As Calves of the Stall.

The reason for writing this book was to rebuke the returned exiles of their many sins. They were to rebuild their nation following their 70 years in Babylon but sadly still rejected God One would have assumed that they would now be ready and truly determined that from now on they would seek to work for God in following the Law of Moses in this sinful world. To avoid contact with the nations round about them and re-set up a nation for God as was God’s original task for Israel and that all nations would be blessed through them. But we see in Malachi that these people were still sinful and rebellious.