Week 32 Malachi
I think it’s kind of normal for a bible reader to have – after he’s read 378-pages of prophetic warnings – a hopeful expectation that the small group of Jews who have come home from Babylon to start over again have…you know…learned-their-lesson.
But Malachi doesn’t give you that feeling. Right away he starts recording observations about current religious practices. The pattern is pretty simple: the Lord makes a comment and the people reply by disagreeing with the Lord’s comment.
A good example is where the Lord says he loved the people and they say: how have you loved us?
In another example the Lord says they despised his name: how have we ever despised your name?
The Lord says they offered defiled sacrifices: how have we defiled the sacrifices?
The Lord says X and they say Y…
Why has the Lord abandoned us?
How have we wearied him?
How can we return when we have never gone astray?
When did we ever cheat you?
How have we spoken against you?
It’s probably safe to say that the returned exiles had learned some lessons. For example they didn’t seem to be worshipping Molech any more. Or going up to the high-places. Still…Malachi – one of the last of the prophets – closes the OT leaving you with a strong sense that Israel still had a number of lessons to learn.
Note: quotes from Malachi 1:2, 6, 7 2:14, 17 3:7, 8, 13 (NLT)