In the final instalment of our series 'The Relevance of the Message of the Prophets for Today', Chris Hill looks at Malachi and his testimony to the love of God.

One of the common misconceptions people have about the Old Testament is that it portrays God as the God of judgment and not of love. They say we must look to the New Testament if we are to encounter the God of love.

Such a simple analysis will not do. The New Testament contains a great deal about God's attitude to sin and its consequences, while the Old Testament continually presents us with wonderful revelation of the Lord's love for his people. We have only to do a word search of chesed, the Hebrew word for 'steadfast love' or 'grace', to find that it appears over 80 times in the Old Testament.

The Old Testament view of God is that he is gracious and loving to those who repent of their sin and rebellion, and he promises to provide a Saviour. The New Testament takes exactly the same position but goes farther, declaring that the provision has been made! Jesus, the Saviour, has come! Hallelujah! The Lord does not change.

Back to Basics

Malachi was the man for the moment; unequivocal in his faithful proclamation of the burden of the Lord. He thundered against the unfaithfulness of the Jewish people and the priests. Their grave social injustices were a scandal. They had abandoned true devotion to the Lord and adopted an attitude of insolent indifference towards his righteous laws.

The Lord had been acting for their sakes. It had been a momentous time, a time of restoration. The Lord had brought a quite miraculous release to the Jewish people. Cyrus of Persia had overthrown the devilish legacy of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, and actively encouraged the Jews' repatriation to their land. Babylonian oppression was a thing of the past.

Zerubbabel paved the way. He and Ezra brought back many Jewish survivors. Temple worship was restored and Jerusalem rang again with the praises of God's people!

A common misconception is that the God of the Old Testament is the God of judgment, whilst the God of the New Testament is the God of love. But such a simple analysis will not do.

In 445 BC the Persian king permitted his cupbearer, Nehemiah, to repair the city walls. Nehemiah was appointed Governor of Judea, answerable only to the Persian Court. He brought in reforms to help the poor, to encourage family fidelity, to restore Sabbath observance and to encourage financial integrity.

Twelve years after introducing his reforms Nehemiah returned to the Persian Court. During his absence the Jews fell back into sin and the priests did nothing to halt the slide. Indeed, they spearheaded the rebellion, were casual in their duty to God and corrupt in teaching God's Law to the people. Nehemiah 13 shows that mixed marriage had again taken its grip, as well as abuse of the temple and the violation of the Sabbath. Malachi stepped forward.

With the religious leaders and the people in this sorry state, it fell to Malachi to speak out. Provoked in his spirit, he could not remain silent. The priests may compromise themselves - Malachi could not. Layman or not, affront or please, he must speak out the word of the Lord.

Tragically, if the scholars are right in dating Malachi, apart from some initial response by particularly God-fearing people, it seems that his prophetic preaching was largely ignored. When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem he found only godless rebellion.

Malachi had spent himself for God, but he did not have the satisfaction of seeing his message taken seriously.

Malachi's Prophetic Calling

It takes guts to be a true prophet of God. We all wish to be liked and for our ministries to be welcomed. Is there anything nicer for the preacher than to hear those words, 'Well, dear brother, I've not heard preaching like that for years. It was wonderful! When's the earliest we can have you back?'

If the Bible is anything to go by, the truly prophetic ministry is more usually greeted with, 'Well, brother, I didn't sense much of the love of God in your message tonight. In fact, you've upset a lot of people here and made them feel insecure.'

It is interesting that as soon as God's righteousness and judgment of sin are spoken of, people believe that his love is being ignored. But Malachi shows that this is neither true nor prophetic. His great purpose is to testify to the focused love of God shining on his people in blazing glory (Mal 1:2-5), and the whole oracle is designed to draw the people back to that love. In a sense the prophecy of Malachi is a love letter from God to his people. Malachi's purpose is not condemnation but restoration. Is not this the heart of the prophetic calling?

As soon as God's righteousness and judgment of sin are spoken of, people believe that his love is being ignored. But Malachi shows that this is neither true nor prophetic.

Malachi's Method

The prophet calls Judah, the unfaithful 'lover', back to the Lord, her 'true love', by reminding her how things were. This describes a relationship with God which brings delight to his people and to him. What is it like when we are living in love with God?

• I honour and respect my heavenly Father God (Mal 1:6)
• I offer him only my best (Mal 1:7-8, 13b-14, 3:3b-4)
• I delight in the habit of worshipping him (Mal 1:10-13a)
• I revere him and stand in awe before him (Mal 2:5)
• I speak only what he gives me to say (Mal 2:6)
• I speak only truth and never falsehoods (Mal 2:6)
• I walk with him in peace and uprightness (Mal 2:6)
• I turn many people away from sin because I am prepared to bring a word from God to them (Mal 2:6-7)
• I maintain loyalty to my brothers and sisters (Mal 2:10)
• I identify any pagan influence in the church or out of it and avoid it completely (Mal 2:11)
• I am utterly faithful to my wife (Mal 2:13-16)
• I give to the Lord what is properly his (Mal 3:8)

Part of Malachi's message is addressed to priests and part to laity. Both apply equally to us, as we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9), so we identify with Malachi's words whether he spotlights priesthood or laity.

Isn't this a delightful list? We can learn from it and experience it! Here he describes the normal life of the man or woman who loves God! The heart of Malachi's message is to call the people back to their 'true love'. He does so by showing how far they have drifted away from that first love and its awful consequences.

Malachi was faced with an appalling situation. It took tremendous courage to confront people who were living like this. It still does! How much of this is true today - of me?

It takes guts to be a true prophet of God.

Restoring Our Love

Loving God is the key to life. Malachi calls out across the centuries, 'Come back to your first love!' His message is timeless. First addressed to a backslidden Judah, his words lose none of their bite when related to us.

Because Malachi has provided us with a 'love letter' from God, it is full of hope for the future restoration. God longs for us and woos us with words of tender encouragement.

• I am loved by my Father (Mal 1:2)
• My Father wants his covenant of life and peace to continue in me and through my ministry (Mal 2:5)
• My Father longs for godly children to be the fruit of my godly marriage (Mal 2:15-16)
• I am sustained by the revelation that he is coming (Mal 3:1)
• His refining of me will make my offerings acceptable to him (Mal 3:3)
• Bringing to him all that is his, will result in his blessing me and my fruitfulness for him as he promised (Mal 3:10-11)
• The blessings he bestows will be a testimony to his grace alone (Mal 3:12)
• The distinction between me and those who do not love the Lord will be so obvious (Mal 3:18)

What Must We Do?

Any preacher worth his salt preaches to gain a response from those who listen to his words. It was so with our Lord and with his disciples. This is typified by the response of the Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem for Pentecost (Acts 2:37), 'What shall we do?'

Malachi's proclamation evoked a response from those who truly feared the Lord. Malachi 3:16 says, "Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honoured his name."

It is time for those who will hear and fear the Lord to find each other and talk about these things urgently. Will we repent and return to our first love? We are surrounded by luke-warmness, levity and deception. But growing alarmed accomplishes nothing in itself.

Loving God is the key to life. Malachi calls out across the centuries, 'Come back to your first love!'

It is time to find each other and ask the pertinent question, 'What shall we do?' It is time to start talking to one another about holiness. Time to start helping each other to be holy. This is how great revivals have started. Am I concerned enough about my spiritual poverty to want to do something about it? Never mind the pastor; never mind the other members of the fellowship. Is the Lord speaking to me?

Malachi is the last prophet of the Old Testament. To him fell the privilege of having 'God's last word' for close on 400 years. Malachi spoke of restoration to the love of God. He also spoke of the coming of the Lord (Mal 3:1-5) and he spoke of his forerunner who would prepare his way (Mal 3:1, 4:5-6).

Malachi paved the way for the gospel - the good news of a glorious victory. He paved the way for Jesus Christ and him crucified. It is by embracing what he has done that I can face what I may have become - and move back into the glory of what I have in Christ. Resting in God's covenant love.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 12 No 3, May/June 1996.