Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet
Malachi 1–4; Matthew 11:10–14; Luke 1:17
Malachi rebuked priests and people for careless worship, broken marriages, and withheld tithes, and promised that God would send his messenger and Elijah before the day of Yahweh.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
Malachi 4:5–6 (World English Bible)
After Malachi, no new prophet spoke in Israel for about four hundred years. The Old Testament ends with the promise of Elijah coming to turn the hearts of fathers to their children.
The New Testament opens by fulfilling it: an angel told Zechariah that his son John would go before the Lord “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17), and Jesus said John was the messenger Malachi foretold (Matthew 11:10–14).
Places
Dating notes
The book gives no date. Ussher places Malachi about 416 BC, working with Nehemiah; many conservative scholars prefer about 430 BC, since the problems he addresses match Nehemiah 13.