Jesus in the Book of Malachi: God’s Final Words Before the Silence
Imagine you were leaving on a journey and knew you would be away from your loved ones for a long time, without communication. In your absence, wouldn’t you choose your final words with deep intention? I’m certain you would make sure they carried weight - full of meaning, care, and clarity. In the same way (and while He never truly left His people), God fell silent for 400 years after the message He delivered through the prophecy in Malachi. What is spoken in this book should be read in that light. These final prophetic words mattered. He wanted His people to hear them.
The book of Malachi is a prophecy written around 400 BC, during the rebuilding of Jerusalem. These are the last prophetic words God speaks before the New Testament and the coming of Christ. Malachi, the final prophet of the Old Testament, “speaks clearly of the Messiah, as nigh at hand, and directs the people of God to keep in remembrance the law of Moses, while they were in expectation of the gospel of Christ.”[1] Finding Jesus in these pages is a delightful encounter, as we look at the state of the people of Israel and the unfolding of God’s master plan to redeem them in full.
Opening Words: “I Have Loved You”
The opening line of the book sets the tone for everything that follows (especially as we seek to see Jesus in its pages), in alignment with the unchanging character of our God: “I have loved you,” says the Lord (1:2).
While Israel had seen God’s love woven throughout their entire history, in this moment, they still respond with a challenge: “How have You loved us?” Nonetheless, God begins His final prophetic word with a firm affirmation of His covenant faithfulness. Before centuries of silence, His first word is not correction; it is love. This is worth noting, as it sets the stage for an intentional message God is sending to His people.
Malachi 1:5 and the dialogue that follows highlight that God’s love is not dependent on Israel’s response. He loves because He has chosen them. The love He imparts is wholly dependent on His character alone, not their worthiness as a people. It is this same love that we find in the gospels through the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, whom God sent to restore humankind to Himself: “For God so loved the world, that He gave his one and only Son…”
Malachi’s Structure: Six Disputes Between God and His People
The book of Malachi unfolds in six individual disputes, each following a similar pattern: God speaking, the people objecting, and God responding. “The book itself is unique in the Old Testament because of its form - a dispute or diatribe between God and those of his people who have become apathetic or even antagonistic to him.”[2]
These disputes expose not only Israel’s spiritual condition but also humanity’s more profound need for redemption. Through them, the book of Malachi points unmistakably toward Jesus. In these words, we see the sin of humanity represented in the hearts of the Israelites, and a God who loved regardless.
Dispute #1: Malachi 1:1–5: God’s Love Declared
As recognized in our intro, God begins the first dispute with a declaration of love. Within this initial discourse, He illustrates His covenant love through Jacob and Esau - not emotional preference, but divine election and intent.
When God speaks of Jacob and Esau, saying "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated…" He is speaking of a covenantal choice that God made to honor the line of Jacob. It was a rejection/setting aside of Esau's line; however, neither familial line deserved His favor. The nation of Israel is reminded in these few short verses that God's love is not conditional on them or their actions, but is wholly dependent on His character and His covenant to them. From the vantage point of looking back, we can see that this covenant love found its fulfillment in Jesus, the promised One born through Jacob's line to rescue His people and make them His own.
Where We See Jesus in this dialogue:
In its raw simplicity, Israel’s question - “How have You loved us?” - finds its most whole answer in Christ. Jesus becomes the living proof of God’s steadfast love.
Dispute #2: Malachi 1:6–2:9: The Failures of the Priests
In this second dispute, God rebukes the priests of the day for their dishonor, hypocrisy, and unacceptable offerings. Their worship is so defiled that God says it would be better to shut the temple doors altogether: “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain!” (1:10a).
While earthly priests were not faithful to keep the law, Jesus ultimately fulfilled the priesthood in a way no earthly priest ever could. Hebrews 4:14-16 declares Him our “great High Priest,” the One who has passed through the heavens and invites us to draw near to God with confidence because He fully understands our weakness and intercedes on our behalf. We see this priestly heart displayed in John 17, where Jesus prays for His disciples—and for all who would believe in Him—asking the Father to guard, sanctify, and unify His people. In both His position and His actions, Jesus embodies the true and perfect priest: the One who stands in the gap, intercedes in love, and opens the way for us to come freely into God’s presence.
Where We See Jesus:
This dispute exposes humanity’s need for a perfect Priest - one who offers Himself in purity, without flaw. Jesus becomes the fulfillment of the priestly role that Israel could not uphold.
Dispute #3: Malachi 2:10-16: The Unfaithfulness of God’s People
In the third dispute, God confronts Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness - broken marriages, broken promises, broken worship. The Israelites’ relationship with God is strained and fractured. While He points to their actions, what God is genuinely concerned about is the state of their hearts. The actions are a symptom of a heart turned from Him.
From our vantage point, this dispute is a vivid portrayal of the human condition, a profound need for a Redeemer. Hebrews 8:10 reveals the fruit of the ‘better’ covenant—greater than the one Israel broke and fulfilled in Jesus. God’s plan has always been to redeem His people into a love-filled relationship with Himself through His Son. As He promises: “I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Where We See Jesus:
Jesus is the faithful Bridegroom who restores the covenant relationship that man has shattered, redeeming their hearts back to Him.
Dispute #4: Malachi 2:17-3:5: The Coming Messenger
In this fourth dispute in the book of Malachi, Israel accuses God of injustice, but it is Israel that has failed. It is their vision that has dimmed. God answers with a promise: a Messenger is coming, who will announce His plan of redemption: “...and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts” (3:1b).
Did you notice the “behold” moment? Remember, this is an opportunity to look closer; pay attention! God has something important to say, which might, in fact, be the best news the Israelites have heard in all of history: The Lord is coming, and His messenger will prepare the way before Him. The messenger spoken of in this passage is John the Baptist, Jesus’ forerunner, who calls people to repentance. While the Israelites were accusing God of lacking justice: “Where is the God of justice?” (2:17b), God responds in 3:1 with this announcement of His plan. Pay attention, people of Israel, Jesus is coming, and He is “like a refiner’s fire” (3:2b).
Where We See Jesus:
Jesus is the One who “will come to His temple,” who refines and purifies His people like silver so that they may offer righteous worship. The One who will make all things right is coming, and His messenger will proclaim His arrival.
Dispute #5: Malachi 3:6-12: Return to Me
In this fifth dispute, God reminds Israel: “...I, the Lord, do not change” (3:6a).
Because of His covenant faithfulness, the people are invited back into a restored relationship. Yet even in this gracious invitation, they argue with Him, claiming innocence, even as they withheld the tithe from His storehouse. In Israel’s agricultural economy, the tithe was not mere money; it was grain, oil, and produce brought to the temple storehouse to sustain the priestly ministry and to care for the vulnerable. Their refusal to bring these offerings revealed far more than misplaced priorities—it exposed a deeper issue of the heart: a lack of trust in God’s provision and a departure from covenant faithfulness.
Where We See Jesus:
Jesus becomes the One who fulfills the covenant Israel could never maintain and the One who opens the way for genuine reconciliation with God. We see again the lovingkindness of our God, as expressed in Jesus, by coming and opening a way for true return to covenant love.
Dispute #6: Malachi 3:13-4:6: The Righteous Remnant and the Day of the Lord
In this final dispute, God confronts those who speak against Him, yet His attention turns to those who fear Him, to offer words of consolation and hope.
In 3:16-17, a “book of remembrance was written” for those who honored His name, whom He calls His “treasured possession.” Malachi looks ahead to both the first and second comings of Christ: for those who fear Him, His return will be a day of healing: “...the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” (4:2a). But for those who reject Him, it will be a day of judgment. Malachi closes with a call to repentance and to be ready.
Where We See Jesus
Jesus is the One who gathers God’s treasured people, writes their names in His book, brings healing to the redeemed, and returns in righteousness to judge and restore all things. In the end, He will make all things right!
Malachi and Jesus: Themes That Point to the Messiah
The prophecy in Malachi reveals a God whose heart is steady and unchanging, not swayed by the unfaithfulness of a broken people. He begins by declaring His enduring love: “I have loved you,” a love that continues without ceasing. Through the book’s disputes, we see the consequences of drifting hearts and disordered worship, yet even in Israel’s unfaithfulness, God’s redemptive plan is already unfolding with the coming of the Messiah on the horizon. Malachi assures us that God will bring justice, confront oppression and evil, and remember those who fear Him. He listens, He writes their names, and He treasures them. Just as He has written the names of those who fear Him in His book of remembrance, too, those who receive the gift of His Son have their names written in the book of Life!
Conclusion: The Last Words Before the New Beginning
After Malachi’s prophecy, God enters a long silence. It will be four centuries without a single fresh prophetic word. Yet even in the quiet, God was far from absent. Instead, He was preparing a Savior. Malachi’s final message is not simply the closing of the Old Testament; it is a doorway into hope. It reminds us that God sees, God remembers, and God keeps His promises. And when the silence finally breaks, it breaks with a cry in a manger—the very One Malachi said was coming.
Malachi leaves us with a holy invitation: Will we pay attention and wholeheartedly align with the One who comes to restore, renew, and draw us back to Himself?
[1] Matthew Henry Commentary (Grapevine Industry Publishers, Delhi, 2023), p. 2149.
[2] The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2024), p. 727.
