God’s Word for You
Malachi 1:1 A difficult word
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Preparing for a new Saturday series on Malachi, we’ll get a little head start over the Thanksgiving holiday.
1 A difficult word of the LORD to Israel written by Malachi.
A thousand years had passed since Moses led Israel out of Egypt. David’s unified nation had prospered under Solomon. It broke in half under Solomon’s son, and had been overrun and conquered because of her sins again and again. The northern tribes were carried away by the Assyrians. Judah was exiled by Babylon, and a remnant had returned, given permission by Cyrus and given leadership through the priest Ezra and the administrator Nehemiah. The once magnificent temple of Solomon had been rebuilt, a shack of a chapel squatting where granite and marble had once soared. Old men who remembered the one wept when they saw the other (Ezra 3:12).
God was not weeping. In this final word to the Old Testament people before John the Baptist would appear four hundred years later, God would use the strongest possible words to call his people to repentance one last time. This is our theme, in fact: “Last Call to Repentance.” And God’s literary form? Poetry? Allegory? Proverbial couplets? Acrostic lines matching the letters of the Hebrew alphabet? No. This was no time for elegance. God uses one main rhetorical form throughout this prophecy: disgusted sarcasm. In 47 out of 55 verses, God speaks directly to his people with the pronoun “I” in vivid, direct prophecy.
Malachi’s name means “My messenger.” There is a wordplay on this in Malachi 3:1. In that place, it’s a connection between this prophet and the coming of John the Baptist, “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare the way before me” (Mark 1:2). Malachi connects the Old Testament to the New. It is as if here in Malachi, a foot kicks the red carpet that begins to unroll for the Savior to walk upon. This is the red carpet that keeps unrolling until it stops at the feet of John, who then opens the door of the car as Jesus steps out and says, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
The word I’ve translated “difficult” is massa, often translated “oracle” (NIV) or “burden” (Luther). It’s the idea of a hard message given to an ambassador, the kind of thing he wouldn’t say unless compelled to. It’s joined grammatically to “word of the Lord,” so in Hebrew it is a burden-word. In English we prefer an adjective over a double noun, so I’ve presented the idea as “a difficult word.”
The difficult word is the whole prophecy, which is a snapshot of God’s entire dealing with Israel. It begins with God’s love (Malachi 1:2) and ends with a curse (Malachi 4:6). But there is something that can still be done. There is still a change that can be made. There is still repentance.
I have translated the Hebrew expression “by the hand of” (be-yad) as “written by.” This was a term used by Isaiah (Isaiah 20:2), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:2) and Haggai (Haggai 1:1, 2:1). The prophet undoubtedly preached this series of sermons, but he also wrote them down for the people to read and examine together. This was a call from God to his people to turn away from their sins. It is also a call from God to us, his people, to turn away from our sins. There is forgiveness in Jesus, but we should not forget that the forgiveness God offers in Jesus is only in Jesus. There is no other way to heaven except through the holy Son of God.
A Chronology of the Return from Babylon
539 Babylon falls to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:40-41)
537 The exiles return, the altar is set up in Jerusalem (Ezra 3:1-2)
520 (August) Haggai given a “difficult word” for the people (Haggai 1:1)
520 (October) Zechariah’s visions begin (Zechariah 1:1)
516 The temple is completed (Ezra 6:15)
473 First Purim celebrated (Esther 9:1, 9:29)
458 Ezra arrives in Jerusalem (Ezra 7:8-9)
445 Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1, 2:11)
432 Nehemiah recalled to Persia (Nehemiah 13:6)
430? Malachi given the final “difficult word” (Malachi 1:1)
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.