Malachi: Returning to True Worship

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Author(s): Gregory Brown
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Written around 430 BC, Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. In it, Malachi addressed the post-exilic Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon. They had returned to the land of their fathers but not the God of their fathers. Though they worshiped God, they did so half-heartedly. The priests were no longer faithfully teaching and modeling the Word (2:1-4, 8-9), and consequently, the people were in rebellion. Malachi, who was probably a contemporary of Nehemiah and Ezra, confronted the Jews’ sins throughout the book. The priests were offering blind and lame sacrifices instead of their best (1:6-10). The men were divorcing their wives and marrying pagans (2:10-16). The nation was robbing God by neglecting their tithes (3:6-12). As mentioned, the priests provoked these actions by shirking their responsibilities (2:8). Both the priests and people had turned away from God’s Word and true worship. If they did not repent, the messiah would come to judge instead of reward (3:1-5, 4:1-6).

Unfortunately, like Israel, our worship is often routine, apathetic, and half-hearted (cf. Rev 2:4-5). In the same way Israel needed to repent and offer true worship in preparation for the coming messiah, so must we. Our Lord is coming soon both to judge and reward (cf. Matt 25). Studying Malachi will help prepare our hearts to offer true worship that our Lord embraces (3:2-4, 16-18). Let’s study it together with the Bible Teacher’s Guide.

“The Bible Teacher’s Guide … will help any teacher study and get a better background for his/her Bible lessons. In addition, it will give direction and scope to teaching of the Word of God. Praise God for this contemporary introduction to the Word of God.”
—Dr. Elmer Towns; Co-founder of Liberty University