Malachi

Malachi is the last of the minor prophets and the closing book of the Old Testament. It also closes the testimony of Jehovah to the Jews until the coming of John the Baptist. Malachi prophesied after the rebuilding of the temple. There was an established priesthood with sacrifices and feasts (Mal. 1:7-87Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. 8And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 1:7‑8); Mal. 2:33Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it. (Malachi 2:3)). Although we do not read of idolatry, the people had sunk into a state of total indifference and insensibility. Their moral condition had never been worse. Though professing to carry on, they lacked all spiritual discernment. Malachi’s message is directly addressed to the state of the people.
The book opens with an expression of Jehovah’s love for Israel, “I have loved you, saith the LORD” (Mal. 1:22I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, (Malachi 1:2)). God had chosen Jacob over Esau—this was sovereign election—but where was His honor? They offered that which the law expressly prohibited, completely insensible to Jehovah’s rightful claims. All was weariness to them (Mal. 1:1313Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord. (Malachi 1:13)).
Chapter 3 begins with the promise of the Lord’s return, heralded by His messenger John the Baptist. “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple” (Mal. 3:11Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:1); Matt. 11:1010For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. (Matthew 11:10)). The Angel of the covenant whom they sought would come in judgment (Mal. 3:11Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)-2 JnD). As the refiner’s fire he would purify the sons of Levi, “that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness” (Mal. 3:33And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:3)). Here, as elsewhere, the Lord’s first coming is connected with the full result of the second. Before that great and dreadful day of the Lord, Elijah would come and complete his mission to call back an apostate Israel (Mal. 4:5-65Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (Malachi 4:5‑6)). John came in the spirit and power of Elias (Luke 1:1717And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:17)), but was rejected (Mat. 11:14; 17:12).
Even in the midst of all this evil, there is a remnant. “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name” (Mal. 3:1616Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. (Malachi 3:16)).
The lukewarm state of Christendom today is morally not unlike Malachi’s time. Philadelphia is likewise commended for having thought upon His name: “Thou  ... hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name” (Rev. 3:88I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)). This is a very needful exhortation as we await the coming, not of the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:22But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. (Malachi 4:2)), but of the Bright and Morning Star, our blessed Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:1616I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. (Revelation 22:16)).