The third chapter of the Book of the Prophet Malachi begins with a prophecy about the Messiah, the Messenger of the covenant, which concludes with remarkable words about the immutability of God, from which the entire subsequent dialogue develops between God and the prophet on one side, and the people on the other...
The third chapter of the Book of the Prophet Malachi begins with a prophecy about the Messiah, the Messenger of the covenant, which concludes with remarkable words about the immutability of God, from which the entire subsequent dialogue develops between God and the prophet on one side, and the people on the other. "For I am the Lord, I do not change," says God. Many different consequences flow from this fact. It is important in itself as a dogmatic assertion; the Church Fathers, in particular St. Basil the Great, contrasted the fluidity and mutability of creation with the immutability of God, seeing in Him the only true foundation of all existence, the "anchor of salvation," as early Christians often called the Lord. The immutability of God is important for understanding the history of mankind, so that we might see and recognize Him in past events. We need to know of God's immutability so that we may place our hope in His goodness and mercy. This is exactly what the prophet emphasizes when he says that the sons of Jacob were not consumed in the vicissitudes of history solely because the God who made a covenant with Abraham does not change.
But in comparison with this divine faithfulness, which flows from the immutability of His unfathomable divine nature, the unfaithfulness of men becomes especially noticeable. And therefore, through Malachi in the 5th century BC, the Lord once again says the same thing He said through the prophets of the 8th, 7th, and 6th centuries: "Return to Me, and I will return to you." God is immutable, and therefore the sole reason for the destruction of our relationship with Him lies within ourselves. But instead of believing and turning to God, Malachi's contemporaries claim that they are guilty of nothing... And so, in response to these notions that had become customary among the people, the prophet proclaims the truth of God. This dialogue between God and fallen man essentially defines the entire genre of the Book of Malachi. A dialogue in which Truth itself becomes one of the participants, in which It reveals itself through the thoughts of men. It must be said that the dialogue became a kind of genre of the era: besides the prophet Malachi, at least two of his great younger contemporaries resort to it: the author of the Book of Job and Socrates.
Two things are striking in the dialogues of Malachi. First, that God condescends to participate in a dialogue; He answers, argues, teaches, and presents arguments. The Almighty Creator of heaven and earth speaks with men! This is an incredible revelation, based on which Malachi calls the coming Messiah the Messenger. And the second thing, which is impossible not to notice, is how much the ideas and positions of the Jews of the mid-5th century BC coincide with the widespread opinions of our contemporaries.
This is what the people say in dialogue with God through Malachi: "How shall we return?" "How do we know what God wants from us?", "What else does He need?", we also say today. What kind of return is this, to which the Messenger of the covenant is calling? "In what way have we robbed You?" ask the Jews. "We do nothing wrong," "What is bad about us?" we say. "What have we spoken against You?" ask the Jews. "Why doesn't God want to make us happy, healthy, and wealthy?" we ask ourselves the same question. "It is vain to serve God; what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance..." assert the Jews of Malachi's time, saying that God does not reward righteousness and does not punish evil. Therefore, they say, it is better to commit iniquities—they, unlike righteousness, bring profit. We reproduce these arguments almost word for word. Considering that both the 5th-century Jews and we today imply the same thing as a merit: the restoration of the Temple (temples) and worship, the similarity cannot fail to amaze.
Behind all this lies an unwillingness for God to be near. Deep within the human being, it seems, there remains an unconscious knowledge of that consuming flame of Divine love of which Malachi speaks at the beginning of the chapter. And this flame frightens us. We fear that in the proximity of the Almighty, neither our lives nor we ourselves will remain the same. And therefore God calls us to trust, calls us to convince ourselves of His goodness. He says that we rob Him by neglecting the tithe. But the point is not that God needs our offerings. Initially, the tithe and the dedication of the firstborn were meant to be a sign to people that God owns everything, and everything we have, we receive from Him as a gift. The offering was an act of thanksgiving, without which the gift becomes a theft. The Lord, however, does not even reproach them for neglecting Him. Test Me in this, He says, and see that God is faithful. He calls people to gain the experience of trust, and in this experience to find blessedness. Malachi does not speak of blessing here, unlike the other prophets. The time of the New Covenant is already near, and its messenger—Malachi—speaks of blessedness, just as the Lord Jesus Himself will soon speak.
