Malachi the ProphetDear Parents,
Thank you for continuing this journey of The Gospel Project® for Kids. Today’s Bible story takes us to the last book of the Old Testament, the Book of Malachi. After living as prisoners in Babylon for many years, God’s people had returned to Judah—their promised land. They had worked hard and overcome opposition to rebuild the temple and the walls around Jerusalem. Surely God would restore them … finally! But nothing happened. As they waited, they faced drought and economic uncertainty. God’s people probably didn’t feel like God had blessed them at all. “It is useless to serve God,” they said. “What have we gained by keeping His requirements?” (Mal. 3:14). Did God still care? It wasn’t long until they fell back into the same patterns of sin that led to their exile in the first place: idolatry, covetousness, hypocrisy, arrogance, and abuse of the poor. But God did still love His people. He had been working out His divine plan of redemption, and He never gave up on them. God sent a message to His people through the prophet Malachi. Malachi spoke to God’s people approximately 100 years after the end of the Babylonian captivity. Malachi’s message from God was a wake-up call. The people’s lack of blessing didn’t mean that God didn’t care: God exposed His people’s sin and made clear that their actions merited a punishment. God’s people needed to repent and turn back to God. “But for you who fear My name,” God said, “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” (Mal. 4:2). Four hundred years of silence followed Malachi’s prophecy; God did not communicate to His people. Malachi was a messenger—a prophet—who told God’s people to repent. Malachi also told about another messenger God would send. This messenger, John the Baptist, would break the silence. John would call people to repent and get them ready for a final Messenger, Jesus Christ. Jesus would bring good news of salvation. |
Malachi the Prophet
Malachi 1–4
The Jewish people had returned to the promised land. They had rebuilt the temple and the walls around Jerusalem. They were ready for God to bless them. The people waited, but nothing happened. Sometimes their lives were hard, and they wondered if God really loved them. The people became lazy in how they worshiped God.
The Lord loved His people, and He wanted them to be holy. He wanted them to obey Him completely. So God sent a message to His people through the prophet Malachi (MAL uh kigh). God gave Malachi a message, and then Malachi told the people what God said. God’s message told the people about their sins and called them to turn back to Him.
The priests had been disobedient. They were supposed to lead the people in worship, but instead of offering God the best animal sacri ces, the priests offered animals that were stolen, lame, or sick. God said, “I’m not pleased. I will not accept your offerings.”
God also said to the priests, “It is your job to help people follow Me; they look to you for instruction. But you have turned them away from Me. The things you taught them were wrong.”
God gave a warning through Malachi. He told the people that a day of judgment is coming when God—the Judge of all the earth—will punish sin and reward righteousness. God said, “I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me.”
The messenger God was going to send would have a very important job: to announce that another messenger was coming and to get the people ready. The coming Messenger—called the Messenger of the covenant—would be God’s promised Messiah.
Next, God talked about some of the wrong things the people were doing. “You are robbing Me!” God said.
The people were not offering to God a share of their wealth. They had forgotten that everything they had was a gift from God. So God gave them a challenge. “Bring a tenth of your wealth to Me,” God said. “And test Me! See if I will not give you even more blessings—more than you can count!”
Some of the people were saying things about God that weren’t true. “It is useless to serve God,” the people said. “What good is it to serve God? People who live however they want to are better off than we are.”
But other people did honor God, and God noticed them. “They will be Mine,” God said. “I will have compassion on them.”
God said the people would see the difference between those who are righteous and those who are wicked. They would see that it is not useless to serve God, and people who do not serve God are not better off.
“A day is coming,” God said, “when everyone who is wicked will be destroyed. But those who honor Me will go out and playfully jump like calves.”
Malachi’s message from God told the people to be patient. God had not forgotten about them. Life wasn’t easy, but if they served God and followed Him, they would be happy on the day when God would keep His promise to rescue His people.
Christ Connection: Malachi was a messenger—a prophet—who told God’s people to repent. Malachi also told about another messenger God would send. This messenger, John the Baptist, would call people to repent and get them ready for a nal Messenger, Jesus Christ. Jesus would bring good news of salvation.
Malachi 1–4
The Jewish people had returned to the promised land. They had rebuilt the temple and the walls around Jerusalem. They were ready for God to bless them. The people waited, but nothing happened. Sometimes their lives were hard, and they wondered if God really loved them. The people became lazy in how they worshiped God.
The Lord loved His people, and He wanted them to be holy. He wanted them to obey Him completely. So God sent a message to His people through the prophet Malachi (MAL uh kigh). God gave Malachi a message, and then Malachi told the people what God said. God’s message told the people about their sins and called them to turn back to Him.
The priests had been disobedient. They were supposed to lead the people in worship, but instead of offering God the best animal sacri ces, the priests offered animals that were stolen, lame, or sick. God said, “I’m not pleased. I will not accept your offerings.”
God also said to the priests, “It is your job to help people follow Me; they look to you for instruction. But you have turned them away from Me. The things you taught them were wrong.”
God gave a warning through Malachi. He told the people that a day of judgment is coming when God—the Judge of all the earth—will punish sin and reward righteousness. God said, “I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me.”
The messenger God was going to send would have a very important job: to announce that another messenger was coming and to get the people ready. The coming Messenger—called the Messenger of the covenant—would be God’s promised Messiah.
Next, God talked about some of the wrong things the people were doing. “You are robbing Me!” God said.
The people were not offering to God a share of their wealth. They had forgotten that everything they had was a gift from God. So God gave them a challenge. “Bring a tenth of your wealth to Me,” God said. “And test Me! See if I will not give you even more blessings—more than you can count!”
Some of the people were saying things about God that weren’t true. “It is useless to serve God,” the people said. “What good is it to serve God? People who live however they want to are better off than we are.”
But other people did honor God, and God noticed them. “They will be Mine,” God said. “I will have compassion on them.”
God said the people would see the difference between those who are righteous and those who are wicked. They would see that it is not useless to serve God, and people who do not serve God are not better off.
“A day is coming,” God said, “when everyone who is wicked will be destroyed. But those who honor Me will go out and playfully jump like calves.”
Malachi’s message from God told the people to be patient. God had not forgotten about them. Life wasn’t easy, but if they served God and followed Him, they would be happy on the day when God would keep His promise to rescue His people.
Christ Connection: Malachi was a messenger—a prophet—who told God’s people to repent. Malachi also told about another messenger God would send. This messenger, John the Baptist, would call people to repent and get them ready for a nal Messenger, Jesus Christ. Jesus would bring good news of salvation.