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The Final Word

The Final Word: Malachi, Elijah, and the Great and Dreadful Day

Introduction: The Law of Tithing and Testimony

Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, representing the final direct communication from God before 400 years of silence. His message to the post-exilic community was sharp: they had returned to the land but had not returned to God. The central theme is the failure of the people and the priests in their covenant duties (specifically tithing and offering clean sacrifices), leading to the pronouncement of a final, terrible judgment—the day of the Lord.

Malachi’s conclusion is a vital Prophetic Hotspot, tying the Old Testament’s promise of the prophetic spirit (Elijah) directly to the events surrounding the first and second comings of Christ, which define The Lord’s Return.

The Foundational Story: The Law of the Tithe and the Test

Malachi’s famous passage on tithing demonstrates the people’s lack of respect for God’s provision, treating the covenant not as a relationship, but as a burden.

The Challenge of the Closed Heavens

The prophet calls the people out for hypocrisy, showing that their external religion was worthless because their hearts and actions revealed a “robbing” of God:

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” (Malachi 3:8-9, KJV)

  • The Law of Firstfruits: This passage enforces the fundamental principle of the Law of Firstfruits (Law Before Sinai) and tithing: that God must receive the best first portion, acknowledging that He is the true source of all provision. The refusal to give the tithe proved they trusted their own labor, not God’s blessing.
  • The Command to Test: God then gives a direct command to prove His faithfulness, linking obedience to material blessing and prophetic protection: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse… and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10, KJV).

Prophetic Hotspot: The Return of the Prophet

Malachi’s final verses do not mention Christ directly, but they guarantee the appearance of two distinct figures who precede the two distinct comings of the Messiah.

  • The Forerunner: Malachi begins by promising a messenger who would “prepare the way before me” (Malachi 3:1, KJV). This messenger was identified by Christ Himself as John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10), the voice crying in the wilderness before the first coming.
  • Elijah’s Second Appearance: The final sentence of the Old Testament looks beyond the first coming to the final judgment. It promises a final, dramatic appearance of the prophetic spirit:“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5-6, KJV)
  • The Day of the Lord: The prophecy guarantees the final, “great and dreadful day of the LORD” (a term you wanted to focus on soon), which is the period of judgment preceding the Millennial Kingdom. The restoration ministry of Elijah (often linked to one of the Two Witnesses in Revelation) is explicitly necessary to call Israel to repentance one last time, averting the complete destruction of the earth when Christ executes The Lord’s Return.

The Return Question: Where Is Your Heart Facing?

Malachi’s final word is a challenge to reconciliation—turning hearts back to God and to one another. The penalty for failure is a curse upon the earth.

If the final preparation for the “great and dreadful day of the LORD” requires the reconciliation of hearts—a turning from spiritual theft (robbing God of our obedience) and toward covenant faithfulness—are we, living at the edge of the prophetic silence, actively seeking to reconcile broken relationships and restoring our spiritual priorities so that we are ready for the final ministry of reconciliation that immediately precedes The Lord’s Return?