Mal 2:13-16 | KingComments | STEP | Then there is another thing Malachi notices among the people and these are their tears. Look at them crying and moaning. The tears flow. The altar of the LORD is covered with them. That seems very pious. It seems as if there is a work of God’s Spirit going on in them. After all, tears are a proof of sorrow. That is right, but the question is about the nature of their sorrow. Tears that God loves are tears of repentance for the sins committed. But there are no such tears here. They are crocodile tears, fake tears, tears of hypocritical sorrow and played repentance. It is not sorrow that is according to the will of God for that “produces a repentance without regret, [leading] to salvation” ( ). They cry because they do not feel accepted and blessed by God instead of crying for their sins (cf. ). Instead of repentance, it is a protest against the difficulties they are experiencing. Earlier the sacrifices were refused because the sacrifice was not good, here the offering is refused for their own practice from which they do not want to convert. God does not look at a sacrifice made by people who continue their life in sin. He does not accept it, because it is not pleasing to Him.

‏ Malachi 2:13-16

Crocodile Tears

Then there is another thing Malachi notices among the people and these are their tears. Look at them crying and moaning. The tears flow. The altar of the LORD is covered with them. That seems very pious. It seems as if there is a work of God’s Spirit going on in them. After all, tears are a proof of sorrow. That is right, but the question is about the nature of their sorrow. Tears that God loves are tears of repentance for the sins committed. But there are no such tears here. They are crocodile tears, fake tears, tears of hypocritical sorrow and played repentance. It is not sorrow that is according to the will of God for that “produces a repentance without regret, [leading] to salvation” (2Cor 7:10).

They cry because they do not feel accepted and blessed by God instead of crying for their sins (cf. Hos 7:14). Instead of repentance, it is a protest against the difficulties they are experiencing. Earlier the sacrifices were refused because the sacrifice was not good, here the offering is refused for their own practice from which they do not want to convert. God does not look at a sacrifice made by people who continue their life in sin. He does not accept it, because it is not pleasing to Him.

God Is Witness to Every Marriage

The people ask about the “reason” of the rejection of their offering. The answer that follows is an unparalleled powerful protest against the evil of divorce. Divorce is a sin that powerfully calls to God. Even then, they dare ask why God does not accept their offering. As they embrace strange women, they send their own wives away. So deep can a people sink that turns away from God and His Word!

God is Witness to every marriage, not only at the wedding, but also afterwards (Gen 31:49-50). Wherever a marriage bond between a man and a woman is formed, it is God Who does so, for He has instituted marriage. That is independent of whether the man and the woman involve God in their marriage. It is about the institution as such. God wants it to be maintained. Then He wants to see that both husband and wife act in faithfulness to that bond. Unfaithfulness in marriage is the greatest unfaithfulness a person can show. He who is unfaithful in marriage cannot be trusted in any other area.

God addresses the husband here in a serious way on his unfaithfulness. God was there when the husband married the wife of his youth. Now He has to conclude that the husband acts unfaithfully against her. He tells the husband that the wife he married is his “companion” after all! From the day he married her, he shares everything with her until the day of his death: joy and sorrow, hopes and fears, desires and dangers, money and goods, body and soul (1Cor 7:3-4; Mt 19:4-6).

She is also “your wife by covenant”. Marriage is a covenant (Pro 2:17; Eze 16:8). Spouses promise each other faithfulness, in good times and in bad. How awful it is when a husband becomes unfaithful, when he breaks his promise of faithfulness. Of course it also applies to the wife, but here the husband is addressed. He is primarily responsible for the faithfulness in his marriage.

He Only Made One

The NASB gives as an alternative reading of the first part of this verse: “Did He not make one, although He had the remnant?” This will be the basis for the explanation.

God has laid down His blueprint for marriage in Genesis 1-2. He did make one, which means that husband and wife are one. He “created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Gen 1:27; Mt 19:4-6). He made one human couple that He bound together in the bond of marriage. Husband and wife are one man together. Adam gets Eve as the one woman who fits him. With her he forms a unity, with her he is “one flesh” (Gen 2:24).

God still had “the remnant of the Spirit” left, which in this context perhaps means that He could have made more wives for Adam. He did not do that. He gave Adam only one wife, Eve, and with that gave the pattern for every marriage. Why did He do that? Because only within the sacred bond of marriage can He find a “godly offspring” according to His desire. This means that it is God’s intention that children are born and raised in the atmosphere of love and faithfulness that exists between a husband and a wife in marriage.

God breathed into the nostrils of man the breath of life (Gen 2:7). This enables him to judge things as God does. But through sin he is darkened in his mind and cannot take heed of his spirit. He is led by the ruler of the world, the devil, and therefore acts against everything God has instituted, especially against marriage.

Also those who have new life, life through rebirth, have to watch out for the thinking of the world. He must be wary with his spirit not to get carried away in the world’s ungodly thinking about marriage and divorce. Let no one who is married act unfaithfully against the woman he is married to: “Marriage [is to be held] in honor among all, and the [marriage] bed [is to be] undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Heb 13:4).

Anyone who understands God’s thoughts will remain faithful to his wife. He will not marry a strange woman to conceive children who would be for God. We see in Nehemiah 13 the result of mixed marriages: “In those days I also saw that the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon [and] Moab. As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people” (Neh 13:23-24). This is what should be expected from mixed marriages. No “godly offspring” was conceived here, there are no children here who seek God.

Here we also see how marriage, marital faithfulness, and children belong together. God instituted marriage in order for children to be born. Using Genesis 1-2 we can say that sexuality has two characteristics. God wants to use it for procreation, having children. God also gives sexuality to enjoy each other, to experience the joy of recognizing the other as someone who suits you. In case of unfaithfulness to the wife of the youth, both goals are destroyed.

God Hates Divorce

This verse begins with the word “for”. This indicates that what follows is directly related to the foregoing. There Malachi has shown God’s plan with marriage and how important it is not to act unfaithfully in it. This unfaithful act finds its culmination, or better low point, in divorce. To God divorce is not just a wrong choice, it is a destruction of His work, a violent act He abhors.

Covering his garment refers to the old custom where a man throws his garment over a woman to take and protect her as wife (Rth 3:9; Eze 16:8). However, those who divorce their wives do not use their garment that way. They do not protect their wives, but they cover up the violence they use against their wives. Those who seek divorce are often hardened in their natural feelings. The violence can sometimes be physical, but most of all it can be spiritual through the use of harsh words that are “like the thrusts of a sword” (Pro 12:18).

Anyone who does not stay close to the Lord runs the risk of becoming unfaithful to his own wife. He who alienates from the Lord also alienates from his surroundings, most of his housemates and most of all of his wife. In this alienation the urge to view pornographic sites on the internet can no longer be resisted. Someone is becoming more and more alienated. Contacts are made through social media. Meetings are arranged. Finally, there is no turning back and the divorce is initiated.

God hates divorce because it destroys His purpose with marriage. His purpose with marriage, in addition to the aspects mentioned above, is above all that in every marriage the unity between Christ and the church is made visible (Eph 5:31-32). This is what God has in mind when He creates man and woman and establishes marriage as the legitimate sphere in which sexuality may be fully enjoyed. That is why Ephesians 5 refers to the institution of marriage in Genesis 2 (Eph 5:31; Gen 2:24).

The Lord Jesus is clear in His teaching about divorce (Mt 19:3-9; 1Cor 7:10). Divorce is a particularly bad thing. Whoever thinks he can get rid of that inseparable bond and therefore also thinks he is free to enter into that inseparable bond with someone else, is very mistaken. He commits adultery by entering into a new marriage. The same goes for someone who marries the divorced woman, because this woman is still inextricably connected to her husband. That is so, as long as he lives (Rom 7:2-3).

The exception “except for immorality” or “not for fornication” (Mt 19:9) concerns the case of someone who is betrothed. We have an example of this with Joseph and Mary. While they are betrothed, Joseph plans to send Mary away secretly when he notices that she is pregnant (Mt 1:18-19). When someone is betrothed, there is a fixed connection, but the official marriage has not yet taken place. In the case of Joseph and Mary in their betrothed status, the sending away would have been allowed. God does not blame Joseph for that consideration either, but let him know what is really going on. Then he does not send her away.