Today in God’s Word

Today in God's Word—January 2025

East Tallassee Church of Christ

January 2, Malachi 2

For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts." - Malachi 2:7-8

As we read the books of prophecy, it's easy to wonder how the nation of Israel could have been so blessed by God, yet stray so far from what God intended them to be. God explained a major reason for the nation's failure in Malachi 2.

Israel's failure as a nation was due in large part to the failure of their spiritual leaders, the priests. Individuals may fail to live as God intends his people to live, and their sinful disobedience and spiritual failure may be the result of their own stubborn, willful rejection of God's will for their lives. But when the great majority of an entire nation turns away from God, it is almost always the result of leaders who have misled the people into rebellion and disregard for God.

God himself indicted the priests, who should have been the spiritual leaders of the Jews, as the cause of the nation's apostasy. He rebuked them because they had departed from God's guidance. They had dishonored their holy heritage as Levites and led the nation away from God. By their example, they taught the people to dishonor God. As priests they were supposed to help the people to draw near to God, to know the Lord and do his will. But they had done the opposite of what they were supposed to do, and the result was the opposite of what God wanted for and from his covenant people.

When God pronounced the curse on the priests, it was not an outburst of his righteous anger. Instead, the curse was grounded in the certainty of God's word and his faithfulness to the covenant. The curse was the dark realization of what Moses told them would be the result of forsaking God from the beginning of their covenant relationship with him. He had kept the promises to bless them. He had been patient with their stumbling and backsliding for

generations. But the time came when God's righteousness demanded judgment against the ungodly leaders.

The Lord reminded them of the original covenant of life and peace, and how their priestly ancestors lived with reverence and faithfulness before him. They were diligent to do the work God gave them to do to instruct the people in righteousness. But these late-generation priests were not like their ancestors at all. They turned away from God and taught others to stumble. They corrupted their covenant relationship by their ungodly disobedience. They turned away from God and mistreated their fellow Israelites. They corrupted themselves and dishonored God by intermarrying with the idolaters around them and worshiping their gods.

When the people wept and wondered why God no longer accepted their offerings or blessed them, God reminded them that they forfeited those blessings when they were unfaithful to their marriage vows. Their broken marriages illustrated their faithless disregard for their covenant with God. The priests and the people had strayed so far from God that their sense or good and evil and been turned on its head. They branded evil as good and accused God of being the one who was unjust.

You and I have the privilege of living under a far better covenant with God today. Through the gospel and by the blood of Christ we have been invited to enjoy much greater blessings and promises, secured by Christ's sacrifice of himself for us. God told those faithless priests that they had not taken to heart to honor God. We still need to take to heart the abiding principles of this chapter. God's people need faithful and godly leaders. When the leaders no longer teach or follow God's word, they will lead their people away from God. Godly living is about much more than doing the right things in worship. It goes home with us in our daily lives, and we dishonor God when we dishonor our spouses. And regardless of what the culture around us may say, our values and sense of good and evil must be grounded in God's sure word, not in public opinion, political advantage or a misguided sense of tolerance. God's will for us is holy, just and right. We should be faithful to him for our own good, the good of others we influence and to glorify God by our lives.

Copyright © 2025 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.