The prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi

The post-exilic prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, are often treated together as a group. Discuss the features that make them able to be grouped together, especially their common theological accents. What features or lack of features sets them apart from the pre-exilic and exilic prophets? What motifs do they share with developments that can be seen in earlier prophets?

The prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi are commonly grouped together, sharing a common linguistic style of structured, almost poetic prose, and an attitude of closure toward the period of punishment from the Lord on His people. But their true commonality is found in their unique three-part message of apocalyptic exhortation.

First, the three prophets send a firm reminder that the Law must still be honored and followed, to accompany the newly faithful hearts of the Children of Israel. This also forms a warning, to keep on the righteous path to avoid the cycle of sin and punishment the people had been caught in previously.

In Haggai 1 we read both in verse 5 and 7, "Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways.'" The Lord is prompting the people to rebuild the temple, the symbol of their holy practices and worship to the Lord.

Zechariah speaks for the Lord again, specifically reminding the people to follow the Lords law to remain in true righteousness. Zech. 1:3,5: "Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty... Where are your forefathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever? But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your forefathers?" The Lord is justly reminding the people the downfall of their forefathers were lawless actions, as well as hearts.

Through Malachi the Lord again reminds the people that adherence to the law, as well as a faithful heart, brings true favor in the Lord's eyes. "You have wearied the Lord with your words. 'How have we wearied him?' you ask. By saying, 'All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them' or 'where is the God of justice?'" in Malachi 2:17. Also in 3:7, "'Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty."

The second theme of their message announces that the Lord is preparing to pour out His blessings on them as a sign of His love and returned favor.

Hag 2:19, "Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. From this day on I will bless you."

Zephaniah in 8:12 also prophecies of the blessing the Lord will return. "The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people."

Malachi continues on from our first theme in 3:10 with these words of promise: "'...Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'"

The third and greatest of all messages is the promise that a new Day of the Lord is approaching; instead of a day of destruction, the Lord promises a Day of Victory that will never end.

Haggai speaks to Zerubbabel for the Lord, saying in 2:22,23: "... I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms... and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you."

A beautiful messianic passage from Zephaniah also speaks of this promised victory in 9:9,10: "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth."

Finally, we turn to Malachi in 4:2,3 to read again of the Day of the Lord: "'But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,' says the Lord Almighty."

Through all these passages we see clearly the Lord warning his people to stay faithful to the Lord, following the law and keeping a faithful heart. He also promises that an abundance of blessings are theirs from His great love for them. The words of these three prophets are fulfilled when speaking of the Day of the Lord in Jesus Christ.

Discuss how the prophets not only predicted the sufferings of Christ, but also discuss what Peter might mean by the "glories that would follow." Since we have the New Testament's witness to the ministry of Christ, how are the prophets still serving us today, as Peter tells us?

The prophets spoke in general of the pain the Lord experienced from seeing the many sins of His people. Isaiah spoke specifically of the pain that Christ bore for our sins. Is. 53:5,6 "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

The "glories that would follow", spoken of by Peter, are exactly the salvation of Christ through his initial pain of death, and glorious resurrection. The prophets speak even of this in exact detail, again in Isaiah (53:11,12): "After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

The prophets of the Old Testament not only confirm the Gospel revealed in the New Testament, but also give us explicit examples of why the Gospel is necessary. The prophets reveal the sinful heart of a nation, its failure to save itself through self-means in the law, and therefore the need for Christ's saving grace.