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Friday, September 2, 2016

We Belong To ONE GOD in Body and Spirit




Malachi 2:1-17 NIV








Additional Warning to the Priests








1“And now, you priests, this warning is for you. 

2If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor MY Name,” 


Says The LORD ALMIGHTY



“I Will Send a curse on you, and I Will Curse your blessings. Yes, I Have Already Cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor ME.


3“Because of you I Will Rebuke your descendantsa ; I Will Smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. 4And you will know that I Have Sent you this warning so that MY Covenant with Levi may continue,” 

Says The LORD ALMIGHTY. 



5“MY Covenant was with him, a Covenant of life and peace, and I Gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered ME and stood in awe of MY Name. 6True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with ME in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.


7“For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of The LORD ALMIGHTY and people seek instruction from his mouth. 







 8But 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. 



9“So I Have Caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed MY Ways but have shown partiality in matters of the Law.”






Breaking Covenant Through Divorce




10Do we not all have One FATHER? Did Not ONE GOD Create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?






11Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the Sanctuary The LORD Loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god. 12As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may The LORD Remove him from the tents of Jacobc —even though he brings an offering to The LORD ALMIGHTY.


13Another thing you do: You flood The LORD'S Altar with tears. You weep and wail Because HE No Longer Looks with Favor on your offerings or Accepts them with Pleasure from your hands. 14You ask, “Why?” It is because The LORD Is The Witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.


15Has Not The ONE GOD Made You? You belong to HIM in body and spirit. And What Does The ONE GOD Seek? Godly offspring.d So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.


16“The man who hates and divorces his wife,” 

Says The LORD, The GOD of Israel,



“does violence to the one he should protect,”


Says The LORD ALMIGHTY.






So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.










Breaking Covenant Through Injustice




17You 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?”








Malachi 2





2:1-9 What is here said of the Covenant of priesthood, is true of the Covenant of Grace made with all believers, as spiritual priests. It is a Covenant of life and peace; it assures all believers of all happiness, both in this world and in that to come.


It is an honor to GOD'S servants to be employed as HIS messengers. The priest's lips should not keep knowledge from HIS people, but keep it for them. The people are all concerned to know the Will of The LORD. We must not only consult the Written WORD, but also desire instruction and advice from GOD'S messengers, in the affairs of our souls.


Ministers must exert themselves to the utmost for the conversion of sinners; and even among those called Israelites, there are many to be turned from iniquity. Those ministers are likely to turn men from sin who preach sound doctrine, and live holy lives according to the Scripture. Many departed from this way; thus they misled the people. Such as walk with GOD in peace and righteousness, and turn others from sin honor GOD; HE Will Honor them.



2:10-17 Corrupt practices are the fruit of corrupt principles; and he who is false to his GOD, will not be true to his fellow men. In contempt of the marriage covenant, which GOD Instituted, the Jews put away the wives they had of their own nation, probably to make room for gentile wives. They made their lives bitter to them. 


Consider she is your own wife the nearest relation you have in the world. The wife is to be looked on, not as a servant, but as a companion to the husband. There is an oath of GOD between them, which is not to be broken. Husband and wife should continue to their lives' end, in holy love and peace. Did Not GOD Make one, one Eve for one Adam?


Why Did HE Make but one woman for one man? It was that the children might be made a seed to serve HIM. Husbands and wives must live in the fear of GOD, that their seed may be a godly seed. The GOD of Israel Says that HE Hates putting away. Those who would be kept from sin, must take heed to their spirits, for there all sin begins. Men will find that their wrong conduct in their families springs from selfishness, which disregards the welfare and happiness of others, when opposed to their own passions and fancies.


It is wearisome to GOD To Hear people justify themselves in wicked practices. Those who think GOD Can Be a friend to sin, affront HIM, and deceive themselves. The scoffers said, “Where is The GOD of Judgment?”  But The Day of The LORD Will Come upon them.







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