Study notes
This is the burden of the word (literally An Oracle: The message) of the LORD to Israel: This introduction shows that the book of Malachi is an important message from God. It identifies the author and audience but not the date or reason. The word oracle gives Malachi's message authority and urgency. His audience was expected to listen and respond.
Malachi shared most of his messages through questions and answers. God spoke and asked questions of his people (God’s people) living in the land of Judah. The people replied to God’s questions. They also asked him questions.
These were the people who had been left alive after God brought judgement. The judgement was when the Babylonian government took control of the southern kingdom. This group of people included those whose families hadn’t been forced to leave the southern kingdom. The group also included Jews who had returned to Judah from Babylon.
The Persian government had allowed them to return and to rebuild the temple. The first set of questions and replies was about God’s love. God chose to show his love for Abraham. He showed it by making a covenant with Abraham and his family line. God chose to continue his covenant with Abraham through Jacob’s family line. That is one way he showed his love to the people of Israel.
The people’s question about God’s love showed something. It showed what they felt about God’s choice and his covenants. They didn’t feel that these things mattered. They didn’t feel that these things helped their lives. Questions they asked later in Malachi’s messages showed this as well.
loved: The relationship between the Lord and Israel involves covenant implications. This love can mean God's choice or election of Israel as his people. Malachi's message shows that other aspects of God's unconditional covenant love for Israel, like his patient mercy (see Malachi 3:6, 17), are still active. See also Romans 9:13.
Malachi’s sermons use a literary form called disputation (a structured argument). This form sounds like a courtroom scene and gives the message the tone of a trial. In the first disputation, the prophet states the central truth that God loves Israel (Malachi 1:2).
After this, the prophet challenges the people and responds to their objections. He develops this main claim through five additional messages that follow.
hated (the opposite of loved in Malachi 1:2): Love and hate are opposite words in Old Testament legal and prophetic texts (see Deuteronomy 7:9–10; Amos 5:15). They often describe the separation caused by a broken covenant. Here, God says he rejected Esau and his descendants, the Edomites. Esau had despised and rejected a covenant relationship with the Lord (see Genesis 25:34; 26:34–35).
Esau was the ancestor of the Edomite nation. His inheritance, the territory of Edom, was on the southeastern edge of the Dead Sea. The mention of Jacob and Esau reminds us of the twin brothers’ rivalry (Genesis 25:23–26).
the LORD of Hosts (Hebrew Yahweh tseba’oth): This name for God is important in Old Testament prophetic writings. Hosts are the angelic forces under God's command. This phrase emphasizes God's power, which cannot be defeated.
the Land of Wickedness: Esau was selfish and showed disrespect for the Lord’s covenant symbols (see Genesis 25:34). The nation of Edom came to represent the pride of a self-centered life (see Jeremiah 49:16). The Edomites also allied with Babylon in destroying Jerusalem (see Psalm 137:7–9; Obadiah 1:10, 12).
who despise My name: God’s name refers to his reputation and character. It describes who God is and how he is known by his people (compare Ezekiel 36:19–24). The Judeans were showing how little they thought of God by giving him worthless offerings.
Malachi’s second message confirms the Lord as God and father of Israel. God alone deserves true worship.
The first part (Malachi 1:6–14) shows how the Israelites dishonored God despite his fatherly care and great power.
The second part (Malachi 2:1–9) warns the priests of Judah against sacrificing sick and defective animals and criticizes them for not teaching God’s instructions (2:6–8).
God accused his people of many things in his questions and replies. He accused them of not honouring him or respecting him. They showed this by not living according to the ways God had taught them. God had explained his ways for living in the Law of Moses. The people had promised to follow God’s ways. They made this promise in the Mount Sinai covenant.
Many of the laws in that covenant were about how to worship God. They were also about how to treat others. But the people offered sacrifices they shouldn’t have offered. They didn’t give back to God a tenth of everything they had. Many men were married to women who worshipped false gods. Many men divorced their wives. The people treated needy people badly. The priests didn’t teach the people God’s ways for living.
Stories recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah showed the people doing these things. These things went against what God wanted his people to do. The people’s questions and replies showed that they didn’t understand who God is or what he desires. God explained that he was their Father, their Master and their Creator. The people belonged to him. They were to be faithful to one another like he was faithful to them.
God does what is right and fair and brings judgement against those who do evil. God is the Lord who rules over all. He can provide everything that people need. God longed to bless his people with so much that they couldn’t store it all. God would do this if his people lived faithful to the Mount Sinai covenant. This doesn’t mean that God’s people had control over blessings from God. It doesn’t mean that they would be blessed for giving money to God or the temple. That way of thinking is called the prosperity gospel and it isn’t true.
What was true was that God’s people needed to be faithful to the Mount Sinai covenant. This would allow the covenant blessings to come to God’s people. But God’s people didn’t believe these things about God. They didn’t trust him to provide the food and drink they needed. They didn’t trust that he punished people who did evil. They asked questions about God being fair. These were like the questions asked in Psalm 73 and like the questions asked by Job. The people didn’t believe that God desired to bless them. They didn’t believe that obeying God faithfully was better than doing what they wanted.
It seemed to them that obeying God was hard work. It was hard and didn’t result in anything good for them. For hundreds of years God’s people had refused to believe in him and trust him. Jews in Malachi’s time had lived through the time of God’s judgement. But most were no more faithful to God than their people of long ago had been. God felt worn out by this.
defiled food on my table: Ceremonial uncleanness or contamination made an object or person unfit for worship ceremonies to the Lord. In this case, defilement happened by ignoring the laws about acceptable animal sacrifices (Leviticus 22:17–25; Deuteronomy 15:21).
The governor was Persia’s appointed overseer of the province of Judah. The comparison between My altar (Malachi 1:7) and your governor (1:8) shows the Levitical priests' mixed loyalties.
asks the LORD of Hosts: This phrase is called the messenger formula in prophetic speech and means that God supports the prophet’s message.
Dishonor was not a single event. It had become a normal pattern of life. The priests, who were responsible for guarding Israel’s covenant relationship with the Lord, repeatedly dishonored him. They did this by bringing impure sacrifices to his temple.
cursed: To "bind with a curse" meant to bring misfortune as punishment for a serious crime against the community (see Deuteronomy 27:15–26; Jeremiah 48:10). Malachi spoke for the Lord, so the curse was a declaration of doom.
Verse notes: Adapted by Mission Mutual (Aquifer Open Study Notes) from Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. CC BY-SA 4.0. Section notes: Biblica Study Notes © 2023 Biblica, Inc. CC BY-SA 4.0, via BibleAquifer. About the sources