The Mercy of Warning
This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.
How do you respond to warnings? How do I respond to warnings? How do we respond to warnings? How do you respond to correction? It is sort of the great test, I believe, of our spiritual condition. It is. How do we respond when someone brings to us warnings that are truthful? How do we respond? How do we react? What do we do with them?
Do you see truthful warnings as a mercy? Do you see them as expressions of love? Are you thankful for them? Someone comes to you, they correct you, they warn you, we might even say that they call you to repentance, bringing the Word of God to bear upon your conscience, upon your heart. Are you thankful for this? Would you be thankful? Do you receive those warnings? Do you take them to heart? Do you submit to them? Do you act in obedience toward what you have received, or do you scoff at them, dismiss them, push back?
Does correction make you angry? Do you find that you stiffen your neck at correction? Do you find that you dispute with those warnings, defending yourself, regardless of how accurate those warnings are, regardless of how much danger you are actually in? Do you find yourself resisting? Proverbs 29:1, you're familiar with this verse, it is fitting to refer to it, says this: "A man who hardens his neck after much reproof"—again and again and again and again, reproof, reproof, reproof, hardens his neck—"Will suddenly be broken beyond healing." This is quite a warning, isn't it? That if you just won't be taught, if you are not teachable, if you just won't listen, one day the result is the kind of brokenness that cannot be fixed. It's without remedy.
This is one reason why I think many people have misunderstood the warning passages of the New Testament. And people wonder, they wonder why would God warn people about apostasy, about the loss of their soul? Why would He warn people whom He has saved, who are eternally secure? Aren't warnings wasted on people whom the Lord has saved? Well, of course, the answer is no. And the reason why those warnings are not wasted is precisely because God has made them, through salvation, He's made them a people, He's made us a people who heed His warnings as a result of the new birth.
That is to say, warnings are always effective in the lives of saved people. Now, we don't perfectly heed God's warnings, but if indeed you know the Lord Jesus Christ, He has made you the kind of person who consistently listens to His corrections. That's the pattern. That's the direction of your life. So we can say it this way again: the sheep hear His voice. They hear the voice of their Shepherd.
And so the warnings that God gives in the New Testament, they actually serve to preserve the people of God. They're saved, they're secure, they're kept, and part of the means is that they heed the warnings that God places in Scripture.
We listen to them so we stay out of those danger zones and we keep our feet on the pathway of peace. Not so with the unregenerate. Not so with the unbeliever. The wicked refuses God's warnings. The wicked rebel at them. The wicked rail against them, mock them, protest the justice of them. So what do you do with warnings?
The last time we were in Malachi, we saw together that Yahweh, Yahweh of hosts, brought an indictment. And His indictments are 100% accurate. The verdict is guilty. So last time we saw that Yahweh of hosts brought an indictment. He indicts the people, He indicts the priests, priests and people, for their irreverence. They do not give honor to His name, and their irreverence, you remember, is put on display in the way they're handling the sacrifices, what the people are bringing, what the priests are accepting and actually putting on the altar as an offering to Yahweh of hosts.
Offerings that clearly we saw together violated the clear instructions from the law of God. They were bringing lame animals, blind animals, defective animals, stolen animals, and offering them to God. They're offering to God what they wouldn't even offer to a human governor. And then when confronted by the indictment of God that says, "You are dishonoring My name," they had the audacity to ask, "Well, how have we dishonored You? How have we despised You? How have we defiled Your altar?" They were utterly blind to the weightiness of their disobedience, utterly oblivious.
Well, now we come to the second chapter, and there is a shift. He goes here from indictment to warning, indictment to warning. And though both people and priests were under the indictment of God, this warning zeroes in particularly on the priests as they were emphasized in the indictment because they have a greater responsibility in the sense that they were meant by God to lead the people of God in a different direction. They were supposed to give instruction to the people of God, point them in the right direction. The people's irreverence, as we saw together, is simply reflective of the priests' irreverence. The people were reflecting the priests, and the priests were misleading the people.
So now in chapter 2, Yahweh brings a warning to these priests. He warns them about what is coming if they will not repent. So this evening together, verses 1 through 9, chapter 2, what we're going to see together as we study this portion of the Word of God, we're going to see three aspects of this warning from God.
I want us to see three aspects of this warning from God, and as we look at these aspects of God's warning to the priests particularly, we're going to ask ourselves: How do we respond to God's warning, right? How do we respond to God's warnings? How do we respond to correction? How do we respond to rebuke? How do we respond when the Word of God indicts our sins? What's our reaction? What's our reaction when a Nathan is sent by God to say, "You're the man, you're the woman"?
The first thing to point out from our verses tonight is this. We see that this is, number one, a targeted warning. So this is a targeted warning. We see that in verse 1. Look at verse 1 with me: "And now this commandment is for”—you see it—”you” –And just in case they didn't get it, “O priests”, I'm talking to you priests. I mean, you just can't get more pointed than that, can you? This is not like using a shotgun. This is using a laser scope. There's precision. This is bullseye.
It's one thing to hear the warnings of God in general terms. You know, you just sit and you listen in on God's warnings and that's weighty enough. Of course it is weighty enough, but when God puts your name on it—I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you—it's a reason to pause and shudder and listen, "now this commandment is for you, O priests." Wow.
And what comes from God here carries the force of law. It's a command in the sense of a charge. God is revealing what He has purposed to do, what He has determined to do, and it's absolutely inescapable if they don't listen to Him. So they better listen. They better take heed. This charge is for you. It's a targeted warning.
Which leads us now to the second place, to this second heading. Not only is it a targeted warning, it is a terrifying warning. And that is verses 2 to 4: "If you do not listen, and if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," says Yahweh of hosts,” – having just revealed how they dishonored Him, you remember what He's calling for. What is He calling for? He's calling for repentance here. He's calling for repentance.
"If you do not listen," – verse 2 – "and if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," says Yahweh of hosts, "then I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings and indeed, I have cursed them already because you're not setting it upon your heart. Behold, I am going to rebuke your seed, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts, and you will be taken away with it. Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi," says Yahweh of hosts.”
That is a terrifying word from God. A terrifying word from God. And yet, listen carefully, beloved, and yet, do you see the mercy that's present here? Do you see it? It's here. In this word of warning, this terrifying warning, it really bound up in it, you have mercy. Because this warning, beloved, is presented with contingent language. It is presented with contingent language.
“If you” – look at the text, verse 2, – "If you do not listen," well, what if they do listen? Right? What if they do listen? And, "if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," well, what if they do? What if they do set it upon their heart? The very way that God words this holds open, doesn't it? It holds open the possibility of repentance. What is God doing? Look at the goodness of God. Look at the lovingkindness of God. God is revealing to them a way of escape. He's revealing to them a way of escape.
Here's the judgment that's coming, but I want you to be aware that you can escape it. You can. You can escape it by listening, by heeding. You can escape it by setting it upon your heart, by setting upon your heart what I've been talking to you about. If you will listen to Me, then what I'm warning you about can be averted. The language concerning setting it upon the heart is really, is language used in Hebrew to determine a course of action in response to one's knowledge, awareness of something. In other words, God is giving them truth, calling them for a change of course, a change of action.
If you've been headed down one road, it's a road of destruction, it's the wrong road, it will lead you to death, I'm calling upon you now to turn around. In other words, to repent. Turn around. Change your mind, and change your heart, and change your ways. You could do that, and this can be avoided. And yet, even though repentance is possible, you can see the grace of God and the mercy of God in this, and even though repentance is possible, God here giving voice to the spiritual condition of these people, that indicates that repentance in this case, in their case, is not probable.
Why? Because they've already demonstrated where their hearts are at. "If you do not listen, and if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," says Yahweh of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings." Now notice, "and indeed, I have cursed them already because you are not setting it upon your heart." I've already cursed them, the blessings that is, taking them away.
In what sense? In what sense? Well, what is He saying? Well, it's possible that what God means here is they've already begun to feel the repercussions of their sinning and their stubbornness. He's already visited them in a way that has affected things like their crops, and their health, and their well-being. They're already feeling the weight of God's disciplining hand, the rod of God's chastening. They're already experiencing the result of their sin.
Could mean that, or it could also mean that these curses are already as good as on their way. God has already, as it were, unleashed them, sent them forth, haven't arrived yet. They're certainly going to arrive, and the reason why they've been unleashed is because the people will not lay to heart what God has been saying to them. They dug in their heels and they stiffened their neck, and they said, we won't listen. They will not repent of their sins. These priests.
Now when He says that they're cursed, it's because they violated God's covenant with His people. When God was going over the covenant with His people, as they were about to enter the promised land, He made very clear that He was giving them the land they were entering into, and there were promises of blessings and warnings, promises about curses, depending upon whether or not the people would genuinely follow Him, obey Him.
Keep in mind in all of this, and this is something we always have to be mindful of, the issue was not perfection. It's not. Not this side of Heaven. The issue was genuineness, faithfulness, loyalty to God, loyalty to the covenant. Bottom line, the issue was their heart.
So when God says, when He speaks here about curses, He's wanting to have passages like Deuteronomy 28 ringing in their ears, calling these things to mind, reminding them of what He had told them long before. Turn with me to Deuteronomy 28 for a minute. Deuteronomy 28:1. I just want us to see the force of what God is saying here, and He wants this to really be ringing in their minds. He says:
"Now it will be, if you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you will listen to the voice of Yahweh your God: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body, and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, and the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. Yahweh shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways. Yahweh will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you send forth your hand to do, and He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. Yahweh will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and walk in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of Yahweh, and they will be afraid of you. And Yahweh will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body in the offspring of your beasts in the produce of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. Yahweh will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And Yahweh will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I am commanding you today, to keep and to do, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or to the left, and to walk after other gods and to serve them."
Let's stop here for now. He's just talking about the covenant, the covenant loyalty, and what a promise. God says, I'm going to bless you in every way you can imagine. I'm going to surround you with blessings. My favor is going to be upon you. I'm going to shower My blessings upon you. God says, I'm going to bless you in every way you can imagine, if you listen to Me, if you walk with Me, if you obey My voice, if you're loyal to Me, if you're faithful to Me.
Verse 15: "But it will be, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep and to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you." Now, I'm not going to read the rest of the section. You can read it in your own time, but God goes through and details those curses. He details them, and they are absolutely fearful. They are frightful.
And here in our study in chapter 2 of Malachi, God is saying that due to their dishonoring of His name, if they will not turn, if they will not heed, if they will not listen, if they will not repent, He will dispatch, He will send, He will let loose these curses. "I will send the curse upon you," – verse 2 – "and I will curse your blessings.” I will take them away. Indeed, I have already cursed them.
Again, either they're already beginning to feel the weight of His disciplining hand—and there's some indications throughout the book that that's the case—or He's saying it's as good as it's on its way because you have not taken what I'm telling you into your heart.
What does God say they're going to experience due to the dishonoring of His name and their lack of repentance? He says, number 1—look at verse 3, Malachi 2—"I'm going to rebuke your seed." I'm going to rebuke your seed. "Behold, I am going to rebuke your seed," says the Lord. Now, some commentators understand this to refer to their crops. They take "seed" in the sense of an agricultural sense. You find that in the ESV and the NASB. They understand this in that sense of the offspring of these priests, not the crops.
The priests were then warned—one commentator put it this way—of a rebuke that would fall against their seed. Seed referred to grain or to physical descendants. The following threat of the removal of the priest from office makes the latter option more probable. So, the latter one is more probable with reference to the offspring. If indeed God is talking about their offspring, He's saying to them, I'm not going to allow the priesthood to continue along these lines. This is not what I intend priests to be. And if you don't repent, I'll clear you out, and your descendants will feel the repercussions of your sinful acts and your sinful attitudes.
But not only will He rebuke their seed—and I believe it's beyond crops—but He says He's going to dispose of these priests. Look at verse 3. Look at the language: "and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it." He's going to spread refuse on their faces, the refuse of their offerings, and He's going to lift them up. He's going to take them away with the dung of their offerings.
Do you think God is serious about the honor of His name? Do you think He takes lightly our dishonoring His name, trifling with His name? Bound up in that name is all of the attributes of God, the characteristics of God.
I mean, this is about as graphic as you can get. What He's talking about when He talks about refuse is He's talking about those parts of the animal sacrifices, including the internal organs that held undigested waste. These were the parts of the sacrifices that were to be taken away and burnt, not to be placed upon the altar. They were disposed of, taken outside so as to not to defile the worship context. And God says, I'm going to take these things that defile, and I'm going to spread them on your face. You dishonor My name, you're going to feel the weight of dishonor. I'm going to spread the dung on your face, I'm going to lift you up along with the dung of your offerings, and I'm going to dispose of you on the dung pile.
Are you listening yet, if you're a priest? As it were, God is saying, are you listening? He's going to dispose of these priests. Why? Because He's going to uphold His purpose for the priesthood, verse 4. "Then you will know that I've sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi," says Yahweh of Hosts.”
I will be faithful, in other words, to My purpose for the priesthood. I'm not going to allow you to go on in the way in which you are going. I'm not going to leave you to continue to do what you're doing. I'm not going to allow you to make a mockery of what the Levitical priesthood is to be. I'm going to cause My covenant with Levi to stand. And if that means you have to go, then you have to go.
So this is a targeted warning, but it is also a terrifying warning, which leads us in the third place, verses 5 through 9, and we need to see this is also a justified warning. A justified warning. Not only a targeted warning, but a justified warning. Not only a terrifying warning, but a justified warning. A justified warning.
Are you tempted to argue with the warnings that come from God? Are you tempted to justify yourself? Do you find yourself resisting correction? Do you want to insist that it's not really you, or you're not really guilty of what God is saying? Well, just as He did in chapter 1, God is ready to lay it out, to spell it out. What justifies these terrifying words?
Number one, this is justified, first of all, by God's history with the priests. This is justified by God's history with the priests. When you take what God meant for the priesthood to be historically, what He meant for the priesthood to be historically, then you compare it with what these men are doing and being, it becomes clear that these warnings are justified.
Verse 5, "My covenant with Him was one of life and peace," – talking about the covenant that God has set placed with Levi. "My covenant with Him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as something to be feared; so he feared Me and stood in awe of My name. Instruction of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity."
Now, what Yahweh does here, He reaches back in history and He says, of this one whom He's describing, this is what a priest was meant to be. Well, the question is, who exactly is He referring to? He mentions Levi by name, verse 4, but He talks about a covenant, and so it's difficult to know exactly what covenant Malachi is giving voice to, and the way that that is described to us makes us think that perhaps what is going on here is this.
The reference to Levi is a reference to the tribe, and the specific covenants being referred to is a covenant that God has made with Phineas, who was a Levite, and it was a covenant made at a very strategic time in Israel's history. Turn with me, if you would, to Numbers 25, and let's remember Phineas for a moment.
Numbers 25:1, we read, "And Israel remained in Shittim, and the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.” – You know, one of the ways that was really attempted to destroy Israel was through intermarriage, idolatry, and so the people are beginning to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.
Verse 2, "Indeed they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel. And Yahweh said to Moses, 'Take all who are the heads of the people and execute them in broad daylight before Yahweh, so that the burning anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.'"
I mean, their actions are calling for judgment—swift judgment, decisive judgment—to avert the plague from God.
In verse 5, "So Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Each of you kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.' Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought near to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel.”
I mean, you talk about sinning—this is high-handed, blatant, brazen sin. Right in front of Moses, right in front of everybody, he brings this Moabite to his family. Notice the end of verse 6: "while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, so he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the men of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. Then the plague of the sons of Israel was checked.”
What a scene! To understand what is going on here—I mean, he shares, this man shares the jealousy of God. Phinehas, for His people. God hated the sin, Phinehas hated the sin. God was ready to judge, Phinehas carried out the judgment. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.
Verse 9, "So those who died by the plague were 24,000." Now it's not mentioned till right here in the text, but with this in, there was an outbreak of curses from God, and that's what the indication—I mean, the people were suffering as a result, and by Phinehas’ action that plague was stopped.
Verse 10, look at it: "Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the sons of Israel in My jealousy.' Therefore, say, 'Behold,” – now notice – “I give him My covenant of peace.'" Notice the language: "and it shall be for him and his seed after him, a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel."
The act was so significant—Phinehas’ act—that in Psalm 106, we have the psalmist giving voice to the confession of sin on behalf of the nation. Verse 28 of Psalm 106: "Then they joined themselves to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their actions, And the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interceded, and so the plague was checked. And it was counted to him for righteousness from generation to generation forever."
It's interesting, in Psalm 106, the word "interceded" is the Hebrew word ‘pâlal’, which means interposed or mediated. What is that? That's the work of a priest. He served in the role of a priest for the people. He acted in a way that there could be peace between a holy God and sinful man, God and Israel. This is what God intended for priests to be—men of integrity, men of holiness, men of godly jealousy.
And as our text says, look back to Malachi chapter 2. If indeed this is a reference to Phinehas, God says in verse 5, "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as something to be feared; so he feared Me and stood in awe of My name.Instruction of truth" – verse 6, –"was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity." So that's what the priest is meant to be.
But if it's not Phinehas particularly that God is speaking of—if it's Aaron—then likely this is a way of referring, when He talks about His covenant with Levi, this is a way of referring to the many times throughout the Old Testament when God sent forth His purpose for the Levitical priesthood. Either way, let me put it this way: Phinehas acted in keeping with what should have been the Levitical example. Phinehas acted in keeping with what should have been, and was in fact, the example of Aaron.
Do you know there's a history in the Old Testament of Levites intervening to put a stop to plagues? It was the tribe of Levi, you remember, that acted to intervene at the time of the golden calf incident in Exodus 32. Look over at Exodus 32:25. This is all really relevant. Moses, Exodus 32:25—Moses up on the mountain comes down, and you remember you have the golden calf incident.
Verse 25, well, Aaron failed, you remember, on that occasion. But notice what happens next. Verse 26, so Aaron failed on that occasion in verse 25. Verse 26: "so Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, 'Whoever is for Yahweh, come to me!' And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him."
Verse 27: "And he said to them, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "Every man among you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp,” – and notice now, – “kill every man his brother and every man his friend and every man his neighbor."'
What is God calling them to do? He's calling them to a loyalty to Yahweh that is stronger than your loyalty to family or friend or familiarity. God above all else. “So the sons of Levi”, – verse 28 – "did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, "Be ordained today to Yahweh –for every man has been against his son and against his brother– in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today."
Maybe then it's this sort of statement on the part of God that Malachi is referring to. So when it came to the golden calf, the Levites intervened, and the plague is put away. And of course, we can't forget Korah's rebellion, right? It was Aaron who acted, who intervened, and put a stop to the plague sent by God.
Let's go back to Numbers 16, and this is incredible. Numbers 16:46: "And Moses said to Aaron, 'Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from Yahweh, the plague has begun!' Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.”
God sends a plague at the time of the golden calf incident. The Levites intervened. The plague is checked, put away. God sends a plague. Aaron steps in at the time of Korah's rebellion, atones for the people. The plague is put away.
And what Phinehas did was in keeping with the faithful in his tribe's history. You can see the pattern. So whether this reference is to Phinehas or to Aaron, God—and here's the point—is telling us something very important here. He's telling us that the men who rightly represent Him are men of spiritual integrity, loyalty, faithfulness. This is what priests are meant to be. Men who fear His name, who fear Yahweh their God, who stand in awe of His name, whose teaching can be trusted.
Verse 6, Malachi 2: "Instruction of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity." And what a contrast. What a contrast this is, where you have these men from the tribe of Levi who are used by God to turn away the wrath of God, and here you have priests living in a way that invites the wrath of God. What a contrast. God's warnings are justified because of the history of what priests are meant to be versus what these men during Malachi's time are.
Let me ask you this evening, do you think God will allow men to make a mockery of ministry assignment? Do you think today—let's now take a step out of these lessons, that these lessons were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived, 1 Corinthians 10:11, let's take a step out of that context for a moment, and let's step into our context and ask yourself this question: will God, who has given to men today ministry assignments, leadership, responsibility, will He allow us to make a mockery of what our office is intended to be?
And by way of extension, we can talk about our role as royal priesthood, as believers. Beloved, God is patient. God is patient. He's long-suffering, and thank God He's patient, but He loves us too much to allow us to dishonor His name without repentance. Justified because of the history of the priest, but also in the second place, justified—these warnings are justified also because of His purpose for the priesthood. His purpose for the priesthood.
Look at verse 7. Now He moves from history to what He designed. Verse 7: "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts." The priest had three basic responsibilities. Three basic responsibilities.
Responsibility number one: they offered sacrifices for the people, and in that sense, they served as a mediator between God and men. Number two: they also interceded for the people in prayer. That included also announcing blessings from God upon the people, so they would give voice to God's blessings upon the people. And thirdly, they taught the people. They taught the people. They were meant to be teachers of the law of God, teachers of the Word of God, and in that way, their mouth was to keep, to preserve the knowledge that had come to the people of God.
In other words, people should be able to come to them and seek instruction, and that instruction should be true because it is in keeping with the Word of God. This is what priests were meant to do. This is what priests were meant to be.
But notice what they've become. Verse 8. Look at what they've become. This is the third reason it's justified. Justified because of priestly history. Justified because of priestly purpose. Thirdly, justified because, in this case, of priestly perversion. This is what they've become. Perverted.
"But as for you," – verse 8 – "you've turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi," says Yahweh of hosts.” This is what you've done. These priests have failed miserably.
And how did these men go so far astray? Notice the evidence here. Notice the evidence. The first way they had gone astray was on a personal level. It was on a personal level. Verse 8. They had personally defected. Personally defected. "But as for you," – and God repeats it – "you have turned aside from the way." You. You're responsible. Personally responsible. You have turned aside. You've left the pathway. Your feet. Your feet wandered, have wandered.
This is where it always, always, beloved, goes astray. If you look at the leaders of the people of God, and you, if you witness corruption in the Lord's church, and leaders are involved in that; before you ever witnessed public departure, defection—it was always private defection. Personal defection. And then that personal defection shows up in the public instruction. Don't ever imagine that you can go astray personally and stay on track in terms of what you teach.
By the grace of God, I always remind myself and exhort you to remind yourself that it was God Himself who brought the truth to us. God Himself who brought the truth to us. It was God who shined the light in our minds and our hearts. It is God who gives us the strength to keep seeing the truth. That's why we pray every time we open this book, "God, give me light." It's God who preserves our thinking.
Don't ever imagine that you can defect personally, walk away from the truth on a personal level, and somehow stay on track in terms of your doctrine and your teaching. Eventually, it will catch up. It's never surprising, is it? When you hear someone, for example, pervert the grace of God, turn the grace of God into some sort of liberty to live in dangerous ways, and then you hear about those same people suffering great personal failure in their moral life, in their marriage, in their relationships. Their teaching was simply giving you an insight into what had already been taking place in their own hearts, in their own lives.
And the Lord says in verse 8, “you have caused many to stumble by the instruction”. They've gone astray personally. Then they went astray in their proclamations. This failure began in their personal lives, the personal lives of these priests when they turned aside from the way; "you've turned aside from the way." He says, is an expression, by “the way” that shows godliness to be commitment to a total way of life.
You went off track. Once that way had been abandoned, their public ministry suffered, and instead of turning “many back from iniquity”, as verse 6 says, they “caused many to stumble” by misinterpreting the Word of God. They did the opposite of what they were required to do, called by God to do. God was misrepresented first by their unworthy lives and then by their flawed instructions.
So what do they do? They pervert. It's personal perversion, its public perversion in the form of their instruction. What do they do? They pervert the purpose, the very purpose of the office. Look at verse 8, you make a mockery of what the priesthood is meant to be, and one of the ways they do it is they pervert the ways of justice.
Verse 9, "So I also have made you despised and low before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways” – noticed – “but are showing partiality in the instruction." God's saying so I'm going to make you despised and abased before all the people in as much as you do not keep My ways noticed, “but you show partiality in the instruction”. You see, they turn their office into a way of advancing themselves. And so they show partiality to those who benefit them.
The result is that those who despise God's name—remember that. Back in chapter 1:6, "A son honors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I'm a father, then where is My honor? And if I'm a master, where is the fear of Me? says Yahweh of hosts” O priest, to you, “O priest who despise My name." So what's going on here? Those who despised God's name will now themselves be despised.
Verse 9, "So I also have made you despised and low before all the people." God is saying, What I know about you, what I know about you, I'm going to make the people know about you. I'm going to expose you. Is this a serious warning? But is this a merciful warning?
Beloved, is this a merciful warning? What is God giving these priests an opportunity to do? To be authentic. To be real. He's giving these priests an opportunity to be real. To turn from their sins. To walk in the way of truth. To turn from their mocking of the office. And to embody what is meant for the office.
He's giving them the opportunity, instead of being an instrument for the stumbling of others, they could be an instrument of the rescuing of others. He's giving them the opportunity to avert disaster. He's giving them the opportunity to repent. It was a serious warning. But it's also a merciful warning. The question is, will they hear it?
And may I humbly ask you, and may I humbly ask you, as I had to ask my own heart, will you hear it? Let me press further. In what ways, right now, are you aware that you are being warned? Be specific. It's between you and God. What is going on in your life right now that the Word of God has been addressing you particularly? You.
It may have been through sermons. It may have been through people who love you. It may have been through providential circumstances. You know, those verses that ring in your head as circumstances begin to unfold. As God begins to lay His cards out, as it were. As God begins to let the dominoes fall. And you're feeling the results of your sin and your deviation from the path. And those verses are ringing in your mind.
Where is the Lord warning you? You. And the next question is, will you hear Him? Will you respond with repentance? And obedience? To the God who is more than willing to bless His people if they will honor His name. Remember the Scripture says our God is a God who is by nature forgiving. Do you hear warnings as love? Or do you hate them? Resist them. Reject them. Argue that they don't really pertain to you.
Listen, the Bible says that if you're that kind of a person who is often reproved, that if you're that kind of a person who is often reproved, they continue to stiffen your neck, there will come a day when a brokenness will take place that you can never recover from. If that's you tonight, may you soften your heart. May you open your ears. May you and I not be, God forbid, as stiff-necked people as Israel so often was, but a people who love the Lord their God, who has shown us such marvelous grace.
Remember how this book begins? "I have loved you." Right? That's how it begins. "I have loved you." And what do the people say? "How” – what? How? – “How have You loved us?" Oh, I set My affection upon you. I chose you. I put a circle around you. Aren’t you grateful? Aren’t you grateful, beloved, that there is one priest who was and is the perfect embodiment of faithfulness?
What’s His name? The Lord Jesus Christ. Our great High Priest. And He not only was the offerer of the sacrifice that took our sins away, He Himself, He Himself was the offering. He was both offerer and offering. It’s in Him that we find the forgiveness of all of our sins. It’s in Him that we see what a priest is really meant to be.
So as we think about our own responsibilities and desire to be faithful, may we continue to look to the One who is perfectly faithful, resting in Him and pursuing Him at the same time. Not excusing our sins, because He died for them all, but realizing He died for them all that we might no longer live in them, but live for Him who died for us and gave Himself up for us. May God help us.
Let’s pray.
Do you see truthful warnings as a mercy? Do you see them as expressions of love? Are you thankful for them? Someone comes to you, they correct you, they warn you, we might even say that they call you to repentance, bringing the Word of God to bear upon your conscience, upon your heart. Are you thankful for this? Would you be thankful? Do you receive those warnings? Do you take them to heart? Do you submit to them? Do you act in obedience toward what you have received, or do you scoff at them, dismiss them, push back?
Does correction make you angry? Do you find that you stiffen your neck at correction? Do you find that you dispute with those warnings, defending yourself, regardless of how accurate those warnings are, regardless of how much danger you are actually in? Do you find yourself resisting? Proverbs 29:1, you're familiar with this verse, it is fitting to refer to it, says this: "A man who hardens his neck after much reproof"—again and again and again and again, reproof, reproof, reproof, hardens his neck—"Will suddenly be broken beyond healing." This is quite a warning, isn't it? That if you just won't be taught, if you are not teachable, if you just won't listen, one day the result is the kind of brokenness that cannot be fixed. It's without remedy.
This is one reason why I think many people have misunderstood the warning passages of the New Testament. And people wonder, they wonder why would God warn people about apostasy, about the loss of their soul? Why would He warn people whom He has saved, who are eternally secure? Aren't warnings wasted on people whom the Lord has saved? Well, of course, the answer is no. And the reason why those warnings are not wasted is precisely because God has made them, through salvation, He's made them a people, He's made us a people who heed His warnings as a result of the new birth.
That is to say, warnings are always effective in the lives of saved people. Now, we don't perfectly heed God's warnings, but if indeed you know the Lord Jesus Christ, He has made you the kind of person who consistently listens to His corrections. That's the pattern. That's the direction of your life. So we can say it this way again: the sheep hear His voice. They hear the voice of their Shepherd.
And so the warnings that God gives in the New Testament, they actually serve to preserve the people of God. They're saved, they're secure, they're kept, and part of the means is that they heed the warnings that God places in Scripture.
We listen to them so we stay out of those danger zones and we keep our feet on the pathway of peace. Not so with the unregenerate. Not so with the unbeliever. The wicked refuses God's warnings. The wicked rebel at them. The wicked rail against them, mock them, protest the justice of them. So what do you do with warnings?
The last time we were in Malachi, we saw together that Yahweh, Yahweh of hosts, brought an indictment. And His indictments are 100% accurate. The verdict is guilty. So last time we saw that Yahweh of hosts brought an indictment. He indicts the people, He indicts the priests, priests and people, for their irreverence. They do not give honor to His name, and their irreverence, you remember, is put on display in the way they're handling the sacrifices, what the people are bringing, what the priests are accepting and actually putting on the altar as an offering to Yahweh of hosts.
Offerings that clearly we saw together violated the clear instructions from the law of God. They were bringing lame animals, blind animals, defective animals, stolen animals, and offering them to God. They're offering to God what they wouldn't even offer to a human governor. And then when confronted by the indictment of God that says, "You are dishonoring My name," they had the audacity to ask, "Well, how have we dishonored You? How have we despised You? How have we defiled Your altar?" They were utterly blind to the weightiness of their disobedience, utterly oblivious.
Well, now we come to the second chapter, and there is a shift. He goes here from indictment to warning, indictment to warning. And though both people and priests were under the indictment of God, this warning zeroes in particularly on the priests as they were emphasized in the indictment because they have a greater responsibility in the sense that they were meant by God to lead the people of God in a different direction. They were supposed to give instruction to the people of God, point them in the right direction. The people's irreverence, as we saw together, is simply reflective of the priests' irreverence. The people were reflecting the priests, and the priests were misleading the people.
So now in chapter 2, Yahweh brings a warning to these priests. He warns them about what is coming if they will not repent. So this evening together, verses 1 through 9, chapter 2, what we're going to see together as we study this portion of the Word of God, we're going to see three aspects of this warning from God.
I want us to see three aspects of this warning from God, and as we look at these aspects of God's warning to the priests particularly, we're going to ask ourselves: How do we respond to God's warning, right? How do we respond to God's warnings? How do we respond to correction? How do we respond to rebuke? How do we respond when the Word of God indicts our sins? What's our reaction? What's our reaction when a Nathan is sent by God to say, "You're the man, you're the woman"?
The first thing to point out from our verses tonight is this. We see that this is, number one, a targeted warning. So this is a targeted warning. We see that in verse 1. Look at verse 1 with me: "And now this commandment is for”—you see it—”you” –And just in case they didn't get it, “O priests”, I'm talking to you priests. I mean, you just can't get more pointed than that, can you? This is not like using a shotgun. This is using a laser scope. There's precision. This is bullseye.
It's one thing to hear the warnings of God in general terms. You know, you just sit and you listen in on God's warnings and that's weighty enough. Of course it is weighty enough, but when God puts your name on it—I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you—it's a reason to pause and shudder and listen, "now this commandment is for you, O priests." Wow.
And what comes from God here carries the force of law. It's a command in the sense of a charge. God is revealing what He has purposed to do, what He has determined to do, and it's absolutely inescapable if they don't listen to Him. So they better listen. They better take heed. This charge is for you. It's a targeted warning.
Which leads us now to the second place, to this second heading. Not only is it a targeted warning, it is a terrifying warning. And that is verses 2 to 4: "If you do not listen, and if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," says Yahweh of hosts,” – having just revealed how they dishonored Him, you remember what He's calling for. What is He calling for? He's calling for repentance here. He's calling for repentance.
"If you do not listen," – verse 2 – "and if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," says Yahweh of hosts, "then I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings and indeed, I have cursed them already because you're not setting it upon your heart. Behold, I am going to rebuke your seed, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts, and you will be taken away with it. Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi," says Yahweh of hosts.”
That is a terrifying word from God. A terrifying word from God. And yet, listen carefully, beloved, and yet, do you see the mercy that's present here? Do you see it? It's here. In this word of warning, this terrifying warning, it really bound up in it, you have mercy. Because this warning, beloved, is presented with contingent language. It is presented with contingent language.
“If you” – look at the text, verse 2, – "If you do not listen," well, what if they do listen? Right? What if they do listen? And, "if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," well, what if they do? What if they do set it upon their heart? The very way that God words this holds open, doesn't it? It holds open the possibility of repentance. What is God doing? Look at the goodness of God. Look at the lovingkindness of God. God is revealing to them a way of escape. He's revealing to them a way of escape.
Here's the judgment that's coming, but I want you to be aware that you can escape it. You can. You can escape it by listening, by heeding. You can escape it by setting it upon your heart, by setting upon your heart what I've been talking to you about. If you will listen to Me, then what I'm warning you about can be averted. The language concerning setting it upon the heart is really, is language used in Hebrew to determine a course of action in response to one's knowledge, awareness of something. In other words, God is giving them truth, calling them for a change of course, a change of action.
If you've been headed down one road, it's a road of destruction, it's the wrong road, it will lead you to death, I'm calling upon you now to turn around. In other words, to repent. Turn around. Change your mind, and change your heart, and change your ways. You could do that, and this can be avoided. And yet, even though repentance is possible, you can see the grace of God and the mercy of God in this, and even though repentance is possible, God here giving voice to the spiritual condition of these people, that indicates that repentance in this case, in their case, is not probable.
Why? Because they've already demonstrated where their hearts are at. "If you do not listen, and if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," says Yahweh of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings." Now notice, "and indeed, I have cursed them already because you are not setting it upon your heart." I've already cursed them, the blessings that is, taking them away.
In what sense? In what sense? Well, what is He saying? Well, it's possible that what God means here is they've already begun to feel the repercussions of their sinning and their stubbornness. He's already visited them in a way that has affected things like their crops, and their health, and their well-being. They're already feeling the weight of God's disciplining hand, the rod of God's chastening. They're already experiencing the result of their sin.
Could mean that, or it could also mean that these curses are already as good as on their way. God has already, as it were, unleashed them, sent them forth, haven't arrived yet. They're certainly going to arrive, and the reason why they've been unleashed is because the people will not lay to heart what God has been saying to them. They dug in their heels and they stiffened their neck, and they said, we won't listen. They will not repent of their sins. These priests.
Now when He says that they're cursed, it's because they violated God's covenant with His people. When God was going over the covenant with His people, as they were about to enter the promised land, He made very clear that He was giving them the land they were entering into, and there were promises of blessings and warnings, promises about curses, depending upon whether or not the people would genuinely follow Him, obey Him.
Keep in mind in all of this, and this is something we always have to be mindful of, the issue was not perfection. It's not. Not this side of Heaven. The issue was genuineness, faithfulness, loyalty to God, loyalty to the covenant. Bottom line, the issue was their heart.
So when God says, when He speaks here about curses, He's wanting to have passages like Deuteronomy 28 ringing in their ears, calling these things to mind, reminding them of what He had told them long before. Turn with me to Deuteronomy 28 for a minute. Deuteronomy 28:1. I just want us to see the force of what God is saying here, and He wants this to really be ringing in their minds. He says:
"Now it will be, if you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you will listen to the voice of Yahweh your God: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body, and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, and the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. Yahweh shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways. Yahweh will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you send forth your hand to do, and He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. Yahweh will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and walk in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of Yahweh, and they will be afraid of you. And Yahweh will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body in the offspring of your beasts in the produce of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. Yahweh will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And Yahweh will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I am commanding you today, to keep and to do, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or to the left, and to walk after other gods and to serve them."
Let's stop here for now. He's just talking about the covenant, the covenant loyalty, and what a promise. God says, I'm going to bless you in every way you can imagine. I'm going to surround you with blessings. My favor is going to be upon you. I'm going to shower My blessings upon you. God says, I'm going to bless you in every way you can imagine, if you listen to Me, if you walk with Me, if you obey My voice, if you're loyal to Me, if you're faithful to Me.
Verse 15: "But it will be, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep and to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you." Now, I'm not going to read the rest of the section. You can read it in your own time, but God goes through and details those curses. He details them, and they are absolutely fearful. They are frightful.
And here in our study in chapter 2 of Malachi, God is saying that due to their dishonoring of His name, if they will not turn, if they will not heed, if they will not listen, if they will not repent, He will dispatch, He will send, He will let loose these curses. "I will send the curse upon you," – verse 2 – "and I will curse your blessings.” I will take them away. Indeed, I have already cursed them.
Again, either they're already beginning to feel the weight of His disciplining hand—and there's some indications throughout the book that that's the case—or He's saying it's as good as it's on its way because you have not taken what I'm telling you into your heart.
What does God say they're going to experience due to the dishonoring of His name and their lack of repentance? He says, number 1—look at verse 3, Malachi 2—"I'm going to rebuke your seed." I'm going to rebuke your seed. "Behold, I am going to rebuke your seed," says the Lord. Now, some commentators understand this to refer to their crops. They take "seed" in the sense of an agricultural sense. You find that in the ESV and the NASB. They understand this in that sense of the offspring of these priests, not the crops.
The priests were then warned—one commentator put it this way—of a rebuke that would fall against their seed. Seed referred to grain or to physical descendants. The following threat of the removal of the priest from office makes the latter option more probable. So, the latter one is more probable with reference to the offspring. If indeed God is talking about their offspring, He's saying to them, I'm not going to allow the priesthood to continue along these lines. This is not what I intend priests to be. And if you don't repent, I'll clear you out, and your descendants will feel the repercussions of your sinful acts and your sinful attitudes.
But not only will He rebuke their seed—and I believe it's beyond crops—but He says He's going to dispose of these priests. Look at verse 3. Look at the language: "and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it." He's going to spread refuse on their faces, the refuse of their offerings, and He's going to lift them up. He's going to take them away with the dung of their offerings.
Do you think God is serious about the honor of His name? Do you think He takes lightly our dishonoring His name, trifling with His name? Bound up in that name is all of the attributes of God, the characteristics of God.
I mean, this is about as graphic as you can get. What He's talking about when He talks about refuse is He's talking about those parts of the animal sacrifices, including the internal organs that held undigested waste. These were the parts of the sacrifices that were to be taken away and burnt, not to be placed upon the altar. They were disposed of, taken outside so as to not to defile the worship context. And God says, I'm going to take these things that defile, and I'm going to spread them on your face. You dishonor My name, you're going to feel the weight of dishonor. I'm going to spread the dung on your face, I'm going to lift you up along with the dung of your offerings, and I'm going to dispose of you on the dung pile.
Are you listening yet, if you're a priest? As it were, God is saying, are you listening? He's going to dispose of these priests. Why? Because He's going to uphold His purpose for the priesthood, verse 4. "Then you will know that I've sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi," says Yahweh of Hosts.”
I will be faithful, in other words, to My purpose for the priesthood. I'm not going to allow you to go on in the way in which you are going. I'm not going to leave you to continue to do what you're doing. I'm not going to allow you to make a mockery of what the Levitical priesthood is to be. I'm going to cause My covenant with Levi to stand. And if that means you have to go, then you have to go.
So this is a targeted warning, but it is also a terrifying warning, which leads us in the third place, verses 5 through 9, and we need to see this is also a justified warning. A justified warning. Not only a targeted warning, but a justified warning. Not only a terrifying warning, but a justified warning. A justified warning.
Are you tempted to argue with the warnings that come from God? Are you tempted to justify yourself? Do you find yourself resisting correction? Do you want to insist that it's not really you, or you're not really guilty of what God is saying? Well, just as He did in chapter 1, God is ready to lay it out, to spell it out. What justifies these terrifying words?
Number one, this is justified, first of all, by God's history with the priests. This is justified by God's history with the priests. When you take what God meant for the priesthood to be historically, what He meant for the priesthood to be historically, then you compare it with what these men are doing and being, it becomes clear that these warnings are justified.
Verse 5, "My covenant with Him was one of life and peace," – talking about the covenant that God has set placed with Levi. "My covenant with Him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as something to be feared; so he feared Me and stood in awe of My name. Instruction of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity."
Now, what Yahweh does here, He reaches back in history and He says, of this one whom He's describing, this is what a priest was meant to be. Well, the question is, who exactly is He referring to? He mentions Levi by name, verse 4, but He talks about a covenant, and so it's difficult to know exactly what covenant Malachi is giving voice to, and the way that that is described to us makes us think that perhaps what is going on here is this.
The reference to Levi is a reference to the tribe, and the specific covenants being referred to is a covenant that God has made with Phineas, who was a Levite, and it was a covenant made at a very strategic time in Israel's history. Turn with me, if you would, to Numbers 25, and let's remember Phineas for a moment.
Numbers 25:1, we read, "And Israel remained in Shittim, and the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.” – You know, one of the ways that was really attempted to destroy Israel was through intermarriage, idolatry, and so the people are beginning to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.
Verse 2, "Indeed they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel. And Yahweh said to Moses, 'Take all who are the heads of the people and execute them in broad daylight before Yahweh, so that the burning anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.'"
I mean, their actions are calling for judgment—swift judgment, decisive judgment—to avert the plague from God.
In verse 5, "So Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Each of you kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.' Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought near to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel.”
I mean, you talk about sinning—this is high-handed, blatant, brazen sin. Right in front of Moses, right in front of everybody, he brings this Moabite to his family. Notice the end of verse 6: "while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, so he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the men of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. Then the plague of the sons of Israel was checked.”
What a scene! To understand what is going on here—I mean, he shares, this man shares the jealousy of God. Phinehas, for His people. God hated the sin, Phinehas hated the sin. God was ready to judge, Phinehas carried out the judgment. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.
Verse 9, "So those who died by the plague were 24,000." Now it's not mentioned till right here in the text, but with this in, there was an outbreak of curses from God, and that's what the indication—I mean, the people were suffering as a result, and by Phinehas’ action that plague was stopped.
Verse 10, look at it: "Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the sons of Israel in My jealousy.' Therefore, say, 'Behold,” – now notice – “I give him My covenant of peace.'" Notice the language: "and it shall be for him and his seed after him, a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel."
The act was so significant—Phinehas’ act—that in Psalm 106, we have the psalmist giving voice to the confession of sin on behalf of the nation. Verse 28 of Psalm 106: "Then they joined themselves to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their actions, And the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interceded, and so the plague was checked. And it was counted to him for righteousness from generation to generation forever."
It's interesting, in Psalm 106, the word "interceded" is the Hebrew word ‘pâlal’, which means interposed or mediated. What is that? That's the work of a priest. He served in the role of a priest for the people. He acted in a way that there could be peace between a holy God and sinful man, God and Israel. This is what God intended for priests to be—men of integrity, men of holiness, men of godly jealousy.
And as our text says, look back to Malachi chapter 2. If indeed this is a reference to Phinehas, God says in verse 5, "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as something to be feared; so he feared Me and stood in awe of My name.Instruction of truth" – verse 6, –"was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity." So that's what the priest is meant to be.
But if it's not Phinehas particularly that God is speaking of—if it's Aaron—then likely this is a way of referring, when He talks about His covenant with Levi, this is a way of referring to the many times throughout the Old Testament when God sent forth His purpose for the Levitical priesthood. Either way, let me put it this way: Phinehas acted in keeping with what should have been the Levitical example. Phinehas acted in keeping with what should have been, and was in fact, the example of Aaron.
Do you know there's a history in the Old Testament of Levites intervening to put a stop to plagues? It was the tribe of Levi, you remember, that acted to intervene at the time of the golden calf incident in Exodus 32. Look over at Exodus 32:25. This is all really relevant. Moses, Exodus 32:25—Moses up on the mountain comes down, and you remember you have the golden calf incident.
Verse 25, well, Aaron failed, you remember, on that occasion. But notice what happens next. Verse 26, so Aaron failed on that occasion in verse 25. Verse 26: "so Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, 'Whoever is for Yahweh, come to me!' And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him."
Verse 27: "And he said to them, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "Every man among you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp,” – and notice now, – “kill every man his brother and every man his friend and every man his neighbor."'
What is God calling them to do? He's calling them to a loyalty to Yahweh that is stronger than your loyalty to family or friend or familiarity. God above all else. “So the sons of Levi”, – verse 28 – "did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, "Be ordained today to Yahweh –for every man has been against his son and against his brother– in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today."
Maybe then it's this sort of statement on the part of God that Malachi is referring to. So when it came to the golden calf, the Levites intervened, and the plague is put away. And of course, we can't forget Korah's rebellion, right? It was Aaron who acted, who intervened, and put a stop to the plague sent by God.
Let's go back to Numbers 16, and this is incredible. Numbers 16:46: "And Moses said to Aaron, 'Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from Yahweh, the plague has begun!' Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.”
God sends a plague at the time of the golden calf incident. The Levites intervened. The plague is checked, put away. God sends a plague. Aaron steps in at the time of Korah's rebellion, atones for the people. The plague is put away.
And what Phinehas did was in keeping with the faithful in his tribe's history. You can see the pattern. So whether this reference is to Phinehas or to Aaron, God—and here's the point—is telling us something very important here. He's telling us that the men who rightly represent Him are men of spiritual integrity, loyalty, faithfulness. This is what priests are meant to be. Men who fear His name, who fear Yahweh their God, who stand in awe of His name, whose teaching can be trusted.
Verse 6, Malachi 2: "Instruction of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity." And what a contrast. What a contrast this is, where you have these men from the tribe of Levi who are used by God to turn away the wrath of God, and here you have priests living in a way that invites the wrath of God. What a contrast. God's warnings are justified because of the history of what priests are meant to be versus what these men during Malachi's time are.
Let me ask you this evening, do you think God will allow men to make a mockery of ministry assignment? Do you think today—let's now take a step out of these lessons, that these lessons were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived, 1 Corinthians 10:11, let's take a step out of that context for a moment, and let's step into our context and ask yourself this question: will God, who has given to men today ministry assignments, leadership, responsibility, will He allow us to make a mockery of what our office is intended to be?
And by way of extension, we can talk about our role as royal priesthood, as believers. Beloved, God is patient. God is patient. He's long-suffering, and thank God He's patient, but He loves us too much to allow us to dishonor His name without repentance. Justified because of the history of the priest, but also in the second place, justified—these warnings are justified also because of His purpose for the priesthood. His purpose for the priesthood.
Look at verse 7. Now He moves from history to what He designed. Verse 7: "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts." The priest had three basic responsibilities. Three basic responsibilities.
Responsibility number one: they offered sacrifices for the people, and in that sense, they served as a mediator between God and men. Number two: they also interceded for the people in prayer. That included also announcing blessings from God upon the people, so they would give voice to God's blessings upon the people. And thirdly, they taught the people. They taught the people. They were meant to be teachers of the law of God, teachers of the Word of God, and in that way, their mouth was to keep, to preserve the knowledge that had come to the people of God.
In other words, people should be able to come to them and seek instruction, and that instruction should be true because it is in keeping with the Word of God. This is what priests were meant to do. This is what priests were meant to be.
But notice what they've become. Verse 8. Look at what they've become. This is the third reason it's justified. Justified because of priestly history. Justified because of priestly purpose. Thirdly, justified because, in this case, of priestly perversion. This is what they've become. Perverted.
"But as for you," – verse 8 – "you've turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi," says Yahweh of hosts.” This is what you've done. These priests have failed miserably.
And how did these men go so far astray? Notice the evidence here. Notice the evidence. The first way they had gone astray was on a personal level. It was on a personal level. Verse 8. They had personally defected. Personally defected. "But as for you," – and God repeats it – "you have turned aside from the way." You. You're responsible. Personally responsible. You have turned aside. You've left the pathway. Your feet. Your feet wandered, have wandered.
This is where it always, always, beloved, goes astray. If you look at the leaders of the people of God, and you, if you witness corruption in the Lord's church, and leaders are involved in that; before you ever witnessed public departure, defection—it was always private defection. Personal defection. And then that personal defection shows up in the public instruction. Don't ever imagine that you can go astray personally and stay on track in terms of what you teach.
By the grace of God, I always remind myself and exhort you to remind yourself that it was God Himself who brought the truth to us. God Himself who brought the truth to us. It was God who shined the light in our minds and our hearts. It is God who gives us the strength to keep seeing the truth. That's why we pray every time we open this book, "God, give me light." It's God who preserves our thinking.
Don't ever imagine that you can defect personally, walk away from the truth on a personal level, and somehow stay on track in terms of your doctrine and your teaching. Eventually, it will catch up. It's never surprising, is it? When you hear someone, for example, pervert the grace of God, turn the grace of God into some sort of liberty to live in dangerous ways, and then you hear about those same people suffering great personal failure in their moral life, in their marriage, in their relationships. Their teaching was simply giving you an insight into what had already been taking place in their own hearts, in their own lives.
And the Lord says in verse 8, “you have caused many to stumble by the instruction”. They've gone astray personally. Then they went astray in their proclamations. This failure began in their personal lives, the personal lives of these priests when they turned aside from the way; "you've turned aside from the way." He says, is an expression, by “the way” that shows godliness to be commitment to a total way of life.
You went off track. Once that way had been abandoned, their public ministry suffered, and instead of turning “many back from iniquity”, as verse 6 says, they “caused many to stumble” by misinterpreting the Word of God. They did the opposite of what they were required to do, called by God to do. God was misrepresented first by their unworthy lives and then by their flawed instructions.
So what do they do? They pervert. It's personal perversion, its public perversion in the form of their instruction. What do they do? They pervert the purpose, the very purpose of the office. Look at verse 8, you make a mockery of what the priesthood is meant to be, and one of the ways they do it is they pervert the ways of justice.
Verse 9, "So I also have made you despised and low before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways” – noticed – “but are showing partiality in the instruction." God's saying so I'm going to make you despised and abased before all the people in as much as you do not keep My ways noticed, “but you show partiality in the instruction”. You see, they turn their office into a way of advancing themselves. And so they show partiality to those who benefit them.
The result is that those who despise God's name—remember that. Back in chapter 1:6, "A son honors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I'm a father, then where is My honor? And if I'm a master, where is the fear of Me? says Yahweh of hosts” O priest, to you, “O priest who despise My name." So what's going on here? Those who despised God's name will now themselves be despised.
Verse 9, "So I also have made you despised and low before all the people." God is saying, What I know about you, what I know about you, I'm going to make the people know about you. I'm going to expose you. Is this a serious warning? But is this a merciful warning?
Beloved, is this a merciful warning? What is God giving these priests an opportunity to do? To be authentic. To be real. He's giving these priests an opportunity to be real. To turn from their sins. To walk in the way of truth. To turn from their mocking of the office. And to embody what is meant for the office.
He's giving them the opportunity, instead of being an instrument for the stumbling of others, they could be an instrument of the rescuing of others. He's giving them the opportunity to avert disaster. He's giving them the opportunity to repent. It was a serious warning. But it's also a merciful warning. The question is, will they hear it?
And may I humbly ask you, and may I humbly ask you, as I had to ask my own heart, will you hear it? Let me press further. In what ways, right now, are you aware that you are being warned? Be specific. It's between you and God. What is going on in your life right now that the Word of God has been addressing you particularly? You.
It may have been through sermons. It may have been through people who love you. It may have been through providential circumstances. You know, those verses that ring in your head as circumstances begin to unfold. As God begins to lay His cards out, as it were. As God begins to let the dominoes fall. And you're feeling the results of your sin and your deviation from the path. And those verses are ringing in your mind.
Where is the Lord warning you? You. And the next question is, will you hear Him? Will you respond with repentance? And obedience? To the God who is more than willing to bless His people if they will honor His name. Remember the Scripture says our God is a God who is by nature forgiving. Do you hear warnings as love? Or do you hate them? Resist them. Reject them. Argue that they don't really pertain to you.
Listen, the Bible says that if you're that kind of a person who is often reproved, that if you're that kind of a person who is often reproved, they continue to stiffen your neck, there will come a day when a brokenness will take place that you can never recover from. If that's you tonight, may you soften your heart. May you open your ears. May you and I not be, God forbid, as stiff-necked people as Israel so often was, but a people who love the Lord their God, who has shown us such marvelous grace.
Remember how this book begins? "I have loved you." Right? That's how it begins. "I have loved you." And what do the people say? "How” – what? How? – “How have You loved us?" Oh, I set My affection upon you. I chose you. I put a circle around you. Aren’t you grateful? Aren’t you grateful, beloved, that there is one priest who was and is the perfect embodiment of faithfulness?
What’s His name? The Lord Jesus Christ. Our great High Priest. And He not only was the offerer of the sacrifice that took our sins away, He Himself, He Himself was the offering. He was both offerer and offering. It’s in Him that we find the forgiveness of all of our sins. It’s in Him that we see what a priest is really meant to be.
So as we think about our own responsibilities and desire to be faithful, may we continue to look to the One who is perfectly faithful, resting in Him and pursuing Him at the same time. Not excusing our sins, because He died for them all, but realizing He died for them all that we might no longer live in them, but live for Him who died for us and gave Himself up for us. May God help us.
Let’s pray.
Recent
Archive
2026
2025
January
February
March
May
June
July
August
September
October
2024
November
Categories
no categories