FYI – Malachi’s Message

In a previous post, I began a discussion of the book of Malachi, the last book of the OT. I pointed out that there are six messages, each taking the form of a charge by God against the covenant community of Israel, a question by the people revealing disbelief and arrogance, and an answer by God showing the truth of his charge.

These messages call Israel to repentance.

In this post, I want to summarize the six messages of the book of Malachi, focusing on God himself—his character, his work, and his expectations.

A God of Love and Hate (1:1-5): God is at work for those whom he loves so that his glory might be seen in the nations.

A God of Acceptable Worship (1:6-2:9): Spiritual leaders must lead God’s people to acceptable worship.

A God of Covenant Marriage (2:10-16): God’s people must take their marriage promises seriously because God does.

A God of Purifying Judgment (2:17-3:5): People may think they are getting away with their lifestyle but a judgment day is coming so you better watch out.

A God of Unchanging Faithfulness (3:6-12):  God never changes; we need to.

A God of Eternal Profit (3:13-4:6): God will bring victory and make obedience worthwhile.

FYI – Malachi’s Messages

The book of Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament. It is not only last in order. It is also perhaps the last book written in time though sections of Nehemiah may have been written after Malachi. There is a lot of discussion about the exact timing of Malachi, but most place it between 450-433 B.C.

Malachi’s outline is fairly easy to see. It is made up of six messages, or “disputations”—confrontational speeches that attempt to convince another party of the speaker’s position. In this, Malachi is attempting to convince the descendants of the people who returned from Babylonian captivity that they are engaging in the same type of rebellion that led to the captivity to begin with. Therefore, they must repent and turn back to God and await the coming of the Day of the Lord.

Each disputation, or message, has an assertion made by God, a objection posed by a question, and a response demonstrating the truth of the assertion. Two of the disputations have two assertions and questions (#2 and 5). The following chart shows the outline of the book.

	Unit	Assertion	Objection(s)	Response
1.	1:2–5	1:2a	1:2b	1:2c–5
2.	1:6–2:9	1:6a, 7a	1:6b, 7b	1:7c–2:9
3.	2:10–16	2:10–13	2:14a	2:14b–16
4.	2:17–3:5	2:17a	2:17b	2:17c–3:5
5.	3:6–12	3:6–7b, 8a	3:7c, 8b	3:8c–12
6.	3:13–4:3	3:13a	3:13b	3:14–4:3

Next time you read Malachi, look for the messages (and realize that they cross chapter boundaries). It will help to make sense of the message.

A later post will talk about the messages themselves.

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(The chart is taken from Dr. Robert V. McCabe.)