Malachi 2: Unfaithful Priests

• v.1-4 Dishonorable Priests
• v.5-7 The Proper Role of the Priest
• v.8-10 Their covenant violated
• v.11,12 Unfaithfulness
• v.13-17 Mock tears

v.1-4 Dishonorable Priests

v.1 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. 

v.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. 

v.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. 

v.4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD Almighty. 

[Notes: The Lord will bring the priesthood down if they do not repent.]

v.5-7 The Proper Role of the Priest

v.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. 

v.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. 

v.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. 

[Notes: The priests – from the tribe of Levi – had had a special position with the Lord and these present priests from Aaron’s family failed to maintain the respect and honor for the Lord that their calling demanded.]

v.8-10 Their covenant violated

v.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. 

v.9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.” 

v.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? 

[Notes: The calling of the priests and the tribe of Levi, had set them apart to the Lord and their role was to teach the people by word and by example, but they had failed to do that and so now they are disdained by the people on who they rely for their daily supplies – the tithes – see later.]

v.11,12 Unfaithfulness

v.11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god. 

v.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. 

[Notes: The result of their poor leading meant that the people had become casual about keeping the Law and a number had married foreign women. Such people should be removed from the people of God regardless of how spiritual they may appear bringing their offerings!]

v.13-17 Mock tears

v.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. 

v.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. 

v.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. 

v.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. 

v.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?”

[Notes: They had become unfaithful to the Lord. Israel when called had been seen as a wife to the Lord (in terms of commitment) but they had drifted from the Lord and become unfaithful, not by following idols [which are not mentioned] but by simply disregarding everything about the Lord in the life of the nation. It was the equivalent of divorce. As a further expression of this they completely distorted truth [v.17] and thus anything they say about the Lord simply wearies Him.]

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: