Historical Background Of Malachi

Malachi may have written his book around the time of Nehemiah’s visit to Babylon in 433 BC (Nehemiah 13:6). By this time the temple was already complete and the priests had been offering sacrifices according to the Law (1:7-10; 3:1). A Persian governor, not Nehemiah, was ruling at that time (1:8). The sins that Malachi targeted were the same ones that Nehemiah dealt with during his second term as governor—the corruption of the priests (Nehemiah 13:1-9), mixed marriages (Nehemiah 13:23-28), and the neglect of tithes (3:7-12; Nehemiah 13:10-13).

The people had again grown indifferent to their spiritual condition. Nehemiah had returned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:18). Malachi had come to rebuild the spiritual life of the people. The people had robbed God by withholding their loyalty, their love, and their gifts.

Message Of Malachi

Summarized in the statement “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me!” (3:8). The book of Malachi contains the last recorded words of the Old Testament. It was a sad commentary on a nation that had made so little spiritual progress in the last 1000 years since being delivered from Egyptian bondage. There was nothing more God could do for the nation until the coming of the Messiah and His divinely ordained kingdom. Every other promise had been fulfilled.