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Malachi 1-4 Listen 
An introduction to Malachi
We don't know exactly when Malachi prophesied. We do know that it had to have been written after the rebuilding of Zerubbabel's Temple, completed in 515 B.C. Good scholars disagree on their preference for an exact date after 515 B.C. However, we do have strong clues that would help us zero in more closely on a date.
Let's establish a time line of known events to help us intelligently speculate on the dating of the Book of Malachi:
Tough outcome for the Edomites (Malachi 1:1-5)
1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD.
“Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’
Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?”
Says the LORD.
“Yet Jacob I have loved;
3 But Esau I have hated,
And laid waste his mountains and his heritage
For the jackals of the wilderness.”
4 Even though Edom has said,
“We have been impoverished,
But we will return and build the desolate places,” ¶ Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“They may build, but I will throw down;
They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness,
And the people against whom the LORD will have indignation forever.
5 Your eyes shall see,
And you shall say,
“The LORD is magnified beyond the border of Israel.’
The Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother. Throughout Jewish history, they'd experienced some good times, but no more. Malachi's prophecy for these people is bleak - gone forever. Their land had been east of south Israel. However, they were driven out of their land into the southern part of Judah, never to return to their own land again. Edom had sought to block Israel’s first entrance into Canaan (Numbers 20:14-21, see notes; Numbers 24:15-19, see notes).
Note these other conflicts with the Edomites:
Other prophets also prophesied concerning Edom:
During the period between the Testaments, the Maccabean period, John Hyrcanus compelled the people to become Jews and to submit to circumcision. By New Testament times we see them in Judah identified as people from Idumea (Mark 3:8, see notes), which is what this southern part of Judah came to be known as. The entire Book of Obadiah was a prophecy against the Edomites prophesying their utter dissolution. Likewise, Jeremiah issues a stinging prophecy regarding their impending fall to the Babylonians in Jeremiah 49 (see notes). Well, in Malachi's day this fall had already taken place, and their demise was to be permanent according to verse 4; these Edomites would be known as "the people against whom the LORD will have indignation forever."
Paul uses verses 2-3 in this passage to make his point in Romans 9:13 (see notes). Esau was the father of the Edomites, while Jacob was the father of the Jews.
So much for the laws regarding unblemished sacrifices (Malachi 1:6-14)
6 “A son honors his father,
And a servant his master.
If then I am the Father,
Where is My honor?
And if I am a Master,
Where is My reverence?
Says the LORD of hosts
To you priests who despise My name.
Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’
7 “You offer defiled food on My altar,
But say,
“In what way have we defiled You?’
By saying,
‘The table of the LORD is contemptible.’
8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice,
Is it not evil?
And when you offer the lame and sick,
Is it not evil?
Offer it then to your governor!
Would he be pleased with you?
Would he accept you favorably?”
Says the LORD of hosts.
9 “But now entreat God’s favor,
That He may be gracious to us.
While this is being done by your hands,
Will He accept you favorably?”
Says the LORD of hosts.
10 “Who is there even among you who would shut the doors,
So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain?
I have no pleasure in you,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.
11 For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,
My name shall be great among the Gentiles;
In every place incense shall be offered to My name,
And a pure offering;
For My name shall be great among the nations,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
12 “But you profane it,
In that you say,
‘The table of the LORD is defiled;
And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’
13 You also say,
“Oh, what a weariness!’
And you sneer at it,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
“And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick;
Thus you bring an offering!
Should I accept this from your hand?”
Says the LORD.
14 “But cursed be the deceiver
Who has in his flock a male,
And takes a vow,
But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—
For I am a great King,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“And My name is to be feared among the nations.
"That animal's blind; it'll make a good sacrifice down at the temple." Such was the practice of the priests with the sacrifices at their newly-rebuilt temple. So much for the provisions of the Mosaic law requiring unblemished sacrifices in Leviticus 1-4 (see notes). They brought lame and sickly animals as sacrifices as well. Malachi proclaims that this practice is "evil" and "contemptible." Both the people bringing the sacrifices and the priests who accept them should be ashamed!
Yuck! What's that on your face? (Malachi 2:1-9)
1 “And now, O priests, this commandment is for you.
2 If you will not hear,
And if you will not take it to heart,
To give glory to My name,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“I will send a curse upon you,
And I will curse your blessings.
Yes, I have cursed them already,
Because you do not take it to heart.
3 “Behold, I will rebuke your descendants
And spread refuse on your faces,
The refuse of your solemn feasts;
And one will take you away with it.
4 Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you,
That My covenant with Levi may continue,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
5 “My covenant was with him, one of life and peace,
And I gave them to him that he might fear Me;
So he feared Me
And was reverent before My name.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth,
And injustice was not found on his lips.
He walked with Me in peace and equity,
And turned many away from iniquity.
7 “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
And people should seek the law from his mouth;
For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
8 But you have departed from the way;
You have caused many to stumble at the law.
You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
9 “Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base
Before all the people,
Because you have not kept My ways
But have shown partiality in the law.”
These priests surely didn't get the big picture. Here's that "talkin' to" they desperately needed - and extremely blunt. Verse 3 may just take your appetite away, "Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces, The refuse of your solemn feasts; And one will take you away with it." Malachi is referring to the internal excrement ("dung") from the sacrificed animals which was ordinarily carried outside the camp for disposal after the sacrifice. Malachi's prophecy strongly suggests that their corrupt actions regarding their sacrificial practices are not meeting God's approval. They are disgracing the Levite tradition. Verse 8 proclaims that they are causing people in Israel to stumble because of their actions. Were these priests well respected? According to verse 9, I guess not, "Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base Before all the people,"
Out with the old wife; in with the young (Malachi 2:10-17)
10 Have we not all one Father?
Has not one God created us?
Why do we deal treacherously with one another
By profaning the covenant of the fathers?
11 Judah has dealt treacherously,
And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem,
For Judah has profaned
The LORD’S holy institution which He loves:
He has married the daughter of a foreign god.
12 May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob
The man who does this, being awake and aware,
Yet who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts!
13 And this is the second thing you do:
You cover the altar of the LORD with tears,
With weeping and crying;
So He does not regard the offering anymore,
Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
14 Yet you say, “For what reason?”
Because the LORD has been witness
Between you and the wife of your youth,
With whom you have dealt treacherously;
Yet she is your companion
And your wife by covenant.
15 But did He not make them one,
Having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one?
He seeks godly offspring.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
16 “For the LORD God of Israel says
That He hates divorce,
For it covers one’s garment with violence,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
“Therefore take heed to your spirit,
That you do not deal treacherously.”
17 You have wearied the LORD with your words;
Yet you say,
“In what way have we wearied Him?”
In that you say,
“Everyone who does evil
Is good in the sight of the LORD,
And He delights in them,”
Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
These Jewish men were marrying young women of the land who worshiped false gods. Moreover, some were apparently divorcing their old wives to make room for the new pagan-worshiping ones. Verse 16 makes it clear that God despised this practice. To marry a pagan-worshipping woman is to forsake God, because one is saying that it makes no difference who your god is. So you see, this practice wasn't just the actions of unbridled lust, but rather a forsaking of God himself.
Perhaps Paul was thinking of this passage of scripture when he wrote in II Corinthians 6:14-18 (see notes):
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”
This is an issue also tackled in Ezra 9-10 (see notes) and Nehemiah 13 (see notes).
John the Baptist makes an appearance (Malachi 3:1-5)
1 “Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
2 “But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the LORD
An offering in righteousness.
4 “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
Will be pleasant to the LORD,
As in the days of old,
As in former years.
5 And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
Against perjurers,
Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
In Matthew 11:10 and Luke 7:27 (see notes), Jesus clearly quotes this passage and says that this messenger is John the Baptist. Click here to view an article on Jesus' identification of John the Baptist as a fulfillment of this prophecy. Be sure to look at that summary; it is very important to understand what Jesus said about John the Baptist being the forerunner of the Messiah. Mark also clearly identifies Jesus with this prophecy in Mark 1:2 (see notes).
How they robbed God (Malachi 3:6-18)
6 “For I am the LORD, I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
7 Yet from the days of your fathers
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
Return to Me, and I will return to you,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
“But you said,
‘In what way shall we return?’
8 “Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
Says the LORD of hosts;
12 And all nations will call you blessed,
For you will be a delightful land,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
13 “Your words have been harsh against Me,”
Says the LORD,
“Yet you say,
‘What have we spoken against You?’
14 You have said,
“It is useless to serve God;
What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance,
And that we have walked as mourners
Before the LORD of hosts?
15 So now we call the proud blessed,
For those who do wickedness are raised up;
They even tempt God and go free.’ ”
16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,
And the LORD listened and heard them;
So a book of remembrance was written before Him
For those who fear the LORD
And who meditate on His name.
17 “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts,
“On the day that I make them My jewels.
And I will spare them
As a man spares his own son who serves him.”
18 Then you shall again discern
Between the righteous and the wicked,
Between one who serves God
And one who does not serve Him.
So, Israel is back, but they're not really back - not with right attitude anyway. Their hearts didn't really seem to be into nation rebuilding. We saw in chapter 1 (see above) that their sacrifices were intentionally substandard - a clear violation of Mosaic law. Now we see that they did not want to contribute to the very centerpiece of their national pride - their temple. They obviously did not want to pay the price of national restoration. Malachi's admonition to them is simple, "Do right!"
It is necessary to point out that in 535 B.C. when the exiles first began returning to Israel, they were very excited about their national prospects. Now that they have been back in their homeland for a century or so, they have lapsed back into the same frame of mind that caused their fall to the Babylonians in the first place. They had lost their vision to recapture the spirit of the Old Israel. Nominal service was really all they gave God at this point. Malachi's words here are intended to fire the people back up as we see his very confrontational statement in verse 8, "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings." Then notice his words in verse 9, "You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation." Sometimes it just takes an in-your-face declaration to shake people up.
Who is this Elijah? (Malachi 4:1-6)
1 “For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
3 You shall trample the wicked,
For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
On the day that I do this,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
4 “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,
Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,
With the statutes and judgments.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
6 And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
Well, we know who Elijah is (I Kings 17, see notes), but what about the future. We already saw in chapter 3 (see above) that Jesus identifies the messenger as John the Baptist.
Look at verses 5-6 here regarding the coming of Elijah:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
While John the Baptist did introduce Jesus at the first advent, the nation of Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah at that time; that's key to understanding the role of John the Baptist in this prophecy. Click here to view the article on Jesus' identification of John the Baptist as a fulfillment of this prophecy. The reference to "the great and dreadful day of the LORD" is surely addressing the Battle of Armageddon in Revelation 19:11-21 (see notes). Therefore, certainly this reference must be to the appearance of the two prophets in Revelation 11:1-14 (see notes) before the Battle of Armageddon takes place. It is obvious to most Bible students that one of the witnesses of Revelation 11 must be Elijah. So, Malachi's prophecy describes the ministry of the Messiah at his first and second advents.