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DECEMBER 31
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright
the prophecy of this book, for the time is at and Morning Star.”
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hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let
who is righteous, let him be righteous still; him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let
he who is holy, let him be holy still.” him take the water of life freely.
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My 18 For I testify to everyone who hears the
reward is with Me, to give to every one accord- words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone
ing to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the adds to these things, God will add to him the
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Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First plagues that are written in this book; and if
and the Last.” anyone takes away from the words of the book
14 Blessed are those who do His command- of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
ments, that they may have the right to the tree from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and
of life, and may enter through the gates into from the things which are written in this book.
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the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers 20 He who testifies to these things says,
and sexually immoral and murderers and idol- “Surely I am coming quickly.”
aters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you these things in the churches. I am the you all. Amen.

DAY 31:What is the Book of Malachi about?
Only 50,000 exiles had returned to Judah from Babylon (538–536 B.C.). The temple had been
rebuilt under the leadership of Zerubbabel (516 B.C.) and the sacrificial system renewed. Ezra had
returned in 458 B.C., followed by Nehemiah in 445 B.C.After being back in the land of Palestine for
only a century, the ritual of the Jews’ religious routine led to hard-heartedness toward God’s great
love for them and to widespread departure from His law by both people and priest.Malachi rebuked
and condemned these abuses,forcefully indicting the people and calling them to repentance.When
Nehemiah returned from Persia the second time (ca.424 B.C.), he vigorously rebuked them for these
abuses in the temple and priesthood, for the violation of the Sabbath rest, and for the unlawful
divorce of their Jewish wives so they could marry Gentile women (Neh.13).
As over two millennia of Old Testament history since Abraham concluded,none of the glorious
promises of the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenants had been fulfilled in their ultimate sense.
Although there had been a few high points in Israel’s history,e.g.,Joshua,David,and Josiah,the Jews
had seemingly lost all opportunity to receive God’s favor. Less than 100 years after returning from
captivity,they had already sunk to a depth of sin that exceeded the former iniquities which brought
on the Assyrian and Babylonian deportations. Beyond this, the long-anticipated Messiah had not
arrived and did not seem to be in sight.
So, Malachi wrote the capstone prophecy of the Old Testament in which he delivered God’s
message of judgment on Israel for their continuing sin and God’s promise that one day in the future,
when the Jews would repent, the Messiah would be revealed and God’s covenant promises would
be fulfilled.There were over 400 years of divine silence, with only Malachi’s words ringing condem-
nation in their ears, before another prophet arrived with a message from God. That was John the
Baptist preaching,“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”(Matt.3:2).Messiah had come.

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