MALACHI SERIES 3: GOD’S FIRST CHARGE OF SIN (1:6-2:9) I. GOD’S LOVE FOR JACOB (1:1-5) II. GOD’S FIRST CHARGE OF SIN (1:6-2:9) A. THE SIN OF THE PRIESTS (1:6-14) B. THE CHASTENING OF THE PRIESTS (2:1-9) 1. The Threat of Curse (vv. 1-3) 2. The Reminder of Covenant (vv. 4-9)

a. The character of the covenant (vv. 4-5) b. The character of the messenger (vv. 6-7) c. The contrast of the priests (vv. 8-9) a. The character of the covenant (vv. 4-5)  Read Mal 2:4-5.

 The general sense of v. 4 is that God sent His commandment to the priests so that, by taking it to heart, the Levitical priesthood might continue. ~ “Then you shall know” – Ezek 15:7 ~ often used where God expects His people to respond to an experience of either His goodness (e.g., Ex 16:12) or His judgment (e.g., Ex 7:17).

 In this case, knowledge here is not simply an intellectual exercise – they were to know by the painful experience of consequence.  “,,, that My covenant may continue with Levi…” ~ mentioned only here and in Neh 13:29  What was the covenant with Levi? ~ The priests were chosen from the tribe of Levi (see Deut 21:5). ~ The Levites became God’s ministers.

 The life of the nation of Israel nation is presented as a model of a blessing/curse progression. ~ God is calling the priests to move back to the blessed position they once enjoyed but lost through their departure from the obligations placed on them.  Read Mal 2:5. ~ This is an allusion to the covenant God made with Phinehas through Moses in Num 25:12-13.

 God then describes the promises and also the conditions of the covenant. ~ His covenant with Levi included the promise of “life and peace”. ~ It also included the condition (v. 5b) – the “object of reverence” being God who expects reverence from those He enters a covenant with.  Read Mal 2:5c. ~ See Num 25:1-8 (also Ps 106:28-31).

~ A second term for reverence (“stood in awe”) emphasizes this attitude. ~ In Num 25:13, God confirmed this.  “Life and peace” were gifts from God to obedient persons. ~ These blessings: the result of a total commitment to the commandmentsof God (e.g., Deut 4:40; Prov 3:1-2).

 How great the contrast with that of the priestly contemporaries of Malachi! ~ These priests deceived themselves in claiming the privileges of the covenant, while neglecting its conditions, as if God were bound by it to bless them, while they were free from all the obligation which it imposed to serve Him.

~ The covenant is said to be not merely “of life and peace,” but really “life and peace” in itself, for the keeping of God’s law is its own reward (Ps 19:11).  WHAT IS SAID HERE OF THE COVENANT OF PRIESTHOOD, IS TRUE OF THE COVENANT OF GRACE MADE WITH ALL TRUE BELIEVERS, AS SPIRITUAL PRIESTS.

~ It is a covenant of life and peace, assuring all believers of all true joy and blessedness, both in this world and in that to come.