Encore Post: The people of Judah had returned from exile in Babylon. Through the Persian ruler Cyrus, the people had resettled in the promised land. They rebuilt the temple — although not nearly to the glory of Solomon’s Temple. They rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem — and their lives. And then the people felt forgotten and isolated, a small province of a foreign empire — vast and worldwide. God sent the prophet Malachi. His name means Messenger, Angel.
Malachi assured Judah of God’s love, called on them to repent — especially the priests. He then lifted their eyes to look towards the future. He would send another Malachi — a messenger — Elijah — to prepare they way of the Lord. He would turn their hearts to each other, so that the Lord would not need to destroy them completely. With that the voice of the prophets falls silent. It would be at least four hundred years before God would again speak through a prophet.
The people would not forget this time. They would bring together all the prophecies and types of the Messiah and his Malachi — Messenger. They came to look for an earthly kingdom and the day of the Lord. And so they missed the return of the Prophets — a Son of Levi and David — a second Zechariah and his son, the last and greatest prophet. But that is another story!
While God was silent, he was not absent or idle. In the time of between the testaments, God began to prepare the ground for his prophets — and for his Son. The next few posts will go into the ways he did this.
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