Malachi 2:1-9
CONCLUSION OF THE REBUKE TO THE PRIESTS... [ Continue Reading ]
CONCLUSION OF THE REBUKE TO THE PRIESTS... [ Continue Reading ]
And now, O ye priests, this commandment Is for you, they must be aware of the seriousness of the situation and accept the Lord's rebuke and threat accordingly.... [ Continue Reading ]
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay It to heart, if they persisted in their callousness over against His commands, TO GIVE GLORY UNTO MY NAME, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS, by a worship in agreement with His commands, I WILL EVEN SEND A CURSE UPON YOU, AND I WILL CURSE YOUR BLESSINGS, His own gif... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, I will corrupt your seed, rebuking that which had been sowed in the fields, thus reducing also the amounts which the priests received as tithes, AND SPREAD DUNG UPON YOUR FACES, as an expression of His extreme contempt, EVEN THE DUNG OF YOUR SOLEMN FEASTS, that of the sacrificial animals, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
And ye shall know, by the token of this punishment, that I have sent this commandment unto you, this decree of punishment, which they thought they might so calmly disregard, THAT MY COVENANT MIGHT BE WITH LEVI, all the priests, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS. The Lord's sentence of punishment upon all thos... [ Continue Reading ]
My covenant was with him of life and peace, with the promise of life and peace attached; AND I GAVE THEM, namely, life, deliverance, and salvation, TO HIM FOR THE FEAR WHEREWITH HE FEARED ME, as a reward for this attitude, AND WAS AFRAID BEFORE MY NAME, Cf Numbers 25:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Law of Truth was in his mouth, so that everything which he did and taught was in agreement with the divine truth, AND INIQUITY WAS NOT FOUND IN HIS LIPS, he was in no way guilty of perverseness in his ministry; HE WALKED WITH ME IN PEACE AND EQUITY, in a communion of peace, integrity, and righte... [ Continue Reading ]
For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, preserving the right understanding of Jehovah among the people as a precious treasure, AND THEY, the people, SHOULD SEEK THE LAW AT HIS MOUTH, to be instructed in it; FOR HE IS THE MESSENGER OF THE LORD OF HOSTS. That is what the Lord found praiseworthy i... [ Continue Reading ]
But ye, the present members of the tribe, ARE DEPARTED OUT OF THE WAY, leaving the path shown them by the Law of the Lord; YE HAVE CAUSED MANY TO STUMBLE AT THE LAW, so that they became guilty of transgressing the Law; YE HAVE CORRUPTED THE COVENANT OF LEVI, that which their fathers had kept so fait... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base, an object of contempt and loathing, BEFORE ALL THE PEOPLE, ACCORDING AS YE HAVE NOT KEPT MY WAYS, in the same degree as they had transgressed, BUT HAVE BEEN PARTIAL IN THE LAW, in applying the Law to the conduct of the people. The conduct of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? These questions, with the statement they contain, the prophet places at the head of his discussion, to remind the Jews that they were still, in a peculiar sense, the Lord's people and should keep themselves unspotted from the Gentiles. WHY DO... [ Continue Reading ]
AGAINST DIVORCES AND MARRIAGES WITH HEATHEN WIVES... [ Continue Reading ]
Judah hath dealt treacherously, with a calm disregard of the covenant faithfulness, AND AN ABOMINATION IS COMMITTED IN ISRAEL, throughout the nation, AND IN JERUSALEM, the capital, which should have led in the observance of the Law; FOR JUDAH HATH PROFANED THE HOLINESS OF THE LORD WHICH HE LOVED, na... [ Continue Reading ]
The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, since it was a profanation of the sacred position of the people, THE MASTER AND THE SCHOLAR, or "the watcher and the answerer,". OUT OF THE TABERNACLES OF JACOB, AND HIM THAT OFFERETH AN OFFERING UNTO THE LORD OF HOSTS, so that there would be a complete... [ Continue Reading ]
And this have ye done again, as the second transgression which the Lord found it necessary to rebuke, COVERING THE ALTAR OF THE LORD WITH TEARS, WITH WEEPING, AND WITH CRYING OUT, namely, by causing their divorced wives to come to the Sanctuary and there register their lament over the injustice rece... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet ye say, apparently surprised that the Lord should repudiate their prayers, WHEREFORE? BECAUSE THE LORD HATH BEEN WITNESS BETWEEN THEE AND THE WIFE OF THY YOUTH, every true marriage being entered into with His sanction and the Lord therefore being the witness for the rights of the wife, AGAINST W... [ Continue Reading ]
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit, literally, "And not one acted so who still had a particle of reason," that is, this manner of acting was unknown among men of reason. Of course, the people might raise the objection, AND WHEREFORE ONE? What did Abraham do when he repudia... [ Continue Reading ]
For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away, Cf Deuteronomy 24:1; FOR ONE COVERETH VIOLENCE WITH HIS GARMENT, or, "iniquity covers his garment,". SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS, so that it would cling to him forever; THEREFORE TAKE HEED TO YOUR SPIRIT THAT YE DEAL NOT TREACHEROUSLY.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye have wearied the Lord with your words, with their dissatisfied grumbling over recent events. YET YE SAY, WHEREIN HAVE WE WEARIED HIM? the same disobedient people again standing out in opposition to God, in resenting the rebuke of His prophet. WHEN YE SAY, EVERY ONE THAT DOETH EVIL IS GOOD IN THE... [ Continue Reading ]