Malachi 1:11 and Pre-Christian Knowledge the Gentiles Would Become Members of God's Covenant People

  

For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. (Mal 1:11)

 

Commenting on this prophecy in Malachi, Protestant Pieter Verhoef wrote:

 

This text, then, presupposes a radical alternation in the circumstances, making those countries sacred places of worship. Principally this could be obtained on the basis of the conversion of the heathen nations, the breaking through of the wall of partition. This is, exegetically, the content of this text. By way of emphasis it concludes with repetition of the words for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord Almighty. (Pieter A. Verhoef, The Books of Haggai and Malachi [NICOT; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1987], 225, emphasis in bold added)

 

This refutes Sandra Tanner and others who claim the Book of Mormon in error as it has pre-New Testament prophecies of the Gentiles becoming part of God’s covenant community. On this, see:

 

The Book of Mormon's Knowledge of Gentile Inclusion in the New Covenant: Does it Contradict the Bible?

Interestingly, it also refutes the claim faithful Jews would never imagine cultic/temple worship outside of Jerusalem. To quote another Protestant:

The basic purport of Mal. 1:11 seems to be this. Proper ritual outside Jerusalem, even outside Israel, can occur. Whether the author knew about Yahwistic shrines at Elephantine, Leontopolis, Samaria, in the Transjordan, we cannot be sure. But the point is clear, whether or not appropriate ritual occurs in Jerusalem, Yahweh’s name will be appropriately venerated in other venues. (David L. Petersen, Zechariah 9-14 and Malachi [Old Testament Library; London: SCM Press, 1995], )

 

On this verse and the early Christian interpretation thereof, see:

 

Malachi 1:11--A Prophecy of the Eucharistic Sacrifice?

Malachi 1:11 and the Fragments from the Writings of Irenaeus

E.M.B. Green on the Early Christian Application of Sacrificial Language to the Eucharist