Abstract

In this article, the missional significance of the delay of the Day of the Lord in the postexilic book of Malachi will be studied, employing a missional hermeneutic. First, the canon-historical meaning of the relevant eschatological texts in Malachi 3 will be established. Attention will be paid to the historical and literary context of Malachi in which his precursor, Joel, is pivotal. Second, the New Testament appropriation of Malachi 3 in Matthew’s Gospel is assessed. To conclude, a proposal how Malachi’s motif of the delay of the Day of the Lord can best be missionally re-employed in the present time, will be presented. Hence, apart from a brief note on missional hermeneutics, the missional origin of the text of Malachi, the missional motivation for the delay and the role of the Day of the Lord in modern missiology will be studied.

Highlights

  • The option of a non-messianic, prophetic figure is followed (Wielenga 2016:6–7).17 Malachi himself could have been a model of such a messenger and his ministry (considering that his name means ‘my messenger’), causing a delay in the arrival of the Day of the Lord with its judgement, creating space for divine grace and covenantal penitence and return

  • Bible and mission is not the first topic that comes to mind when reading the book of Malachi

  • Apart from Malachi 1:11, 14,1 where it is said that God is a mighty King over the nations, not much is found in this mid-5th century BCE text that looks useful in a narrative about Bible and mission

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Summary

Introduction

The option of a non-messianic, prophetic figure is followed (Wielenga 2016:6–7).17 Malachi himself could have been a model of such a messenger and his ministry (considering that his name means ‘my messenger’), causing a delay in the arrival of the Day of the Lord with its judgement, creating space for divine grace and covenantal penitence and return. It rather is a matter of priorities: in this particular situation, the divine message addressed the serious threat of the dissolution of the covenant people of God with possible repercussions for God’s eschatological agenda with his world as expounded in the meta-narrative of the canonical Old Testament Scriptures (Green 2016:196–198; Wielenga 2016:8; Wright 2016:107–123).20

Results
Conclusion

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