Read Malachi 2
Additional Warning to the Priests
2 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. 2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. 5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. 8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. 9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliatedbefore all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
Breaking Covenant Through Divorce
10 Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?
11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord lovesby marrying women who worship a foreign god. 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove him from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty.
13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty.
So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
Breaking Covenant Through Injustice
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.
“How have we wearied him?” you ask.
By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”
Go Deeper
If you picked up on hints of God’s frustrations reading Malachi 1, in this chapter it is explicitly clear and inescapable. In short, God is frustrated with Israel’s priests and how lightly they are taking the covenants. The Merriam-Webster definition of a covenant is “a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement.” All throughout the Old Testament we see examples of God establishing covenants with His people and when they fall short of their end of the bargain (which happens often), it breaks God’s heart.
In this chapter, the priests have fallen short of their covenant with God and the covenant of marriage (which is made between a man and woman before God) is being taken too lightly. The priests had stopped living up to their end of God’s expectations (v. 2). David Guzik of the Enduring Word commentary outlines the four characteristics God was looking for the in the priests, all based on the way Levi lived (v. 5-7):
- Reverence
- Knowing God’s word
- Godly character
- Preserving and promoting God’s word: God’s servant
As they fell short of that standard, they caused others to stumble as well (v. 8-9). This passage serves as a reminder to anyone leading in any ministry context that your words, actions, and the living out of your faith can impact others, so it’s vital to live authentically and devoted to Jesus (James 3:1).
Finally, this chapter ends with a reminder of the importance of the covenant of marriage. God doesn’t like divorce. Unfaithfulness is dishonoring to God, so any time you look outside the of marriage for fulfillment in marriage (physically, emotionally, etc.), you’re dishonoring the covenant of marriage and the heart of God. For those reading that are (or will someday be) married, let’s be reminded today that a marriage that points others to Jesus is a great apologetic to the world around us.
Questions
- What stuck out to you the first time you read through this chapter? Why?
- Why was God so hard on the priests? Why was it so important to Him that they lead well?
- What is a takeaway from this passage regarding marriage for you?
By the Way
This passage is reminiscent of Amos 5:21-24 where God (through His prophet Amos) says this:
21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!
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2 thoughts on “Malachi 2”
Little is honored in our culture today, certainly not God’s name, his Word, or marriage. Hosea 4:6 declares, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” Malachi could very well be speaking to the corruption, rebellion and hypocrisy prevalent in today’s society. For the committed Christ-followers 1 Peter 2:9 says, “ But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (This is the verse HC is committing to memory this year.) I want to take his call on my life seriously, to rid myself of a counterfeit faith and lean fully into honoring his Name with all that I am.
God’s covenant was one of awe and fear, more than just respect but to covet the desire to be one, completely complete, with joy and happiness but with quivering anticipation of being together with that person. We are called to be living in this empowering grace filled life. Romans 6: 6-8 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
We are all spiritual leaders. So this falls to us as Christ followers to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling of the Awe of God. To pursue and attain a holy lifestyle for God to be pleased with. He has enabled us through His Holy Spirit to be able to attain this now but it is still through your desire to truly have a real personable relationship with God.
Malachi 2: 5-7 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Prayer, fasting, reading the Bible, discussing what you read with family, life group, mentor type person. Getting to know God, He desires it more than you!!!!!!
God thank You for instruction on how to know You better. Thank You for wisdom and understanding in that instruction. God I try to make my relationship with You much more complicated and harder than it is, please forgive me. Thank You for just walking with You minutely, Your love goggles to see others as You see them, and the understanding for them and not irritation. God thank You for me being slow to speak and quick to listen. When I do speak let it be seasoned with Your words, grace and mercy that it edifies You. 1 Peter 2:9 NIV “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ” Thank You that I am a chosen person ,part of a royal priesthood, part of a holy nation. God thank You that I am Your special possession. I declare praises to You that have called me out of darkness into Your glorious light in Jesus name amen!!!
WOOHOO!!!!!!!