Judah Profaned the Covenant
10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
The Messenger of the Lord
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mal 2:10–17). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
Abba,
Many things strike me from this passage. But one seems to stand out above the rest.
Repeatedly throughout this passage are these statements…
Why then are we faithless to one another…
Judah has been faithless
abomination has been committed
Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord
to whom you have been faithless
let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth
do not be faithless
You have wearied the Lord with your words
The strength and intensity of these words leave us cringing and uncomfortable. The behavior of Your people has wearied You. How does one even do that? You, Abba, are a God of infinite patience and grace. The thought of wearying you to the point of exhausting that patience is terrifying to me. May it never be true of me, of us, that we exhaust your patience and weary you with our faithlessness.
For Judah…they were faithless…
…faithlessness to one another.
…faithlessness to their wives
…faithlessness to You, Abba.
How often am I faithless to you? How often are we?
How often do we allow our selfish pride to rise to the top of that which is important to us?
How often does our own self righteousness exalt our opinions of ourselves, resulting in faithlessness?
Your response to such faithlessness?
12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts.
Abba, You cherish our good and your glory so deeply that you rebuke faithlessness in the harshest way possible in order to shake us from our state of rebellion and draw us back to you!
Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of this passage to me is what I have yet to speak of.
Confusion over why, You Abba, no longer accept the offerings they have to offer.
13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?”
But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
Why does he not? "Why does God not accept our gifts?", they ask…
They are faithless
Rebelling in their choices
Offering empty gifts
And they have to ask why You are not accepting their gifts?
They ask…Where is the God of justice?"
They want your justice against the nations that besiege them….
…while ignoring that very justice you visit to them for their rebellion and faithless behavior.
Oh, Abba, how prone we are to this confusion and blindness.
How dangerous is our pride and self-righteousness.
It darkens our view of reality…of truth.
We cry for justice…but ignore our own corruption.
We cry for your blessing but overlook our faithlessness.
And we wonder why you stop blessing.
Could it be…
Perhaps…
We are being faithless.
And you are calling us to repent.
To return.
To take up our cross.
To look up
And to be enamored once more with your glory and beauty?
Abba, protect us from this. Protect us from rebellion, from faithless living. Remove the blinders off our eyes and enable us to see. Guard our hearts from the confusion that ensues when we rest upon our own measure of righteousness, failing to see that it is nothing before you.
This passage, Abba, reveals the devastation of the hardness of our hearts when we live faithlessly and are left wondering why your blessing and grace has abandoned us.
May you guard us from this reality.
May we life in humility and faithfulness to you!
We love you, Abba!
Amen.
10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
The Messenger of the Lord
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mal 2:10–17). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
Abba,
Many things strike me from this passage. But one seems to stand out above the rest.
Repeatedly throughout this passage are these statements…
Why then are we faithless to one another…
Judah has been faithless
abomination has been committed
Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord
to whom you have been faithless
let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth
do not be faithless
You have wearied the Lord with your words
The strength and intensity of these words leave us cringing and uncomfortable. The behavior of Your people has wearied You. How does one even do that? You, Abba, are a God of infinite patience and grace. The thought of wearying you to the point of exhausting that patience is terrifying to me. May it never be true of me, of us, that we exhaust your patience and weary you with our faithlessness.
For Judah…they were faithless…
…faithlessness to one another.
…faithlessness to their wives
…faithlessness to You, Abba.
How often am I faithless to you? How often are we?
How often do we allow our selfish pride to rise to the top of that which is important to us?
How often does our own self righteousness exalt our opinions of ourselves, resulting in faithlessness?
Your response to such faithlessness?
12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts.
Abba, You cherish our good and your glory so deeply that you rebuke faithlessness in the harshest way possible in order to shake us from our state of rebellion and draw us back to you!
Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of this passage to me is what I have yet to speak of.
Confusion over why, You Abba, no longer accept the offerings they have to offer.
13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?”
But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
Why does he not? "Why does God not accept our gifts?", they ask…
They are faithless
Rebelling in their choices
Offering empty gifts
And they have to ask why You are not accepting their gifts?
They ask…Where is the God of justice?"
They want your justice against the nations that besiege them….
…while ignoring that very justice you visit to them for their rebellion and faithless behavior.
Oh, Abba, how prone we are to this confusion and blindness.
How dangerous is our pride and self-righteousness.
It darkens our view of reality…of truth.
We cry for justice…but ignore our own corruption.
We cry for your blessing but overlook our faithlessness.
And we wonder why you stop blessing.
Could it be…
Perhaps…
We are being faithless.
And you are calling us to repent.
To return.
To take up our cross.
To look up
And to be enamored once more with your glory and beauty?
Abba, protect us from this. Protect us from rebellion, from faithless living. Remove the blinders off our eyes and enable us to see. Guard our hearts from the confusion that ensues when we rest upon our own measure of righteousness, failing to see that it is nothing before you.
This passage, Abba, reveals the devastation of the hardness of our hearts when we live faithlessly and are left wondering why your blessing and grace has abandoned us.
May you guard us from this reality.
May we life in humility and faithfulness to you!
We love you, Abba!
Amen.
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