Malachi 2

To be a priest in the Old Covenant was a very important position. The existence of this class of mediators between God and men was a testimony to the distance that existed between the Lord and His own people. They could not simply enter into His presence. They had to respect the methods that God had established for communion between Him in all His holiness and the people He loved in all their sinfulness. The priest was a part of that system. The people needed to bring their offerings to God in accord with the established ceremonial law, but they could not go to God directly. They brought the appropriate sacrifice to the priest, who then approached the Lord on behalf of the worshipper.

There were some severe limitations with this system which made it less than ideal. First, the sacrifices could not ultimately take away sin, since an animal could not bear the burden of human guilt. Second, the man who served as priest had to atone for his own sins through these imperfect means before he could offer up sacrifices for others. In this way it was obvious that the offerings of the people were not the perfect sacrifices and that the ones who served as priests were not the perfect mediators. A holy God would certainly demand a sacrifice without any blemish and a representative who would have the righteousness necessary to stand in the presence of God for others on the strength of His own holiness. The solution to this need could be nothing other than the provision of the perfect Savior who would be both Sacrifice and Priest in accord with the perfect plan of God.

These problems of imperfection in both the sacrificial system and in the priesthood were compounded by the fact that the men who served as priests in the days of Malachi were guilty of serious personal and ceremonial offenses against God that demanded His response. The Lord was aware that these men did not really honor His name. According to the terms of the Sinai Covenant they deserved the curse of God against the people, and not His blessing. The Lord insisted that His judgment would come upon them and their offspring.

It was the Lord's intention to be faithful to His covenant, even though he was fully aware of the sin and disobedience of his people. He had plans for life and peace to come through His priests. They should fear the Lord and stand in awe of His Name. They should teach the people according to His holy word, as those who walked according to the righteousness that they preached. The priests were a grave disappointment in that regard. They should have been guardians of the truth and teachers of the right knowledge of the Lord's Word. When people wanted to know the way to go, they should have been safe bringing their inquiries to the Lord's appointed priests. These men needed to be the Lord's forthright ambassadors, the messengers of the Lord of hosts.

Instead the priests were rightly indicted by God as a group that caused many to stumble by their instruction and their living. They had not held true to the way of the covenant granted to them in the Lord's Word. They were men who had become partial in their judgments and instruction. They were serving themselves rather than the Lord, and were obscuring the unity of the people of God because of their faithlessness. Meanwhile the people were wandering away from the Lord in their devotion to false gods from other nations.

This faithlessness in devotion was expressed in their false ways of treating one another. Within the families of God's people there was much treachery in forgetting the covenant of marriage. Here again, God's plan for His people was one of fruitfulness through the raising of a godly offspring, but the people had chosen the pathway of divorce, sacrificing the blessings that could have been for the coming generations, and choosing their own desires for freedom and pleasure. The Lord of justice calls His people to be faithful to Him and to reflect that faithfulness in their care for their wives and their children. He expects us to care about the obvious difference between what is evil and what is good. He expects His beloved people to guard their spirits from wickedness and to give themselves faithfully to Him and to one another.

When Christ, our faithful priest and teacher came to atone for our sins, He came not only as the Lord's messenger. God also revealed His Son to be a Husband. He did what Israel and her priests would not do. He was true to His covenant word and faithful to His pledge of love. He demonstrated the sincerity of His commitment through His death on the cross. Even beyond that death, He now lives forever as our faithful High Priest, and He is sanctifying His church as His holy bride. As those who trust His faithfulness, it is ours to distinguish daily between that which is good and that which is evil. This is not legalism or moralism. It is the appropriate response of a grateful bride to the most heart-warming actions of covenant faithfulness by our perfect Husband, the great Man of grace, who has proven Himself as the true holy Sacrifice, and the only acceptable Mediator between God and man.