that was already his
- Esau despised his birthright
- Jacob purchased something that was already his, while Esau gave away something that wasn’t his
If we jump to Hebrews 12:16, we have a further note on Esau:
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Because we see Esau’s character, we will note that Esau didn’t deserve the blessing. But did Jacob?
God’s love is sovereign, undeserving, and his love for Jacob (Israel) shows that God chose Israel for His own reasoning, not by Jacob’s character or how he even viewed God. God’s choice in electing the Jewish people as His own was His sovereign choice.
So as we jump back to the book of Malachi, we are hit with these verses again:
“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
4 Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.”
But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. 5 You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’
God chose Jacob over Esau. His choice. We just have to look at the story to see that Jacob wasn’t an exemplary person, perhaps morally better than his brother, but certainly not striving over God. But also remember, going back to the womb of Rebekah, God already revealed that there were two nations in her womb, and one was stronger than the other, and the older would serve the younger. God already had it worked out, sovereignly, in a perfect plan of redemption.
How do we understand this in the framework of Malachi? Remember the question:
How have you loved us?’
The very fact that God set the Jewish people apart, starting in Egypt, is a testament to His love for His people. He trained them, protected them, chastised and displayed who He was. This same protection as not given to Edom.
We may look at the word “hate” and wonder if this is a proper translation. Did He really hate Esau? The idea of God’s love is contrasted against what isn’t love, or blessing. So a better way to interpret this text is to understand it as Jacob being chosen, and Esau not being chosen. So the “election” of the Jewish people, who would carry on Abraham’s blessing, beginning with Jacob, is meant to reassure and comfort the Jewish people.
Another way to look at it is through the very nations they represent. Both brothers (nations) sinned and fell short of God’s desire. Both are punished. But Israel was given forgiveness and mercy whereas Edom was set for destruction by their own hands.
6 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty.
“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.
Next, we see that God is wondering why the priests are dishonoring Him. He sets up the system of thought: a son shows honor to his father and a slave his master. If the Jewish priests are truly his sons, then they should naturally show honor to God.
“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’
7 “By offering defiled food on my altar.
The priests don’t understand how they have dishonored God. The answer is simple: they have offered defiled food to Him.
In ancient times during temple worship the Israelites sacrificed to God. There were many different types of offerings, but one of the main mandatory offerings was the sin offering (koran hatat.)
This offering was mandatory under Mosaic Law and provided atonement for the guilt of unintentional sins. The purification for these sins came in the sacrifice of a blemish free animal, usually a bull, lamb or goat, that allowed the sinner to “cover” their sins, thus finding restoration with God.
So the person offering the sacrifice was meant to bring their best animal, or their “first fruit”, to offer to God for the atonement of their sins. So in a matter of 100 years or so since the building of the second temple, we have the priests accepting the defiled food on the altar to God.
When we square that with contempt we get the full picture. The dictionary defines contempt as the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn.
So in God’s view, because the priests were accepting defiled animals as sacrifice, they openly despised God’s word and considered it worthless.
“But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’
“By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty. 9 “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty.10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty. “When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.
When the priests began accepting defiled animals, it caused the people to continue offering defiled animals. There was no one reminding them of the word of God (Lev 22:20-25), and when no one is calling the people to the word of God, then there are no parameters. The worship becomes insincere. The best of what the people had wasn’t brought to God.
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