Malachi 2

And now, O ye priests, this commandment is to you.

² If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts: I will send poverty upon you, and will curse your blessings, yea I will curse them, because you have not laid it to heart.

³ Behold, I will cast the shoulder to you, and I will scatter upon your face the dung of your solemnities, and it shall take you away with it.

⁴ And you shall know that I sent you this commandment, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁵ My covenant was with him of life and peace: and I gave him fear: and he feared me, and he was afraid before my name.

⁶ The law of truth was in his^a mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace, and in equity, and turned many away from iniquity.

^a Jesus

⁷ For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.

^“8 But you have departed out of the way, and have caused many to stumble at the law: you have made void the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁹ Therefore have I also made you contemptible, and base before all people, as you have not kept my ways, and have accepted persons in the law.

¹⁰ Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why then doth every one of us despise his brother, violating the covenant of our fathers?

¹¹ Juda^b hath transgressed, and abomination hath been committed in Israel, and in Jerusalem^c: for Juda hath profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange God^d.

b unfaithful Christians. c in the church. d by being yoked with unbelievers.

¹² The Lord will cut off the man that hath done this, both the master, and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering to the Lord of hosts.

¹³ And this again have you done, you have covered the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and bellowing, so that I have no more a regard to sacrifice, neither do I accept any atonement at your hands.

¹⁴ And you have said: For what cause? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee, and the wife of thy youth, whom thou hast despised: yet she was thy partner, and the wife of thy covenant.

¹⁵ Did not one make her, and she is the residue of his spirit? And what doth one seek, but the seed of God? Keep then your spirit, and despise not the wife of thy youth^e.

e the teachings of Christ.

¹⁶ When thou shalt hate her put her away, saith the Lord the God of Israel: but iniquity shall cover his garment, saith the Lord of hosts, keep your spirit, and despise not.

¹⁷ You have wearied the Lord with your words, and you said: Wherein have we wearied him? In that you say: Every one that doth evil, is good in the sight of the Lord, and such please him: or surely where is the God of judgment?

2:1-3 LIT: God warns the priests if they will not heed his warning then He will curse them. ALL: God will punish all priests who do not offer the sacrifice of Christ with a worthy heart. MOR: Priest should heed these words and be careful not to treat the sacrifice of Christ with irreverence. ANA: In the new heavens and the new earth, no longer will there be priests who offer sacrifice with an unworthy heart but all of God’s people will burn with love for God and will be living sacrifices for Him.

2:4-7 LIT: It is noted that Levi, from whom the priests descended, was not an unworthy priest but fear the LORD. He lived a righteous life and obeyed His laws. He was an example for all priests who are to keep knowledge and seek God’s law. ALL: Could this refer to anyone other than the Lord Jesus Himself? Was not Jesus the priest with whom the covenant of life and peace was made, since He is the source of all life and peace? Was it not Jesus who always feared His Father and who turned many sinners away from iniquity? Was it not Jesus who kept knowledge, sought God’s law and was God’s angel, or messenger, as He delivered the good news? Surely these things refer mystically to Christ.

2:8 LIT: The priests in the days of Malachi were disobedient to God’s laws thus voiding the priestly covenant made with their ancestor Levi. ALL: Since the priests were not able to keep covenant with God, it was fitting that a priest would come who would keep God’s covenant. Christ is such a priest who kept all of the laws of God; thus the covenant made with Christ (Gen. 17:7, Gal. 3:15-18) is better than the covenant made with Levi. ANA: A day is coming when all of God’s people will never break covenant with Him again (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

2:9 LIT: As a result of their sins, God made the priests contemptible in the eyes of the people. ALL: Whereas the priests who broke God’s laws were brought low in the eyes of the people, Christ kept God’s laws and was elevated in the eyes of His people in addition to being given authority over all things in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). ANA: All of God’s saints will be exalted in heaven and vindicated before the eyes of their enemies.

2:10-12 LIT: The prophet Malachi rebukes the people for not loving their neighbors and for engaging in spiritual adultery, or idolatry. Such a person, he says, will be cut off from fellowship with God. ALL: The people of Israel in the days of Malachi were guilty of despising their neighbors and idolatry, but the true Israel, Jesus, loved God and His neighbor perfectly. MOR: By these things we are taught to love God with our whole heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39), if we do not then we will be cut off from fellowship with God. ANA: God’s people will love God and neighbor perfectly in the new heavens and the new earth.

2:13-15 LIT: The Lord declared He would not accept the sacrifices of those who have divorced the wives of their youth, and presumably have married again. ALL: Jesus was, is and will always be perfectly faithful to His bride, the church and His sacrifice is accepted by God as a result of His righteousness. MOR: If we desire for God to accept our bodies as a living sacrifice, we must remain faithful to our spouse, the Lord Jesus Christ. ANA: The marriage between Jesus and the Church will be eternal and the two will always be faithful to each other in heaven.

2:16-17 LIT: It seems some were calling that which was evil good in the eyes of God since the prophet rebuked such a view. ALL: The Lord incarnate never considered that which was evil as good but considered those things which were evil as evil and those things which were good as good.