In our last visit I introduced you to the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament. The prophet Malachi’s name means “my messenger.” What a message he delivered to close the Old Testament!
He probably prophesied during the time between when Nehemiah finished building the wall around Jerusalem and his return after having gone back to where he had lived in exile. His message was similar to issues Ezra and Nehemiah dealt with.
The thing that always amazes me is how fast after returning from their exile the Israelites reverted to the practices that caused them to go into exile. Upon reflecting about this I’m aware we do the same thing. That is one good reason we should read and study this book carefully so we don’t fall into the same trap they did.
I thought of a number of ways to study the book but settled on what I call the “4S” approach: spread, sort, structure and summarize. After reading the book a number of times I began to spread what I found before me. Words like love, honor, and respect were contrasted with words like contempt, compromise, cheating and defilement. Warnings of judgment and dire consequences were contrasted by promises of protection, restoration and blessing.
After reflecting on all these themes I tried sorting the information I’d gathered under four headings which became the main points in the outline I structured under the title: How to experience God’s love, blessing and freedom. More on this in our next visit.
