The prophet Malachi lived about 100 years after the Israelites had returned from babylonian exile. The Temple had been rebuilt in Jerusalem, but things were not going well. The exiles had expected to return and see God's promises of the New Jerusalem and the Messiah be fulfilled, but instead they found that they were just as unfaithful to God as their ancestors had been, resulting in much poverty and injustice. Malachi shows us just how corrupt this new generation had become. The book consists of a series of disputes: God makes an accusation which Israel disagrees with before God offers the last word.