"A Final Word" Malachi 3: 1-4

This is the last sermon in the minor prophet series, which means I am thinking globally about the impact of the minor prophets, as well as at Malachi specifically.

We know Malachi a bit because the portion of the third chapter that we are reading Sunday morning is part of the Advent lectionary readings and gets read during Advent every third year.

It is hard for us to read Malachi and not associate it with Christ.  We read back into the prophets with the assumption that the person or event they were looking toward in the future was realized finally in the coming of Christ.  But, perhaps we should move so quickly to that assumption and hear the words of the prophet in the context in which it was originally heard.

Malachi literally means "my messenger."  Many biblical scholars believe this was just an anonymous prophecy that was given the name Malachi later as it was edited for future use (Donald Gowan, Theology of the Prophetic Books:  The Death and Resurrection of Israel, 177)

Although there are no historical references to date Malachi, it is generally assumed to be a post-exilic work.  It focuses less on outside agents and conflict with other countries and more on the role of leadership within Israel (Gowan, 177).

The title of Gowan's book reveals the point he makes -- the prophets show journey that takes place in Israel as Israel moves from the religion of its pre-exilic world to the religion of its post-exilic world.  Gowan characterizes the shift from Israelite tradition (pre-exilic) to Judaism (post-exilic).  He argues that there has to be a death of pre-exilic Israel's tradition to allow for the resurrection of the post-exilic faith tradition of Judaism.  The pre-exilic  religion of Israel was marked by synchretism, the blending of Israelite tradition with the Canaanite religions; its death is represented by the exile; the post-exilic religion of Judaism returns to a monotheistic understanding with God as the one God to be worshiped (Gowan, 188-200).  How do I tie this into a sermon on Malachi?  Is it worth preaching?  If so, where does it intersect with our daily lives?