Malachi

When we left the Israelites, they were renewing covenants, grieving over past sins, and attending six hour readings of the Scriptures. But Nehemiah returned to his post as the king's cupbearer in 433 BC and the moral and social climate seemed to deteriorate rapidly. The Bible doesn't say, but I wonder if perhaps the people had been following nehemiah and Ezra, as opposed to following God. We can be guilty of the same thing with our modern-day spiritual leaders at times.

It is supposed that Malachi, an otherwise unknown prophet, delivered his messages to the Jews during the time of Nehemiah's return to Artaxerxes. He denounces some of the same sins that Nehemiah discovered upon his return, so scholars use this information to place him chronologically between Nehemiah's trips to Jerusalem. Many sins are listed including, intermarriage with pagans, profaning the Sabbath, neglecting the care of the temple and temple workers, offering unworthy sacrifices, and even misuse of the temple itself for personal gain.

Tomorrow's reading: Mal.2:10-4:6; Joel 1-3:21