God speaks through one last prophet, Malachi. In this short book, a prophecy is given about the promised Messiah. To be more specific, a prophecy is given about someone who will come right before the Messiah to prepare the way for Him.

God brings His people out of exile back into His Promised Land, but they are still under foreign control.

The exiles were returning! God's promise was once again kept. The promise that was given to Abraham about a land, a nation, and a Savior was coming closer to completion.

We have a conversation between 2 different generations of people to help big the gap and understand each other.

This picture is becoming even clearer as God is sending messages of hope through His prophets to His people in exile.

God is promising the miraculous. He would bring His people back out into their own land. He would somehow protect their identity and culture if they would just remain faithful.

God sends His prophets to warn the people of their wicked ways and God's desire for them to turn back to Him. Sometimes they would listen, other times they would not.

David has faith. He has seen God's faithfulness in the past for smaller things and he believes Him for bigger things.

The theme of redemption comes up over and over again in the lives of God's people. It's sending signals that this is the big thing that God is going to do.

Rahab is another shining example of how God uses imperfect people to carry out His perfect plan.