Malachi

The Old Testament closes with a reminder and a promise. Malachi 4 first says, “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant,” and then looks ahead: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” He is to turn the hearts of fathers and children toward each other. The name Malachi belongs to the book’s author, and here his final words are about families and about waiting. The New Testament picks up the promise of Elijah, and Christians read these three verses as the bridge between the testaments.

3 verses

Malachi

Malachi 4:4

Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

Malachi 4:5

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

Malachi 4:6

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Messenger or angel, the last of the minor prophets, and the writer of the last book of the Old Testament canon (Mal. 4:4, 5, 6). Nothing is known of him beyond what is contained in his book of prophecies. Some have supposed that the name is simply a title descriptive of his character as a messenger of Jehovah, and not a proper name. There is reason, however, to conclude that Malachi was the ordinary name of the prophet.

He was contemporary with Nehemiah (comp. Mal. 2:8 with Neh. 13:15; Mal. 2:10-16 with Neh. 13:23). No allusion is made to him by Ezra, and he does not mention the restoration of the temple, and hence it is inferred that he prophesied after Haggai and Zechariah, and when the temple services were still in existence (Mal. 1:10; 3:1, 10). It is probable that he delivered his prophecies about B.C. 420, after the second return of Nehemiah from Persia (Neh. 13:6), or possibly before his return.

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