Malachi

Theme 1: (1-2) : The Lord is faithful to his covenant and shows love to his people. We must be faithful to the Lord and keep his law. Our relationship with the Lord must not be taken lightly for we will be punished for our unfaithfulness to him. The Lord is faithful to his covenant with Israel for he showed his love to her constantly. ( 1: 2-5). The Lord desires our best and we must not short change him by offering him defective goods or work which is not our best. ( 1:6-13). The Lord must be shown honour for he is the great King over all. (1:14). As people who follow the Lord, we must be faithful to him in our role as mediators and not corrupt his commands by showing favortism to certain people. ( 2:1-9). Unfaithfulness to the Lord's commands is not tolerated. In particular unfaithfulness to the marriage covenant which represents our relationship with the Lord. Thus marriage must not be treated lightly. ( 2: 10-17).

Theme 2; ( 3-4): The Lord longs to restore the broken relationship between himself and humanity. Therefore he promised to send a savior who would act as a mediator between the Lord and people. ( 3:1-4). The Lord does not change and thus unfaithfulness to his covenant will be judged. Thus injustice to the alien , the poor and the widow will be judged. (3:5-12). Those who obey the covenant will be spared from the Lord 's judgement and will act as a witness to how the Lord treats the wicked who disobey and the righteous who obey him. ( 3:13-17). Those whom obeyed the Law of Moses will be perserved by the Lord. ( 4:1-3). The Lord longs to restore the broken relationships between people and himself and between people and people. Therefore he sends Christ as a mediator of a new covenant relationship in which we can know the Lord intamently. ( 4:4).