It is sometimes said that the Old Testament is ‘a story in search of an ending’. Malachi is the final book of the Old Testament and certainly reinforces this sense with its emphasis upon the continuing problems of God’s faithless people after their return from exile in Babylon, the return of Elijah to preach repentance and the coming of the LORD himself to put things right. Mark’s gospel begins with a quotation from Malachi (merged with one from Isaiah) finding its fulfilment in the coming of John the Baptist and then Jesus. During Advent we will therefore use the prophecy of Malachi to seek to understand these events more fully.
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