CRITICAL NOTES.] The charge is still urged against the priests, who are warned if they do not reform they will be deprived of enjoyments, and made objects of shame.
Malachi 2:2. A] Lit. the curse denounced (Deuteronomy 27:15-26). Have oursed] Lit. have cursed them severally. The curse has already begun in each one of their blessings. Blessings pronounced by the priests upon the people are intended, say Keil and others, and not tithes, revenues, and portions of sacrifices. The word may be taken generally.
Malachi 2:3. Corrupt] Lit. rebuke the seed] i.e. forbid its growth, and bring failure in crops (cf. Joel 1:17; Haggai 1:11). Though priests did not cultivate land, yet they would suffer from dearth. Some give, rebuke the arm, i.e. dry up the strength, neutralize the duties performed by priests at the altar. Dung] of victims, which should be burned outside the camp (Exodus 29:14; Leviticus 16:27), would be spread upon their faces; a sign of ignominy and contempt. One] Lit. they (indefinite) will carry you away to it (where it is deposited); and treat you as dung (1 Kings 14:10).
Malachi 2:4. Know] by experience, that this commandment] i.e. the decree to punish, shall henceforth be substituted for my covenant with Levi, or the priesthood. They forfeited the blessing, and turned the covenant of peace into woe. Better understand, that they were warned to take heed that the covenant] might continue with the priestly tribe as in the beginning, and not become null or void.
Malachi 2:5.] Nature of the covenant described. Life and peace] Nouns not in the genitive case. “Peace” is the sum of all the blessings requisite for well-being. Jehovah granted life and salvation to Levi, i.e. to the priesthood, for fear, viz. as the lever of the fear of God; and Levi, i.e. the priesthood of the olden time, responded to this Divine intention. “He feared me” [Keil]. Afraid] Often united to fear, expressing terror, which men are forbidden not to feel before men (Isaiah 8:12-13) [Pusey].
HOMILETICS
PRIESTLY BLESSINGS TURNED INTO A CURSE.—Malachi 2:1-5
The rebuke to the priests is followed by an admonition to hear the Word and reverence the name of God, lest he curse their blessings and dishonour their persons.
I. The nature of the curse upon the blessings. In whatever sense the curse may be taken, it is an awful judgment, a solemn warning to all.
1. Their own persons were cursed. “I will even send a curse upon you.” This was a reversal of the original promise for obedience, “I will command my blessing upon you.”
2. Their blessings were cursed. “He does not say, I will send you curses instead of blessings, but I will make the blessings themselves a curse” [Pusey]. (a) Spiritual blessings may be cursed; the ministry of the Word, and the means of grace; Sundays and sermons may be despised, increase the guilt and aggravate the condemnation of men. (b) Temporal blessings may be cursed. “Corrupt your seed.” Riches, children, and the very food we eat may do us no good. The curse from heaven may fall upon them. “Let their table be made a snare before them, and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.”
II. The reason for the curse upon the blessings.
1. They neglected the Word of God. “If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart.” The Word was personal in appeal; “this commandment is for you;” and solemn in authority, yet they heeded not. The Word must not simply be heard, but pondered in the mind. God’s authority must be seen and felt in it. It is a matter of life or death, and must not be trifled with. “Ye do not lay it to heart.”
2. They despised the Name of God. “Give glory unto my Name.” Glory is due to God, and should be the aim of priestly and Christian conduct—the rule of life for the house of Aaron and the house of Israel. But God is dishonoured by despising the ordinances of his house and living heedless of his Word. “To the greater glory of God,” was the motto of Ignatius Loyola.
III. The design of the curse upon the blessings. “Ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you” (Malachi 2:4.).
1. They were admonished to return to God. God desired to keep his covenant with them, and punishment was intended to reform them. This would they feel, and bitterly confess. God ever designs to make men happy, and keep them from misery.
2. They were admonished for the sake of others. “God willed to punish those who at that time rebelled against him, that he might spare those who should come after them. He chastised the fathers, who showed their contempt towards him, that their sons, taking warning thereby, might not be cut off. He continues to say what the covenant was, which he willed to be if they would repent” [Pusey]. Every warning given to men concerning their sins, is a proof of God’s mercy, and will convince them that their destruction results from their own ways. “I have sent this commandment unto you.”
FAILURE IN OFFICIAL DUTIES.—Malachi 2:2-3
By cursing blessings, God means that he will render the instructions and efforts of the priests ineffective. When they raised the hand to bless, he would manifest displeasure. He would neutralize their duties performed at the altar [cf. Keil].
I. By rendering them incapable of official duties. “He will rebuke their arm,” i.e. dry up their powers, like the waters of the sea. The arm is the symbol of strength and active labour. From him that hath may be taken away what he hath, if abused. God can wither the force and fervour of ungodly ministers. Power is lost by continuance in office for which men are not qualified. Their prayers are sin, their knowledge hardens, and their “arm shall be clean dried up.”
II. By righteous punishment in discharging official duties. God threatens sore evils.
1. They would be treated with contempt. As they had despised him, so they would be repaid in ignominy and shame—be made as the refuse of their sacrifices.
2. They would be swept out of office. As mere cumber, and unworthy of the temple, “One shall take” them away with the dung. “I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till all are gone” (1 Kings 14:10).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Malachi 2:2. Curse. Things which should bless, become an occasion of falling; to the proud, the things which lift them up; to the gluttonous, their abundance; to the avaricious, their wealth; which, if used to the glory of God, become blessings, do, when self, not God, is their end, by God’s dispensation and providence, become a curse to them [Pusey]. I have cursed them, Lit. it, i.e. each blessing. Hence—
1. The minuteness of the curse.
2. The gradual operation of the curse. “Cursed already;” and will continue until you repent.
3. The insensibility under the curse. “Ye do not lay to heart.”
4. The severity of the curse. “Curse blessings.”
“Whom oils and balsams kill, what salve can cure?”
Malachi 2:5. The covenant.
1. Its blessings. “Life and peace;” i.e. of being and well-being; for all the blessings that make up human welfare, were summed up for the Hebrew in one word—peace [Cox].
2. Its conditions. “Forbear.” Jews claimed its privileges, while neglecting its conditions—thought God would bless them, while they were free from obligations to obey him.
3. Its influence. “He feared” me, had great reverence, and was afraid; had profound and holy terror before me. “He received the fear of God in his whole heart and soul. For these reduplications and emphases suggest to the hearer how rooted in virtue are those thus praised” [Pusey]. It is better to fear too much than to presume but a little [Abp. Abbot]. “Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself (venerate his glorious majesty), and let him be your fear (be not dismayed at man), and your dread (lest ye provoke him by distrust)” (Isaiah 8:13).
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Malachi 2:1-4. Curse blessings. Those who despise the upper springs of grace, shall find the nether springs of worldly comfort prove their poison. To the rejecters of Christ even those things which are calculated to work their spiritual and eternal good become occasions for yet greater sin. Wretched are those men who not only have a curse upon their common blessings, but also on their spiritual opportunities [Spurgeon].
Malachi 2:5. Fear. “All fear but fear of heaven betrays guilt, and guilt is villany” [Dr. Lee].