Malachi Chapter Two, A Spiritual Exodus

 

Malachi 2:8 But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of hosts. [9] “Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base before all the people, because you have not kept My ways but have shown partiality in the law.”

 

In contrast to the sons of Levi that walked with God in peace and equity, Malachi complains that these priests have departed from the way. The Hebrew word for “departed” is “suwr, or soor” and literally or figuratively means, “to turn off, put or take away.” Rather than walking with God, the priests walked by their own power (authority). Recall that excellent passage in Isaiah where the prophet writes, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left,” Isaiah 30:21. God has hedged Israel in, and permits temptation for the sake of trying one’s faith, of what sort it is. Jesus is the Good Shepherd; if He should open the door to the sheepfold, it is to see if we escape or remain. The outcome varies depending on what we think of our Savior. The writer of Hebrews cautions us that after receiving the knowledge of the truth, if we persist in our sin, there remains no longer a sacrifice for us, Hebrews 10:26. To know, to be exposed to what is true and have the clarity of Christ’s gospel presented but turn from it is the sin against the Holy Spirit, of which there is no forgiveness. It is not falling away; in such cases saving faith never existed to begin with.

Malachi Chapter Two, Guarding Knowledge

 

Malachi 2:7 For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.

 

Verse 6 stated the outcome of walking faithfully with God or where Levi was in position to Him. Verse 7 demonstrates why this is so important, or the applied purpose. The lips of a priest should keep knowledge, Malachi says. In the former verse Malachi stated in the negative that injustice was not found on the priest’s lips; now he says that is because a priest’s lips are not for perverting knowledge, but for keeping it. Like the cherubim kept the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24), so the priest was entrusted to keep God’s word for the people. All people, all walks of life, should seek the Mosaic Law from his mouth. Again in the previous verse Malachi tells us that the Law of truth was in fact in the mouth of Levi. Like a treasure ready to be dispensed to those who actually come looking for it, so was the priest’s reservoir of knowledge for the masses. The prophet summarizes why this should be so: because Levi is a messenger of the LORD of hosts. Malachi’s name meant what the function of the priesthood was to embody: the proclamation of God’s truth to His glory and human improvement. It can’t be otherwise. God doesn’t benefit from our acts of charity, in whatever form they come. No, it is people who benefit. Therefore the proper application of the Law was always to provide safety and moral freedom for God’s people. When the remedy was applied to correct iniquity in the hearer God was glorified. A simple truth might be derived from this. What benefits humanity from God’s word, applied with love, can only glorify the Author. The corruption of what is true, taught or practiced, brings reproach upon God and profanes His word.

Malachi Chapter Two, Leading By Following

 

God informed Moses, regarding Phinehas’ actions, “Phinehas, the son of Eleazer, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel…therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God,” Numbers 25:11-13. The difference in knowledge between Phinehas and the priests of Malachi’s day may have been marginal. But knowledge puffs up, or makes arrogant. That is, knowledge without interest on acting upon what we come to understand. Worse, having understood something, we behave contrarily, as if we hadn’t heard to begin with, compounding our sin. Phinehas was brave because he was filled with zeal. Zeal can be positively connoted as enthusiasm, but I think that fails to convey what this courageous man did. Another synonym for zeal is fanaticism, which is rarely portrayed in a positive light. Ardent devotion can produce fanaticism, and is that wrong? A fanatic isn’t by obligation of that descriptor some ranting lunatic. Rather, they are passionate, convicted and convinced of their purpose and the foundation on which their purpose is built. Phinehas built his foundation on trust in God’s word, and the God who spoke that word. Manifesting that trust, he acted. His trust in the invisible became visible to all when he grabbed a javelin and chased his fellow Jew into that tent.

Malachi Chapter Two, The Genuine Article

 

Malachi 2:6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity.

 

God’s word, the law of truth, was always in the heart and mind of the loyal priesthood. The Psalmist writes about Scripture: “I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word,” Psalm 119:15, 16. The wording indicates an apt pupil. Levi was an avid student of the word of God. Like Peter, he was ready to give an answer for the hope that was in him. The people sought the priests for answers, knowledge, and solace. In turn, the priests needed to be prepared to give themselves in ministry, first to God (the great commandment) and then selflessly to their neighbor (the second which was like it).

Malachi Chapter Two, Blind Leaders Of The Blind

 

There is also the notion of familiarity. Levi knew the Lord, and knowing Him provoked Godly fear and the proper exercise of the Jewish religious practices. Again, when you know someone that you admire or respect, you look up to him. Like an apprentice sees their master, a child his father, or a servant his king, they love the man and respect the title and the native elements that constitute his ownership of it. They aspire to be like Him, which would make them zealous for God’s Law. Yahweh Himself told them on numerous occasions, “For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy,” Leviticus 11:45. The Law was a tool to teach Israel separation. It was to teach how to discern between the clean and unclean. It was to demonstrate how the Jews were to approach God and treat their fellow man, Jew or Gentile. The Law was a relational object to demonstrate to them how a nation truly set apart for Him should function. Equity, truth, mercy and justice were to reign. Why? Because God is true, fair and just. Perfectly so. He is the standard bearer, and He is the light that illumines the path of the seeker who wishes to grow into His likeness.

Malachi Chapter Two, Fearing the Lord

 

Malachi 2:5 “My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear Me; so he feared Me and was reverent before My name.

 

God’s covenant was with Levi. Not the individual son of Jacob, mind you. No, God through Jacob didn’t necessarily bless Levi when they last spoke. Levi, along with Simeon, murdered the male residents of Shechem over the issue of their sister Dinah, Genesis 34:25, 26. Jacob recalled that heartless, barbaric act and cursed them for it in the final moments of his life. “Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place…for in their anger they slew a man…cursed be their anger, for it is fierce…I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel,” Genesis 49:5-7. Levi in life was apparently a fierce man. Though he was humbled enough to acknowledge his wrong and return to defend Benjamin from wrongful imprisonment Jacob’s benediction certainly entailed nothing flattering for him. Perhaps this is where, in embryo, God’s plan for the Levites truly began. Jacob told his son that he and Simeon would be “divided” and “scattered.” That was elegantly fulfilled when Levi was later chosen by God to serve as priests through the Aaronic priesthood and as Levites tending to the tabernacle. Levi couldn’t be more scattered than by not having any designated plot of land. Instead they had Levitical cities, and the cities of refuge. “The Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance,” Joshua 18:7.

Malachi Chapter Two, Rebuking The Priests

 

Malachi 2:3 “Behold, I will rebuke your descendants and spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your solemn feasts; and one will take you away with it. [4] Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD of hosts.

 

God already declared that He would send a curse upon the levitical priesthood due to their negligence in being God’s mediator between Him and Israel. Now Yahweh says, “behold,” which is a typical English word used in the King James translation when our attention ought to be arrested for what is about to come. Oxford defines “behold” as, “see or observe (a thing or person, especially a remarkable or impressive one).” God will rebuke the descendants of the priesthood, and spread refuse (offal) on their faces. We know from context that God still refers here to the sacrificial offerings, such as they are, being presented at the temple. What becomes of the refuse, or offal? ”But the bull’s hide and all its flesh, with its head and legs, its entrails and offal—the whole bull he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire,” Leviticus 4:11, 12.

Malachi Chapter Two, Truth's Erasure

 

Afterward, after giving Israel what they wanted, God chose a man whose fervor for serving God would exceed Saul’s. Saul’s outward strength belied an inward frailty. “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature…for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart,” 1 Samuel 16:7. Saul, placed in a position of leadership, led Israel astray by not wholly following the Lord, doing what is right in God’s eyes. Like the priests of Malachi’s time, he was less willing to give glory to God, and more willing to succumb to the pressures of those around him, 1 Samuel 15:24, John 12:43.

Malachi Chapter Two, Corrupted Leadership

 

Malachi 2:1 “And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. [2] If you will not hear, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to My name,” says the LORD of hosts, “I will send a curse upon your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart.

 

The commandment in question that God is calling the priests to task on is the translated from the Hebrew, “mitsvah.” A precept, law or ordinance, the word is associated with the Torah, or book of the Law. To get a more intimate view of the nature of the term, we learn about presumptuous sin, and what it means in the eyes of the Law. “But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment (mitzvah), that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him,” Numbers 15:30, 31. I cite this passage because of how readily it harmonizes with the issues Malachi is currently addressing. There is a definite cause-and-effect relationship happening in Jerusalem. However, Malachi (led by the Holy Spirit) opted to diagnose and condemn the effect before addressing the cause: the priests. Chapter one describes the pitiful state of worship Israel demonstrated at the time.

Sound Doctrine

 

Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, Isaiah 28:9, 10.

 

Before delving into this interesting and revealing passage in Isaiah I would like to put forth one more quote from Peter. In 1 Peter it is said we find incipient apologetics. The verse that the term apologetics is derived from is, “But sanctify (set apart) the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense (answer, KJV; apologia in the Greek) to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear,” 1 Peter 3:15. Christians are called upon to respond to opponents and the curious with doctrinally orthodox answers. To the opponent we must be able to give a logical defense of the Christian faith. To the curious we must be able to accurately give the gospel of salvation. Both must be done with the love of God, and respect for our fellow man made in God’s similitude. Peter tells us to set God apart from the rest of our heart’s contents. He receives the primacy from men and women saved by His grace, and now as vessels of that grace fulfilling the role of God’s ambassadors to a fallen, hostile world. Ours is the ministry of reconciliation, to preach Christ to a lost world, a world so steeped in darkness, lolling drunkenly in the arms of the wicked one, that most people will not remotely acknowledge their lost position. “And who is sufficient for these things?” 2 Corinthians 2:16.

Malachi Chapter One, Tarnishing Worship

 

Paul wrote, “But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed,” Romans 9:6-8. Those of the promise, like believing Abraham trust in God, and their faith is counted to them as righteousness, Genesis 15:6. Like James had written extensively on, one’s actions define the thoughts and intents of the heart. Faith is a practical thing. The object of our faith, if real, will move us to behaviors, attitudes and mindsets otherwise or formerly alien to us. When such transformation is absent, there is reason to believe saving faith is likewise vacant, James 2:14-18. The Israelites of Malachi’s time are simply going through the motions, as we would call it today. Worse, though, what the body does the mind protests against. The attitude of the Jews dare to insult their King with blemished offerings, even torn, lame and sick ones, Malachi 1:13.

Malachi Chapter One, Covenant Breaking

 

Malachi 1:14 “But cursed be the deceiver who has in his flock a male, and takes a vow, but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—for I am a great King,” says the LORD of hosts, “And My name is to be feared among the nations.

 

Verse 14 begins with God pronouncing a curse upon the one who enters into covenant with Adonai. The word curse in various tenses is used 7 times in Malachi, with three different Hebrew definitions for, “curse or cursed.” However, the meaning differs in the context of the passage. Here, the word “curse” is “arar” (used two more times in Malachi 2:2 and again on 3:9) and is the same word God used to curse the serpent in the Garden and also the ground for Adam’s sake. The term seems to be used by God when someone who covenanted with Him reneges on their part. In this instance, the worshiper practices deception. Making a vow to the Lord, he withholds the best male of his flock and sacrifices what is blemished. This individual is doubly guilty since the Jews were told that anyone who makes a vow is obligated to perform that vow. “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you,” Deuteronomy 23:21. The curse comes on the heels of disobedience; it is an imprecation for defying God’s will and challenging His authority as one’s Lord. “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey my voice,’” Jeremiah 11:3, 4. The same usage applies here upon Israel as a whole, being covenant breakers. They vowed, or pledged, and did not perform, and this conditional covenant was ratified upon the contingency of their national (and individual) obedience to Yahweh.

Malachi Chapter One, Growing Bored With God

 

Not that Oxford had it entirely wrong. We read in Leviticus, “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy,” Leviticus 11:44. Leviticus has much to say about holiness. Holy is used 90 out of 611 times in the entire Bible, or about 15% of instances the term is used. Leviticus is a book that examines the nature of holiness as God teaches Israel (and through them, us) what it means to worship a holy God. Holiness, and the God who is holy, implies separation. Our God is separate from sinners, and dwells in a light that sin cannot enter, Hebrews 7:26. Holiness involves separation, or in the verses cited, consecration. When an object was devoted to God in the tabernacle it was exclusively for priestly use. If anyone used something that was made holy in the tabernacle it was profaned, i.e. made commonplace through conventional and not consecrated use. The result was death for the offender, see Exodus 30:37, 38, Leviticus 10:1-3. God demands separation; holiness, from a human perspective, is the practice of separating oneself from what the world practices. The Spirit who resides in us and yearns jealously is the Holy Spirit, He is the Spirit who imparts upon us a righteousness that makes us separate, adopting us into God’s household and marking us for His own, like the tools in the tabernacle. This is what God was teaching Israel in Leviticus. Mundane usage of devoted objects profanes them; they are meant to be used with a mind to God and His service. The mechanical repetition of service can dull the mind to what the actions were initially intended for. Soon the action, of itself, is seen as banal. Rather than its performance enlivening us and separating us unto God, we separate the action from God and destroy its purpose.

Malachi Chapter One, Defiling The Lord's Altar

 

Malachi 1:12 “But you profane it, in that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is defiled; and its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’ [13] You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,” says the LORD of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?” says the LORD.

 

Tracing this line of thought backward we must reiterate what brought the prophet to this juncture. Verse 8 finds God complaining that Israel offers the lame or debilitated and the sick. Human governors would not find such an offering satisfactory for payment. Verses 9 and 10 engage Israel’s hypocrisy. While offering such meager platitudes, they expect that somehow God will be pleased. They entreat, or beg, or perhaps more likely, pray. It’s like a little child giving his parent some token to “please” them, but his only intention is to use that token as leverage to get something from them. Rather, God searches for someone to stand in the gap and close the temple doors so no more offerings are made. After an allusion to the Davidic kingdom under Messiah’s reign and the Gentile incorporation therein, we reach verse 12.