The Hebrew word Malachi means "My Messenger." It is fitting that the
last book in our Old Testament be called
by this name. The early religious zeal that Haggai and Ezra had stirred
up to get the temple built now seemed to have died out, and religious lardties
and abuses which Malachi condemns are the same as those under Nehemiah.
Mixed marriages were present, the payment of tithes had been neglected
and blemished sacrifices were being offered. The purpose of the book is
best made clear through a study of its contents. It falls into two principal
parts: chapters 1 & 2 describe the sin and apostasy of Israel, while
chapters 3 & 4 point to the judgment that will come upon the sinner
and the blessing reserved for those who repent.
In the last chapter, God points to a time of great
blessing when He would send forth His messenger to prepare the way for
the Messiah to come. Many misunderstood the spiritual reference to Elijah
coming before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Jesus corrected this
misconception when He told lhe people that this was fulfilled by John the
Immerser who prepared the way for Jesus to come (Matthew 11:14). Sadly,
even in our day there are those who are still waiting for Elijah to come,
not understanding or wishing to ignore what Jesus said about this prophecy.
THEN THEY THAT FEARED THE LORD
by Paul D. Fisher
In Malachi 3:16-18 we find these words of God, "Then
they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened,
and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them
that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall
be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels;
and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not " One of the
characteristics of those who fear or respect God, holding Him in awe, is
the fact that they
speak often to others of like faith. In the days of Malachi, God wanted
those who feared Him to know that He was watching and listening to what
they said and thought and it was put in a book of remembrance. In the book
of Revelation we have mentioned the opening of books on the day of judgment
(Revelation 20:12). No doubt this book will be opened to the blessing of
those whose names are in it. In the Christian age we can learn a lot from
studying the Old Testament, especially the prophets which too often get
passed over. Here we learn of a book much like the book of life that Christians,
to receive the crown of life, must have their name written in.
It is encouraging to note that even when the majority were not following God's laws and commandments, there were those who were. We sometimes get the feeling that we alone, like Elijah, are serving God, but like Elijah we find out that God has many who have not bowed the knee to idols. God, in this passage, also speaks of a type of judging that the people were suppose to make and that was between those who were serving God and those who were not, between the righteous and the wicked. My friends, many claim today that we must not judge people, but there are too many passages that make it plain that we must judge what people are doing. We must judge between righteousness and wickedness! As the Old Testament closes we get one final glimpse into the lives of the children of Israel and we find both the righteous and the wicked still, even after the Babylonian captivity. The scriptures fall silent for about a period of four hundred years before we find the angel of the Lord standing before Zacharias, one of the priests of God, and proclaiming to him that even though he and his wife are old they would have a son, who would go before the Messiah making the Paths straight and turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.