After completing his
statements to the priests within the nation of Israel, “The Lord
of hosts” turned His attention through the prophet Malachi
toward the general population. We remember that the priests'
contemptible behavior toward worship and sacrifices to the Lord
influenced the people toward their ways of error. In Malachi chapter
two and verse ten we begin to see how the priests affected the way
the people lived. We read:
Have we not all one
father? has not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously
every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our
fathers?
The
verse begins, “Have we not all one father? has not one
God created us?” Malachi
begins this discourse with two questions, “Have we not
all one father” which refers
to the “head or founder of a household, group, family, or
clan”, and “has not one God created us” or “hasn't the
one and only, true and certain God” “created, shaped, and formed
us”. As a basis for his next statements, Malachi appeals to his
readers to begin from the fact that we all were created from the one
and only true God, and He in effect and position becomes our “one”
and true “Father”.
The
verse goes on to say, “why do we deal treacherously every
man against his brother,” The
third question asked by Malachi in this verse is “why do
we deal treacherously” which
means “faithlessly, deceitfully, and offensively” “every
man” or “every servant, husband, champion or whosoever”
“against his brother” which refers to “relative,
kinship, same tribe or resemblance”. No matter what people's
position was socially within the nation of Israel, they were
deceitful and treacherous towards one another.
Finally
the verse says, “by profaning the covenant of our
fathers?” Because of these
accusations made against them, the people within the nation may have
wondered, “where have we been like this?” Before we see any
question from them, Malachi answered them in advance. He declared,
“By profaning”
which literally means “to pierce through or wound” and refers to
the way they “made common, defiled, polluted, and
dishonored” “the covenant” or “alliance, treaty or
pledge” “of our fathers” which refers to “God as their
father or their forefathers”. Rather than administer their alliance
with God and one another in the manner in which God set forth, they
dealt deceitfully with one another.
As we consider the words of
this verse in light of those we studied before, we see a relationship
between the way people behave toward the Lord and toward one another.
Basically people relate in two ways. The first is vertical and speaks
of our relationship with God, and the second is horizontal and refers
to the way we treat one another. If our vertical relationship with
God is in the proper position, the horizontal position with people is
in alignment. However, if our relationship with God is not vertical
but is rather slanted away from perfectly up and down, then our
horizontal plane with others is off as well. This is what occurred
throughout the nation of Israel. When their vertical relationship
with God was not in alignment, their horizontal relationships with
one another were imbalanced. Because they managed their spiritual
affairs with contempt, they handled their relationships with others
with offensiveness and deceit as well. Perhaps their example will
help us to examine our own relationships with God the Father, and a
good indicator of whether it is in alignment may be to consider the
way we get along with others.
Next
time the Lord speaks specifically about Judah dealing treacherously,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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