Malachi מַלְאָכִי malakıy mal-aw-kee’ = “my messenger.”

Most scholars agree that the Book of Malachi was written around 450-430 B.C. during the Ezra-Nehemiah days.

Chapter 1

2 “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3but Esau I have hated – God hated Him because Esau chose not the things of God, but the things of the flesh.

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 - Both Israel and Edom received judgment from God at the hands of the Babylonians in the sixth century (Jer. 27:2-8). Yet God repeatedly promised to restore Israel (because of His covenant promises, Deut. 4:29-31; 30:1-10), but He condemned Edom to complete destruction, never to be restored (Jer. 49:7-22; Ezek. 35). The Nabatean Arabs (550 -400 B.C.) ransacked Edom leaving only pockets of refuges in the Negeb desert (1 Macc 5:25). It was these same Nabateans who also set up the country of Idumea and forced the Edomites there (4:29; Mark 3:8).

8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? – Cf. (Lev. 22:20–23).

Chapter 2

11 11Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god – Cf. Nehemiah 13:23-26; 2 Cor. 6:15-16; Mt 10:34-40.

16 “I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith - Covering the woman with his garment meant that the husband would take care of the wife (Deu 22:30; Ruth 3:9; Eze 16:8).

Chapter 3

1 See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty - (Matt. 3:3; 11:10; Mark 1:2, 3; Luke 1:76; 3:4; 7:26, 27; John 1:23).

3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver – “There is a dramatic moment when the refiner knows that all dross has gone from the silver. Peering over it, the silver suddenly becomes a liquid mirror in which the image of the refiner is reflected. Then he knows that his task is done.” [Alan Robinson, “God, the Refiner of Silver.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 11, 1969: p. 190.]

6 I the LORD do not change – The immutability of God! Cf. Hebrews 13:8

8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings – Tenth

Dr. Charles L. Feinberg (The Minor Prophets) lists four tithes: First-fruit—not less than 1/60 of corn, wine and oil (Deut 18:4); then:

1. 1/10th of the remainder after the first-fruits were taken, going to the Levites for their livelihood (Lev 27:30-33);
2. 1/10th paid by the Levites to the priests (Num 18:26-28);
3. A 2nd 1/10th paid by the congregation for the Levites and their own families at the tabernacle (Deut 12:18);
4. another 1/10th every 3rd year for the poor (Deut 14:28-29 q.v.).

Abraham, before the law was given, tithed to Melchizedek. (Gen 14:20.) The tithe (or “tenth”) is clearly the ordained pattern in the Old Testament (Gen 28:19-22; Lev 27:30-32; 2 Chr 31:4-6; Neh 10:34-37; Mal 3:7-10), and in the New Testament nothing has changed! (Christ does not set aside the tithe in Mt 23:23; it also implied in the “Even so” of 1 Cor 9:13,14; the “lay by him in store” in 1 Cor 16:1,2 alludes to Mal 3:10; 2 Cor 8:14; Heb 7:5,6, etc)

16 Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name - Throughout Scripture, there is the theme that God keeps records (Rev 3:4-5, Dan 7:10; et al.).

Chapter 4

4-5 Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel . See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes – Cf. Rev 11:3-12; Matt 16:28,17:1-13.; Jude 9; John 1:19-21. Three people are expected to return again according to the scriptures: The Messiah (Mal 3:1-3, 5,6); Elijah; (Mal 4:5,6); A prophet like Moses; (Deut 18:15-18). There are also two ministries that were unfinished in the O.T.: Moses: Num 20:12; Deut 3:26-28. Elijah: 1 Kgs 17:1; 19:13-16; 2 Kgs 2:11.

Unique Powers, Miracles:

Elijah: Fire from heaven; 1 Kgs 18:37; 2Kgs 1:10, 12 (Jer 5:14); Shut heaven; 1 Kgs 17:1; (3 1/2 years! Lk 4:25; Jas 5:17) It is noteworthy that Elijah specifically stopped rain for the precise period here indicated: 3 ½ years! [confirmed by two witnesses— by the Lord (Lk 4:25) and by His brother James (James 5:17)— a fact not expressly in the OT record (cf. 1 Kgs 17, 18).]

Moses: Water into blood: Ex 7:19; Plagues; Ex 8 – 12. [vs. ministers of Church to be harmless: Phil 2:15; Rom 16:19.]  (Also, see Jude 9).

6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” – Old Testament ends with the word “curse”. Cf. Rev 22:3