Malachi 2 This Bible Study is written by Roger
Christopherson, and made available with written
permission by http://www.theseason.org Malachi 2:1 "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you." God is going to come down on the priests [preachers and teachers] very hard, for He is going to make them accountable for the way they served Him. This is what chapters one and two of Malachi are all about. God is not very pleased with those who allowed themselves to be trapped into the traditions and false doctrine of men. God will be tough on those false shepherds, and His judgment will begin with them. So this second chapter is now directed squarely upon them. Malachi 2:2 "If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto My name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart." This is a serious charge God is giving them. God is saying to them, that if you won't listen and commit, or settle in your mind the things that are important to God, and give God the praise and glory; then He promised that He will curse you. That is a promise that you can count on. The curse is that which was discussed in Zechariah 5; it is the curse of Babylon. That curse is the deception that will come upon the whole earth in the end times. God will never bless a "Minister beggar". Malachi 2:3 "Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it." God is saying, you go ahead and claim all the souls you have saved, but I will corrupt those seeds. Your ministry will be a dead end. The "Solemn feasts" are your sacrifices made to God. God says He is not going to accept it, in fact He will use them against those false priests. It will be as dung right back in your face [in a spiritual sense]. God is against your mixing of, and with any heathen customs. Malachi 2:4 "And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that My covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts." This is stating God's covenant will continue with Levi. This dates back to Ezra 8, when the "House of Judah" was returning back to Jerusalem. Ezra took an inventory of all the people that were returning out of Babylon, to see how many Levitical priests were with them. Why? Ezra 8:15 "And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi." God's Word states that you could not have a tabernacle worship without Levitical priests to offer the sacrifices. This is the commandment from God. In Ezra's inventory, he found there was not one of the Levitical priests in the entire congregation. All that were left were the Nethinims [Ezra 2:43-65], or in other words, those outsiders [Kenites] hired to perform a service in the temple. It started with hirelings to chop wood, and ended with the entire priesthood taken over by these hirelings. [see Strong's Hebrew dictionary, # 5411] The Levite priests became lazy, and abandoned their priestly duties completely. What happened to the congregation of God? When the "House of Judah" returned out of captivity from Babylon, about half of those returning were not of Judah, but Nethinims. Their heathen names and practices are written in God's Word as being respected of God. God is making it very clear that for doing this deception, He throws dung all over their faces. He doesn't like it at all. This passage is direct to the people of the end generation, and as such; we see even today the churches don't know the difference between God's Levites [those preaching the true Word], and Nethinims. This is a type of warning to us today, to be on guard against those heathen priests [preachers and teachers] stepping into their roles of deception. Most of those calling themselves Christians, in these end days, will be deceived. Mystery Babylon is here and now. Are you filling your mind with God's word, or is it a game with you? Your game will lead you right into Satan [the Antichrist's] camp. Malachi 2:5 "My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before My name." This covenant was with Levi, and to be passed on to His children, and continued in the family. This was given because Aaron revered God's name. This is given in Numbers 25:10-13, and repeated in Deuteronomy 33:8-10. The sons of Aaron knew what would happen too them when they did not follow God's instruction. In spite of this, Aaron's two older sons decided they wanted to play games with God, and used heathen [Balaam] fire on God's alter. God killed them on the spot. God doesn't mess around with anyone playing games with His way, and His flock. Malachi 2:6 "The law of truth was in this mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with Me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity." When a minister has the truth of God's Word in his mouth, he could fall short in other areas in his life. However, that Word of God will be secure. When he teaches the "laws of truth", he will also be teaching what the law, the ordinances, and the statutes are, as well as what the rituals are. This is so that those ordinances and rituals that are done away with and nailed to the cross in Christ's death would be clearly understood by the minister's flock. For an example; the blood ordinances, and holidays that were nailed to the cross because of Jesus Christ's death on the cross, became our Passover. [I Corinthians 5:7] All ministers that preach the true Word of God are after the order of "Melchisedec", which means "king of the Just". Their ministry will be of, and through our Lord Jesus Christ, just as it was written. Malachi 2:7 "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hasts." All wisdom comes from our Almighty God, and the knowledge of the minister must come from God's Word, for it is only through the Scriptures that truth will come. The only place to find truth in these end times is "at God's mouth", and when a minister relies on God's Word for his knowledge and studies, then he truly is a messenger of God. Remember, "Malachi" means "God's messenger". Malachi 2:8 "But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts." "The way" is the way of Christ. In the latter days, Christ himself will become a stumbling block for those priests [pastors] that teach the "fly away doctrine", also called the "rapture", of Zechariah 5. This is the curse that God is placing on those preachers. That is why in Ezekiel 13, God said how unhappy he was with those who teach his children's souls to fly. We are to remain in the world [field] and continue to teach, until Jesus Christ returns at the seventh trumpet. If you are expecting to fly away, you will not have your armor on and be ready to stand against the fiery spiritual darts of the Antichrist, when he arrives upon the earth. You simply will not be prepared to meet Satan and his fallen angels when they come. You will think that Satan is Christ and you will be deceived by your own lack of knowledge. Malachi 2:9 "Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the People, according as ye have been partial in the law." God is directing this curse on those ministers who change God's Word to fit their needs, and make their ministry profitable. In every church you have the heavy givers, and when the minister designs his sermons to soothe those persons, and not offend them, against the truth of God's Word, God finds them "contemptible". Malachi 2:10 "Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?" There is only one God, and one Father, and this our Heavenly Father has given His Word to us. God is saying, I don't like it when you use His Word to make divisions amongst yourselves. The promises and directions within the Scriptures should draw us together, and make a solid bond between us, and not cause a split of the brethren. There is only one salvation, and that comes through our Lord Jesus Christ. Malachi 2:11 "Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which He loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange God." The "House of Israel", and the "House of Judah" are still separated at this time. This is given in a spiritual sense, so the "wives" here, represent religions. The divorcement that comes because of taking on strange religions, is to God the Father. The "strange god" in these final days is Satan, and his daughters are those heathen religious men; the Kenites, and all those that go to make up Satan's "locust army". Their false doctrine are already in place, and have a stronghold in most churches today. In this generation it will cause you to follow, and upon the Antichrist's arrival to earth, bow to him, thinking he is the true Christ. Revelation 9:1-5 records that all Christians will join this heathen one world religious order, except those elect that have "the seal of God in their forehead". God is telling you that if you continue in the false doctrine, that it is He [God Himself] that will turn you over to the Antichrist. because you refuse to study, and prepare yourself to stand against Satan [the Antichrist]. This verse eleven then, is letting us know that God will put a curse on these "strange priests" for leading their flocks to worship a strange God, [the Antichrist]. Malachi 2:12 "The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of hosts." Our heavenly Father is telling us that He will cut them out of the covenant that He made with all Israel. It is talking about those that should know God's Word, but are to lazy, or greedy to study it. They have polluted the very Word of God through their false teaching, idol worship, and substitutes forms of access to God. These are the "priests" [ministers] that are preparing their flocks to accept the Antichrist [Satan], who will be the first messiah to return to this earth. His arrival is announced in the fifth trumpet, he comes at the sixth, while Jesus Christ arrives at the seventh. Malachi 2:13 "And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that He regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand." Here God is telling us that there is a second thing that He has against these false priests. The first was in divorcing of their first wives and marrying heathen wives. Those wives in the this verse, were in the spiritual sense, and referring to false doctrines. When you put your first love, which is the Word of God, aside for heathen traditions then you are marrying the daughter of a strange God [verse eleven]. False gods are the traditions of men that make void the Word of God. When you do this, God will have nothing to do with you. Malachi 2:14 "Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant." God's judgment will start with the false minister. The "wife of the covenant" is the truth within God's Word, from cover to cover. The sad part in these end days is that the priests and ministers have taken up false doctrine, and through traditions have allowed God's Word to fall by the way side. They make void the Word of God, and The heavenly Father is witnessing their church play, as they go whoring after Satan's one world system of indoctrination. You simply can not blend and mix any of God's Word with heathen doctrine, or customs, and expect God's blessing upon you. It is like using a cup of dirty dish water in your baking, when the recipe calls for a cup of water. "The covenant", whether it be the Old Covenant [Old Testament], or the New Covenant [New Testament]; it is a contract between you and God. These covenants are the promises God has made between Himself, and His children. In some cases there are conditions, and in most other cases, there are no conditions. You and I simply can not change any part of that promise, or it becomes void to us. God is true to that covenant. Malachi 2:15 And did not He make one? Yet had He the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth." Though many critics try to confuse this verse, over the words, "make one", God is referring to when He took the two, Adam and Eve, and made the "twain one flesh" in Genesis 1:24. "And wherefore one?" God is asking us; and what did that one [Abraham] do who [was] seeking a seed of God? [Genesis 21:12]". The next logical question must then be; "Was Abraham faithless to Sarah, and did he mistreat her when he took an additional wife?" You and your wife are one flesh, and your children are part of that one flesh, through the umbilical cord. This thought is continuing the subject from the prior verse, which hasn't changed. In a spiritual sense "the wife" of God's youth is "Israel". God is giving a warning here to us which is, "let none deal treacherously against Israel", the wife of His youth. That is specifically the Israel that God made His covenant with, which are the ten tribes of the "House of Israel", that were conquered by Assyria in 722 B.C. They went through the Caucasus mountains, and settled Western Europe, and on to the Americas. They were the ones known as "Caucasians" by race, and include the U.S.A. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, the divorcement between God and the old "House of Israel" was over. For through repentance God's grace is extended back to them. However, the covenant promises given by God to Abraham and continuing to his seed [offspring] were never done away with. "Take heed to your spirit" may leave you asking, what spirit? Each of us are made up of body, soul, and spirit. The body is made up in two parts, the flesh body, and a soul body which is also called the spiritual body. The flesh body will die, and decompose to the earthly elements, whereas your spiritual body will not. Ecclesiastes 12:7 tells us that when the physical body goes back to the "dust of the earth", then your spiritual body goes back to God. Only God can destroy your spiritual body, and it will not happen until after the Great white throne judgment. [Revelation 20:11-15] The soul and the spirit are inseparable, because the soul is the house for your spirit. Your spirit is the intellect of your soul, and your soul is "yourself". Your soul and spirit are one. In this fifteenth verse, God is telling us "watch out for your intellect." How do you do that? You think with your intellect, for it is called "common sense". When we listen to others, we are to apply God's word and discern the truth from the lies being put forth today. God is telling us to "STOP, THINK AND MEDITATE before we act. Malachi 2:16 "For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away: "for one covereth violence with his garment," saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously." "Putting away", in the Hebrew text, means divorce. God is saying to us, "I hate divorce". We have to apply the custom of marriage to understand what is said here. "For one covereth violence with his garment," is an expression used to show that when a man takes a woman for his wife, that garment of marriage can cover a multitude of sins. This verse is dealing with a marriage between God and Israel [you and I], and the relationship within that marriage. It is a warning to us to "take heed" that we not let our spirit [mind and thought] drift to far from His Word. In doing so, your actions will cause you to act "treacherously", or better translated "faithlessly". Malachi 2:17 "Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, "Wherein have we wearied Him?" When ye say, "Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them;" or, "Where is the God of judgment?" There is a lot of hurt that comes upon all members of a family when a divorce takes place, and now relate that to our Heavenly Father, when He had to put away His wife "Israel" for her sins. God is talking in an earthly sense, whereby we can understand when He says, "This hurts Me". We want to keep our spirits in tune with God, and that can only be done through the study of God's Word, and then will His spirit [the Holy Spirit] and our spirits be in agreement. When we read with understanding, and then communicate with our Heavenly Father, He will hear our requests. We are in the final generation of this earth age, and this prophecy is directed to you and I today. The world today, including most denominations, are trying to con God, as they play their abominations and call it "of God". They protect the filthy practice of Sodomy, the traditions of heathen customs and worship, and their fly away doctrine, and then call it "Of God". They call good, bad, and evil works, good. They play, pretend church. As the world continues today in their speedily fall into Satanic worship [the church included], they mock God, and say "where is the God of judgment"? Not only do they not believe their is a God, they can't even imagine a judgment. They have trained their minds [spirit] to be dead to the Holy Spirit of God. "Reason" has become the limits of their god, and what ever God is to them, their god must fit the limits of their understanding. They set the conditions that they have made for their god. Our national leaders today practice this in detail, as they continue to break down everything that is right, and Holy, and Godly. They hold God in contempt, and use Him only as a tool for carrying out the dismantling of our nation. This warning of God is to "TAKE HEED", and it is for you and I who trust in God and live by His Word, and not to them. This is an individual thing, between you and God; that is between your spirit and God's Spirit [the Holy Spirit]. It is time for each of us to wake up and use our minds, study His Word, so that at His judgment we will not be ashamed.
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