This is the beginning of the end of the age of the prophets. Abarbanel explains that the entire book of Malachi is one long discourse, divided into sections, rounding out the final messages of prophecy. The identity of Malachi is obscure; he has no lineage or hometown. The Gemara in Megilla (15a) considers that he might have been Mordechai or Ezra. Abarbanel rejects both of these possibilities. Mechilta teaches that each of the prophets were present at Har Sinai at the giving of the Torah – they each received their teachings and messages from Moshe Rabbeinu at that time.
Our haftara begins by describing “the burden” of Malachi. Abarbanel explains that Malachi, as the last prophet, had to carry his difficult message the farthest of all the prophets. Perhaps he was also given the most burdensome message of all: How do we know that Hashem loves Yaakov and hates Esav?
This conclusion was very much in doubt in the time of Malachi, late in the Second Commonwealth under the boot of Esav – the Roman Empire. The message contained in this prophecy is a series of paradoxes, contradictions, and unanswered questions. Those who know, as the saying goes, will know. But the message was lost, for the most part, on its most immediate recipients.
Abarbanel describes some of the spiritual depths to which the inhabitants of Yerushalayim had sunk at this twilight of prophecy. Those who should have been the leaders, the best among us, had become the worst. The kohanim were offering impure and tainted sacrifices; the service in the Beit HaMikdash was available to the highest bidder. The kohanim had public wives permitted to them under the law, from whom they derived status and legitimacy. On the side they took other women, who were not Jewish, to be their secret wives.
It was widely believed that Hashem had abandoned His people, and that this was evident by the Roman conquest and the end of prophecy. These so-called leaders considered the laws to be in abeyance. They permitted themselves forbidden acts because they believed divine law would no longer be enforced. Malachi comes out of nowhere – one last prophet to challenge this assumption. For it is not Hashem who has forsaken His people, but the people have turned away from Hashem.
Hashem loved Yaakov and He hated Esav. Yaakov was righteous and served Hashem, while Esav was wicked and rebelled. So what of these offspring of Yaakov who act like little Esavs, every one of them? They imitate and desire to be like the Romans, the literal descendants of Esav. And they have the audacity to ask, “By what shall we know that Hashem loves us?” The navi has come to put these people on notice.
You were chosen for your good attributes, he tells them, and you’ve been preserved and protected because of the positive messages you represent on behalf of the Creator. Hashem made a covenant with the descendants of Levi – a spiritual aristocracy – because Levi revered G-d and was transformed by the awe of Him. He taught the Torah of Truth and he didn’t prevaricate or corrupt the minds of Israel. His grandson Aharon pursued peace and righteousness in all his ways and for this he merited to receive the priesthood and pass it onto his offspring.
The navi is warning the kohanim of his generation: Hashem has chosen you for your righteousness and he will cast you down for debasing your birthright. There are now and there will always be those who speak for Hashem and for His Torah. There might be no more prophets and Israel will be exiled, but those who sanctify themselves and teach Torah in truth and righteousness, as Levi and Aharon did, are themselves malachim of Hashem. This is a pregnant term upon which the haftara concludes. The malach is a divine messenger; it is also the name of this last prophet delivering the message.
The malach of Hashem is fearsome and terrifying, especially to those who profit through corruption and discredit the covenant that they exploit for their advantage. There will be a reckoning, and the false teachers will be exposed – we will yet know who is Yaakov and who is Esav.