Mal 2:2-3 | KingComments | STEP | In Malachi 1, the indifference and hypocrisy of the priests and the people are presented to them. It is more about religious life. In Malachi 2 it is about the lack of understanding of God’s thoughts, which is evident in social life. We find three covenants here: 1. the covenant with Levi ( ), 2. the covenant with the people ( ) and 3. the marriage covenant ( ). The priests, people who should know God’s will par excellence and who should teach the people, are addressed directly ( ). A commandment comes to them. What the commandment means is written in . The priests are not left in the uncertainty of the consequences if they persist in their unfaithfulness ( ). They must not only listen, but also take it to heart. Then they will have a contrite heart, confess their sins and really give honor to God’s Name. If they do not do so, He, “the LORD of hosts”, sends the curse among them (cf. ). He will take all their blessings away from them and turn them into a curse. The land will no longer yield food, but weeds. The peaceful society will become a torment by mutual irritation and intolerance. Family life will be disrupted. Instead of love there will be hatred and suspicion. It is not only a prediction, but God has already brought it among them because they are not focused on Him with their hearts. And it will all get much worse if they don’t listen to His call. The word “offspring” ( ) is literally “seed” and refers both to children and to the sown, which must grow on the land as a blessing and of which again tenths can be given. God will rebuke that. They will not experience any joy in what comes after them, not in children and not in harvest. He will make them feel His displeasure in the clearest way possible. God expresses His contempt for them here in powerful language. He will treat them as they treat Him. He will spread refuse on their faces, the refuse of their feasts. The sacrifices they bring at those feasts are an abomination to Him. He sees these sacrifices in their entirety as refuse. Those sacrifices are not a soothing aroma for Him, but they stink, they cause disgust in Him. They may think they are celebrating the feasts of the LORD, but He speaks here of “your feasts”. Under the cover of a feast for the LORD they have made their own feasts. Thus later the Passover of the LORD degenerates into a Passover called “the feast of the Jews” ( ). God will smear them with the refuse of their feasts. Except that it makes them stink, they will also look repulsive. This extremely deep defamation they have inflicted on themselves will stick to them when they will be taken away to a dung heap, so that there will be nothing left of them in the temple (cf. ). This is how God cleans His house of the refuse.

‏ Malachi 2:2-3

Introduction

In Malachi 1, the indifference and hypocrisy of the priests and the people are presented to them. It is more about religious life. In Malachi 2 it is about the lack of understanding of God’s thoughts, which is evident in social life.

We find three covenants here:

1. the covenant with Levi (Mal 2:1-9),

2. the covenant with the people (Mal 2:10-12) and

3. the marriage covenant (Mal 2:13-16).

The Commandment to the Priests

The priests, people who should know God’s will par excellence and who should teach the people, are addressed directly (Mal 2:1). A commandment comes to them. What the commandment means is written in Mal 2:2-3.

The priests are not left in the uncertainty of the consequences if they persist in their unfaithfulness (Mal 2:2). They must not only listen, but also take it to heart. Then they will have a contrite heart, confess their sins and really give honor to God’s Name. If they do not do so, He, “the LORD of hosts”, sends the curse among them (cf. Deu 28:20).

He will take all their blessings away from them and turn them into a curse. The land will no longer yield food, but weeds. The peaceful society will become a torment by mutual irritation and intolerance. Family life will be disrupted. Instead of love there will be hatred and suspicion. It is not only a prediction, but God has already brought it among them because they are not focused on Him with their hearts. And it will all get much worse if they don’t listen to His call.

The word “offspring” (Mal 2:3) is literally “seed” and refers both to children and to the sown, which must grow on the land as a blessing and of which again tenths can be given. God will rebuke that. They will not experience any joy in what comes after them, not in children and not in harvest.

He will make them feel His displeasure in the clearest way possible. God expresses His contempt for them here in powerful language. He will treat them as they treat Him. He will spread refuse on their faces, the refuse of their feasts. The sacrifices they bring at those feasts are an abomination to Him. He sees these sacrifices in their entirety as refuse. Those sacrifices are not a soothing aroma for Him, but they stink, they cause disgust in Him.

They may think they are celebrating the feasts of the LORD, but He speaks here of “your feasts”. Under the cover of a feast for the LORD they have made their own feasts. Thus later the Passover of the LORD degenerates into a Passover called “the feast of the Jews” (Jn 6:4).

God will smear them with the refuse of their feasts. Except that it makes them stink, they will also look repulsive. This extremely deep defamation they have inflicted on themselves will stick to them when they will be taken away to a dung heap, so that there will be nothing left of them in the temple (cf. 1Kgs 14:10). This is how God cleans His house of the refuse.