Malachi "Looking to a new covenant"

In the last of our series “Mining the Prophets” we consider the final book of the Old Testament: Malachi. As with all the prophetic writings this is a message of challenge and disturbance. It is no coincidence that Malachi is last in the OT. It is a late book, possibly the last of the 39 to be written. Israel has returned from Babylon. God’s restoration of their possession of the land - promised in Micah, Joel and many of the prophets - has happened. The people had been given a second (or is it third?) chance. Sadly, they have blown it. Again. The standard of religious life had deteriorated. “Why make the effort to honour God?” In Malachi we see the beginnings of a shift in the focus of Hebrew religious practice. More importantly, this book rounds out the Old Testament with a foreshadowing of the New; a new type of restoration – a new covenant.