Day 364

Malachi 1:1–2:17; Revelation 21:1-27; Psalm 149:1-9; Proverbs 31:10-24

TODAY, WE BEGAN the book of Malachi —which is the final book in the Old Testament and the last of the Minor Prophets. It is also the final book we will encounter this year.

The name Malachi means “my messenger,”* which is why scholars have debated whether the title of the book is to be attributed to an author bearing the name Malachi or whether it was written by someone else, with its title referring to the contents. For our purposes, we’ll assume the author was a prophet of God named Malachi, who was likely a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah —although nothing is known about him outside of the book.

Malachi lived about a century after the Persians defeated the Babylonians and began allowing the Hebrew exiles to return to their homeland. It had been more than a half century since the Temple had been rebuilt —spurred on by the prophetic voices of Haggai and Zechariah —but the promises of restoration and prominence had remained unfulfilled. The people were in their ancient homeland, but the glory of their former days had not materialized, and they existed as a discouraged, distant, and tiny province of the Persian Empire.

Because of their circumstances, the people had become disinterested in their passion for God, and the ensuing moral and spiritual decline was apparent. For example, sacrifices offered to God were to be spotless and without blemish —but priests had begun to use blind and blemished animals. Additionally, the law was becoming more and more irrelevant as the plumb line for the culture.

Into the malaise came the prophetic voice of Malachi —probably the final prophet of the Old Testament age —rebuking the doubt and faithlessness of the people and calling them to return to God. After Malachi, it would be another four hundred years before God sent another prophetic voice in John the Baptist.

We have but one day remaining together this year, friends. The finish line is in sight. Tomorrow, together, we will finish a complete year and a complete reading of the Bible.

MEDITATION:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”