Malachi 2:1-9
1 “And now, this commandment is for you, the priests.
2 If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of armies, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.
3 Behold, I am going to rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.
4 Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, so that My covenant may continue with Levi,” says the Lord of armies.
5 “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and was in awe of My name.
6 True instruction was in his mouth and injustice was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and justice, and he turned many back from wrongdoing.
7 For the lips of a priest should maintain knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of armies.
8 But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have ruined the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of armies.
9 “So I also have made you despised and of low reputation in the view of all the people, since you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the instruction.”
The Unfaithfulness of the Priests to the Law and the Covenant (1)
The warning
The rebuke of the priests’ sins continues. In today’s passage, the unfaithfulness of the priests to the Law and the covenant is described. “And now, this commandment is for you, the priests” (v 1). The word “commandment” (“mitsvah” in Hebrew) refers to God’s “declaration” or “warning” that a curse would come upon the priests. “‘If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,’ says the Lord of armies, ‘then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart’” (v 2). (1) The priests were indifferent to giving glory to God’s name. In other words, they were disregarding the Law and the covenant. (2) Therefore, the Lord had already sent a curse upon them. If they continued committing the same sins, an even more severe curse would come upon them. The word “curse” is accompanied by the definite article. In other words, it is the legitimate “curse” warned about in the Law of Moses. This passage is almost a direct quotation of Deuteronomy 28:15: “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to be careful to follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.” (3) In Malachi’s day, harvests had been drastically reduced because of natural disasters, and the people’s tithes were being neglected. Naturally, the material support received by the priests had also decreased. This too was a concrete manifestation of the curse.
With dung
“Behold, I am going to rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it” (v 3). (1) According to the regulations of the Law of Moses, refuse (the dung of sacrificial animals) was to be burned and disposed of outside the camp (ref. Ex. 29:14). (2) That dung would be spread on the faces of the priests, and they themselves would be carried away with it and thrown out. This is the “curse” that they would receive. The priests would be thrown outside the camp along with the dung. We too were deserving of the same curse. Yet Jesus suffered outside the camp in our place. Because of His substitutionary death, we have obtained peace with God the Father. Let us go out into the world today, giving thanks to the Lord Jesus.
Today's prayer
Heavenly Father, for my sins, the Lord Jesus suffered outside the camp. May I also go outside the camp with Him today. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.