God's Never-Ending Love for His People

Jim Hoffmeier | Jun 7 2026 God loves his people and wants to be in a close relationship with them but he expects pure worship and undivided devotion to Him. These twin themes are the focus of Malachi chapter 1. Malachi was God’s prophet to the returned Judean exiles in Jerusalem and Judah after the seventy years in Babylon. This community had many challenges getting reestablished in their promised land. While some of God’s promises had been fulfilled, others had not. Consequently, the Jews were apparently wondering if God really loved them. Their discouragement resulted in problems in the religious and social life of the community. Into this situation, God spoke through Malachi–the last prophetic voice in the Old Testament–to address these issues and to assure the people of God’s love and faithfulness and to underscore what he expected of them.