Some Christians may have never read Malachi, and if they did so, they may have found very little relevant to today and helpful to their lives. However, wisely the author commences with a helpful section entitled "Historical Background and Contemporary Relevance".
The book of Malachi stands at the end of our Old Testament and it is a sobering book, with promises of blessing for the Israelites if they obeyed God's Law, but with the threat of judgment if they did not. But what has this to do with Christians today who live in an age of grace where such judgments from God have no place? What can we learn from it?
The author points out that at the time when Malachi was written, the godly within Israel were a vanishing minority. They were ignored by the prevailing spirit of that day and by the majority of the people in that land. How similar that is to the situation in Britain, and elsewhere, today! Is not today's prevailing spirit very similar to that of Malachi's day? And is not the Christian minority in Britain today being ignored by the majority? We may be surprised to find that there is much in Malachi that can encourage us and which we can apply to our situation today.
