The Book of Malachi (4) Judah Profaning the Covenant 03/13/2022

Ephesians so let's turn there Ephesians 1.

And then he'll pray for us.

Ephesians chapter 1.

Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus.

By the will of God.

To the saints who are at Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual

blessing in the heavenly places even as he chose us in him before the

foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to

the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has

blessed us in the beloved in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our

trespasses according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us in all

wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will according to his

purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things

in him things in heaven and things on earth in him we have

obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things

according to the counsel of his will so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might

be to the praise of his glory in him.

Also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed in him

were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance

until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

For this reason because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the Saints I

do not cease to give thanks for you remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus

Christ the father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of

him having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has

called you what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the Saints.

And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great

might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand

in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above

every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come and he put all things

under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church which is his body the

fullness of him who fills all in all.

Let's pray our Heavenly Father.

We thank you for this tremendous passage and for its encouragement.

We think of the many spiritual blessings that we have in Christ Jesus.

We have our election our predestination as sons and daughters our redemption our

reconciliation the forgiveness of sin.

Lord you've given us the Holy Spirit as a seal as a guarantee of our salvation until we

acquire it.

And Lord we thank you for these wonderful truths.

And we confess Lord that we often forget these things and we live life apart from them.

But we ask Lord that we would be reminded of these things that every day we would focus and dwell

upon our great salvation that is found in Christ.

And Lord I pray that as we study this word now in the book of Malachi that you would open up our hearts to receive this

truth.

We pray Lord that you would do a great work in each one of our lives.

That we would be convicted that we would be encouraged that we would be edified that we would

learn something new about you something about your character something about your great work

and Lord we just ask that you would help us now as we continue our worship.

Thank you Lord in Jesus name.

Amen.

Well let's turn in our Bibles to the last book of the Old Testament

just a few pages from the beginning of Matthew and we will consider we'll continue to

consider Malachi chapter 2 or a portion of it.

Now this is the fourth Lord's day that we've are giving attention to this prophecy.

On our last occasion two weeks ago we considered God's

pronouncement that he would no longer regard the service of the Levitical priesthood due to their

sin.

God had said to them I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings.

Indeed I've already cursed them because you do not lay it to heart.

Behold I will rebuke your offspring spread dung on their faces the dung of your offerings

and you shall be taken away with it.

That you have turned aside from the way you've caused many to stumble by your instruction.

You've corrupted the covenant of Levi says the Lord of hosts and so I

make you despised and abased before all the people in as much as you do not keep my ways

but show partiality in your instruction.

And so God declared that he would no longer regard the temple

ministry of Israel.

Their rejection signified that God would form a new priesthood one which would

be quite different than the corrupt Jewish priesthood that he had condemned and canceled one which

would be true to the Lord and true to the people of God.

This of course is realized in the priesthood of all true believers under the new covenant that

Jesus Christ established with his people.

And so even as we had spoken last time of the corrupt and rejected Jewish

priesthood of the Old Testament we had also spoken of the lofty position that

God has conferred by his grace upon New Testament Christians

and that he has formed them into a royal priesthood.

True Christians are presently reigning priests before God who are to be

ministering before God on behalf of his people.

And so Christians true Christians we are priests ministering in the spiritual temple of the Lord's Church

the body of Christ which is the true temple of God.

Jesus Christ himself is the true temple and he is making us into a

spiritual temple because of our union with him.

Jesus said destroy this temple in three days I'll raise it up.

Jesus is the anti type.

The Old Testament temple was that was the type picturing foreshadowing the

coming of Jesus Christ.

Now we had also emphasized a corollary to the priesthood of true believers in Jesus Christ.

Every true Christian is a noble person with a high calling of God upon them.

Because of true believers union with Jesus Christ we have the highest regard for all Christians

everywhere or at least we should have.

That's what Paul expressed in Ephesians 1.

Pastor Jason just read Paul said when I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love

for all the saints.

In other words all Christians I cease not to pray for you.

And so we have a high regard or should have a high regard for all Christians everywhere.

And this was really the import of Paul's statement in 2nd Corinthians

5 16 and following.

When we read this we usually apply it to ourselves as individuals.

But Paul was actually talking about how he regarded other Christians.

This is how we are to regard one another there from now on regard.

We regard no one according to the flesh even though we've known Christ according to the flesh yet

now we know him thus longer.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ any of you that are in Christ he is a

new creation.

Old things have passed away and behold all things have become new.

In other words we are to have this high regard for true believers in Jesus

Christ.

We're to view one another as persons in Christ holy new persons having been created by God in

Christ.

And the priesthood of all believers is but one aspect of this noble status that

God has conferred upon us by his grace.

All true Christians have this status as before God having free and full access to

God into his presence which is a privilege of rank and status that we hold very highly.

You don't have to come through me to get to God as a true Christian you were a priest and can come into the presence of

God.

And so we repudiate the idea therefore of a special group of Christians that

believe that God has granted them an elevated status by God while he's left the rest of

us to be far beneath this priesthood in value and status.

We do not hold to the presence of a man -made priesthood that promotes itself to be a higher than the

average lowly Christian who is said to stand in need of this priest representation and intercession

before God.

We take to heart our Lord's words which reject this idea in practice when he said to his

disciples do not call anyone on earth father for one is your father

he who is in heaven.

There is an equality and high dignity of all true believers in Jesus Christ.

And so the Apostle Paul wrote.

For you are all sons of God or children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

For as many as you who are baptized into Christ to put on Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek

neither is their slave nor free neither male or female.

For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

There is an equality and a high role of dignity for each

and every true child of God.

And that's how we are to regard and treat one another by the way.

Now of course we have a responsibility to live according to this high calling of God that he has

conferred upon us.

And this responsibility is largely in the realm of our regard our concern and care for one

another as Christians Paul wrote.

I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.

How is that.

How is that realized with all lowliness and gentleness with long -suffering bearing with one

another in love endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

And so it's how we relate to one another that's so very important.

Now today we desire to consider the message of the next two paragraphs of Malachi 2.

I read several comments that these are perhaps the most difficult portions to

understand and interpret rightly in the prophecy of Malachi there before us

Malachi 2 10 through 16.

Have we not all one father.

Has not one God created us.

Why then are we are we faithless to one another profaning the covenant of our fathers.

Judah has been faithless and abomination has been committed in Israel in Jerusalem.

For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which he loves and has married the daughter of a foreign

God.

May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this who

brings an offering to the Lord of hosts.

And this second thing you do.

You cover the Lord's altar with tears with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering

or accept it with favor from your hand.

But you say why does he not.

Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth to whom you have been faithless

though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

Did he not make them one with a portion of the Spirit in their union.

And what was the one God seeking godly offspring.

So guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord the God of Israel

covers his garment with violence says the Lord of hosts.

So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.

In these two paragraphs the Prophet Malachi denounced Israel for having profaned its covenant

relationship with God.

In the previous paragraphs the focus of attention was on the Levites the tribal Levi and of course

the people of the priests who were a portion of the tribe of Levi Levi the sons of

Aaron they had transgressed God's law evidenced in their offering corrupt sacrifices on

behalf of the people in the temple.

And so whereas before he denounced the Levites and the priests.

But here in these two paragraphs verses 10 through 12 and verses 13 through 16

Malachi broadens his denunciation by addressing the people of Judah and Israel at large.

He's expanding the people that he's addressing their defection

and departure from the Lord.

Their breaking of their covenantal relationship with their God was evidenced in the husband's breaking

the covenant of marriage with their wives.

Their faulty religious devotion and practice was seen in their moral and ethical commitments within

society.

Wrong doctrine will always result in wrong behavior and will be evidenced by wrong behavior.

As one wrote when the spiritual and religious leaders of God's people do not comply with the

elevated demands of their calling a moral decline takes place generally manifesting

itself in among other things various malpractices concerning the marriage life of the people.

It is therefore not without significance that the prophets judgment mainly upon the priests and then he cites

back earlier passages is now directed to the people's malpractices in the realm

of marriage.

The point is this when people have a poor relationship with God they will commonly have a poor

relationship between themselves perhaps especially in their marriage

relationships.

Matthew Henry expressed it this way.

Corrupt practices are the genuine fruit and product of corrupt principles.

And the badness of men's hearts and lives is owing to some loose atheistical notions

which they have got and which they govern themselves by now in these verses we have

an instance of this.

We here find men dealing falsely with one another and it is because they think.

It is because they think falsely of their God.

They're related to one another.

Aren't they.

The spiritual life will impinge on one's earthly life.

Now it's important for us to understand the relationship of these two paragraphs with one another.

It has been said that whereas the first paragraph verses 10 through 12 set forth the nation as a spiritual

family the second paragraph verses 13 through 16

addresses individual family life within the nation and so the team that the theme

that ties these two paragraphs together is covenant loyalty will

address our passage by first examining the precise meaning of the verses and then we will make

application for us Christians under the new covenant in Jesus Christ.

So let's begin to consider the meaning of this passage again.

The first paragraph Israel as a spiritual family here again

is the first of two paragraphs.

Have we all not one father.

Has not God created us.

Why then are we faithless to one another.

Profaning the covenant of our fathers.

Judah has been faithless.

An abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem for Judah has profaned the

sanctuary of the Lord which he loves and has married the daughter of a foreign God.

May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this who brings an

offering to the Lord of hosts.

And all the people were bringing offerings to the Lord of hosts that they would offer through the priesthood.

Of course we read in verse 10 to initial rhetorical questions

followed by a question that logically follows.

Have we not all one father.

And of course the answer is presumed yes we do.

Has not one God created us.

Again there the rhetorical answer is yes.

That's true.

Now interesting the English Standard Version but also the New King James Version

has the word father beginning with the capital letter F.

You see that in your text have we not one father.

Clearly a reference to God.

These translators believe this is an affirmation that God is the father of Israel.

But some English translations do not have that capital F but rather they have a lowercase F

suggesting that father in verse 10 is not a reference to God but is speaking of one of Israel's

progenitors either Adam or Abraham or perhaps Jacob.

And I found it interesting to read that both the early church father Jerome who of

course translated from the Greek and Hebrew the Latin Vulgate and the later reformer John Calvin

understood that the early that that the the word father here was a to

Abraham not to God the father of the nation of Israel.

And I think the King James Version has a lowercase F and so I think the English translators of the

King James Version also did not view this as God the father but rather perhaps Adam

probably Abraham maybe even Jacob.

I don't know.

There are Old Testament references of course of Abraham as the father of Israel.

Isaiah 51 to look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you.

For I called him alone and blessed him and increased him.

And Malachi himself makes frequent reference to Jacob as the father of Israel.

Malachi 3 2 for I am the Lord.

I do not change.

Therefore you're not consumed.

Oh sons of Jacob.

There Jacob of course is set forth the father of Israel.

But we are of the opinion that capitalizing a father is right.

Malachi a setting forth God is the father of his people Israel.

And I second.

I think the second question validates that it's a reiteration.

Have you not one father.

God has he not created us.

I think he's saying the same thing in two different ways.

He is the father and he is the creator of Israel.

Actually the fatherhood of God of Israel and the creation by God of Israel are found together in other places in the

Old Testament Deuteronomy 32 6.

Do you thus deal with the Lord.

Oh foolish and unwise people.

Is he not your father.

Who bought you.

Has he not made.

In other words created you and established you their father creator together linked together.

But now Oh Lord you are our father.

We are the clay you are the Potter.

This is Isaiah 64 8.

There the idea that he is a creator and father together and all we are the work of your hand.

And so what is suggested by this statement that God is the father of Israel is that Israel as God's son was to

possess and to display the holy character of God its father.

But Malachi was denouncing them because they had failed to do so the son did not look like the

father at all.

And throughout Old Testament history Israel had shown itself to have been an unfaithful son

of God having failed and refused to be true to God who had fathered this people he

who had created this nation.

And of course we would regard Israel in one sense to be an Old Testament type

pointing to the New Testament anti type of Jesus Christ.

And so in the Old Testament where Israel is described as an unfaithful son in the New Testament

Jesus Christ is described as a faithful son.

In the Old Testament Israel is shown to be a corrupt vine.

Jesus himself declared that he was a true vine.

It goes back and forth in many different ways.

Israel was the type.

Jesus Christ was the anti type G.

Israel was the unfaithful son.

Jesus Christ is the faithful son.

Now after asserting that God was their father and creator Malachi makes an appeal to the people.

Again we read.

Have we not all one father.

Has not God created us.

And here it is why then are we faithless to one another.

Profaning the covenant of our fathers.

He's clearly setting forth a question that shows the

inconsistency and the irrationality of their behavior.

If God is your father if God is your creator why have you been treating one another in this

fashion.

And so knowing that God was their father should have impacted the manner that they treated one

another as brothers and sisters within this family.

Covenant relationship with God.

The covenant with our fathers is a reference to the Mosaic Covenant that God established with the nation of Mount

Sinai.

We had read earlier in this chapter that the priests and Levites had broken the Mosaic Covenant by their corrupt

sacrificial ministry in the temple.

And here we read that the people of Israel at large had broken this covenant through their having been faithless to

one another.

John Gill wrote that they had broken their covenant with God by perverting justice

having respect to persons favoring one to the prejudice of another as it follows by provaining

the covenant of your fathers the covenant made with them at Sinai.

Throughout all the Bible the relationship with God should influence impact our relationship with one

another as the people of God.

The Mosaic Law of course spoke directly to the manner that they were to regard and treat one another while spelling out

precisely how they were not to regard and treat one another.

Leviticus 1915 reads.

You you shall do no injustice in judgment.

You should not be partial to the poor.

A lot of people today think that our justice system should be partial to the poor that's in violation of the

law of God.

The Bible says there's a standard of righteousness is law and it's to be applied the same regardless

of who the person is whether rich or poor that's turned on its head these days.

Similar Deuteronomy 1619 says.

You shall not pervert justice.

You shall not show partiality nor take a bribe for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and

twists the words of the righteous.

The law of God was to be the objective standard by which all legal decisions were to be rendered and personal

relations govern.

They were not to favor anyone rich or poor.

God's law was to be judiciously applied to all people in all situations.

And that's how God deals with his world.

That's how he would have people in this world govern themselves according to a righteous standard

that the Creator is established and has revealed in his Word.

Now in verse 11 the specific transgressions of the people are identified.

First Malachi makes declares the general guilt of all Israel.

Judah has been faithless and abomination has been committed in Israel in Jerusalem

and notice the two terms both Judah and Israel.

We read this also in Malachi 1 but it deserves reiteration.

Earlier in history Judah was identified as the southern kingdom of Judah

comprised of two tribes the capital being Jerusalem.

Israel of course was the name of the northern kingdom of ten northern tribes with its capital in the city of

Samaria.

They were two separate nations due to the Civil War after King Solomon had died the

northern kingdom of Israel was defeated by the Assyrian Sennacherib which occurred in

721 BC.

The ten tribes scattered to the nations.

The southern kingdom of Judah was destroyed and its inhabitants exiled to Babylon in 587 BC.

But here Malachi refers to both Judah and Israel together indicating that a

remnant of all 12 tribes were now living in Palestine.

God had caused a remnant of all the tribes of Israel to be regathered

returned to their land.

Nevertheless although God had been merciful and gracious to all of Israel all Israel

had broken the Mosaic Covenant during these post -exilic times and

I didn't put it in here but basically he's accusing them of idolatry the same sin that had caused their

initial exile.

They're now committing once again after the exile after God had restored them to the

land they were guilty again of incurring the wrath of God.

Judah had been faithless.

The people of God had not lived in faith in God ordering their lives according to his Word.

They were self -willed and independent minded rather than humble submissive and compliant to God's laws.

And further they had committed abomination in Israel.

In Jerusalem abomination refers to idolatrous religious practices.

They were corrupt in the temple worship.

And then Malachi next specifically identified their sins.

For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which he God loves.

And he's married the daughter of a foreign God and this is the issue

under the Old Covenant.

Israel was to keep itself pure with regard to their ethnicity.

Only ethnic Jewish people were to have part in place in the Covenant.

Yes there were some Gentiles that lived among them but they were to have renounced their foreign identity and

become proselyte to the Jews religion.

They became Jews in actuality and were treated as such.

And so they became identified as Jews through their conversion and assimilation into the people of Israel.

But here Malachi condemns Israel for having married women who continued to worship

foreign gods and in this way the populace had become corrupted when they came

before the Lord.

Their worship had become corrupted through the influence of these foreign pagan wives

through sinful compromise.

Again Matthew Henry wrote.

How treacherously they dealt notwithstanding they they profaned themselves in that

very thing which was prescribed to them for the preserving of the honor of their singularity.

Judah has married the daughter of a strange God.

The harm was not so much that she was the daughter of a strange nation.

God has made all nations of men and is himself king of nations.

But that she was the daughter of a strange God trained up in the service and worship of false

gods at their disposal as a daughter at her father's disposal having a dependence

upon them.

Hence some of the rabbis say he that marries a heathen woman is as if he made himself son -in

-law to an idol.

And then this is very clever.

The corruption of the old world began with the intermarriages of the sons of God and the daughters of men

the elect and the non -elect.

It is the same thing that is here complained of.

But as it is expressed it sounds worse.

The sons of God married the daughters of a strange God here in Judah is said

to have dealt treacherously for they basically betrayed their own honor and profaned that holiness of the

Lord which they should have loved.

And it is said to be an abomination committed in Israel in Jerusalem.

It was hateful to God and very unbecoming those they were called by his name

but they didn't see their problem.

They didn't see this as a problem.

And by the way through all of this they were continuing to come to the temple and do all their worshiping and they thought

God was pleased with them delighted in them.

They were aggravating their condemnation treading the courts of the Lord as Isaiah 1

describes them even before the exile.

And so because these Jews had corrupted their marriages and families by marrying these pagan women they had

polluted themselves when they came to worship God in the temple.

God no longer regarded them as holy but they were unclean and unfit to come into his presence.

And this explains the stated curse upon this generation.

In verse 12 may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob.

Any descendant of the man who does this who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts

in order for the Holy God to receive offerings from his people they must be holy as the Lord is holy.

And under the Mosaic law that holiness in part involved ethnic purity.

Thankfully it is no longer under the new covenant.

But then it was God had promised to favor the children of Jacob but not the Gentiles of the

world.

He would not show favor to the people of Israel if they joined themselves in marriage to women who practiced a

pagan religion when they came into Canaan under Joshua they were not to

intermingle intermarry with the Canaanites.

Now whereas in paragraph 1 the first paragraph verses 10 through 12 Israel is set

forth as a spiritual family we now come to the second paragraph.

And here we read of the individual family life within the nation.

Let's read it again.

Malachi wrote.

And this second thing you do.

You cover the Lord's altar with tears with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accept it with

favor from your hand.

But you say why does he not.

They were clueless.

They thought God loved them and and but life wasn't going well for them.

What.

What's wrong.

Why isn't he favoring us.

Why didn't he blessing us.

And here it is because the Lord was witness between you and the wife or your youth to whom you have been faithless

though she is your companion and your wife by covenant did he not make them one

with a portion of the spirit of their union.

And what was the one God seeking godly offspring holy seed.

So guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord the God of Israel

covers his garment with violence says the Lord of hosts.

So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.

We read the opening words of verse 13a.

And this second thing you do.

Now the first thing that condemned them was their mixed marriage that was the first paragraph.

The second matter that condemned them was their act of unfaithfulness and treachery against their first and

legal wives.

Now might seem that the second thing is the very next sentence that follows this second thing you do.

And of course what follows is you cover the Lord's altar with tears.

But it would be wrong to conclude that next sentence is the second thing.

Malachi uses the same rhetorical technique he had earlier.

He made a statement in verse 12.

The people then ask a question for clarification.

For they do not see their sin or the gravity of their offense.

They desired that the Lord would clarify what or why he was not regarding them or treating them in

what in the manner they thought that he should.

This is then followed by the direct accusation which is in verse 14.

So verse 14 is the second thing they did because the Lord was witness between

you and the wife of your youth to whom you've been faithless though she is your companion and your wife by

covenant.

Now let's consider these verses more carefully.

Verse 13b reads.

You cover the Lord's altar with tears with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the

offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.

Now true and sincere worship of God may have genuine weeping and

groaning for one's sins when approaching God humbly and seeking his forgiveness.

And we read of that in the Gospels people coming to Jesus weeping and being blessed of him.

But the weeping here is not of a broken heart and contrite spirit.

These are tears of disappointment and discouragement knowing that their offerings to the Lord were not

obtaining his blessing as they had hoped.

It seemed like fruitless worship.

God had not been receiving them or what they had offered him here the comments of one

writer they must have become conscious of God's displeasure because they

experienced a failure of their crops.

We'll read of that later in Malachi 3.

And their prayers apparently are not heard.

In all probability that feeling that their sacrifices were futile as well as the realization that their

religious activities amounted to nothing the communication with the Lord was broken.

That is why they now cover the altar with tears with weeping and wailing.

We have every reason to believe that this sorrow did not come from a broken spirit and contrite heart.

It was not godly sorrow that brings repentance and leads to salvation but rather worldly sorrow such

as that of Cain.

They were continuing to worship God.

But they were.

They were keenly aware something's not right here.

We're not receiving blessing from God as a result of our worship our service our sacrifices.

And so although the people knew that they were not experiencing the blessing of God on their lives they were clueless as to why

God would refuse or fail to bless them.

And so the question is put forth by the prophet on their behalf in verse 14a.

But you say why does he not.

Why got.

Why wouldn't God bless us.

Most people of the world think in those terms.

I'm a pretty nice guy.

Oh yeah.

I'm not as good as I could be but I'm better than most.

Why wouldn't God bless me.

And they they actually you know feel that God is somehow obligated to do so.

And when God doesn't come through they often get angry or they weep and and

groan before God because inwardly they're self righteous and they think that God owes them.

And so one of the common effects of sin is a deadening effects on one's conscience and understanding of

God and how he relates to the people of this world.

Why wouldn't he bless us.

Is the common thought.

Sin clouds our judgment obscures our understanding of spiritual reality.

The practice of sin perverts the perception and comprehension of spiritual truth.

Great sin can be committed even while the perpetrators of that sin have no awareness of how

egregious their attitudes and behavior are before God and how and why God's people react to them the way they do.

They believe that their attitudes and behavior warranted and should not be a cause of God's disfavor.

This is what the scriptures refer to as having become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

The spiritual preventive of this sin is prescribed for us in Hebrews.

It's done in the church.

Exhort one another daily.

Why it's called to while it's called today.

Why do we exhort one another daily lest any of you the professing Christian be hardened through

the deceitfulness of sin.

If you're giving yourself over to sin living according to your own will and defiance of the will of God and the Word of God

you've deceived yourself.

You're not aware of how God regards you and is treating you.

You might think that he is just loves you like like you.

You know like somebody cuddle cuddle up to a teddy bear.

Yeah that's wrong thinking your sins have separated you from a holy God.

Thankfully there's salvation in Christ.

But we'll get to that.

In verse 14b the Lord made it quite clear what their sin was.

It had so marred their relationship with God because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth

to whom you've been faithless though she is your companion and your wife.

By covenant God declared that he had been a personal witness at the wedding of a man

with his first and lawful in other words Jewish wife on the day that they had entered

and committed to their marriage.

Covenant.

Marriage is a covenant relationship.

Vows are recited by the groom and his bride with God and others as witnesses to their

words of promise and commitment.

For years now every wedding I've performed I make that clear at the beginning of the

of the ceremony not only are your family and friends here to witness but God is witnessing your words

and taking them to heart and will hold you to these words words

of promise and commitment.

But later when God had witnessed these men divorcing these Jewish women and sending them away while taking unto

themselves a second wife who is a pagan worshiper of other gods God thereafter withheld his

blessing from them and yet they were clueless as to why God wasn't blessing them

now.

I thought it might be appropriate just to stand back for a moment and say a few words about the ancient biblical world in the

manner in which it's reflected in Scripture.

Clearly the Old Testament world was a patriarchal world.

Men were regarded and treated as special and favored creatures.

Even this passage is addressed to men right.

It's not addressed to the wives.

And so our passage even reflects this patriarchal worldview.

God is addressing men directly not the wives.

However by legitimate application of principle we understand that what can be

said of a corrupt and unfaithful husband could also be said about a unfaithful and corrupt wife.

But here the husband is addressed principally.

Let us recognize that God's concern was not only for the failure of the man that caused his anger that was his sin

but really the real cause for God.

Speaking this way he was concerned about these wives and how they had been

maltreated by husbands who should have treated them better.

And actually the laws of the Old Testament were very

favorable toward women in comparison with the pagan cultures of the ancient world and many of the laws of

God respecting marriage and divorce or for the well -being of the legitimate wife and their children.

Of course it grew and developed into what we read about in the New

Testament where they're now in Christ.

There's no distinction between male and female not talking about roles but it's talking about our position

as sons and daughters of God.

Verse 14b reveals God's anger toward these husbands but also is concerned for the first wives.

Again we read because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth to whom you have been faithless

though she is your companion and your wife.

By covenant husbands God loves your wives

and so you better take that into consideration in the manner that you treat them and you regard

them.

But even though their sin had been so blatant they were clueless as to its presence and the consequences of their

sin in their lives.

As one wrote the statement of the Prophet took the people by surprise.

They could not understand why God should not accept their offerings with pleasure.

What was wrong with their endeavors to please God with their sacrifices.

They asked why does the Lord no longer pay attention to our offerings.

And the Prophet provides the answer.

The sinful divorces which they had considered a private affair had not escaped the notice of the Lord.

It is because the Lord had acted as witness.

In a certain sense he was present when the marriage was contracted.

His name was proclaimed in the blessings of the family.

But even more than that the Lord is the witness guarantor protector of every legal transaction

and this includes the marriage contract.

God is concerned about your commitment in your marriage relationship.

God requires faithfulness to one's commitment in marriage.

John Gill had written these comments on the words.

Because the Lord had been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth when a spouse together in their

youthful days the Lord was present at that solemn contract and saw the obligations

that and saw the obligations they were laid under to each other.

And he has called upon both parties to be a witness of the same.

And at the present time he was a witness.

How agreeably the wise of the Israelites had behaved toward their husbands and how treacherously they had

acted towards them.

He saw knew that whatever pretensions they made they did not love them

nor behave as they should towards them and therefore had just cause of complaint against them and

must be a witness for the one and against the other.

This sin of hating and divorcing their wives or marrying others besides them which prevailed much in

our Lord's time is particularly mentioned though they were guilty of many other sins as a reason

of the Lord's not accepting their offerings.

The aggravations of it are that they had broken a contract God was witness to and dealt injuriously with

wives and espoused in the days of their youth.

A vow before God is an important matter.

Ecclesiastes mentioned this.

Keep your verbal vows.

God is a witness to them.

Walk prudently when you go to the house of God and draw near to hear rather than to give the

sacrifice of fools.

For they do not know they do evil.

He's talking about people who are worshiping God.

They do not know they do evil.

These men did not know they were doing evil by bringing their sacrifices while they're maltreating their divorcing

their Jewish wives and marrying pagan women.

Do not be rash with your mouth.

Let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.

For God is in heaven you on earth.

Therefore let your words be few.

For a dream comes too much activity.

And a fool's voice is known by as many words.

Proverbs says.

Even a fool he keeps silent is counted as a wise man.

When you make a vow to God do not delay to pay it for he has no pleasure in fools.

Pay what you vowed.

Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin.

Nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error.

Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands.

For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity but fear God.

The Prophet then reasoned with these men why divorcing their wives was such a blatant transgression of the will of God.

We read in verse 15a.

Did he not make them one with a portion of the Spirit in their union.

Here God is declared to be the one who joins a man and woman in marriage.

In God's sight there's not only a physical union between husband and wife but there's a spiritual union he

causes in regard to two is becoming one flesh.

And this is not just in Christian marriages.

This is in all marriages.

You got a lot of pages of notes.

The last couple pages are not.

We're not going over them but it's marriage as a creation ordinance.

This was a biblical truth that Martin Luther recovered.

Marriage is not a religious sacrament of the church but rather it's a creation ordinance.

Adam and Eve were married.

God performed the marriage.

All marriage whether Christian or not is joined by God and God holds them accountable.

But further the marriage covenant should be maintained because God's intention and purpose for the marriage union.

Verse 15 B.

And what was the one God seeking.

What was the purpose of marriage.

One of the purposes godly offspring for a Jewish man to divorce his Jewish wife

and marry a woman who was an idolater would fail to achieve one of the primary purposes that God intended for

marriage.

God desires to have an increase in godly people in his world from the beginning he had given the command

be fruitful and multiplied fill the earth and subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air or every

living thing that moves on the earth.

And so this involves producing a holy seed children who love God a godly heritage

that is held and promoted by children who had ordered their lives according to the will of God in the subsequent

generation.

And these men by wearing a marrying pagan women who would be the mother of their children they've no longer

be producing a holy seed a godly heritage.

And then and so the conclusion is the Lord gives a concluding admonition.

So guard yourself in your spirit and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

The divorce of their first and legal wives and marrying a practicing pagan woman would result in a failure to

fulfill God's design and desire for marriage itself.

It would result in utter and complete failure of the man before the Lord and will result in the full forfeiture of

God's blessing in his life and that of his children.

Verse 16 concludes the paragraph.

Next week Lord willing will address verse 17 and into chapter 3.

The chapter division is unfortunate here.

Verse 17 goes with the next chapter rather than the end of chapter 2.

Technically we're 16 here the prophet gives another very

persuasive reason that these Jewish men should not divorce their wives.

God hates divorce.

However we read and this is the ESV.

And we chose to teach Malachi out of the ESV primarily because it set

forth in prose format in the book the King James and New King James

sets it forth in poetic format.

I like poetic format but Malachi was written in prose not poetry.

And so that's why we deferred to ESV.

However verse 16 we take issue with.

We think that they mistranslated this the translators of the ESV.

This is how it reads.

For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her says the Lord.

The God of Israel covers his garment with violence says the Lord of hosts.

So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.

I don't understand why the ESV translated this way.

Instead of God being the the subject of the sentence they they put a man as the

subject of the sentence.

Here's the translation of verse 16 from the New King James version.

For the Lord of Lord God of Israel says that he hates divorce for it covers

one's garment with violence says the Lord of hosts.

Therefore take heed to your spirit that you do not deal treacherously.

That this translation God hates divorce is actually found in most

English translations.

The ESV seems to be the exception.

The ESV makes the man to be the subject rather than God.

The verse is best understood as the prophet reasoning with men that they remain true and faithful to the wives of their youth.

For God hates divorce.

That's the reason that's given now.

The next expression is rather difficult to understand.

It provides a further explanation of the guilt of transgressors who hate and divorce their wives.

For it covers one's garment with violence.

What in the world does that mean.

Perhaps the best idea is this.

Even while these Jewish men were hating and divorcing their Jewish wives and marrying pagan wives they were still coming to

the temple offering their sacrifices to God.

But God was not showing favor or receiving these sacrifices.

In reality they were just covering their clothing with the bloody animal victims which they had sent slain

violently but to no avail before the Lord.

And then the final admonition is for men not to go there pursuing divorce and then remarriage.

Do not think that it'll go well with you before God.

If you choose such a course of action the Lord will not bless your treachery against your wife

for he watches over her and takes her to heart takes to his heart your vile

treatment of her.

The people of the world need to hear this today.

Don't think.

And people in the churches however it's important that we understand this

passage in the light of the new covenant in Christ.

Throughout this passage we've read of the actions of Israel as the unfaithful son of God who had fathered the nation.

The New Testament presents the Lord Jesus as God's faithful son who remained true and faithful in every way.

This is in contrast to Israel that had shown itself to be unfaithful in every way.

These ethnic Jewish people related with God according to the righteousness they wrought for themselves by

obedience and conformity to the Mosaic Covenant the law of God that had been given them

at Mount Sinai.

But under the new covenant Jesus Christ has granted us freely his righteousness as a gift imputed

to us through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

We don't acquire a righteousness by our obedience but we are accrued a righteousness as

a gift.

The righteousness of Christ is granted us freely by God through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

The righteousness of Christ which is the totality of his obedience in life passive

obeying God throughout life regardless of the consequences and active even unto his death

of the cross.

It's that righteousness which closed us before the Lord and before one another.

Where the Jewish men under the old covenant related to God on the basis of an external legal covenant of their works

before God.

New Testament Christians relate to God on the basis of the new covenant which was wrought and secured for us by

Jesus Christ and his life and death on our behalf.

And so whereas these men were covered with a garment of violence we are covered with a robe of righteousness

which covers our sins and renders us holy and glorious before the Lord.

Thank God for the new covenant in Christ.

However though as Christians we relate to God based on the death of Christ to atone for our

sins and the righteousness of Christ imputed to us through faith.

God continues to have concern and regard for the marriages of his people.

He is greatly grieved and will withhold blessing from husbands who maltreat their wives.

Peter said this likewise husbands live with your wives in an understanding way.

Showing honor to the woman is a weaker vessel.

Why.

Well since their heirs with you the grace of life so that your prayers not be hindered.

God continues to withhold blessings from Christian men who do not

regard and treat their Christian wives properly.

The wrong manner a husband regards and treats his wife will result in the Lord's displeasure and withholding his blessing.

You'll not hear the prayers of the husband who does not highly regard and nobly treat his wife

now granted.

Just as in the Old Testament times divorce was prevalent so it is today.

Sadly it is frequently played out in the lives of those who profess to be Christian.

Perhaps in these days the majority of our church family many of us have been

ill -affected by the matter of divorce in the past and we've since been remarried.

I thank God for his mercy not in my case and Mary we're having our 50th this September Lord willing if I make it.

But many of us can give a testimony of having gone through some really

difficult times earlier on.

We understand under the new covenant such things are not unpardonable sins.

Whereas God rejected these Jews and whatnot because of the covenant they were under he was really

setting the stage for the coming of the Messiah who would remove their transgression.

We know that divorce is not an unpardonable sin remarriage.

And even though there are always temporal consequences for sin and they will be

evident in our lives the Lord promises fullness of blessing for all those that come to him in repentance and faith.

The Samaritan woman who was a pagan and an immoral woman was told by Jesus whoever drinks of

the water that I shall give him will never thirst but the water that I shall give him will drink

will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

And these were spoken to a woman who had five husbands and was presently living in sin with a man.

And yet the Lord Jesus hold out hold out a promise of fullness of life

richness of life in Jesus Christ even though she was not living with a

husband.

Yes there are always consequences in this life due to past failures.

But the Lord is able to restore and grant fullness of life and blessing to the most broken of people

when they humbly believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

And further he's able to give fullness of joy to a Christian marriage even though there may have been one or several

divorces in one's previous life before becoming a Christian.

God is able to give fullness of joy and fullness of contentment and happiness to those married couples who are

committed to him in their marriage relationship.

He is the Savior and the restorer of his people.

Those who seek him the scriptures say the Lord is able to restore what the locust once

consumed.

Here's the Old Testament promise.

And we'll close with this.

And this is fully enjoyed by those who have salvation in Jesus Christ.

So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.

The crawling locust the consuming locust the chewing locust my great army which I sent among you.

It was his punishment for their sin.

But what does God promise.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied in the praise of the name of the Lord your God who is dealt

wondrously with you.

And my people shall never be put to shame.

Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel.

I am the Lord your God and there is no other my people shall never be put to shame.

And so in all that we said today it should not be a cause of despair discouragement

depression but rather hope.

This is what God has promised in Jesus Christ.

We don't want to be like those Jewish men though and be clueless and deny that there's any fault on our

part.

Let's humbly acknowledge yeah God you're right.

And everything you said I was clueless and I was wrong.

But I see it now and I confess my sin before you and I purpose as you

enabled me to walk in faith and obedience from this moment on.

And the fullness of God's blessing can be conferred upon you not because you want it or

earn it but through the mercy and grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift.

Thank you father for your word and for the glorious promises in Christ.

We thank you God for the lessons that we learned from the Old Testament scriptures and our God as we

reflect on these things.

We are very grateful that we live in the times and the days of the New Covenant when these things were not just

in the form of a promise but they were words of commitment and words of truth that we enjoy

presently through Jesus Christ.

We pray our God that you would restore hope and joy to those who feel that they have so

desecrated your name and and and failed in life in so many different ways.

Help them see the glory and the blessing the joy and the peace that's available in Jesus Christ and

in him alone.

And we just pray that peace that passes.

All understanding will guard their hearts in Christ Jesus in whose name we do pray.

Amen.