THIS IS A FAITH MINISTRY. YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED.

1. What is the time period and ruling empire for the book of Malachi?

2. 1:1 What is the historical context of Malachi?

3. Who was Malachi?

4. 1:2-5 In what manner did God “hate” Esau?

5. 1:6 Beginning in 1:6 Malachi switches from addressing Israel to what group within Israel?  

6. 1:6-7 Who are the “you” who are mocking God?

7. 1:7-8 How did the dishonest priests of Judah profane the altar of sacrifice?

8. 1:9 Does the word “us” in 1:9 mean that Malachi was a priest?

9. 1:10 What was God seeking?

10. 1:11 If the priests and people of Judah would not proclaim God’s character, will God’s purposes fail?

11. 1:12-14 Who is being cursed?

12. 1:13-14 Were priests required to tithe? Compare Numbers 18:25-28 and Nehemiah 10:38.

13. 1:14 Did priests have their own flocks with healthy animals? See Joshua 21, Numbers 18:21-28; chapter 35, and Nehemiah 10:38.

14. 2:1 To whom is God continuing to speak?

15. 2:2 To whom is the word “curse” addressed three times?

16. 2:3 What did God threaten to do to disobedient priests?

17. 2:4-5, 8, 10 Which Old Testament covenant is referred to in 2:4-5, 8?

18. 2:7 How does this verse suggest that Malachi was a priest? Answer not in the Bible --- look at his name.

19. 2:11-12 How are these verses different from the texts which precede and follow them?

20. 2:13 What change occurs in 2:13 and why?

21. 2:14-16 What is God’s complaint against the priests?

22. 2:17 How did the priests mock God? What question did they ask?

23. 3:1 What begins in 3:1?

24. 3:1-3 Who is the “messenger” in these texts?

25. 3:2 Whom does 3:2 favor as the messenger of the covenant?

26. 3:3-4 Whom does 3:3-4 favor as the messenger of the covenant?

27. 3:5 To whom is 3:5 addressed and why?

28. 3:5 Do the “sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers, and those that oppress the hireling, the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, and fear not the LORD” not prove that God has changed his address from the priests of 1:6 to 3:4 to the ordinary citizens of Judah?

29. 3:6 What does the first part of 3:6 mean?

30. 3:6 Does the reference to the “sons of Jacob” in 3:6 prove that God is now addressing all Israel and not merely the priests?

31. 3:7 What is the significance of the word “ordinances”?

32. 3:8 Who is guilty of robbing God in 3:8?

33. 3:8 If the priests were not commanded to tithe in Numbers 18:25-28, how can 3:8 only refer to them? Class discussion on Neh 13:5-10.

34. 3:8 Can New Covenant Christians be cursed for not obeying an Old Covenant Law which was only commanded to Old Covenant Israel?

35. 3:9 Is not the “whole nation” being cursed in 3:9?

36. 3:10 To whom did God command “bring all the tithes into the storehouse”?

37.  3:10 What are holy tithes in the Bible?

38. 3:10 Did the temple in Jerusalem have storage rooms large enough to hold all the tithes of the nation? Compare Neh 13:5-10 with First Kings 6:6.

39. 3:10 How large was the storehouse (better storeroom) in the temple which was used to store tithes? First Kings 6:6.

40. 3:10 Is Malachi 3:10 a command to bring all the tithes to the local church building? Compare Neh 10:37b-38; 12:44.

41. 3:10 Does God test Christians by telling them to “prove” Him by tithing?

42. Does 3:11-12 limit the blessings of tithing to food from inside Israel?

43. 3:13-15 Does the dialog change from the priests to the people in 3:13-15?

44. Is 3:16-18 a conversation between God and the priests of Judah or between God and the people of Judah?

45. Is 4:1 a description of a non-eternally burning hell-fire in which even souls ceases to exist?

46. How does 4:4 fit into the context of Malachi?

47. 4:5-6 Who is Elijah and what is the curse?

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ANSWERS: MALACHI, VBCBI

1. Malachi covers the time period of approximately 450-400 B. C. under Persian rule.

2. Malachi continues with Nehemiah as governor.

3. The identity of Malachi is unknown. It may have been the pen name of the governor, Nehemiah.

4. 1:2-5 God only hated Esau in comparison to the firstborn blessings of Jacob.

5. 1:6 "You" priests

6. 1:6 "You" refers only to the priests to the end of Malachi

7. 1:7-8 The priests switched healthy sacrificial animals for unhealthy ones from their own herds received as tithes.

8. 1:9 Compare "you" and "us" in 1:9. Malachi was probably a fellow priest and not the governor. (?)

9. 1:10 God was seeking an honest priest to stand up and oppose the dishonest priests.

10. 1:11 No. God will replace them with some that will proclaim His character.

11. 1:12-14 The priests are being cursed for robbing God of qualifying sacrifices.

12. 1:13-14 No. Priests were not required to tithe. They gave freewill offerings.  Compare Numbers 18:25-28 and Nehemiah 10:38.

13. 1:14 Yes. Levites gave priests the best 10% of what they received as tithes. See Joshua 21, Numbers 18:21-28; chapter 35, and Nehemiah 10:37-38.

14. 2:1 God is continuing to speak to "you" priests, and not to the whole nation.

15. 2:2 "Curse" refers to the priests 3 times in 2:2 and once in 1:14.

16. 2:3 God threatened to "corrupt your seed" (disqualify their descendants) and "spread dung" in their faces.

17. 2:4-5, 8, 10 These verses refer to God's special covenant with the priesthood and not the entire Old Covenant.

18. 2:7 Malachi's name in Hebrew means "my messenger."  [Nehemiah means comforter.]

19. 2:11-12 These two verses are third person (Israel, Jacob, Judah, Jerusalem) and include all Israel. While it is true that most of the priests' sins were common to all Israel, except for 2:11-12, "you" refers to the priests.

20. 2:13 This quickly reverts back to "you" priests who cover the altar with their tears.

21. 2:14-16 The priests have defiled the priesthood by divorcing their Hebrew wives and marrying unbelievers. (They are cursed.) See Nehemiah 13.

22. 2:17 The priests say God delights in them by not punishing them. They mock Him asking "Where is the God of judgment?"

23. 3:1 begins God's answer to the priests' question of 2:17. He is speaking to the priests.

24. 3:1-3 Even though Nehemiah did cleanse the priesthood (Neh 13), "my messenger" is a prophecy of John the Baptist preparing the way of Christ.

25. 3:2 Jesus Christ

26. 3:3-4 Jesus Christ

27. 3:5 is addressed to the dishonest priests of 1:6 through 2:17 because it directly answers their question of 2:17.

28. 3:5 No. There is no evidence that God has changed "you" from 1:6; 2:1, 17 and 3:1-4 to the people of Israel --- especially not in the middle of 3:5.

29. 3:6a God keeps His promises in the context of the covenant at hand.

30. 3:6b No. Priests are also "sons of Jacob. The text does not read "all ye sons of Jacob."

31. 3:7 The "covenant with Levi" from 2:1-10 was part of the ceremonial worship "ordinances" God made with the priests.

32. 3:8 The priests. "You" still refers to priests from 1:6; 2:1, 17 and 3:1-7. 

33.

33. 3:8 Although priests were not required to tithe (Numb 18:25-28), it is clear from Nehemiah 13:5-10 that priests had stolen tithes and offerings from Levites and had robbed God by switching their own offerings in Malachi 1:13-14.

34. 3:8 Not according to Galatians 3:10-13. Christians and Gentiles never were commanded to obey the Old Covenant between God and Israel.

35. 3:9 The Hebrew reads "whole nation of you" --- meaning "of you priests" --- "every priest in the nation." God would not curse the priests 4 times between Malachi 1:14 and 2:2 and suddenly curse the people for not giving the tithes to the priests.

36. 3:10 Since almost all commentaries affirm that Nehemiah is the context of Malachi, Nehemiah 13:5-10 must be considered. The people had been commanded to bring their (whole Levitical) tithes to the farming cities where the Levites lived (Neh 10:37a). In turn the Levites brought the priest's portion to the Temple as required (Neh 10:38). Malachi 3:10 only makes sense if it is a command to the dishonest priests to return the tithes they had stolen from the Levites in Nehemiah 13:5-10.

37.  3:10 As defined in the Law, "holy" tithes were always only food from inside God's holy land which He miraculously increased. Although money was common, money was never included in 16 texts which describe the contents of the holy tithe.

38. 3:10 According to 1 Kings 6:6; 2 Chronicles 31:1-5; Nehemiah 13:5-10 and historian Alfred Edersheim, the Temple had no large storerooms for tithes.

39. 3:10 According to 1 Kings 6:6 the largest storerooms combined would only be about 20 feet square. Nehemiah 13:5 describes it as one great chamber --- not scores of silos.

40. 3:10 Not at all. The church was illegal for almost 300 years and had no long-lasting buildings.

41. 3:10 No. There no such command to the Church in terms of the New Covenant after Calvary. The entire law was a test (Gal 3:10; Deut 28 to 30): obey all to be blessed; break one to be cursed.

42. 3:11-12 Yes, under the Old Covenant.

43. 3:13-15 No. It is obvious that the same dialog begun in 1:6 continues. There is no evident change of "you" away from the priests.

44. 3:16-18 The conversation continues with priests. They are responsible for discerning between the righteous and unrighteous.

45. 4:1 If this were the only text in the Bible, it might teach that the fires of hell are not eternally burning. Jesus taught otherwise in Mark 9:45-49 and Revelation 14:10-11.

46. 4:4 The entire book is in the context of the whole Law of commandments, statutes and judgments for Israel's priests and people.

47. 4:5-6 Elijah is John the Baptist. If Israel did not receive Elijah's message, it would remain under the Old Covenant curses.