malachi

August 31, 2026

The Book of the Twelve – Malachi

Malachi 1–4 (Hebrew 1–3)

Malachi writes a bit later than Haggai and Zechariah. The temple has been rebuilt, and folks have settled in. But there’s a problem. Although the people have returned to the land, they are not experiencing the restoration that Deuteronomy 30:1–10 promised. The land they are currently occupying is a small province within the Persian Empire. The promises of this glorious future made by Haggai and Zachariah have not been realized. The LORD had yet to visit the temple (3:1) as He had done in the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34–38) and Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:10–11), where “the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle/house of the LORD.” And so, the people question the LORD’s covenant love for them (1:2) and His justice (2:17; 3:14–15). Malachi (“My messenger”), then, writes to Israel, and especially to the priests, using disputation, repetition, and vivid imagery in order to challenge and correct their charge against the LORD and make them aware that they are not experiencing restoration/blessing in the land due to their profaning of the altar with improper sacrifices, the false teaching of the priests, marrying daughters of foreign gods, divorcing their Jewish wives, withholding the tithe, and acting arrogantly against the LORD, so that they will fear the LORD and repent and so avoid further judgment and experience the promised blessing as they await the coming day of the LORD heralded by Elijah.

We’ve seen it throughout the prophets: the LORD’s desire for Israel’s repentance, and their seeming determination to run in the opposite direction. The LORD’s warning of judgment to come, and their refusal to listen. And yet, even then, the LORD promises to one day restore them. But it will require them to return to Him. He still has big plans for them, but they need to return to the LORD. Maybe you do too.

I hope this series has been profitable for you. I’ve enjoyed it. It’s not been easy, but it’s been worthwhile. And if you’ve gotten nothing else out of it, I hope you’ve seen that the LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and faithfulness, relenting of evil, forgiving of iniquity, transgression, and sin, mighty to save, but who will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. The LORD is a good, good God, but He does take sin seriously. And so should we. If you’ve strayed, don’t wait to come back. Do it today.

If you don’t know the LORD, you can come to know Him today. It starts with recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and believing that Jesus is the Savior whom God promised. He lived a perfect life and died a sacrificial death. He was raised to life on the third day, proving that He had conquered both sin and death, so that by believing in Him, we can be saved—not because of anything that we have done, but because of what Jesus did. The Innocent who died for the guilty so that the guilty could be declared innocent.

pro rege

This post is based on a sermon from our Book of the Twelve series. Download the podcast from the Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, or Threads at @ccclancaster. You can also download our Central Christian app in the iTunes App Store.

February 17, 2015

OT Reading – February 17

Malachi 3-4

Malachi 3

The Purifier

3 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and 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 fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts. 6 “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

7 “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

You Have Robbed God

8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test 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 a blessing until it overflows. 11 Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts. 12 “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

13 “Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15 So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and escape.’”

The Book of Remembrance

16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. 17 “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” 18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

 

Malachi 4

Final Admonition

4 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” 2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. 3 You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.

4 “Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.

5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation (www.lockman.org)

 

Congratulations!!

You made it through the entire Old Testament!

Take a break for the next few days…spend your extra time in prayer, worshipping our BIG God!

We’ll resume with a devotional on Monday, February23 and begin the New Testament on Monday, April 6th.

February 16, 2015

OT Reading – February 16

Malachi 1-2

Malachi 1

God’s Love for Jacob

1 The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?”  “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; 3 but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” 4 Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever.” 5 Your eyes will see this and you will say, “The Lord be magnified beyond the border of Israel!”

Sin of the Priests

6 “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ 7 You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be despised.’ 8 But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts. 9 “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts. 10 “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you. 11 For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts. 12 “But you are profaning it, in that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’ 13 You also say, ‘My, how tiresome it is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand?” says the Lord. 14 “But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.”

 

Malachi 2

Priests to Be Disciplined

2 “And now this commandment is for you, O priests. 2 If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. 3 Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it. 4 Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi,” says the Lord of hosts. 5 “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts. 9 “So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the instruction.

Sin in the Family

10 “Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 As for the man who does this, may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who presents an offering to the Lord of hosts.

13 “This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. 16 For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How 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?”

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation (www.lockman.org)

February 12, 2015

Malachi

Thoughts About What We’re Reading!

This week we turn our attention to the Book of Malachi.  This will be the last book in our Old Testament reading plan.

It’s been my pleasure to go on this journey with you – next week we will do some sort of a wrap-up.  After that, we will spend the following weeks leading up to Easter with a special daily devotional.

Following Easter, we will begin a new reading plan through the New Testament that should take us all the way up to Advent. I will continue the weekly blog when we start the New Testament.

So, what can we learn from the book of Malachi?

As we explore the book of Malachi we see that the temple had been rebuilt and the walls around the city of Jerusalem are either complete or in process.

But after all this was done the people seem to be falling into a state of mediocrity. Lukewarm might be a way to describe the people.  The people of Israel seem to just be going through the motions.

Here we find that life is not easy for the people – they remain under Persian rule. Harvests seem to have been poor and subject to locust damage.

Maybe this is the reason the people were so indifferent or even resentful toward God. Both the priests and the people were guilty of violating the laws regarding sacrifices, tithes, and offerings.

Maybe their hopes in God’s covenant promises were dimmed.

So the Lord sent Malachi to speak to His people concerning the lukewarm state of their hearts. This reminds me of the warning given to the church in Revelation Chapter 3:14-22.

Even though the book is made up of a series of rebukes from the Lord, God continues to affirm His love for them – which is the reason they continue to exist after the judgment of the exile.

Malachi pointed to God’s past, present, and future dealings with Israel in order to renew their perspective, reestablish their hope, and motivate them to proper covenant faithfulness.

I conclude with what the Holman Christian Standard Bible says about the book of Malachi:

 “Malachi was the last prophetic message from God before the close of the Old Testament period.

This book is a fitting conclusion to the Old Testament and a transition for understanding the kingdom proclamation in the New Testament.

Malachi spoke to the hearts of a troubled people whose circumstances of financial insecurity, religious skepticism, and personal disappointments were similar to those often experienced by God’s people today.

The book contains a message that must not be overlooked by those who wish to encounter God and His kingdom and to lead others to a similar encounter.

We have a great, loving, and holy God, who has unchanging and glorious purposes for His people.

Our God calls us to genuine worship, fidelity to Himself and to one another, and to expectant faith in what he is doing and says He will do in this world and for His people.”

Until next time… Keep reading!

Jim

Other excerpts taken from: Bible Knowledge Commentary and Gospel Transformation Bible