The book of Malachi

The word of the Lord to Israel in the book of Malachi was given to the nation which had not long been restored following its period of captivity in Babylon. After seventy years of captivity as a punishment for sin one might expect the restored nation to be characterised by repentance, purity and godliness; but sadly their turning back to God had been imperfect from the start, and by the time of Malachi was once again characterised by "apostasy".

This word by Malachi is God’s message speaking against their apostasy and calling them to repentance – especially in view of the imminent coming of Messiah. And as such it provides a fitting message for the church today. The protestant church has also not long been restored from the dark ages of Catholicism. Yet from day one it has been an imperfect restoration, and it is now characterised by much the same apostasy it came out of. And, just as in Malachi’s day, God is knocking on the door – calling out to those who will hear to repent. To turn to him and walk with him, especially in light of the imminent second coming of Messiah.

Malachi 1:1

The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.

"I have loved you," says the Lord. "Yet you say, 'In what way have You loved us?'

Have you noticed how God usually starts right from the heart of a problem? Man tends to start from the periphery and work inwards, but God knowing the hearts of men starts right with the core issue and works his way outwards. What we’ll see in the book of Malachi is the nature of apostasy, from its innermost heart to its outermost effects. And by seeing it this way we not only see the nature of apostasy, but the process of sliding into it too.

Love

Right in verse one God starts by dealing with the matter of love. The first step of backsliding is typically the cooling of love for God. In Malachi’s day they were questioning God’s love for them. Why? Because they had lost relationship through backsliding and therefore were no longer experiencing God’s love. He still loved them, but they were distant from it due to their lack of reciprocal love for him. It’s the same situation with us when we backslide; and if it goes on too long we can end up questioning God too.

...To read more download the full PDF document (8 pages) about the book of Malachi