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What is the book of Malachi about?


A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.  Malachi 1:1
            Malachi was written 400 years before Jesus was born.  It was the last time God spoke to a prophet in Israel until John the Baptist announced the Messiah’s coming.
            Malachi pointed out the discrepancies in the rebuilt Israel who returned one hundred plus years before Malachi from exile in Persia/Babylon.  The Israelites weren’t quite understanding that they were repeating all the things that got them exiled in the first place.
·         The offerings were defiled.  The sacrifices weren’t the best, but the worst of the flock.
·         The priests weren’t doing their job.
·         The people were marrying foreign women and bringing foreign gods into the nation.
·         They weren’t showing justice.
Despite their disobedience, God showed mercy and promised to love them.  He also promised to send a messenger—Elijah—to refine them and guide them.  That messenger arrived 400 years later.  His name was John the Baptist and he prepared the way for Jesus Christ whom he baptized.