Malachi 2

In the first part of this chapter, God lets the priests have it. They had been dishonoring God in many ways, one of which was by showing "partiality in matters of the law" (Mal. 2:9). "'For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction--because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,' says the LORD Almighty" (Mal. 2:7-8). This passage reminds me of James 3:1, which says that those who teach will be judged more harshly, or be held with more responsibility by God. Though many of us are not church leaders, we all should be mindful of this. All of us know someone in our lives who watches what we do. Each of us have others who follow in our footsteps, imitating what we do. So be mindful of what you say and how you act; you could be leading someone else to fall.

The next passage of the chapter deals with the marriages of the people of Judah and Israel. The men were leaving their wives in order to marry foreign, pagan-worshiping women. As a result of this behavior, God did not accept their offerings. "You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because He no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands" (Mal. 2:13). But simply not leaving one's spouse is not enough. God calls us to be peacemakers. There should not be strife in your home. As much as it is up to you, create an atmosphere of peace. Examine your heart; ask God to purify it of all the selfish motives that may be decaying your heart.

This world is full of sin. We see people every day become more and more successful, by the world's standards anyway, who are living blatantly and arrogantly in sin. God does not like this. The last verse of Malachi 2 took me by surprise. "You have wearied the LORD with your words. 'How have we wearied Him?' you ask. By saying, 'All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and He is pleased with them' or 'Where is the God of justice?'" (Mal. 2:17). God does not allow evil because He approves of it. These responses to evil weary God because we do not trust that God knows what He is doing. We presume to know more than God. Those are dangerous waters, my friends. I believe Satan got into the mess he's in (falling from being an angel) by such thinking.

So guard your hearts and your thoughts. As it says in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers (and sisters!), whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."