Thy Strong Word — Prophecy and Fulfillment - Malachi 2:1-3:5: Unfaithful Priests Weary the Lord

The Lord’s warning to the priests becomes severe as He condemns them for despising His name and offering defiled sacrifices. Their unfaithfulness has corrupted the covenant of Levi. Malachi then addresses the people’s faithlessness and their casual approach to divorce. God is “wearied” by their sin, and He promises to send His messenger to purify His people with a refiner’s fire.

The Rev. Roger Mullet, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Buffalo, WY, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Malachi 2:1-3:5.

To learn more about Prince of Peace, visit princeofpeacebuffalo.org.

This Advent series begins by covering the last Old Testament prophet, Malachi, and then spends twelve episodes alternating between Old Testament prophecy and New Testament fulfillment, tracing God’s promises from Isaiah to the birth of Christ. The series explores Emmanuel’s promise, the Davidic King, John the Baptist as forerunner, and reaches its climax with the Nativity. The final episodes examine the Suffering Servant, the shadow of the cross in Christ’s infancy, Isaiah’s Messianic mission statement, and John’s declaration that “the Word became flesh.”

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Malachi 2:1-3:5

The Lord Rebukes the Priests

2 “And now, O priests, this command is for you. ²If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. ³Behold, I will rebuke your offspring,^[a] and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.^[b] ⁴So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. ⁵My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. ⁶True instruction^[c] was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. ⁷For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people^[d] should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. ⁸But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, ⁹and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”

Judah Profaned the Covenant

¹⁰Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? ¹¹Judah has been faithless, and 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. ¹²May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant^[e] of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

¹³And 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 accepts it with favor from your hand. ¹⁴But 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. ¹⁵Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?^[f] And what was the one God^[g] seeking?^[h] Godly offspring. So guard yourselves^[i] in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. ¹⁶“For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her,^[j] says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers^[k] his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

The Messenger of the Lord

¹⁷You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

3 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ²But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. ³He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.^[l] ⁴Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

⁵“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Footnotes

Malachi 2:3 Hebrew seed
Malachi 2:3 Or to it
Malachi 2:6 Or law; also verses 7, 8, 9
Malachi 2:7 Hebrew they
Malachi 2:12 Hebrew any who wakes and answers
Malachi 2:15 Hebrew in it
Malachi 2:15 Hebrew the one
Malachi 2:15 Or And not one has done this who has a portion of the Spirit. And what was that one seeking?
Malachi 2:15 Or So take care; also verse 16
Malachi 2:16 Hebrew who hates and divorces
Malachi 2:16 Probable meaning (compare Septuagint and Deuteronomy 24:1–4); or “The Lord, the God of Israel, says that he hates divorce, and him who covers
Malachi 3:3 Or and they will belong to the Lord, bringers of an offering in righteousness

Rev. Dr. Phil Booe

Native North Carolinian Rev. Dr. Phil Booe serves pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, and host of Thy Strong Word on KFUO Radio. His parishioners probably think he can’t teach Bible study without a mug of coffee in his hand, and he’ll always be happy to eat a plate of sushi. When he’s not shepherding his flock or teaching on the radio, you might find him watching bad movies from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and especially binging RiffTrax and MST3K episodes. Some day he’d love to travel to the Lutheran homeland in Germany, but for now he spends time in Minnesota with his wife, son, daughter, and cat, and looks forward to Holy Week every year.