Day 240 – Malachi

 Readings

  • Malachi 2:7… to the end of the Old Testament!

Prayer

Pray… that as the Israelites set their sights on the promised Messiah to come, that we will set our sights (and hearts) on Jesus, thanking God that He has come – and will come again!

Day 240 – Malachi

The final Old Testament prophet (400+ years before Christ) & prophecies of Christ

 

  • Malachi is a rich book, with an interesting backdrop. Shame we’re only reading half of it! Let’s set the scene again. It’s 100 years after Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. The temple has been built, as have the walls. But, to the frustration of many of the people, life was hard. God hadn’t “dwelt” in the new temple like He had in Solomon’s. The new temple and city were inferior to the ones previously. Judah was a reasonably insignificant 25 square miles of territory, with only around 150,000 people in it. They had no king and were no longer an independent nation. It was a time where the people longed to hear God speak and act, but didn’t, meaning that they lived by faith rather than sight. They were under almost constant oppression from their neighbours. In this situation, a culture of cynicism and frustration grew.
  • Malachi 2 tells us that the people have made God weary with their words. What were the people complaining about? Verses 13-14 have one example, and give us God’s response through Malachi.
  • The last verse of Malachi 2 has the people challenging God about His justice. In the third chapter, who does God say would come? We know that this messenger will be John the Baptist, and the “person to come” will be Christ. He will “come to the temple” (so God will indeed “dwell” there!).
  • What does Malachi say that the “person to come” (i.e. Jesus) will do in Malachi 3:2-5? Be very clear on this – the passage talks of “purifying” some people (verse 3), and judging others (verse 5). The justice that the people called for will certainly come through Jesus.
  • Malachi 4 talks of the “sun of righteousness” in verse 3. Christians throughout the ages have understood this to be another prophecy of Jesus. Malachi 4:5 encourages the people that it will be a “great and awesome” day. Never was a truer word spoken!

 

 

I’ve not gone into great detail with today’s passages, as I don’t want to detract from Jesus. We’ve been looking at His handiwork throughout the Old Testament as we’ve read through it, all the way from Genesis 1:1. Now, finally, we are about to usher in the time when He came to earth in physical form. 240 days of reading through God’s salvation plan has brought us to the brink of the greatest news humanity has ever heard. The Israelites had to wait 400 more years – happily, we just have to wait until tomorrow!

 

Well done on a great achievement in reading thus far. Now let’s read on to hear more about what Christ has achieved for us, which (unlike these bible readings) we could never have accomplished for ourselves…


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