November 27, 2024 | Be God's Light
Rebuke of the Priests & Unfaithful Marriages
Scripture: Malachi 2(NIV)
1 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. 2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. 4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. 5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. 8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. 9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
10 Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?
11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god. 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove him from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty.
13 Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty.
So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.
“How have we wearied him?” you ask.
By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”
Devotional
In Nehemiah 13 and Malachi 1 we saw that reforms were made related to the temple, Sabbath, intermarriage, and blemished offerings. Here in chapter 2 the prophet addressed reforms for ungodly priests and unfaithful marriages. Having a rebuilt temple and wall were externals. Here at the end of the Old Testament God is addressing the internals. Their wayward hearts were creating these unholy practices.
In Numbers 25:13, God made a Levitical Covenant, saying, “He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.” Throughout the Old Testament, some of the priests lived into this, honoring God. Others did not, leading the people to the worship of idols and false gods.
By the time of Malachi, many centuries later, there were still priests who did not honor God’s name. Here God reminded them, “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth” (Malachi 2:7). The New Testament echoes this, “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God” (1 Peter 4:11). Being a spiritual leader comes with heavy expectations.
The last half of today’s reading deals with marriage and divorce. The Lord says, “So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth…. The man who hates and divorces his wife… does violence to the one he should protect” (Malachi 2:16).
When I officiate at a wedding, I allow a lot of latitude for the couple to design their ceremony as they want. But I insist on doing the traditional vows. Living out these vows is showing faithfulness to the covenant of marriage. Here they are:
I take you
To be my wife (husband),
To have and to hold,
From this day forward,
For better, for worse,
For richer, for poorer,
In sickness and in health,
To love and to cherish,
Until we are parted by death.
This is my solemn vow.
And…
I give you this ring
As a sign of my vow,
And with all that I am,
And all that I have,
I honor you.
In the name of the Father,
And of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
The words are the vow. The ring is the sign of the vow. The life together is the proof of the vow. If you are married, are you displaying the proof of the vow?
Poem
Faithful, Faithful
Faithful, faithful
Faithful to the end
Wounded, weary
Always, you’re my friend
Trouble, trouble
Trouble all around
You will not forsake me
Even when I’m down
Weary, weary
Weary with this world
Satan’s darts are
Ever at me hurled
Justice, justice
Justice off its stand
No one, no one
None to lend a hand
Evil, evil
Evil all around
Thorns and weeds fill
Every piece of ground
Thankful, thankful
Always, you’re my friend
Faithful, faithful
Faithful to the end
