📖 The Book of Malachi
Start reading →Old Testament · 4 chapters · Prophet
Covenant faithfulness — God calls a compromised people back to wholehearted love.
Who wrote Malachi?
Author
Malachi
Written
c. 430 BC
Genre
Prophet
Last book of the OT chronologically.
Why Malachi was written
The last OT prophet confronts a post-exilic community grown cold in worship, corrupt in its priesthood, faithless in marriage, and negligent in tithing — and promises a coming messenger and the return of Elijah before the great Day of the LORD.
Outline of Malachi
- 11–2: God's love questioned; the priests' corruption; faithless marriages
- 23–4: The coming messenger; the call to return; the promise of Elijah
Key verses
Malachi 3:1Malachi 3:10Malachi 4:2Malachi 4:5-6
How Malachi points to Christ
Malachi 3:1 ('I will send my messenger before your face') is applied to John the Baptist in all four Gospels. The 'sun of righteousness with healing in its wings' (4:2) is Christ, bringing the dawn after 400 years of prophetic silence.
How Malachi begins
1The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
Read Malachi 1 →