The next picture we see in this great hall of faith is that of Malachi. Malachi's name means messenger of God. There is no other mention of him in the Bible, except that he wrote this book. It is believed that he was a prophet during the time of Nehemiah because the situations he speaks about fits his time. Neither the less, God called Malachi to be the last prophet to speak against his people of their sins before Jesus was to come.
By the time that Malachi came along some of the prophecies of the other prophets had already come to pass, such as, the ones that had been spoken against Esau, his mountain and his heritage (Malachi 1:2-3). So he speaks to Israel's descendants letting them know what has to change before the promised Messiah could come.
Malachi's style is different than most of the prophets in that he is showing them a conversation between God people and God himself in the first three chapters. This shows that God knew the thoughts and hearts of the people. In this conversation, God is telling his people what they are doing wrong. Then it gives the peoples resplendence's.
I believe that Malachi was a man of great faith since he was preaching this to the people right after many of the judgements had already happened, such as Esau's family was wiped out, the city of Jerusalem had been attacked, many of the people had been carried away, and the walls of the city was in ruins. No one wants to hear, "I told you so!" But that is exactly what God had Malachi say to them.
But that is not all that God had called Malachi to tell his people. He had Malachi prophecy of the good God would bless them with when they did come back to God. The biggest blessing would be the fulfillment of the Messiah, who would save them from their sins. Malachi's words would be the last time God speaks to his people of this promise until John the Baptist. That is why he is in the great hall of faith!
No comments:
Post a Comment