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| 1 ¶ The burden of the
word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
.2 I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, .3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. |
1
- Malachi The name means "my messenger." He was a messenger
for the people of his time. In 3:1 he writes of two other messengers, the
first taking his role of preparing people and the second, the One for whom
preparation was made.
2 - Loved you The Lord's opening statement and His attitude toward Israel and toward us. 2 - Wherein hast thou loved us? Since the statement of love is given with the response heard we may see this as a literary statement. The Lord is revealing their challenging question. They were like Laodicea re0318f. Similar little dialogue appear in the book as the Lord touches on the various elements of the rebellion of His professed people. |
| .2
I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?
Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
.3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. |
3
- Hated Esau This sounds like Esau had no chance or, worse,
that God just doesn't love some people. Of course that isn't the case ro0508.
Let's read carefully. In v2 The Lord emphasizes that Jacob and Esau were
brothers. His point is that each had the same opportunity. God is the source
of light and happiness — the source of life. By rejecting life, we choose
death and the wrath that God doesn't want to pour out 2pe0309.
ps13921.
Hatred is to be taken in little different sense than we normally think
of it. We are told to fear the Lord, but not because He has lost His temper
and wants to hurt us ez3311.
God's "hatred" is similar. Esau refused the merciful love of God and God
must, in justice, reluctantly give him the wages of the sin he chose
ro0623.
So it would be for those Malachi addressed and, according to our choice,
to us. Compare de2115.
Dragons Rather, "jackals." ps04419. |
| 4 Whereas Edom saith,
We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places;
thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down;
and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against
whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel. |
Edom
The people or land of Esau; also another name for Esau ge2530.They
were the symbol of those who hated God. Compare v3. See on Edom at
nu2014.
Return and build The people Malachi addressed had returned from exile. Nehemiah had encouraged them. When He left, they fell into apostasy. He would come again. Malachi wrote those living in the period of his long absence. Edomites would fail if they were to attempt rebuilding where God had cursed. Malachi's people were acting like such Edomites. Indignation forever Edom represents the wicked. This does not mean that individual people who love and honor God would be rejected. From the borders Literally, "above the borders" probably meaning beyond them, the the world. |
| .6
¶ A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I
be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear?
saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name.
.And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? 7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. 8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. 9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts. |
6
- Honor-fear This means reverence. Modern worship styles
tend to lose sight of how we relate to the eternal God of the universe.
6 - Priests despise The spiritual leaders who honored God with their words, despised Him with their corrupted worship. 7 - Polluted bread Or "polluted food." See le2317. 7 - Table The bronze altar for sacrifices was not really a table. The table here is apparently part of a metaphor where the Lord is to be honored by servants who bring food (bread) to Him. 8 - Blind See le2220. 8 - Offer it unto thy Governor A human political leader would reject such a meal, yet they were presenting it to the Lord of hosts v9. 8 - Accept thy person Literally, "lift up your faces." Meaning to receive with favor. |
| .10
Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither
do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you,
saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
.11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. 13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. .14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. |
10
- Shut the doors Better translated: "Oh, that there were
one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire
upon my altar in vain! . . ." (RSV)
11 - My name ... great among Gentiles The mission of Israel would be carried out in spite of their profanity and pollution. Through Daniel God had announced 70 weeks of years as probation for the Jewish people as a nation, a symbolic week being seven literal years da0924. Then the gospel would go the the world with or without them. Also lu1940. 11 - In every place is1918f, zp0211. 12 - Profaned [my name] This is forbidden by the third commandment ex2007. Here we see that they have not fulfilled their commission. 14 - Dreadful A better word is "feared" in the sense of expressing awesome reverence or fear. |
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