Malakhi structures his prophecy as an ongoing series of dialogues between God and the Jewish People, forming the backbone of the book and as well as its central motif.
Malakhi consistently sees the world through the lenses of the intimate relationship between God and the Jewish People. In this sense, he is fittingly named “my messenger,” emphasizing the immediacy of the connection between God and His people.
Malakhi places great emphasis on the centrality of family relations to our responsibilities not only toward God, but also our fellow Jews and humanity.
Although the Second Temple has not yet attained the honor described in Haggai’s prophecy, Malakhi chastises the priests for relating dishonorably to the sacrificial service. Apparently, given the Temple’s relatively sorry state, the priests likely saw no reason to act reverentially toward the service. Moreover, although the exact date of Malakhi’s prophecy is unknown, the sense is that the Temple had already been functioning for some time. At this point, the Temple was likely no longer a novelty, and quite possibly was taken for granted by the priests.
Today, many younger people take the existence of Israel for granted; they did not see the founding of the State or the miraculous victories in wars, such as in 1967. The challenge of the current generation is not to fall into the trap that ensnared the priests – to remain passionately committed to Jerusalem even when its restoration is no longer freshly imprinted upon our hearts.
