Malachi - God's Preacher

From Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, to Matthew, there is a gap of more than 400 years.  In 539 BC,  the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great had allowed some of the Jews living in Exile in Babylon to return to Jerusalem.  They had rebuilt the Temple and began to build walls around the city.  Malachi was written about a century later. 

Between the last chapter of Malachi and the announcement of Christ’s birth in Matthew 1, the Persian Empire disappeared, and the Roman Empire had risen to power.  The conquests of Alexander the Great had spread the Greek language and culture.  As a result, the New Testament was originally written in Greek, rather than Hebrew or Aramaic.

Prior to the four centuries of silence between the Old and New Testaments, God sent His messenger Malachi.  Malachi preached God’s judgment of sin and announced the coming of John the Baptist, who would prepare the way for Christ.  Finally, he preached Christ as "the sun of righteousness" who will rise with healing in His wings.