Single lesson
Malachi 3: I Will Send My Messenger
Malachi 3:1–5; Malachi 3:6–12; Malachi 3:13–18
Malachi 3:1–5 announces that Yahweh will send a messenger, then come in a way that both purifies and judges. The passage moves from expectation to searching questions, then to clear examples of the wrongdoing God will confront. This lesson also brings together Robbing God, The Book of Remembrance.
Before you teach
In these verses, Yahweh of Armies speaks directly about his coming. A messenger will prepare the way, and the passage then speaks of “the Lord” and “the messenger of the covenant” as coming to the temple. His arrival will test people rather than simply comfort them, bringing purification and judgement.
Explain the central teaching of Malachi 3: I Will Send My Messenger, using two details from the reading. God’s coming in Malachi 3:1–5 is presented as both purification for right offerings and judgement on persistent injustice and unfaithfulness. This passage calls the people to return to Yahweh in the specific way he names by bringing the whole tithe. This passage teaches that Yahweh hears what people say about him, remembers those who fear him, and will finally show the difference between serving God and refusing him.
Welcome: Malachi 3: I Will Send My Messenger
5 minIntroduce “I Will Send My Messenger”, “Robbing God”, “The Book of Remembrance” and locate Malachi 3:1–5; Malachi 3:6–12; Malachi 3:13–18. God’s coming in Malachi 3:1–5 is presented as both purification for right offerings and judgement on persistent injustice and unfaithfulness. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Malachi 3:1, Malachi 3:3, Malachi 3:5
Read and explain the passage
12 minI Will Send My Messenger (Malachi 3:1–5): The passage opens with Yahweh saying, “I send my messenger”. This messenger prepares the way before him, showing that God’s coming is announced in advance. The verse then speaks of “the Lord” and “the messenger of the covenant” as coming to the temple, keeping the focus on Yahweh’s promised action and covenant dealings.
Robbing God (Malachi 3:6–12): The passage opens with Yahweh’s own declaration: “I, Yahweh, don’t change.” The result named here is that the sons of Jacob are not consumed. The message begins with who Yahweh is and with his continued dealing with this people. His unchanging character stands at the start of everything that follows.
The Book of Remembrance (Malachi 3:13–18): The passage begins with Yahweh saying, “Your words have been harsh against me”. The people answer with a question, asking what they have said. This opening matters because Yahweh is not speaking about hidden thoughts here, but about words that have been spoken against him and can be answered directly.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “I Will Send My Messenger”, “Robbing God”, “The Book of Remembrance”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Malachi 3:1, Malachi 3:6, Malachi 3:13
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What does the messenger do before the Lord comes?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This passage teaches that Yahweh hears what people say about him, remembers those who fear him, and will finally show the difference between serving God and refusing him. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Malachi 3:1, Malachi 3:7, Malachi 3:8, Malachi 3:10, Malachi 3:18
Make and respond: Vision and message evidence map
12 minWork on “Malachi 3: I Will Send My Messenger: Vision and message evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “I Will Send My Messenger”, “Robbing God”, “The Book of Remembrance” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Malachi 3:1, Malachi 3:10, Malachi 3:18
Closing: return to The Book of Remembrance
3 minRevisit Malachi 3:13–18. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about The Book of Remembrance and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Malachi 3:13, Malachi 3:16, Malachi 3:18
Questions to explore
What does the messenger do before the Lord comes?
Look for the first action in the passage and notice that the messenger prepares the way before Yahweh’s coming.
Malachi 3:1
How does Yahweh explain what returning to him should involve in this passage?
Read Malachi 3:7–10 and trace the answer from “How shall we return?” to the command about the whole tithe.
Malachi 3:7, Malachi 3:8, Malachi 3:10
What two contrasts will people eventually discern?
Read the final verse carefully and list both paired opposites it names.
Malachi 3:18
Make, think or respond
Malachi 3: I Will Send My Messenger: Vision and message evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage describes”, “What is explained in the text”, “What question remains”.
- Read Malachi 3:1–5; Malachi 3:6–12; Malachi 3:13–18. Use “I Will Send My Messenger”, “Robbing God”, “The Book of Remembrance” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Circle an explanation the passage itself provides. Leave unexplained details as questions for further reading.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Malachi 3: I Will Send My Messenger connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “I Will Send My Messenger”, “Robbing God”, “The Book of Remembrance” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Malachi 3:1–5; Malachi 3:6–12; Malachi 3:13–18. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Malachi 3:1–5; Malachi 3:6–12; Malachi 3:13–18. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Malachi 3
1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me! The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Behold, the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, is coming!” says Yahweh of Armies.
2 “But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderers’ soap;
3 and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.
4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to Yahweh as in the days of old and as in ancient years.
5 I will come near to you to judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.
6 “For I, Yahweh, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
7 From the days of your fathers you have turned away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of Armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be enough room for.
11 I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field,” says Yahweh of Armies.
12 “All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says Yahweh of Armies.
13 “Your words have been harsh against me,” says Yahweh. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’
14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God,’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies?
15 Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’
16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened and heard, and a book of memory was written before him for those who feared Yahweh and who honored his name.
17 They shall be mine,” says Yahweh of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make. I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.
18 Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve him.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.