CHAPTER II _The priests reproved for their unfaithfulness in their office,_ _for which they are threatened to be deprived of their share of_ _the sacrifice, (the shoulder,) and rewarded only with ignominy_ _and ordure_, 1-3. _The degeneracy of the order is then complained of, and they are_ _ag... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:2. _IF YE WILL NOT HEAR_] What I have spoken, _lay it to_ _heart_, and let it sink down into your souls. _GIVE GLORY UNTO MY NAME_] That _honour_ that is due to me as a _Father_, and that _fear_ that belongs to me as a _Master_, Malachi 1:6. _I WILL EVEN SEND A CURSE UPON YOU_] I w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:3. _BEHOLD, I WILL CORRUPT YOUR SEED_] So as to render it unfruitful. _Newcome_ translates, - "I will take away from you the shoulder." This was the part that belonged to the priest, Leviticus 7:32; Deuteronomy 18:3. _SPREAD DUNG UPON YOUR FACES_] Instead of _receiving_ a sacrifice... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:4. _THIS COMMANDMENT_] That in the _first_ verse; to drive such priests from his presence and his service. _THAT MY COVENANT MIGHT BE WITH LEVI_] I gave the priesthood and the service of my altar to that tribe.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:5. _MY COVENANT WAS WITH HIM OF LIFE AND PEACE_] These are the _two_ grand blessings given to men by the NEW _Covenant_, which was shadowed by the OLD. To man, excluded from the favour of God, and sentenced to death because of sin, God gave ברית _berith_, a _covenant sacrifice_, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:6. _THE LAW OF TRUTH WAS IN HIS MOUTH_] See the qualifications of Levi: 1. "He feared me;" he was my sincere worshipper. 2. "He was afraid;" he acted as in the presence of a _just_ and holy God, and acted _conscientiously_ in all that he did. 3. "My law of truth was ever in his mo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:8. _BUT YE ARE DEPARTED OUT OF THE WAY_] Ye are become impure yourselves, and ye have led others into iniquity.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:9. _THEREFORE HAVE I ALSO MADE YOU CONTEMPTIBLE_] The people despised you because they saw that you acted contrary to your functions. This has happened repeatedly since, to several _classes_ _of priests_. Not maintaining, by _purity of life_ and _soundness of_ _doctrine_, the dignit... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:10. _HAVE WE NOT ALL ONE FATHER?_] From this to Malachi 2:16 the prophet censures the _marriages_ of _Israelites_ with _strange_ _women_, which the law had _forbidden_, Deuteronomy 7:3. And also _divorces_, which seem to have been multiplied for the purpose of contracting these prohi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:11. _DAUGHTER OF A STRANGE GOD._] Of a man who worships an idol.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:12. _THE MASTER AND THE SCHOLAR_] He who teachers such doctrine, and he who follows this teaching, the Lord will cut off both the one and the other.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:13. _COVERING THE ALTAR OF THE LORD WITH TEARS_] Of the poor women who, being _divorced_ by cruel husbands, come to the priests, and make an appeal to God at the altar; and ye do not speak against this glaring injustice.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:14. _YE SAY, WHEREFORE?_] Is the Lord angry with us? Because ye have been _witness_ of the _contract_ made between the parties; and when the lawless husband divorced _his wife, the wife of his youth,_ _his companion_, and the _wife_ of his covenant, ye did not execute on him the disc... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:15. _AND DID NOT HE MAKE ONE?_] ONE of _each kind_, Adam and Eve. _Yet had he the residue of the Spirit_; he could have made millions of pairs, and inspired them all with _living souls_. Then _wherefore one_? He made one pair from whom all the rest might proceed, that he might have... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:16. _FOR THE LORD - HATETH PUTTING AWAY_] He abominates all such divorces, and _him_ that makes them. _COVERETH VIOLENCE WITH HIS GARMENT_] And he also _notes_ those who frame idle excuses to _cover_ the _violence_ they have done to the wives of their youth, by putting them away, an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Malachi 2:17. _YE HAVE WEARIED THE LORD_] He has borne with you so long, and has been provoked so often, that he will bear it no longer. It is not fit that he should. _EVERY ONE THAT DOETH EVIL_] Ye say that it is _right_ in the sight of the Lord to put away a wife, because she has no longer... [ Continue Reading ]