True malachi speaks out against idolatry, social injustice, and easy divorce. The hebrew word malachi simply means my that is, gods messenger. On this topic, malachi deals with divorce both as a social problem why then are we faithless to one another. This pronouncement does nothing to help the churchs mission of bringing healing and hope through the gospel.
In the christian ordering, the grouping of the prophetic books is the last section of the old testament, making malachi the last book before the new testament. In our society, where the divorce rate is particularly high, this wording jars us. Malachi s message was similar to that of ezra and nehemiah. Malachi is the last book of the old testament both in terms of position in the canon and chronology. When they divorced and married women who worshiped false gods, malachi presented their actions as a defilement of the holiness of the lord. Book of matthew 19, matt 19 bible study on divorce. For i hate divorce, says the lord, the god of israel, and him who covers his garment with wrong. Malachi was a prophet of god sent to the jews who had resettled in judea and to all israel in general, depicted as the sons of jacob malachi 3. The book of malachi, the last of the twelve minor prophets, was written by an anonymous writer called malachi, or my messenger.
Trinity evangelical divinity school, deerfield, il 60015 mal 2. This short book may have been written before nehemiahs first return to jerusalem in 445 b. As we study the greek and hebrew words in matt 19 and malachi 2 we will learn that divorce was not what jesus was teaching about, but rather, putting away which is far different than divorce. It is also one of the most succinct statements we have on our lords attitude toward divorce. To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty, says the lord of heavens armies. The book of malachi is placed as the last book of the prophets section, which also makes it the last book in the old testament in english bibles. Perhaps written from about 500450 bce, the book is concerned with spiritual degradation, religious perversions, social injustices, and unfaithfulness to the covenant. Sadly, many people now read jesus words and assert that the one and only reason for divorce is if one of the spouses commits adultery.
1080 825 511 1427 980 14 1371 1579 1 756 1391 605 687 577 389 435 1089 755 693 1106 945 344 1070 794 944 1020 81 229 1184 388 1420 501 752 142