Prophet Malachi
Was he human like the rest of us – or was he actually an angel of the Lord who had been given an astounding ability to prophesy the future?That was the question his Fifth-Century B.C. listeners asked themselves, each time the Prophet Malachi began to speak of the dreadful Day of Judgment that would shatter their world forever.
Radiant and full of spiritual conviction, the remarkably handsome Malachi was said to be in frequent contact with angels, when he prophesied in Palestine during the era of Nehemias, a universally beloved wise man among the Jews of Jerusalem. The twelfth and last of the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament, this extraordinarily charismatic figure dominated every gathering at which he appeared.While delivering his stark prophecies during the rule of Artaxerxes the Long-Armed, King of the Persians (465-424 B.C.), Malachi was often heard to be in discourse with an angelic presence that remained invisible throughout their
conversation. Were the onlookers simply unworthy to see the entity that they could hear talking to the prophet? Or was the Voice of Judgment actually emanating from Malachi himself?
No one could be sure.
Nonetheless, there was no mistaking the meaning of the words that the good citizens of Jerusalem were hearing. Blunt and frightening, Malachi’s messages struck the ear like thunderbolts. Israel had become ungrateful to the Lord, he warned; Israel had turned her back on the beneficent and endlessly patient deity who had inspired all of her greatest military victories and protected her from famine and natural catastrophe, year after year after year.
Utterly unafraid of the reactions he might trigger, Malachi stood in the crowded marketplace and announced in loud and ringing tones: Repent, repent, For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up.” (Malachi 4: 1)
But they would not listen. The bitter era of the Babylonian Captivity had ended only a few years before (in 538 B.C., when the Israelites returned to the land of Palestine after enduring endless years of slavery in what is now the nation of Iraq), and Malachi was trying to warn them that it could all happen again.
Repent, he tried to tell them, because these recent days of peace and prosperity can vanish in an instant, if you forget your sacred duty to venerate the God of your fathers! He also warned them that their priests had been corrupted, and that the pagan worship of idols was once again breaking out all across the land of Palestine. He told them much that was dark and sinister and foreboding – but he did not leave them without hope.
As the very last of the Old Testament prophets, he reminded them of an ancient prophecy about a Savior who would some day arrive in Palestine to offer salvation freely to all. He also told them that this world-changing Redeemer would be preceded by a Forerunner . . . by a sainted figure who would everywhere proclaim the Good News of a new faith that was based on love. Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me, the Prophet wrote in the third of the four chapters of the Book that bears his name. (Malachi 3: 1) That was to be the final Old Testament prophecy of the great event that was coming. After Malachi, there would be no others until the era of the Birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, more than 400 years later.
As a leader of great prominence and the steward of the mighty Persian King Artaxerxes, Malachi (the name means “messenger of God”) could have been content to enjoy the prestige that flowed from his worldly power. Instead, he answered the call to prophecy, and became an unforgettable voice in the wilderness. Because they were full of authority and finality, Malachi’s far-sighted predictions have often been described by the Holy Fathers as “the sealing-shut of the prophets.”
Apolytikion in the Second Tone
As we celebrate the memory of Thy Prophet Malachias, O Lord, through him we beseech Thee to save our souls.
Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Since the gift of prophecy dwelt in thee richly, thou, O Prophet, clearly didst foretell the coming of Christ God and the salvation of all the world, which is enlightened through grace by His shining forth.
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