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I would never have thought that a “minor” Old Testament prophet could have a profound impact on my life. Reading the words of Moses or Abraham helps me see the love and patience that the Lord has for us, His children. Seeing His continuous nurturance of the Israelites, I can almost feel His hand clasped in mine as He guides me each day. But Malachi, the bookend of the Old Testament, is at times almost speed-read when I am so near the Bible finish line.
Malachi’s Hebrew name, ????????? (Mal’akhiy)[i] means “my messenger” or “my angel.” Interesting. What “message” does Malachi have for us? His words[ii] contain warnings and prophecies not only for the priests and people of ancient Israel, but also for people in our day. Keeping covenants made with God is a serious matter of eternal significance, as the Book of Malachi makes perfectly clear. Yet the promises of covenant keeping – the triumph of good over evil – are made equally clear: “unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet…”[iii]
Inasmuch as Malachi was a prophet, we know that he had the capacity to predict future events or developments. [iv] Trusting that he did “see” our day, then is it not especially meaningful that the last words of his message-and the final words of the Old Testament-address family, such a serious issue today?
And he shall turn the heart of the father to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Heart: the central unit of human emotion and morality
Family: the central unit of heaven and the strength of nations
Heart: source of love, affection and genuine concern
Family: source of stability and strength
Today’s family is in peril. Stressed adults and over programmed children may have hearts turned to the world instead of to family. Malachi’s message is indeed intended for us: we are to counter the forces that can divide us by engaging in activities that unite us as families.
Our fathers’ hearts turn to us for remembrance, appreciation, and ordinances. What will turn our hearts to them? Working together to identify and preserve our family lineage; finding nuggets of faith-promoting ancestral stories; connecting or reconnecting with kin – these and similar activities will unite our families.
I am now preparing for a trip to my grandparents’ homeland. United with my daughter and two granddaughters, we will experience the magnificence of Athens, the beauty of the Peloponnese, and the humble Greek villages of my grandparents and their families. We will walk where they walked, see what they saw, and hopefully feel some of what they felt. Malachi’s words will follow us, and so will our fathers’ hearts.
Carol Kostakos Petranek is a Co-Director of the Washington DC Family History Center, a FamilySearch Volunteer Coordinator, and a Citizen Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
[iii] https://www.lds.org/manual/book-of-mormon-student-manual/chapter-6-1-nephi-19-22?lang=eng. President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876-1972) taught that children who will be raised during the Millennium “shall grow up as calves of the stall’ unto righteousness, that is, without sin or the temptations which are so prevalent today” (The Way to Perfection [1970], 299)….The calf [in a stall] is protected from the elements, and his environment is controlled…Children in the Millennium will similarly grow up without sin unto salvation.’ The telestial element will be removed, and with Satan being bound, the environment will be more controlled” (Monte S. Nyman and Farres H. Nyman, The Words of the Twelve Prophets: Messages to the Latter-day Saints [1990], 145).
