Malachi was intended to be a spiritual wake-up call to the people of Israel. Life was quite mundane and the glorious promises of God were not coming true. Walking by faith and not by sight was not very exciting to these discouraged people.
It is easy to relate. The Bible tells us that Christ will return. He will set all things right. He will vindicate the godly and punish the wicked. He will prove himself God to all the people. But we continue to wait and wait and wait. We do not see what has been promised. Peter writes about this in 2 Peter 3:3-18. He tells us that people will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.'" (3:4)
But Peter tells us to be patient, for the Day of the Lord will, in fact, come. And because of that fact, we ought to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to that day. Since we are looking forward to his coming, we should make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him when he arrives.
