Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Malachi 2

Corruption of the Priesthood (continued)

1-3 Warning to priests: If you do not glorify My name, I will curse you, rebuke your offspring, and “spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and I will put you out of my presence.”

4-9 My covenant with Levi was of life and well-being; he walked with integrity, and turned many from sin, was a messenger of the LORD of hosts. But you have rejected the right way and caused others to stumble. I will make you despised and abased before all the people.

The Covenant Profaned by Judah

10-12 We serve one God; why are we faithless to each other? Judah has profaned the Lord’s sanctuary and married the daughter of a foreign god.

13-17 You weep at the altar, wondering why God doesn’t accept your offering. It’s because you have rejected the wife of your youth, your wife by covenant. I hate divorce and covering one’s garment with violence. I looked up this phrase at Search God’s Word, and found translations that reverse the order: “covering violence with one’s garment,” which they interpreted as meaning they were hypocritical, pretending to love their wives, as they simultaneously abused them. Then Gill cites a Hebrew scholar, who interprets “covering one’s garment with violence” this way:

…by "garment" he thinks may be meant a man's lawful wife, which is as a garment to him; and by "violence" a second wife, or other wives, taken to the injury, hurt, and vexation of the former;…

17 You weary God by saying "All who do evil are good in His sight" or by asking "Where is the God of justice?"


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