{"id":6284,"date":"2012-10-31T01:00:17","date_gmt":"2012-10-31T08:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/?p=6284"},"modified":"2012-11-28T08:06:28","modified_gmt":"2012-11-28T16:06:28","slug":"bob-malachi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2012\/10\/31\/bob-malachi\/","title":{"rendered":"BOB &#8211; Malachi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/files\/2012\/02\/BOB_header.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-4550\" title=\"BOB_header\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/files\/2012\/02\/BOB_header-300x193.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/files\/2012\/02\/BOB_header-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/files\/2012\/02\/BOB_header.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>by Stephen Rodgers<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>MALACHI IN\u00a010\u00a0WORDS\u00a0OR\u00a0LESS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Jews are careless in their attitude towards God.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>TITLE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In nearly all the other prophetic books, the name of the book bears the name of the prophet who was responsible for its contents. That certainly could be the case with Malachi, but some have suggested that it might be otherwise despite Mal. 1:1. (See AUTHOR &amp; AUDIENCE).<\/p>\n<p><strong>AUTHOR\u00a0&amp;\u00a0AUDIENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We know absolutely nothing about Malachi personally, so some scholars have suggested that &#8220;Malachi&#8221; is not a proper name at all, but rather a literal expression for what it means (&#8220;my messenger&#8221;). That would make Malachi the only anonymous prophetic book. \u00a0The arguments for anonymous authorship typically rely on four points:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The word &#8220;Malachi&#8221; is a title rather than a name in it&#8217;s form. In fact, that&#8217;s how the writers of the Septuigent translated it.<\/li>\n<li>Neither the Targum nor the Talmud credit Malachi as the author; the Targum credited Ezra and the Talmud credited Mordecai.<\/li>\n<li>The word &#8220;Malachi&#8221; appears in Mal. 3:1 and it is definitely a title and not a name in that context.<\/li>\n<li>Some have suggested that the entire book is merely an oracle such as Zech. 9-11 and Zech. 12-14.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>Those who support Malachi as the author typically refute those arguments as follows:<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Malachi&#8221; could be a shorted form of &#8220;Malachiah&#8221; or &#8220;Malachiyyah,&#8221; which is definitely a proper name. The Bible does contain other examples of such name-shortening (Kings 18:2 \/ 2 Chr. 29:1; 1 Kings 4:19 \/ 1 Chr. 11:41).<\/li>\n<li>Neither Ezra nor Mordecai are likely authors of the book, so a tradition of ascribing it to them is largely irrelevant.<\/li>\n<li>The use of &#8220;Malachi&#8221; in Mal. 3:1 appears to be a play on words, which can only be the case if Malachi is the name (or a form of the name) of the author.<\/li>\n<li>Malachi uses a different introduction than Zechariah; also, other prophets referred to their books as &#8220;oracles&#8221; (Nah. 1:1; Hab. 1:1)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Also, per Constable:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>If Malachi is not the prophet\u2019s name, this would be the only prophetic book in the Old Testament that is anonymous, which seems very unlikely.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On balance, it seems most likely that Malachi is a proper name, and the author of the book.<\/p>\n<p>Malachi was written for the Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon and fallen into a state of spiritual apathy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DATE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Although we don&#8217;t have a precise date for Malachi, we do have a number of clues from the text. Constable has a lengthy but excellent explanation:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Malachi referred to no datable persons or events in his prophecy, so we must draw our conclusions from implications in the text and traditional understandings of it. Malachi\u2019s place at the end of the twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and modern translations argues for a late date. The Talmud grouped Malachi with Haggai and Zechariah as postexilic prophets.[<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Yoma<\/span> 9b; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Sukkah<\/span> 44a; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Rosh Hashannah<\/span> 19b; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Megillah<\/span> 3a, 15a, et al.]<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Malachi\u2019s reference to \u201cyour governor\u201d (1:8) indicates that he wrote after 538 B.C. when Cyrus the Persian allowed the Jews to return to their land, which was under Persian control. The word translated \u201cgovernor\u201d is pehah, a Persian title (cf. Ezra 5:3, 6, 14; 6:6-7, 13; Dan. 3:2-3, 27; 6:7). Zerubbabel bore this title (Hag. 1:1, 14; 2:2, 21), as did Nehemiah (Neh. 5:14; 12:26). Malachi must have written after the temple had been rebuilt since he referred to worship there (Mal. 1:6-14; 2:7-9, 13; 3:7-10). This would force a date after 515 B.C. when temple restoration was complete.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Since Malachi addressed many of the same matters that Nehemiah tried to reform, it is tempting to date Malachi during Nehemiah\u2019s governorship. Both Malachi and Nehemiah dealt with priestly laxity (Mal. 1:6; Neh. 13:4-9), neglect of tithes (Mal. 3:7-12; Neh. 13:10-13), and intermarriage between Israelites and foreigners (Mal. 2:10-16; Neh. 13:23-28). Some have conjectured that Malachi ministered while Nehemiah was away from Jerusalem.[E.g., Robert L. Alden, \u201cMalachi,\u201d in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Daniel-Minor Prophets<\/span>, vol. 7 of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Expositor\u2019s Bible Commentary<\/span>, pp. 701-2.] In the twelfth year of his governorship, Nehemiah returned to Persia for an unknown period of time (Neh. 5:14; 13:6). Malachi probably wrote during the years Nehemiah served (445-420 B.C), and perhaps between 432 and 431 B.C., the years when Nehemiah was away from Jerusalem.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Just to reiterate the point, the MSB concurs:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Looking solely at internal evidence, the date of the prophecy points to the late fifth century B.C., most likely during Nehemiah\u2019s return to Persia ca. 433\u2013424 B.C. (cf. Neh. 5:14; 13:6). Sacrifices were being made at the second temple (Mal. 1:7\u201310; 3:8), which was finished in 516 B.C. (cf. Ezra 6:13\u201315). Many years had passed since then as the priests had increasingly become complacent and corrupt (Mal.\u00a01:6\u20132:9). Malachi\u2019s reference to \u201cgovernor\u201d (Mal.\u00a01:8) speaks of the time of Persian dominance in Judah when Nehemiah was revisiting Persia (Neh. 13:6), while his emphasis on the law (Mal.\u00a04:4) coincides with a similar focus by Ezra and Nehemiah (cf. Ezra 7:14,25,26; Neh. 8:18). They shared other concerns as well, such as marriages to foreign wives (Mal.\u00a02:11\u201315; cf. Ezra 9,10; Neh. 13:23\u201327), withholding of tithes (Mal.\u00a03:8\u201310; cf. Neh. 13:10\u201314), and social injustice (Mal.\u00a03:5; cf. Neh. 5:1\u201313). Nehemiah came to Jerusalem in 445 B.C. to rebuild the wall, and returned to Persia in 433 B.C. He later returned to Israel (ca. 424 B.C.) to deal with the sins Malachi described (Neh. 13:6). So it is likely that Malachi was written during the period of Nehemiah\u2019s absence, almost a century after Haggai and Zechariah began to prophesy. Similar to Rev. 2,3, in which Christ writes what He thinks about the conditions of the churches, here God writes through Malachi to impress upon Israel His thoughts about the nation.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>BACKGROUND\u00a0&amp;\u00a0SETTING<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>See DATE.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HISTORICAL\u00a0&amp;\u00a0THEOLOGICAL\u00a0THEMES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are two main themes that pervade the book of Malachi.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Israel&#8217;s Unfaithfulness.\u00a0<\/strong>Malachi rebuked the people of Israel for lapsing into unfaithfulness. The priests were offering God second-rate and diseased animals (Mal. 1:6-14), and violating the covenant. The men of Israel were marrying Gentile women and divorcing Israelite wives (Mal. 2:10-16). Everyone was failing to honor God by tithing (Mal. 3:8-12). Malachi reminded them that God demands his people&#8217;s best in their service and lifestyle (Mal. 1:7-8).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Judgment.\u00a0<\/strong>God will judge those who practice evil (Mal. 2:17-3:5; 4:1), but save and reward those who honor Him (Mal 3:16-18; 4:2-3).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><\/strong><strong>INTERPRETIVE\u00a0CHALLENGES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The only interpretive issue in Malachi is the reference to the second coming of Elijah. The MSB explains:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>The meaning of Elijah being sent \u201cbefore the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD\u201d (4:5) has been debated. Was this fulfilled in John the Baptist or is it yet future? Will Elijah be reincarnated? It seems best to view Malachi\u2019s prophecy as a reference to John the Baptist and not to a literally-returned Elijah. Not only did the angel announce that John the Baptist would \u201cgo before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah\u201d (Luke 1:17), but John the Baptist himself said he was not Elijah (John 1:21). Thus John was like Elijah, internally in \u201cspirit and power\u201d and externally in rugged independence and nonconformity. If the Jews would receive the Messiah, then he would be the Elijah spoken of (cf. Matt. 11:14; 17:9\u201313); if they refused the King, then another Elijah-like prophet would be sent in the future, perhaps as one of the two witnesses (cf. Rev. 11:1\u201319).<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>LITERARY\u00a0FEATURES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Per the ESVSB:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>The content of the book of Malachi places it in the category of prophecy, but the form in which that content is packaged is out of the norm for OT prophecy. The book is written entirely in prose. Further, the material is not embodied in the conventional format of oracles of judgment and salvation. The dominant genre is satire\u2014an attack on vice in a discernible literary form, and with a satiric norm by which the criticism is conducted. The object of attack is halfhearted and negligent religious service, which in the prophet\u2019s day took multiple forms (e.g., inappropriate offerings, untruth promoted by the priests, and the prevalence of divorce). The satiric norm is God\u2019s law. The primary vehicle in which the satire is embodied is a rhetoric of question and answer, as the people of Judah are pictured as asking a series of questions that God answers in an accusatory and condemning way.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>OBJECTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are no objections to Malachi that I&#8217;m aware of.<\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><strong>NOTABLE\u00a0QUOTABLES<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Malachi 3:1<\/li>\n<li>Malachi 4:2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>DID\u00a0YOU\u00a0KNOW?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Malachi would record the last words that God would speak to his people for over 400 years&#8230;until the coming of John the Baptist.<\/li>\n<li>Marriages to pagan women were forbidden under covenant law, due to the risk of apostasy (Mal. 2:11).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><\/strong><strong>Other Works Referenced<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Apologetics Study\u00a0Bible, <a href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=p3dT6ZPr_mkC&amp;lpg=PA1293&amp;ots=Bf5HzCw433&amp;dq=apologetics%20study%20bible%20hosea&amp;pg=PA1393#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" class=\"broken_link\">&#8220;<\/a><\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=p3dT6ZPr_mkC&amp;lpg=PA1293&amp;ots=Bf5HzCw433&amp;dq=apologetics%20study%20bible%20hosea&amp;pg=PA1393#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" class=\"broken_link\">Malachi&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>Archaeological Study\u00a0Bible<\/em>, &#8220;Introduction to Malachi&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><em>ESV\u00a0Study Bible<\/em>, &#8220;Introduction to Malachi&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><em>MacArthur Study\u00a0Bible<\/em><em>,\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gty.org\/resources\/bible-introductions\/MSB39\/malachi\" class=\"broken_link\">&#8220;Malachi&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>NET Bible<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/net.bible.org\/#!bible\/Malachi+1\" class=\"broken_link\">Malachi<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>NIV\u00a0Study\u00a0Bible,<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblica.com\/niv\/study-bible\/malachi\/\" class=\"broken_link\">Malachi<\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>Reformation Study\u00a0Bible,\u00a0<\/em>&#8220;Malachi&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><em><\/em><em>The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook,\u00a0<\/em>&#8220;Malachi&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Dever, <em>The Message of the Old Testament<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Driscoll,\u00a0<em>A\u00a0Book You\u2019ll Actually Read On the Old Testament<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Knight,\u00a0<em>The Layman\u2019s Bible Handbook<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Stephen Rodgers MALACHI IN\u00a010\u00a0WORDS\u00a0OR\u00a0LESS &#8220;The Jews are careless in their attitude towards God.&#8221; TITLE In nearly all the other prophetic books, the name of the book bears the name of the prophet who was responsible for its contents. That certainly could be the case with Malachi, but some have suggested that it might be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-of-the-bible"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6284"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6731,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6284\/revisions\/6731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}