Grace and peace be to you all. This epistle is a revelation of events which spans over 400 hundred years between the testaments. The book of Malachi is the last of the Old Testament and was written in Palestine between 557-525 B.C. Between the Old and New testaments, Israel continued in her struggle for existence and restoration during the period between Malachi the prophet and the coming of John the Baptist to proclaim the kingdom of God which was to come through The KING, the LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Ezra and Nehemiah established a settled form of government in Palestine, ruled by a council of elders and priests who formed an ecclesiastical court, and who interpreted the law and enforced obedience. They were called the Great Synagogue of 120 members of which Ezra was founder and president, which ruled for 150 years, until Simon the Just, about 292 B.C. They held that the Law of Moses was given in two-fold form: the written law consisting of brief official enactments, and the oral law of more copious details passed down from Moses to Joshua and the elders that outlived him, and on to the prophets, being conveyed by Jeremiah to Ezra, who then gave it to the Great Synagogue, to whom Nehemiah also gave a complete library of the sacred books (2 Mac 2:13). The Jews owe acknowledgement for the oral tradition which may be considered as the groundwork of the Jewish Talmud to the Great Synagogue. More so, the Jewish Talmud was referred to by Christ in some of his teachings (Matt 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43, 15:2-6, Mark 3-13) and the apostles (Gal 1:14, Col 2:8, 1 Pet 1:18) as the tradition of the elders and doctrines and commandments of men. Ezra and Nehemiah set up synagogues in many towns for worship, schools for instructions, and local courts where men were tried for crimes against the state and society. Attached to each synagogue was a body of rulers - civil magistrates and ecclesiastical presbyters. During this time, Palestine was ruled by Persia and formed only a part of the province under the Satrap of Syria.
In 331 B.C., after the victories of Alexander the Great of Greece over Persia as prophesied by Daniel the prophet (Dan 7:5-6, 8:3-9, 11:2-4), he took possession of Syria allowing the Jews to retain self-government and their own religion. Even when he built Alexandria in Egypt, he invited many Jews to settle there, giving them equal rights with his other subjects. It was here, in Alexandria of Egypt, that the famous Septuagint (Old Testament translation into Greek) was made, about 294-289 B.C., by the Jews of this city. Also, as prophesied by Daniel the prophet (Dan 11:4), when Alexander died, his kingdom was divided among his four generals; Cassander took Greece and Macedonia, Lysimachus took Asia Minor (Turkey), Ptolemy took Egypt, and Seleucus took Syria, Babylon, Persia, Media, and other eastern parts. Is this not the kingdom (Seleucus' kingdom) spoken of by the prophets from which the man of sin that shall deceive and rule the world in the days to come shall come out from? Are these things not written in Dan 8:8-11, 21-27? Behold, his bands are now forming in the east and the days of great deception is coming to the world during which many shall fall away because they have loved the world and rejected the truth that they might be saved. As the Lord Himself had said, so it is being fulfilled before your eyes, for many have now come in His name saying that He is Christ, but yet deceive many by the corrupt gospel that they preach; and many have gone after them, not seeking the KING and His heavenly kingdom but the corruption of the world and the things that are in it. Repent and be converted! All you that do in this manner for you are blind. What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul? Behold, the days come when your gold shall be removed from you and your silver shall be cast into the streets, and your silver and gold shall not be able to deliver you in the day of the wrath of the Lord. Repent of your sins today, for these are yet the days of mercy and the LORD shall have mercy on you. Repent of your vain conversations, surmising, whispering, cursing, and slander, and be free from all the works of the flesh. Seek the KING and His righteous kingdom. Hate sin and practice righteousness and be a doer of His Word and you shall surely be saved.
Most of the 3rd century B.C. was taken up with wars between the aforementioned four rival kings of the old Grecian empire. It was during this time that the Roman power began to be felt and after series of struggles which climaxed in 168 B.C, the Romans conquered Greece and Macedonia, about 200 B.C at which time the Macedonian kingdom came to an end. It was at this time that both Greece and Macedonia became a part of the Roman Empire. In all this time (331-165 B.C.) the Syrian and Egyptian divisions of Alexander's empire fought repeatedly with each other over the possession of Palestine. It was during this time that Daniel 11:1-34 was fulfilled, ending with the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes who took Jerusalem about 170 B.C. and polluted the temple, compelling the Jews to sacrifice to idols. He erected the statue of Jupiter on the altar of burnt offerings, sacrificed swine, burned the Scriptures, and prohibited the worship of Jehovah. Behold, the things that has been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done. It was at this time that the Maccabees arose - an Asmonian family. Under them, the Jews became victorious over Antiochus Epiphanes. Jerusalem was liberated and true worship of God was re-established in December 165 B.C. It was then the Feast of Dedication was instituted; and it continued until the time of Christ (John 10:22). The Maccabean family was eventually forced to make some terms with the Romans under whose protection the Jews retained considerable freedom from outside rule.
In 47 B.C., Julius Caesar granted the Jews exemption from all tribute every 7th year because they neither sowed nor reaped in that year. Furthermore, they also received freedom from military service, and were given the right to meet and assemble together according to their own customs and laws. All this was ratified by the Roman senate in 44 B.C. For maintenance of order and general political government, a Roman official presided over all Syria. In 37 B.C., Herod the Great deposed the last Asmonian prince, Antigonus, and became the nominal sovereign of the Jews, subject to Rome. He betrayed the Jews to the Romans, fostered immorality, cultivated alien customs, encouraged mistrust, corrupted the priesthood, and massacred many nobles. He also built the temple on a magnificent scale. This loss of temporal power is what drove the Jews to a state of pride over the past and made them rebellious in heart towards the Romans. This was what prompted them to look for a Savior and King, who was to come as spoken by the holy prophets. This was the current state of the Jewish nation at the time the Messiah was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Indeed, the KING came at the set time as God had promised by His holy Word but the people rejected their KING because He came in the form they did not expect - He came as the LAMB of GOD to take away the sins of the world, but the people wanted a conqueror! The people were in unbelief and they rejected the poor carpenter as their Messiah, Mary's son, who also is Christ the LORD. In their unbelief, the nation rebelled against the Romans; in 70 A.D., they were defeated and scattered among the Gentile nations, and Zion was plowed as a field and Jerusalem became a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the Lord's house became as the high places of the forest as spoken by Micah the prophet (Micah 3:12).
Now, the KING is coming again! But this time, not as the LAMB but THE LION, for He is the LION of the tribe of Judah. He is coming as the GREAT JUDGE to judge the world, the quick and the living. Let all people repent of their sins and turn from them, lest the King come suddenly and find you in your sin. Then shall your portion be with the wicked where their worms do not die and their fire is not quenched. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But today, the Spirit and the Bride say to you all: Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take of this water of life freely. Come and partake of the KINGDOM of GOD. Believe the gospel of Christ the KING, repent of your sins and be baptized with the Holy Ghost. And thereafter, live holy, for without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Peace be to you all. Maranatha.
