When times are hard, it is difficult to believe that God loves us. All appearances seem to count against such a belief. Yet, that is exactly what this little Book of Malachi is all about. Yahweh still loves Israel in spite of all appearances to the contrary. And this same unchanging Lord still loves us. Naturally Malachi’s audience found this bit of assurance most unnerving. The harshness of the times had so hardened them that they had veered toward a practical atheism