How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word.

Welcome to Through the Bible.

We're glad that you're here as we begin the final leg of our journey through the Old Testament.

So to find your place in Scripture, look for the book of Matthew in the New Testament and then turn one book back, and you'll arrive at Malachi.

Malachi was the last prophet to speak for God before he went silent for 400 years.

It's true.

Between Malachi and Matthew, it looked like God

it deserted his people. But now we can see how he was at work behind the scenes. Our teacher, Dr.

J. Vernon McGee, compared Malachi to a radio announcer who would say, and the next voice you'll hear

is John the Baptist. Malachi prophesied that there would be a voice crying in the wilderness,

and 400 years later, John the Baptist announced the Lord Jesus had come. It's going to be a great

study, but before we dive in, let's hear more of Dr. McGee's special introductions on the character

of God. The motivation for the love of God is not found in the human

race. It's found in God. Moses was called at the burning bush, and at that time, God gave the

explanation of why he was going to deliver the children of Israel.

He didn't say, I'm going to deliver them because they're such nice, sweet, lovely people.

Because to tell the truth, they were not sweet, lovely people.

They'd gone into idolatry.

And he said, I've heard their cry.

The only thing that appeals to God in you and me is not that we're such lovely creatures

is the fact that we have a need in all our affliction.

Our God is there, and that's what he sees. He sees our problem, our difficulty, and the source of all

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