Malachi · chapter 2 of 4
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Malachi 2 continues the charge against the priests, who turned from the covenant with Levi and caused many to stumble by their teaching. The prophet then rebukes Judah for faithlessness: men who marry women who worship other gods and who abandon the wife of their youth. The chapter ends by saying that the people have wearied the Lord with their words by asking where the God of justice is.
After accusing the priests of blemished offerings in chapter 1, Malachi goes deeper into their responsibility as teachers of the people. He then widens his view to the life of the community, where faithfulness to God shows itself in faithfulness in marriage. The problems he describes are the same ones Ezra and Nehemiah faced.
The Lord gives a command to the priests: if they do not listen and resolve to honor his name, he will send a curse on them and on their blessings. God recalls his covenant with Levi, a covenant of life and peace that Levi honored with reverent fear. In his day true instruction was in his mouth, he walked with God in uprightness and turned many from sin. But the priests of today have turned from the way, caused many to stumble by their teaching and corrupted the covenant, so the Lord will make them despised before all the people (vv. 1-9).
The prophet then addresses the whole people: do we not all have one Father, one God who created us? Why are we faithless to one another? Judah has profaned the Lord's sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. The Lord will cut off from the tents of Jacob anyone who does this. The people also cover the altar with tears, but God no longer accepts their offerings. They ask why, and the Lord answers that he has been witness between them and the wife of their youth, whom they betrayed though she was their companion and their wife by covenant. God says he hates divorce and violence and calls them to guard their spirit and not be faithless (vv. 10-16).
The chapter closes with a different charge: they have wearied the Lord with their words. They ask how, and he answers: when they say that everyone who does evil is good in the Lord's sight, or ask where the God of justice is (v. 17).
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The priest's lips were to guard knowledge, and people were to seek instruction from his mouth because he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. This verse shows that faithful teaching is a grave responsibility for anyone who guides others.
The prophet asks whether we do not all have one Father and one God who created us. That is why betrayal among members of the covenant is a sin against the family God formed and against the covenant of the fathers.
The Lord was witness between a man and the wife of his youth, and she is his companion and his wife by covenant. God takes marriage seriously as a covenant, not merely a contract.
They have wearied the Lord with their words, claiming that God delights in evildoers or asking where the God of justice is. The verse prepares for the next chapter, where the Lord answers by sending his messenger.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: His covenant with Levi, a covenant of life and peace. — Malachi 2:4-5
Answer: Knowledge, so that people would seek the law from his mouth. — Malachi 2:7
Answer: They turned from the way and caused many to stumble by their teaching. — Malachi 2:8
Answer: Whether they do not all have one Father and whether one God did not create them. — Malachi 2:10
Answer: The wife of their youth, their companion and their wife by covenant. — Malachi 2:14
Answer: With their words, by saying that whoever does evil pleases God and by asking where the God of justice is. — Malachi 2:17
Malachi 2 reminds those who teach in church, whether pastor, Sunday school teacher or small group leader, that they carry a serious responsibility. Careless teaching can make others stumble. A good question for a team of teachers is: do we teach what God says, or what is comfortable?
The chapter also speaks about faithfulness in marriage. God cares about those who suffer betrayal and sees the tears of the wounded. A group can pray for the marriages of the congregation and for those going through separation, without judging, but with truth and compassion.
Malachi 2 ends with a people who weary God by doubting his justice. The answer will not be long in coming: in chapter 3 the Lord announces that he will send his messenger and come himself to his temple.
The verse is difficult to translate, and versions render it in different ways. Some say that the Lord hates divorce; others, that the man who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence. In both cases the point is that God condemns betrayal and violence against the wife of the covenant. Other passages, such as Matthew 19, help us understand the whole subject.
Levi was one of Jacob's sons and the ancestor of the tribe of priests and Levites who served in the tabernacle and the temple. Malachi recalls his covenant as a model of faithful priesthood, to show how far the priests of his day had drifted.