Day 280 Reading Schedule: Malachi 1~4

Malachi 1: Israel’s Sins of Betraying God’s Love
[Summary]
The people of Israel were very ungrateful toward God who loved them, and they did not know how to be thankful for the grace they received, so God rebuked them through the prophet Malachi (verses 1-5). They were very careless and negligent in keeping the sacrificial system. The priests were especially so, as they committed the impiety of offering blind and sick sacrifices on God’s altar (verses 6-11). God also rebuked the priests for being unholy, defiling the table of the Lord, and bringing in things that were filthy and sick (verses 12-14).

Malachi 2: Israel’s Sins and the Broken Covenant
[Summary]
There were two great ordinances established by God, but Israel did not keep them.  So God severely rebukes these priests. First, the priests who were in charge of the sacred office defiled the holy things of God. Therefore, their sins became deeper, and they were severely warned because of this (verses 1-9). Next, there is a rebuke of Israel for violating the marriage ordinance. Israel was defiled by the priests and people who married foreigners, treated their wives unfairly, sent them away, and treated them with suspicion (verses 10-16). The real reason for this blasphemy against God was their clear atheism, which regarded God as their own human being and in fact said that there was no God (verse 17).

Malachi 3: God’s Righteous Judgment
[Summary]
In this chapter, God prophesied to the prophet Malachi that the messenger of God who would pave the way for the Messiah would come first, and about the coming of the Messiah (verses 1-6). Then, He rebukes the Jews for corrupting God’s ordinances, and urges them to correct the problem.  In particular, God rebukes the sin of not giving tithes, and promises that if they keep the ordinances correctly, God will return with mercy (vv. 7-12). Afterwards, God rebukes Israel for their apostate behavior (vv. 13-15), and promises to bless the righteous who work for Him and fear Him (vv. 16-18).

Malachi 4: Judgment Day and Confirmation of the Covenant
[Summary]
God speaks of the judgment of the wicked and the blessings that the righteous will enjoy in the future (vv. 1-3). Then, God instructs them to overcome revelation, and says that in order to do so, they must keep the law of Moses (v. 4) and wait for the secret of God that will be delivered by the prophet Elijah, the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist (vv. 5-6).