Malachi the Prophet
Category: Endurance in rebuke & covenant faithfulness
Could avoid: Remain silent about priests’ corruption and people’s apathy.
“A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me?” (Malachi 1:6)
Cross-Refs: Isaiah 1:2; Luke 6:46.
Chose: Boldly confronted priests and people with God’s word.
“You have wearied the LORD with your words.” (Malachi 2:17)
Cross-Refs: Jeremiah 23:29; Hebrews 4:12.
Endured: Resistance from leaders and scoffers.
“It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements?” (Malachi 3:14)
Cross-Refs: Ecclesiastes 8:11; 2 Peter 3:3–4.
Why: Zeal for God’s covenant and future promise.
“My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace.” (Malachi 2:5)
Cross-Refs: Exodus 19:5; Hebrews 9:15.
Result: Final prophecy of the Old Testament, pointing to Christ.
“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.” (Malachi 4:5)
Cross-Refs: Matthew 11:14; Luke 1:17.
The Corrupt Priests (Negative Example)
Category: Failure in endurance & dishonouring God
Could avoid: Defile God’s altar with polluted sacrifices.
“When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong?” (Malachi 1:8)
Cross-Refs: Leviticus 22:20–22; Deuteronomy 15:21.
Chose (wrongly): Dishonoured God with half-hearted worship.
“You profane it by saying of the Lord’s table, ‘It is defiled.’” (Malachi 1:12)
Cross-Refs: Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8.
Endured (consequence): God’s rebuke and curse.
“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices.” (Malachi 2:3)
Cross-Refs: Hosea 4:6; Luke 12:47.
Why (wrongly): Sought personal gain, neglected holiness.
“You have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.” (Malachi 2:9)
Cross-Refs: Ezekiel 22:26; James 2:9.
Result: Removed from honour, replaced by faithful servants.
“For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge… but you have turned from the way.” (Malachi 2:7–8)
Cross-Refs: 1 Samuel 2:30; 1 Peter 2:9.
The Faithful Remnant
Category: Endurance in reverence & waiting for God
Could avoid: Join scoffers who doubted God’s justice.
“You have spoken arrogantly against me, says the LORD.” (Malachi 3:13)
Cross-Refs: Psalm 73:3; 2 Peter 3:4.
Chose: Feared the LORD and honoured His name.
“Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard.” (Malachi 3:16)
Cross-Refs: Psalm 34:15; Hebrews 10:24–25.
Endured: Waiting while the arrogant seemed to prosper.
“But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper.” (Malachi 3:15)
Cross-Refs: Job 21:7; Jeremiah 12:1.
Why: Trusted in God’s covenant and future vindication.
“They will be mine, says the LORD Almighty, in the day when I make up my treasured possession.” (Malachi 3:17)
Cross-Refs: Exodus 19:5; Titus 2:14.
Result: Written in God’s scroll of remembrance, spared in judgment.
“I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.” (Malachi 3:17)
Cross-Refs: Psalm 103:13; Revelation 21:27.
The Coming Messenger & Messiah (Prophecy)
Category: Endurance in preparation & fulfillment
Could avoid: Leave Israel without hope.
“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.” (Malachi 3:1)
Cross-Refs: Isaiah 40:3; Mark 1:2.
Chose: Promise of refining, cleansing, and final salvation.
“He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites.” (Malachi 3:3)
Cross-Refs: Zechariah 13:9; 1 Peter 1:7.
Endured: Delay of fulfillment (400 years of silence).
“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.” (Malachi 4:2)
Cross-Refs: Luke 1:78–79; John 8:12.
Why: To prepare the way for Christ and ultimate redemption.
“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.” (Malachi 4:5)
Cross-Refs: Matthew 17:11–13; John 1:23.
Result: Fulfilled in John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.
“He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents.” (Malachi 4:6)
Cross-Refs: Luke 1:16–17; Matthew 11:14.