Malachi 1

The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachias.

² I have loved you, saith the Lord: and you have said: Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau brother to Jacob, saith the Lord, and I have loved Jacob^a,

a the church.

³ But have hated Esau^b? and I have made his mountains a wilderness, and given his inheritance to the dragons of the desert.

b the reprobate.

⁴ But if Edom shall say: We are destroyed, but we will return and build up what hath been destroyed: thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall build up, and I will throw down: and they shall be called the borders of wickedness, and the people with whom the Lord is angry for ever.

⁵ And your eyes shall see, and you shall say: The Lord be magnified upon the border of Israel.

⁶ The son honoureth the father, and the servant his master: if then I be a father, where is my honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts.

⁷ To you, O priests, that despise my name, and have said: Wherein have we despised thy name? You offer polluted bread upon my altar, and you say: Wherein have we polluted thee? In that you say: The table of the Lord is contemptible.

⁸ If you offer the blind for sacrifice^c, is it not evil? and if you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? offer it to thy prince, if he will be pleased with it, or if he will regard thy face, saith the Lord of hosts.

c sacrifices offered while in sin.

⁹ And now beseech ye the face of God, that he may have mercy on you, (for by your hand hath this been done,) if by any means he will receive your faces, saith the Lord of hosts.

¹⁰ Who is there among you, that will shut the doors, and will kindle the fire on my altar gratis? I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will not receive a gift of your hand.

¹¹ For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice^d, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.

d the Eucharist.

¹² And you have profaned it in that you say: The table of the Lord is defiled: and that which is laid thereupon is contemptible with the fire that devoureth it.

¹³ And you have said: Behold of our labour, and you puffed it away, saith the Lord of hosts, and you brought in of rapine the lame, and the sick^e, and brought in an offering: shall I accept it at your hands, saith the Lord?

e sacrifices offered while in sin.

¹⁴ Cursed is the deceitful man that hath in his flock a male^f, and making a vow offereth in sacrifice that which is feeble to the Lord: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the Gentiles.

f the ability to offer a pure sacrifice.

1:1-5 LIT: Through the prophet Malachi, God declared his love for the people of Israel (Jacob) and disfavor for Edom (Esau). God proves His special disposition for Israel by noting that Edom lies in ruins. God also declares that if Edom tries to rebuild then He will tear down the work of their hands since He will be angry with them forever. As a result of God’s just judgment of Edom and special treatment of Israel, God’s name will be magnified as it is evident His hand is upon the people of Israel. ALL: Israel is a type of the Church and Edom is a type of unbelievers. God will always be merciful to the Church as He continued to show favor to Israel, but God’s judgment is coming for those who choose to reject His love. As God was glorified by demonstrating His special love towards Israel, God is glorified when He shows His special love for the Church, which has survived for nearly two thousand years undoubtedly because of God’s love for her. ANA: God’s love towards the Church will be most clearly seen in the new heavens and the new earth.

1:6 LIT: God notes that sons and servants honor their fathers and masters, and though God is a father and master to Israel, they do not honor Him. ALL: Jesus is the true Israel and son of God who never failed to honor His Father (John 8:49). MOR: Since we are united to Christ in our baptism and incorporated into His mystical body, we must always honor our Father as the Son honors the Father. ANA: In the new heavens and the new earth, no longer will there be sons of God who dishonor the Father, but all His children will honor Him perfectly.

1:7-8 LIT: God eacuses the rebukes the priests for despising His name by offering polluted sacrifices on His altar and then notes if their own governors would not be pleased with such offerings then why do they suppose God be pleased with them. ALL: Unlike the priests in the days of Malachi, Christ is a perfect Priest who offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to His Father. MOR: These things were written to warn priests in the New Covenant from offering the Sacrifice of Christ in a polluted manner. This is not to say that the sacrifice of Christ can be polluted, but the priest’s hearts can be polluted as they offer the sacrifice of Christ to God the Father and though the sacrifice will still be acceptable to God the Father, the heart of the priest will be despised and the sacrifice of Christ will be of no avail to Him. As some priests in the days of Malachi question God as to how they offered Him polluted sacrifices, some priests today might ask the same question and the answer for them is by offering the sacrifice of Christ without reverence, disrespecting the host by treating it as if it were common bread, changing the words of the mass, and by knowingly giving communion to those who publicly deny the faith. Since the sacrifice of Christ is infinitely better than the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, how much more are such priests guilty of despising God’s name? This also has application to the laity when they halfheartedly offer their bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord either during the mass or in their daily lives.

1:9 LIT: The prophet Malachi exhorts the priests to earnestly seek forgiveness from God for offering polluted sacrifices. ALL: Christ is the perfect priest who sincerely asks God to forgive those who transgress against Him (Luke 23:24). MOR: Priests and laity who offer sacrifices to God in an unworthy manner are exhorted by the prophet to seek forgiveness.

1:10 LIT: God informs the priests He would rather there be no sacrifices at all than to be offered polluted sacrifices. ALL: Though God wished for one to close the door to the temple in the days of Malachi, Christ’s sacrifice tore the curtain in the temple from top to bottom (Mark 15:38) and opened the temple to all.

1:11 LIT: God promises that in spite of the polluted sacrifices of the priests, He will have a pure sacrifice that will be offered among the gentiles. ALL: Christ’s sacrifice is the pure sacrifice that is offered among the gentiles.¹ MOR: This verse encourages us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord in a worthy manner in order that God’s name will be glorified among the nations.

1:12-14 LIT: Some went so far as to call the sacrifices on God’s altar “defiled” and “contemptible”. Such people were cursed, especially if they had unpolluted sacrifices to offer and chose to offer polluted sacrifices instead. ALL: The Lord Jesus did not withhold from the Father a worthy and acceptable sacrifice, but gave Himself entirely to His Father as a perfect sacrifice. MOR: Even today some of God’s people, namely certain Protestants, insult God’s sacrifice by calling the Mass an “abomination”. We must be zealous to always show reverence to the sacrifice of Christ in the mass. These verses also instruct us to always present our bodies as a living sacrifice to the best of our abilities, not withholding our best sacrifice from Him and giving Him a polluted sacrifice instead.