/fairfaxs-website/image-f878f-i65ab.png "Fairfax Presbyterian Church")
Malachi is the last of the twelve Minor Prophets, and his book is the final entry in the Christian Old Testament. In Jewish Bibles, the Prophets section is followed by the Writings section, which usually ends with Chronicles. The name Malachi means “my messenger,” and over the course of four chapters the prophet delivers messages about the improper sacrifices offered by Israel’s priests, the abomination of marrying foreign women, the failure to bring full tithes to God, and a day of judgment in which God will send “the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes” (Mal 4:5). In the third chapter, God says through the prophet Malachi, “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight — indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts” (Mal 3:1). This messenger is coming to purify the priesthood, so that the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable once again. “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap” (Mal 3:2).
This line from Malachi has been made famous by Handel’s Messiah, in which a soloist sings, “But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire.” The messenger of God is presented as a refiner’s fire who burns away impurities in great heat, and the music reinforces this powerful image. According to music scholar Judith Eckelmeyer, “The repeated 16th-note pattern in the accompaniment shimmers like glowing coals; then the pitches in the strings leap by octaves, like flames being fanned in a furnace. Downward runs by the singer suggest the dross melting away in the conflagration; then upward leaps spew flame and superheated gases that are a part of the refining process.”
Handel’s musical imagery is intense and vivid, and his artistry continues when the chorus sings the next line from the Book of Malachi: “And He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” At this point, the voices of the chorus “leap up to four repeated high eighth notes which occur on the words ‘He shall puri — ....’ These four notes seem like short hammer strokes. When followed by the long runs of 16th notes on the final syllable of ‘purify,’ they suggest a shaping and further smelting of metal, continuing the idea of the refiner’s furnace.” From beginning to end, the music sends a message of refinement and purification, actions that Malachi felt were needed in a time when priests were offering polluted food to God.
But who is the messenger who will do this refining and purifying work? Some say that it is Malachi himself, since his name means “my messenger.” But it is unlikely that the prophet would speak of himself as someone who would do this work in the future, when God’s final actions would be revealed. By the time that the Book of Malachi was finished, says religious studies professor Eileen Schuller, “at least one stream of Jewish tradition had already identified the messenger with the prophet Elijah and his promised return.” Since Scripture says that Elijah did not die, but ascended into heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11), he was well-positioned to return to earth and do this important work. Later, Christians identified the unnamed messenger with John the Baptist (Matt 11:10), a prophetic figure who was sent to prepare the way for Jesus.
The Book of Malachi is a fitting end to the Old Testament, because the prophet offers a message of purification that ends in hope. The messenger “will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old” (Mal 3:3-4). Malachi’s message is not of future destruction, but of restoration. At the end of the purifying process is an offering that is no longer polluted, but is pleasing to God.
In addition, although the book ends with a vision of a day of judgment, God says that for those “who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings” (Mal 4:1-2). God instructs the people of Israel to remember “the teaching of my servant Moses” and promises that “I will send you the prophet Elijah” (Mal 4:4-5). In this final section, Malachi pulls together the Law and the Prophets, two pillars of the message of the Hebrew Scriptures, and anticipates the appearance of Moses and Elijah on the mountaintop with Jesus in the Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-8). This passage from Malachi is one of the Bible’s greatest hits because it concludes the Old Testament with a promise that we will be purified in ways that help us instead of hurting us, so that we can serve in ways that are pleasing to the Lord. The very last line of the book creates a bridge to the New Testament, saying that Elijah will change the hearts of people so that God “will not come and strike the land with a curse” (Mal 4:6). This sets the stage for John the Baptist, who turns people’s hearts with “the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17).
Questions:
1. How has God’s message had a refining and purifying effect in your life?
2. Who are the messengers of God who mean the most to you, and why?
3. How does Malachi prepare you for the New Testament that follows?
Join the conversation through a comment on Facebook.