Jensens survey of the old testament adam 274
Bạn đang xem bản rút gọn của tài liệu. Xem và tải ngay bản đầy đủ của tài liệu tại đây (118.22 KB, 4 trang )
Leupold, H. C. Exposition of Zechariah.
Luck, G. Coleman. Zechariah. Everyman’s
Bible Commentary.
Meyer, F. B. The Prophet of Hope: Studies in
Zechariah.
Unger, Merrill F. Zechariah.
MALACHI: WILL A MAN ROB GOD?
The book of Malachi contains the Lord’s
last recorded words of Old Testament times.
In many respects it is a sad book, because it
reveals what little progress—if any—Israel
had made since the nation was born fteen
hundred years earlier (Gen 12). Dark and
distressing as this is, however, the sun of
God’s grace arises out of its pages; so, when
the reader has arrived at the last verses,
there is no question but that in the end the
day of glory will come for a repentant Israel,
as well as for all believers.
I. BACKGROUND
A. THE MAN MALACHI
The
Bible
furnishes
virtually
no
biographical information about Malachi. He
was a prophet of God (1:1); a contemporary
of Nehemiah. His name is an abbreviated
form of the Hebrew Malachiah, which means
“messenger of Jehovah.” It is interesting
that the word “messenger” appears three
times in this short book (read 2:7; 3:1.)
B. THE BOOK OF MALACHI
1. Date. Malachi probably wrote his book
around the time of Nehemiah’s visit to
Babylon, in 433 B.C. (Neh 13:6). See Chart
57. In support of this view are these facts:
a) The Temple project had already been
completed, and Mosaic sacrifices were
being offered (Mai 1:7-10; 3:1,8). See
Chart 57 for the date when the Temple
was completed.
b) A Persian governor, not Nehemiah, was
ruling the Jews at the time. Read 1:8.13
c) The sins denounced by Malachi were the
same sins that Nehemiah dealt with
during his second term.14 For example:
laxity and corruption of priests (Mai 1:6—
2:9; Neh 13:1-9)
mixed marriages (Mai 2:10-16; Neh 13:2328)
neglect of tithes (Mai 3:7-12; Neh 13:1013)
In the words of G. Campbell Morgan, “The
failures of the people that angered
Nehemiah, inspired the message of
Malachi.”15
(Since Nehemiah and Malachi were
contemporaries,
it
would
be
very
enlightening to study their two books
together.)
2. Occasion and message. When Malachi
wrote his book, the Jews as a nation had
been back in the land of Canaan for about
one hundred years. Prophets like Haggai and
Zechariah had predicted that God’s blessings
would be given to the people in days to
come, especially in “the day of the LORD.”
“But several decades had passed and these
prophecies of hope were still unful lled. The
days had become increasingly drab and
dreary. It was a period of disappointment,
disillusionment, and discouragement, of
blasted hopes and abroken hearts.”16 The
Jews’ faith and worship were eroding, and
their daily lives showed it. In this
backslidden
condition
they
were
hypercritical of God’s ways. That God would
even speak with them is evidence of His
long-suffering and mercy.
The main subjects of Malachi’s message
were the love of God, the sin of the priests
