Malachi 2:9

The Lord is speaking and He says concerning the Old Testament priests in Malachi 2:9, “Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.” This verse gives one important reason that these priests had become disapproved by God. It says that they had been “partial in the law.” What a terrible thing that is. The words that are translated “partial” mean to hold one person in favor over another. It means to look at someone to uplift them to give them favors and advantages that will not be given to some others. God is in favor of true equality among people. He certainly views us all in an equal fashion and with impartiality. Someone who is not impartial in this way is an ungodly person because they are not like God. We should give every person the same respect and the same honor. We should not disrespect and dishonor anyone because of their class or rank in society. Rich or poor, black or white, powerful or powerless, they all should be treated equally. The ground is level at the cross. God has given life to everyone. Jesus died for everyone: equally loving every soul. Everyone has sinned, coming short of the glory of God. And everyone on this earth can equally trace their lineage back to Adam and Eve. God offers His love to everyone. Showing the equality that exists in Christianity, the Bible says in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” How dare anyone treat people with partiality for any reason. The reason given in Malachi 2:10 that no one should show partiality is as follows: “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?”

It says in Malachi 2:11-12, “Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts.” Some very strong words are used here: “dealt treacherously,” “abomination,” and “profaned the holiness.” What would cause God to view Israel in such a way? What did the Israelites do? Notice the phrase at the end of Malachi 2:11 that says that Judah “hath married the daughter of a strange God.” Of course, the phrase “a strange God” represents false religion. True religion not only involves worshipping the one true God, whose name is Jesus Christ; but true religion also involves loving the one true God. Notice that it says in Malachi 2:11 that “Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved.” The tabernacle represented the presence of God. To do anything to defile God’s tabernacle was a terribly treacherous and abominable act. As Christians our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we must be careful of what we do with or what we do to our bodies. It says in First Corinthians 3:16-17, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

The Bible says in Malachi 2:13-16, “And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand. Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.”

It is interesting to notice that in Malachi 2:11 that the people had tears and crying and sorrow; but it was the wrong kind of sorrow. Evidently, they were sorry because of the consequences of their sins, but they did not have a godly sorrow that leads to repentance. It says in Second Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” Everything about you reveals some truth concerning your own spiritual condition. As we see here in this verse, what makes you sad reveals your level of spirituality, and it reveals if you are sad for a godly reason or for a selfish reason.

Another thing that reveals your spiritual condition is your marriage relationship. The circumstances surrounding marriage and divorce were much different during the time of Malachi than they are today. Today there are many many divorces from all age groups and for every conceivable reason. In our society as a whole the marriage bond means very little. Two people join themselves to each other in marriage, make vows to one another, and then within weeks, months, or a few short years the marriage is ended. Don’t the marriage vows mean anything? Don’t the promises mean anything? What does one person’s word mean any more? What kind of effort are you willing to make so that you can look in the mirror and can look up to God and say, “I kept my word. I fulfilled my promise.” In our day and age either the man or the woman can initiate the divorce proceedings, but in reality the marriage relationship may have been damaged by the person who did not file for divorce. When Jesus said in Mark 10:9, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder,” He was not just talking about the person who files for the divorce. Parents can become negative towards their son-in-laws and daughter in-laws, and therefore they can become a divisive influence in the lives of a young couple. The teachings of ungodly people such as those in Hollywood have had a huge role in brainwashing people into devaluing marriage. There are also the permissive and perverted teachings of educators in many schools and liberal colleges, and in some churches who do not teach God’s way.

God gives marriage a great value. God wants marriages to be good marriages that last and that are not cut asunder. As it says in Malachi 2:15, “And did not he make one?” A marriage takes place when two people become one. They should stay “one” until death causes them to part. That should be the normal and the most common situation for marriage. Paul wrote in Romans 7:2-3, “For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.” Of course, there are exceptions that allow for divorce in certain extreme cases. But those are supposed to be rare exceptions resulting in few divorces. There is a problem going on in our society evidenced by the great number of divorces. Jesus gave a justification for divorce even while He taught the inviolability of marriage. Concerning what Jesus taught on this subject, the Bible says in Matthew 19:3-12, “The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”

In the days of the ancient Jewish people wives were very dependent upon their husbands in many ways. Because husbands had the power to put away a wife simply by writing a bill of divorcement, it put the women at a great disadvantage. A woman could be easily devastated simply because the husband decided to divorce. Many men abused that power. Jesus was speaking against men who committed such abuses when He said, “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” The book of Malachi was also speaking against the men who committed such wrongs against their wives. There are three important phrases in Malachi 2:14 that explain exactly why it was so wrong for the Israelite men to put away their wives in the way they were doing. It says, “Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.” The wife is called, “the wife of thy youth.” The men had “dealt treacherously” against their wives. She is called “the wife of thy covenant.”

Each Israelite man was reminded that the wife is called “the wife of thy youth.” In the normal course of life a young man marries a young woman in the full bloom of life. And then as the years go by the principle of life takes place as found in Isaiah 40:6-8, “The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” A wife should be honored for the fact that she gave you the best years of her life. She should be highly honored for what she has given to you even though now perhaps “the grass withereth, the flower fadeth.”

These men of Israel had dealt treacherously with their wives. Instead of being honest and straightforward, they had ulterior motives for how they were dealing with their wives. Anyone who says one thing, but means another is not an honest or straightforward person. You had better be careful about trying to give a different impression from what you really think about anything. Jesus alluded to such a sin in Mark 10:19 where Jesus said, “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.” It is interesting that Jesus gave the commandment, “Defraud not.” Jesus was listing off several of the Ten Commandments, but this commandment is not one of the Ten Commandments. It means basically, “Do not withhold from someone something that you ought to be giving to them.” That is cheating someone out of something that they ought to have, and that you have the power to give to them. To defraud someone is directly related to stealing and lying. It is similar to dealing “treacherously” with your husband or your wife.

God told each Israelite man in Malachi chapter two that his wife was “the wife of thy covenant.” In other words when a man marries a woman, he makes a covenant with her, not unlike the covenant that God makes with human beings. In each of the covenants that God has made with people, God has always kept His side of the contract. How symbolic it was that here in the book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Covenant, the Israelites had not only failed in regards to their covenant with God, but they also failed in regards to their covenants with each other. When you married your wife, you made a promise something like this: “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, till death us do part.” You must keep that promise; no matter how many years ago you made it. Are you going to be like the devil, whose word means nothing because he is a liar; or are you going to be like God, whose word is always kept and never fails? No doubt there are many, many people who should fall on their knees and cry out to Christ for mercy because of how they failed to keep their word and failed to keep their wedding vows.

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