HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1225
M AL ACHI 3
page 855
at last you will know it was I who sent you this
warning so that my covenant with the Levites can
continue,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
5 “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is
what I gave them. This required reverence from
them, and they greatly revered me and stood in
awe of my name. 6 They passed on to the people
the truth of the instructions they received from
me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with
me, living good and righteous lives, and they
turned many from lives of sin.
7 “The words of a priest’s lips should preserve
knowledge of God, and people should go to him
for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 But you priests
have left God’s paths. Your instructions have
caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “So I have
made you despised and humiliated in the eyes
of all the people. For you have not obeyed me
but have shown favoritism in the way you carry
out my instructions.”
A Call to Faithfulness
10 Are we not all children of the same Father? Are
we not all created by the same God? Then why
do we betray each other, violating the covenant
of our ancestors?
11 Judah has been unfaithful, and a detestable
thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. The men of Judah have defiled the Lord’s
beloved sanctuary by marrying women who
worship idols. 12 May the Lord cut off from the
nation of Israel* every last man who has done
this and yet brings an offering to the Lord of
Heaven’s Armies.
13 Here is another thing you do. You cover the
Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning
because he pays no attention to your offerings
and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. 14 You
cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when
you were young. But you have been unfaithful
to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.
15 Didn’t the Lord make you one with your
wife? In body and spirit you are his.* And what
does he want? Godly children from your union.
So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife
of your youth. 16 “For I hate divorce!”* says the
Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is
to overwhelm her with cruelty,*” says the Lord
2:12 Hebrew from the tents of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and
“Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament,
referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes
to the nation. 2:15 Or Didn’t the one Lord make us and
preserve our life and breath? or Didn’t the one Lord make her,
both flesh and spirit? The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
2:16a Hebrew For he hates divorcing. 2:16b Hebrew to cover
one’s garment with violence.
of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do
not be unfaithful to your wife.”
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.
“How have we wearied him?” you ask.
You have wearied him by saying that all who
do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is
pleased with them. You have wearied him by
asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
The Coming Day of Judgment
“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he
will prepare the way before me. Then the
Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his
Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom
you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
2 “But who will be able to endure it when he
comes? Who will be able to stand and face him
when he appears? For he will be like a blazing
fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that
bleaches clothes. 3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the
Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that
they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices
to the Lord. 4 Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of
Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past.
5 “At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager
to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers
and liars. I will speak against those who cheat
employees of their wages, who oppress widows
and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do
not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
3
• Marriage
M A LA C HI 2:14-16
During these times, divorce was practiced
exclusively by men. They broke faith with
their wives, ignoring the special bond God
places between husband and wife—and
ignoring God’s purposes for marriage.
To make matters worse, these men then
married women who worshiped idols.
Their new wives lured them away from
worshiping God, and the consequences of
their sin soon followed. Now the men were
complaining about their adverse circumstances! If they had followed God’s plans
to begin with, the problems wouldn’t have
come. We often try to escape from our
own guilt by shifting the blame to someone else. Here’s a good practice: When
you’re getting ready to complain about
your circumstances, ask yourself, “If I
changed my attitude or behavior, would
the problem be solved?”