A prophecy: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. – Malachi 1:1

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 12, 2020): Malachi 1

Time passes. It just does, and there is nothing that we can do about it. What happens at this moment will soon exist only in the past. And the unknowable future will quickly become the overwhelming now. The greatest pain and worst problem is not the one that exists in either the past or the future. It is the one that exists at this moment that we call "now." And often, the pain of the now leaves us paralyzed, thinking that we cannot move into the future, that this is the way that it is always going to be. Pain in the now often removes hope for the future. Everything seems to be desperate and dark, and we begin to believe the no one cares

The opening words of this prophecy give us the only biblical mention of the Prophet Malachi. We are not sure if "Malachi" is a name, or just the nickname of some unknown prophet, or even the anonymous writings of someone more prominent. The problem comes from the name itself. Malachi means "The Messenger" or "My Messenger," rendering these opening words of the writing as "A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through "My Messenger." But the most common form of the name would have added "yah" or even "ah," resulting in the name Malachiah, meaning "The Messenger of God." The Prophet is missing that typical addition.

Adding to the mystery is the fact that Malachi is not mentioned by any of his contemporaries or near contemporaries. But that just might be because he was the last of the prophets; the other prophecies had already been closed before "The Messenger" makes his pronouncement.

By the time of Malachi, the Temple had been rebuilt, the Temple Sacrifice and feasts had resumed, but these practices were already in decline. The people felt that God was not keeping his promises to the nation, and wondered if God really cared for them. The people were overwhelmed in the eternal now, and they could no longer see a path into the future.

And so, God sends his messenger to minister in Israel's painful now. Malachi intends to reassure the people of God's love for them and remind them of their failure and their responsibility for their own behavior as they move into the future. Because what we do now sets up everything that we will experience tomorrow, and the lessons we learned from yesterday should influence our behavior in the now.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Malachi 2

Personal Note: Happy Birthday, Mom.