Malachi Chapter Four Bible Study

We are in our third consecutive month of weekly Bible studies. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I have. Ruth was exciting to watch the love story unfold between Ruth and Boaz, as we watched the hand of God provide for Ruth and Naomi during hardship, grief, and loss. First John was a great book to study on the heels of Ruth because First John was all about demonstrating God as love, light, and life. We were warned about sin, discord, and idolatry. I enjoyed seeing the multi-facets of God's love, grace, mercy, and goodness.

This month, I want to study the book of Malachi. This is the very last book in the Old Testament. Once God stops speaking four short chapters later, He is silent for 400 years! I want to dig into God's Word and find out what God wanted to say in the final chapters of the Old Testament, gain insight on what made God stop talking to His people, and hopefully gain a better understanding of the scriptures. Whether you do this study alone, or with a small group, please let me know in the comments below, or via email if this is something you enjoy on my blog. If you have a particular request of a book or topic to study, please let me know and I will prayerfully consider including it.

As with other studies, I like to include the introduction my Bible has for the book we are studying. Here is the introduction to The Book of Malachi:

MALACHI, a prophet in the days of Nehemiah, directs his message of judgment to a people plagued with corrupt priests, wicked practices, and a false sense of security in their privileged relationship with God. Using the question-and-answer method, Malachi probes deeply into their problems of hypocrisy, infidelity, mixed marriages, divorce, false worship, and arrogance. So sinful has the the nation become that God's words to the people no longer have any impact. For four hundred years after Malachi's ringing condemnation s, God remains silent. Only with the coming of John the Baptists (prophesied in 3:1) does God again communicate to His people through a prophet's voice.

The meaning of the name Mal'aki ("My Messenger") is probably a shortened form of Mal'akya, "Messenger of Yahweh," and it is appropriate to the book which speaks of the coming of the "messenger of the covenant" )"messenger is mentioned three times in 2:7; 3:1). The Septuagint used the title Malachias even though it also translated it "by the hand of the messenger." The Latin title is Maleachi.

Read through the fourth and final chapter of Malachi. It is only 6 verses. Grab a notebook or journal, pen or pencil, and keep your Bible open as we break the bread together. I will be asking questions throughout today's study. Record your answers in your book. If you are participating in this study with friends or a small group, use the questions for talking points. The purpose of this study is to dig deeper into the Word of God and to apply the lessons to our own lives. Feel free to leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you!

To conclude our study of Malachi, I will break down each of the six verses so we can focus on each. Let's begin in verse one.

Verse 1

The fourth chapter begins with a warning. Dooms day is coming! The Bible says that the day is approaching when every single person who is proud, or arrogant, and doing wicked things will be burned like stubble. Have you seen someone start a fire with some sticks and newspaper clippings and things? It will burn quickly and completely. This is the fate of those who do not wish to serve the LORD Jehovah. The proud and arrogant are self-reliant. They believe they make their own way. The Bible says that God resists the proud (James 4:6). They are not relying on Him or trusting Him to meet their needs, and they have a foolish idea that somehow they are making their own success. It is God that gives us what we need. 

Joshua 1:8

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

If we believe the scriptures are true, then we cannot read these two verses and still believe we make our success, we make our own destiny, we make good things happen. It is God and God alone that does these things!

Verse one concludes with the scary truth of what will happen when these people are burned up. The Bible says there will not be left any root or branch. No future generations will follow these people. They are cut off from the earth forever. The seed is gone. This should get our attention as we study the Word of God. This is a serious warning and we all must take heed that we do not do those things that are wicked in God's eyes and we must not think we can do anything in life without God (John 5:30).

Romans 12:3

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

1 Corinthians 8:2

And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

Friends, let's do a heart check and make sure we are measuring up to what God expects from us. His Word is very clear and He does not leave us to our own devices. He helps us and if we reject His help and rebel against His law, we will find ourselves on the burn pile and we will be consumed and destroyed.

Questions: What do you think of when you read verse one? How do you reconcile a loving God with this picture of a God of judgment? What can you do to help someone you know that is not living according to the scriptures, so they can escape the punishment described here?  What changes can you make in your thought process about how you become successful? How can you keep God in the center of your life when it is so counter-cultural to believe that God is responsible for the good in your life?

Verse 2

What about the people who are living for God? Verse one does not apply to them, but verse two does. What a beautiful promise for those who strive to live in a way that pleases God. This verse is for that remnant God always has for Himself. This is for those who heed His warning, tremble with fear, revere His name, and walk humbly with God. The Sun of righteousness is Jesus! He is the One with healing in His wings. He is our sun and our shield. He gives the church warmth/heat and light. He has healing virtue for every believer that obeys His Word. By His stripes we are healed! (Isaiah 53)

1 Peter 2:24

Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed.

The promise is that the people who obey God and follow close to Him, will grow up as calves of the stall. We know that those calves are well cared for, fed, protected, and provided for. God is promising these things to those who walk upright before Him. We see evidence of this as we experience peace the world does not have, the calm state of your mind when the world's thoughts are racing, when you feel the love of God in your heart as you commune with Him; a love the world cannot know and does not understand; and the evidence of hope of salvation from these judgments. The world has no hope. We have hope when we have Jesus!

Questions: What do you think of when you read verse two? How does this picture of a loving God contrast with the God of judgment in verse one? What can you do to encourage other believers, who are getting weary in this sinful world, to hold on their faith and claim this promise for themselves? What can you do to hold on to your faith tighter and encourage yourself with this verse of hope and healing and redemption?

Verse 3

Verse three continues with the blessing of God for those who love Him. He said that they would tread over their enemies. In this time we live in, it seems that evil is every where and getting worse. People of God are stripped of their rights of religious freedom, and in countries where that is not a thing, they are persecuted heavily; locked up in prison, tortured, and killed all for the name of Jesus Christ which they bear. God says the day is coming when they will be under the feet of the believers and they will overcome their enemies.

Psalm 110:1

The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.

Father God said to Lord Jesus to sit at His right hand until Father God made King Jesus' enemies to become His footstool. This is so important to remember: God did not say sit there until He hoped to make the enemies a footstool, or if He could make the enemies a footstool. God said, "Wait right here and I AM going to do this thing!" Be encouraged, God is in control! God has all the power over the enemy and God wins! We win when we are in Christ Jesus!

2 Corinthians 2:14

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place.

Questions: What do you think of when you read verse three? Does this give you hope? What kind of anticipation or expectation do you have after reading this passage? What feelings does it give you to think that one day you will not have to fight against evil, suffer in pain or sickness, nor struggle through trials and temptations?

Verse 4

Do you remember Moses? He was the servant of the LORD who was given the law to take back to the people. God wrote the Ten Commandments on two tablets, not once, but twice, and gave them to Moses. Do you remember the law? There were rules and consequences with those laws. This verse is asking us to remember them. To think back and remember that God has always given us instructions on how we are to live our lives. We do not have to guess what He might like, and walk on egg shells thinking we are going to mess up because we are confused about what He might want. No, God gives us clear direction and instruction. 

Exodus 19:9

And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.

Deuteronomy 4:10

Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather Me the people together, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

There will be no prophets to come, no messengers to bring God's Word, and no speaker on the LORD's behalf until the forerunner of Jesus Christ comes, which we know is John the Baptist. God's going to give the world the ultimate silent treatment!

Questions: What do you think of when you read verse four? What do you think it would feel like to not have a message from God for a long period of time? How do you think the people who loved God, and was that remnant He spoke of, felt about those who brought so much pain and dishonor to God? Are you glad you have the written Word of God to reflect on and refer to?

Verse 5

This verse says that Elijah the prophet will be sent before Jesus the Messiah is revealed. Many Jews are still waiting for Elijah to come and they do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. In the book of Matthew, John the Baptist is in prison, and he sent his disciples to Jesus to question if He was the Messiah or should they look for someone else. Jesus answered them and when they left, Jesus told the people about John the Baptist and look at what He said.

Matthew 11:7-10

7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.

9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.

10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee.

If Jesus said John the Baptist is the one Malachi prophesied would come before Messiah, then we know Jesus is the Messiah. Remember what John the Baptist said about Jesus?

John 1:29
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

This tells me that Jesus is the Messiah and I have my trust in Him for my salvation. I worked with a Jewish girl and she told me she believed Jesus was a good man and maybe a prophet, but not the Messiah. It makes me sad because Jesus is more than a good man. He is the Son of the Living God.

Questions: What do you think of when you read verse five? Have you ever questioned that Jesus is the Messiah, the Redeemer of the world? Do you know of others in your life that have questioned this? What can you say to help others know Jesus is the Messiah and John the Baptist is the Messenger referred to in Malachi?

Verse 6

Verse six is not a stand alone verse, it actually goes with verse five. This is a continuation of the previous verse about the Messenger, John the Baptist. It says that he shall turn the hearts of the father and his children to one another, so that God does not curse the earth. Let's look at what the angel said to Zacharias, John's father, before her son gave birth.

Luke 1:13-17

13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son.

14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

16 And many of the children of Israel shall he return to the Lord their God.

17 And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

We know that John the Baptist did that. He was a great messenger of God and heralded Jesus as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. His life was cut short because he was beheaded. His life was spent proclaiming the truth of God's Word and calling sinners to repentance.

Questions: What do you think of when you read verse six? Aren't you glad that God did not put a curse on the earth? What do you think Zacharias thought about having a special son be born to him and his wife? Aren't you glad that when the Jews rejected Jesus, He offered salvation to the Gentiles?

I am thankful that Gentiles were offered salvation because I am a Gentile. I am a Jew by adoption, grafted in, and by circumcision of the heart. This is a special book we have studied this month. It is the precursor to the New Testament. We see John the Baptist is born and Jesus is, too. Both Elizabeth and Mary were given the news by angels that they would have such special sons. I am so glad we looked closer at Malachi this month.

Thank you for joining me this month. I am going to do a special Bible study for December. I am looking forward to it and I hope you will join me once again. I am thankful for all of you that study the scriptures with me and I appreciate the emails and comments that I receive.

May God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens