Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 433
IMMERSED IN MALACHI
S O M E T I M E A F T E R T H E T E M P L E had been rebuilt through the encouragement of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, God sent another prophet
to urge the people to worship him properly there. This message came
from the Lord through the prophet we know as Malachi. Since the
prophet’s name in Hebrew means “my messenger,” it is possible that
we don’t know his real name and that he was simply a messenger
of God.
Malachi took a distinctive approach in bringing God’s word to the
people who had returned from exile. To draw their attention to issues
that needed correcting, he would make a provocative claim, anticipate their defensive response, and then answer their objections. For
example, speaking as God’s messenger, he says, “Should people cheat
God? Yet you have cheated me!” He envisions the people responding,
“What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?” Then he explains,
“You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.”
The book of Malachi includes six such exchanges with the people,
arranged in a chiasm:
A Evildoers will not prosper: Edom will not be rebuilt.
B The people are not bringing the right offerings: defective
animals.
C Concern for justice: Men are divorcing and abandoning
their wives.
C' Concern for justice: People are complaining, “Where is
God’s justice?”
B' The people are not bringing the right offerings: no tithes.
A' Evildoers will not prosper: The people are saying that evildoers
go unpunished.
There’s also a special word of correction to the priests after the second
exchange and a series of hopeful promises at the end of the book for
those who take Malachi’s corrections to heart and choose to live in a
way that honors God.
Ever since the destruction of Israel’s first Temple and the nation’s
exile to Babylon, the twin questions of God’s presence with his people
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