Book of Malachi Summary: From Corrupt Priests to the Coming Christ. When many people open their Protestant Bible, Malachi appears to be the “final word” of the Old Testament, closing the story until the arrival of John the Baptist and Jesus. But in the Bible of the Early Church — the Septuagint — Malachi is not the last book. So rather than being a “closing,” Malachi should be read as a prophetic voice within an ongoing stream of revelation.