mh_parser/vol_split/39 - Malachi/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="Mal.iii" n="iii" next="Mal.iv" prev="Mal.ii" progress="98.39%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="Mal.iii-p0.1">M A L A C H I.</h2>
<h3 id="Mal.iii-p0.2">CHAP. II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Mal.iii-p1" shownumber="no">There are two great ordinances which divine wisdom
has instituted, the wretched profanation of both of which is
complained of and sharply reproved in this chapter. I. The
ordinance of the ministry, which is peculiar to the church, and is
designed for the maintaining and keeping up of that; this was
profaned by those who were themselves dignified with the honour of
it and entrusted with the business of it. The priests profaned the
holy things of God; this they are here charged with; their sin is
aggravated, and they are severely threatened for it, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.1-Mal.2.9" parsed="|Mal|2|1|2|9" passage="Mal 2:1-9">ver. 1-9</scripRef>. II. The ordinance of
marriage, which is common to the world of mankind, and was
instituted for the maintaining and keeping up of that; this was
profaned both by the priests and by the people, in marrying
strangers (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.11-Mal.2.12" parsed="|Mal|2|11|2|12" passage="Mal 2:11,12">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>),
treating their wives unkindly (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.13" parsed="|Mal|2|13|0|0" passage="Mal 2:13">ver.
13</scripRef>), putting them away (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.16" parsed="|Mal|2|16|0|0" passage="Mal 2:16">ver. 16</scripRef>), and herein dealing treacherously,
<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.10 Bible:Mal.2.14 Bible:Mal.2.15" parsed="|Mal|2|10|0|0;|Mal|2|14|0|0;|Mal|2|15|0|0" passage="Mal 2:10,14,15">ver. 10, 14, 15</scripRef>. And
that which was at the bottom of this and other instances of
profaneness and downright atheism, thinking God altogether such a
one as themselves, which was, in effect, to say, There is no God,
<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.17" parsed="|Mal|2|17|0|0" passage="Mal 2:17">ver. 17</scripRef>. And these reproofs
to them are warnings to us.</p>
<scripCom id="Mal.iii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2" parsed="|Mal|2|0|0|0" passage="Mal 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Mal.iii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.1-Mal.2.9" parsed="|Mal|2|1|2|9" passage="Mal 2:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mal.iii-p1.9">
<h4 id="Mal.iii-p1.10">The Office of the Priesthood; Charge against
the Priests; The Priests Censured and Threatened. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p1.11">b.
c.</span> 400.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mal.iii-p2" shownumber="no">1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment
<i>is</i> for you.   2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not
lay <i>it</i> to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p2.1">Lord</span> of hosts, I will even send a curse
upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them
already, because ye do not lay <i>it</i> to heart.   3 Behold,
I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces,
<i>even</i> the dung of your solemn feasts; and <i>one</i> shall
take you away with it.   4 And ye shall know that I have sent
this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi,
saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p2.2">Lord</span> of hosts.   5 My
covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him
<i>for</i> the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before
my name.   6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity
was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity,
and did turn many away from iniquity.   7 For the priest's
lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his
mouth: for he <i>is</i> the messenger of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p2.3">Lord</span> of hosts.   8 But ye are departed out
of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have
corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p2.4">Lord</span> of hosts.   9 Therefore have I also
made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as
ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p3" shownumber="no">What was said in the foregoing chapter was
directed to the priests (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.1.6" parsed="|Mal|1|6|0|0" passage="Mal 1:6"><i>ch.</i> i.
6</scripRef>): <i>Thus saith the Lord of hosts to you, O priests!
that despise my name.</i> But the crimes there charged upon them
they were guilty of as sacrificers, and for those they might think
it some excuse that they offered what the people brought, and
therefore that, if they were not so good as they should be, it was
not their fault, but the people's; and therefore here the
corruptions there complained of are traced to the source and spring
of them—the faults the priests were guilty of as teachers of the
people, as expositors of the law and the lively oracles; and this
is a part of their office which still remains in the hands of
gospel-ministers (who are appointed to be pastors and teachers,
like the priests under the law, though not sacrificers, like them),
and therefore by them the admonition here is to be particularly
regarded. If the priests had given the people better instructions,
the people would have brought better offerings; and therefore the
blame returns upon the priests: "<i>And now, O you priests! this
commandment is</i> purely <i>for you</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.1" parsed="|Mal|2|1|0|0" passage="Mal 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), who should have taught the
people the good knowledge of the Lord, and how to worship him
aright." Note, The governors of the churches are under God's
government, and to him they are accountable. Even for those who
command God has commandments. Nay (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.4" parsed="|Mal|2|4|0|0" passage="Mal 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), <i>you shall know that I have
sent these commandments for you.</i> They should know it either, 1.
By the power of the Spirit working with the word for their
conviction and reformation: "You shall know its original by its
efficacy, whence it comes by what it does." When the word of God to
us brings about, and carries on, the work of God in us, then we
cannot but know that he sent it to us, that it is not the word of
<i>Malachi—God's messenger,</i> but it is indeed the word of God,
and is sent, not only in general to all, but in particular to us.
Or, 2. By the accomplishment of the threatenings denounced against
them: "<i>You shall know,</i> to your cost, <i>that I have sent
this commandment to you,</i> and it shall not return void."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p4" shownumber="no">Let us now see what this commandment is
which is for the priests, which, they must know, was sent to them;
and let us put into method the particulars of the charge.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p5" shownumber="no">I. Here is a recital of the covenant God
made with that sacred tribe, which was their commission for their
work and the patent of their honour: The <i>Lord of hosts sent a
commandment</i> to them, for the establishing of this covenant
(<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.4" parsed="|Mal|2|4|0|0" passage="Mal 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), for his
covenant is said to be the <i>word which he commanded</i>
(<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.8" parsed="|Ps|105|8|0|0" passage="Ps 105:8">Ps. cv. 8</scripRef>); and he sent
<i>this commandment</i> by the prophet at this time for the
re-establishing of it, that it might not be cut off for their
persisting in the violation of it. Let the sons of Levi know then
(and particularly the sons of Aaron) what honour God put upon their
family, and what a trust he reposed in them (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.5" parsed="|Mal|2|5|0|0" passage="Mal 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>My covenant was with him of
life and peace.</i> Besides the covenant of peculiarity made with
all the house of Israel, there was a covenant of priesthood made
with one family, that they should do the services, and, upon
condition of that, should enjoy all the privileges, of the priest's
office—that, as Israel was a peculiar nation, a <i>kingdom of
priests,</i> so the house of Aaron should be a family of priests,
set apart for the service and honour of God, to bear up his name in
that nation, as they were to bear up his name among the nations;
both the one and the other, in different degrees, were to <i>give
glory unto God's name,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.2" parsed="|Mal|2|2|0|0" passage="Mal 2:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. God covenanted with them as his menial servants,
obliged them to do his work and promised to own and accept them in
it. This is called <i>his covenant of life and peace,</i> because
it was intended for the support of religion, which brings life and
peace to the souls of men—life to the dead, peace to the
distressed, or because life and peace were by this covenant
promised to those priests that faithfully and conscientiously
discharged their duty; they shall have peace, which implies
security from all evil, and life, which comprises the summary of
all good. What is here said of the covenant of priesthood is true
of the covenant of grace made with all believers, as spiritual
priests; it is a covenant of life and peace; it assures all
believers of life and peace, everlasting peace, everlasting life,
all happiness both in this world and in that to come. This covenant
was made with the whole tribe of Levi when they were distinguished
from the rest of the tribes, were not numbered with them, but were
<i>taken from among</i> them and <i>appointed over the tabernacle
of testimony</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Num.1.49-Num.1.50" parsed="|Num|1|49|1|50" passage="Nu 1:49,50">Num. i. 49,
50</scripRef>), by virtue of which appointment God says (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Num.3.12" parsed="|Num|3|12|0|0" passage="Nu 3:12">Num. iii. 12</scripRef>), <i>The Levites shall be
mine.</i> It was made with Aaron when he and his sons were taken to
<i>minister unto the Lord in the priest's office,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Exod.28.1" parsed="|Exod|28|1|0|0" passage="Ex 28:1">Exod. xxviii. 1</scripRef>. Aaron is therefore
called <i>the saint of the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.16" parsed="|Ps|106|16|0|0" passage="Ps 106:16">Ps. cvi. 16</scripRef>. It was made with Phinehas and
his family, a branch of Aaron's, upon a particular occasion,
<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Num.25.12-Num.25.13" parsed="|Num|25|12|25|13" passage="Nu 25:12,13">Num. xxv. 12, 13</scripRef>. And
there the covenant of priesthood is called, as here, the
<i>covenant of peace,</i> because by it peace was made and kept
between God and Israel. These great blessings of life and peace,
contained in that covenant, God <i>gave to him,</i> to Levi, to
Aaron, to Phinehas; he promised life and peace to them and their
posterity, entrusted them with these benefits for the use and
behoof of God's Israel; they received that they might give, as
Christ himself did, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.18" parsed="|Ps|68|18|0|0" passage="Ps 68:18">Ps. lxviii.
18</scripRef>. Now, for the further opening of this covenant,
observe, 1. The considerations upon which it was grounded: It was
<i>for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my
name.</i> The tribe of Levi gave a signal proof of their holy fear
of God, and their reverence for his name, when they appeared so
bravely against the worshippers of the golden calf (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:Exod.32.26" parsed="|Exod|32|26|0|0" passage="Ex 32:26">Exod. xxxii. 26</scripRef>); and for their zeal
in that matter God bestowed this blessing upon them and invited
them to consecrate themselves unto him. Phinehas also showed
himself zealous in the fear of God and his judgments when, to stay
the plague, he stabbed <i>Zimri and Cozbi,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.12" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.30-Ps.106.31" parsed="|Ps|106|30|106|31" passage="Ps 106:30,31">Ps. cvi. 30, 31</scripRef>. Note, Those, and those
only, who fear God's name, can expect the benefit of the
<i>covenant of life and peace;</i> and those who give proofs of
their zeal for God shall without fail be recompensed in the
glorious privileges of the Christian priesthood. Some read this,
not as the consideration of the grant, but as the condition of it:
<i>I gave them to him, provided</i> that he should <i>fear before
me.</i> If God grant us life and peace, he expects we should fear
before him. 2. The trust that was lodged in the priests by this
covenant, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.13" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.7" parsed="|Mal|2|7|0|0" passage="Mal 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. They
were hereby made <i>the messengers of the Lord of hosts,</i>
messengers of that covenant of life and peace, not mediators of it,
but only messengers, or ambassadors, employed to treat of the terms
of peace between God and Israel. The priests were <i>God's
mouth</i> to his people, from whom they must receive instructions
according to the lively oracles. This was the office to which Levi
was advanced; because, in his zeal for God, he <i>did not
acknowledge his brethren, nor know his own children,</i> therefore
<i>they shall teach Jacob God's judgments,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.14" osisRef="Bible:Deut.33.9-Deut.33.10" parsed="|Deut|33|9|33|10" passage="De 33:9,10">Deut. xxxiii. 9, 10</scripRef>. Note, It is an honour
to God's servants to be employed as his messengers and to be sent
on his errands. Angels have their name thence. Haggai was called
<i>the Lord's messenger.</i> This being their office, observe, (1.)
What is the duty of ministers: <i>The priests' lips should keep
knowledge,</i> not keep it from the people, but keep it for them.
Ministers must be men of knowledge; for how are those able to teach
others the things of God who are themselves unacquainted with those
things or unready in them? They must keep knowledge, must furnish
themselves with it and retain what they have got, that they may be
like the <i>good householder,</i> who <i>brings out of his treasury
things new and old.</i> Not only their heads, but their lips, must
keep knowledge; they must not only have it, but they must have it
ready, must have it at hand, must have it (as we say) at their
tongue's end, to be communicated to others as there is occasion.
Thus we read of <i>wisdom</i> in <i>the lips of him that has
understanding,</i> with which they <i>feed many,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.15" osisRef="Bible:Prov.10.13 Bible:Prov.10.21" parsed="|Prov|10|13|0|0;|Prov|10|21|0|0" passage="Pr 10:13,21">Prov. x. 13, 21</scripRef>. (2.) What is the
duty of the people: <i>They should seek the law at his mouth;</i>
they should consult the priests as God's messengers, and not only
hear the message, but ask questions upon it, that they may the
better understand it and that mistakes concerning it may be
prevented and rectified. We are all concerned fully to know <i>what
the will of the Lord is,</i> to know it distinctly and certainly;
we should be desirous to know it and therefore inquisitive
concerning it. <i>Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?</i> We must
not only consult the written word (<i>to the law and to the
testimony</i>), but must have recourse to God's messengers, and
desire instruction and advice from them in the affairs of our souls
as we do from physicians and lawyers concerning our bodies and
estates. Not but that ministers ought to lay down the law of God to
those who do not enquire concerning it, or desire the knowledge of
it (they must <i>instruct those that oppose themselves,</i>
<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.16" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.2.25" parsed="|2Tim|2|25|0|0" passage="2Ti 2:25">2 Tim. ii. 25</scripRef>, as well as
those that offer themselves), but it is people's duty to apply to
them for instruction, not only to hear, but to ask questions.
<i>Watchman, what of the night?</i> Thus <i>if you will enquire,
enquire you;</i> see <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p5.17" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.8 Bible:Isa.21.11 Bible:Isa.21.12" parsed="|Isa|21|8|0|0;|Isa|21|11|0|0;|Isa|21|12|0|0" passage="Isa 21:8,11,12">Isa. xxi.
8, 11, 12</scripRef>. People should not only seek comfort at the
mouth of their ministers, but should seek the law there; for, if we
found in the way of duty, we shall find it the way of comfort.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p6" shownumber="no">II. Here is a memorial of the fidelity and
zeal of many of their predecessors in the priest's office, which
are mentioned as an aggravation of their sin in degenerating from
such honourable ancestors and deserting such illustrious examples,
and as a justification of God in withdrawing from them those tokens
of his presence which he had granted to those that kept close to
him. See here (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.6" parsed="|Mal|2|6|0|0" passage="Mal 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>)
how good the godly priest was, whose steps they should have trod
in, and what good he did, God's grace working with him. 1. See how
good he was. He was ready and mighty in the scriptures: <i>The law
of truth was in his mouth,</i> for the use of those that <i>asked
the law at his mouth;</i> and in all his discourses there appeared
more or less of the law of truth. Every thing he said was under the
government of that law, and with it he governed others. He spoke as
one having authority (every word was <i>a law</i>), and as one that
had both wisdom and integrity—it was a <i>law of truth,</i> and
truth is a law, it has a commanding power. It is by truth that
Christ rules. <i>The law of truth was in his mouth,</i> for his
resolutions of cases of conscience proposed to him were such as
might be depended upon; his opinion was good law. <i>Iniquity was
not found in his lips;</i> he did not <i>handle the word of God
deceitfully,</i> to please men, to serve a turn, or to make an
interest for himself, but told all that consulted him what the law
was, whether it were pleasing or displeasing. He did not pronounce
that unclean which was clean, nor that clean which was unclean, as
one of the rabbin expounds it. And his conversation was of a piece
with his doctrine. God himself gives him this honourable testimony:
<i>He walked with me in peace and equity.</i> He did not think it
enough to talk of God, but he walked with him. The temper of his
mind, and the tenour of his life, were of a piece with his doctrine
and profession; he lived a life of communion with God, and made it
his constant care and business to please him; he lived like a
priest that was chosen to <i>walk before God,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.30" parsed="|1Sam|2|30|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:30">1 Sam. ii. 30</scripRef>. His conversation was
quiet; he was meek and <i>gentle towards all men,</i> was a pattern
and promoter of love; he walked with God in peace, was himself
peaceable and a great peace-maker. His conversation was also
honest; he did no wrong to any, but made conscience of rendering to
all their due: <i>He walked with me in equity,</i> or rectitude. We
must not, for peace-sake, transgress the rules of equity, but must
keep the peace as far as is consistent with justice. <i>The wisdom
from above is first pure, then peaceable.</i> Ministers, of all
men, are concerned to <i>walk with God in peace and equity,</i>
that they may be <i>examples to the flock.</i> 2. See what good he
did; he answered the ends of his advancement to that office: <i>He
did turn many away from iniquity;</i> he made it his business to do
good, and God crowned his endeavours with wonderful success; he
helped to save many a soul from death, and there are multitudes now
in heaven blessing God that ever they knew him. Ministers must lay
out themselves to the utmost for the conversion of sinners, and
even among those that have the name of Israelites there is need of
conversion-work, there are many to be turned from iniquity; and
they must reckon it an honour, and a rich reward of their labour,
if they may but be instrumental herein. It is God only that by his
grace can turn men from iniquity, and yet it is here said of a
pious laborious minister that he turned men from iniquity as a
worker together with God, and an instrument in his hand; and
<i>those that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the
stars,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.12.3" parsed="|Dan|12|3|0|0" passage="Da 12:3">Dan. xii. 3</scripRef>.
Note, Those ministers, and those only, are likely to turn men from
iniquity, that preach sound doctrine and live good lives, and both
according to the scripture; for, as one of the rabbin observes
here, <i>When the priest is upright many will be upright.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p7" shownumber="no">III. Here is a high charge drawn up against
the priests of the present age, who violated the covenant of the
priesthood and went directly contrary both to the rules and to the
examples that were set before them. Many particulars of their sins
we had in the foregoing chapter, and we find (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.13.1-Neh.13.31" parsed="|Neh|13|1|13|31" passage="Ne 13:1-31">Neh. xiii.</scripRef>) that many corruptions had crept
into the church of the Jews at this time, mixed marriages,
admitting strangers into the house of God, profanation of the
sabbath-day, which were all owing to the carelessness and
unfaithfulness of the priests; here it is charged upon them in
general, 1. That they transgressed the rule: <i>You have departed
out of the way</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.8" parsed="|Mal|2|8|0|0" passage="Mal 2:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>), out of the good way which God has prescribed to you,
and which your godly ancestors walked before you in. It is ill with
a people when those whose office it is to guide them in the way do
themselves depart out of it: "<i>You have not kept my ways,</i> not
kept in them yourselves, nor done your part to keep others in
them," <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.9" parsed="|Mal|2|9|0|0" passage="Mal 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. 2. That
they betrayed their trust: "<i>You have corrupted the covenant of
Levi,</i> have violated it, have contradicted the great intentions
of it, and have done what in you lay to frustrate and defeat them;
you have managed your office as if it were designed only to feed
you fat and make you great; and not for the glory of God and the
good of the souls of men." This was a corrupting of the covenant of
Levi; it was perverting the ends of the office, and making it
subservient to those sensual secular things over which it ought
always to have dominion. And thus they forfeited the benefit of
that covenant, and corrupted it to themselves; they <i>made it
void,</i> and lost the life and peace which were by it settled upon
them. We have no reason to expect God should perform his part of
the covenant if we do not make conscience of performing ours.
Another instance of their betraying their trust was that they were
<i>partial in the law,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.9" parsed="|Mal|2|9|0|0" passage="Mal 2:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. In the law given to them they would pick and choose
their duty; this they would do and that they would not do, just as
they pleased; this is the fashion of hypocrites, while those whose
hearts are upright with God have a <i>respect to all his
commandments.</i> Or, rather, in the law they were to lay down to
the people; in this they <i>knew faces</i> (so the word is); they
<i>accepted persons;</i> they wilfully misinterpreted and
misapplied the law, either to cross those they had a spleen against
or to countenance those they had a kindness for; they would wink at
those sins in some which in others they would be sharp upon,
according as their interest or inclination led them. God is <i>no
respecter of persons</i> in making his law, nor will he in
reckoning for the breach of it; he <i>regards not the rich more
than the poor,</i> and therefore his priests, his ministers,
misrepresent him, and do him a great deal of dishonour, if, in
doctrine or discipline, they be respecters of persons. See
<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.5.21" parsed="|1Tim|5|21|0|0" passage="1Ti 5:21">1 Tim. v. 21</scripRef>. 3. That they
did a great deal of mischief to the souls of men, which they should
have helped to save: <i>You have caused many to stumble at the
law,</i> not only to <i>fall in the law</i> (as the margin reads
it) by transgressing it, taught and encouraged to do so by the
examples of the priests, but to <i>stumble at the law,</i> by
contracting prejudices against it, as if the law were the minister
of sin and gave countenance to it. Thus Hophni and Phinehas by
their wickedness <i>made the sacrifices of the Lord to be
abhorred,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.17" parsed="|1Sam|2|17|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:17">1 Sam. ii.
17</scripRef>. There are many to whom the law of God is a
<i>stumbling-block,</i> the gospel of Christ <i>a savour of death
unto death,</i> and Christ himself <i>a rock of offence;</i> and
nothing contributes more to this than the vicious lives of those
that make a profession of religion, by which men are tempted to
say, "It is all a jest." This is properly a <i>scandal, a stone of
stumbling;</i> there is no good reason why it should be so to any,
but <i>woe to those by whom this offence comes.</i> 4. That, when
they were under the rebukes both of the word and of the providence
of God for it, they <i>would not hear,</i> that is, they would not
heed, they <i>would not lay it to heart;</i> they were not at all
grieved or shamed for their sin, nor affected with the tokens of
God's displeasure which they were under. What we hear does us no
good unless we lay it to heart and admit the impressions of it:
<i>You will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name,</i> by
repentance and reformation. <i>Therefore</i> we should lay to heart
the things of God, that we may give glory to the name of God, may
praise him in and for all that whereby he has made himself known.
It is bad in any to rob God of his honour, but worst in ministers,
whose office and business it is to bear up his name and to give him
the glory due to it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p8" shownumber="no">IV. Here is a record of the judgments God
had brought upon these priests for their profaneness, and their
profanation of holy things. 1. They had lost their comfort
(<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.2" parsed="|Mal|2|2|0|0" passage="Mal 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>I have
already cursed your blessings.</i> They had not the comfort of
their work, which is the satisfaction of doing good; for the
blessings with which they, as priests, blessed the people, God was
so far from saying <i>Amen</i> to that he turned them into curses,
as he did Balaam's curses into blessings. That profane people
should not have the favour of receiving God's blessings, nor those
profane priests the honour of conferring and conveying them, but
both should lie under the tokens of his wrath. Nor had they the
comfort of their wages, for the blessings with which God blessed
them were turned into a curse to them by their abuse of them; they
could not receive them as the gifts of his favour when they had
made themselves so obnoxious to his displeasure by not laying to
heart the reproofs given them. 2. They had lost their credit
(<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.9" parsed="|Mal|2|9|0|0" passage="Mal 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>Therefore
have I also made you contemptible and base before all the
people.</i> While they glorified God he dignified them and
supported their reputation, and a great interest they had in the
love and esteem of the people while they did their duty and
<i>walked with God in peace and equity;</i> every one had a value
and veneration for them; they were truly styled <i>the reverend,
the priests;</i> but when they forsook the ways of God, and
corrupted the covenant of Levi, they thereby made themselves not
only mean, but vile, in the eyes even of the common people, who,
the more they honoured the order, the more they hated the men that
were a dishonour to it. Their conduct, their misconduct, had a
direct tendency to this, and God owns his hand in it, and will have
it looked upon as a just judgment of his upon them, and not only
produced by their sin but answering to it; they put dishonour upon
God, and made <i>his table and the fruit thereof contemptible</i>
(<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.1.12" parsed="|Mal|1|12|0|0" passage="Mal 1:12"><i>ch.</i> i. 12</scripRef>), and
therefore God justly put dishonour upon them and made them
contemptible; they exposed themselves, and therefore God exposed
them. Note, As sin is a reproach to any people, so especially to
priests; there is not a more despicable animal upon the face of the
earth than a profane, wicked, scandalous minister.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p9" shownumber="no">V. Here is a sentence of wrath passed upon
them; and this the prophet begins with, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.2-Mal.2.3" parsed="|Mal|2|2|2|3" passage="Mal 2:2,3"><i>v.</i> 2, 3</scripRef>. But it is conditional: <i>If
you will not lay it to heart,</i> implying, "If you will, God's
anger shall be turned away, and all shall be well; but, if you
persist in these wicked courses, hear your doom—Your sin will be
your ruin." 1. They shall fall and lie under the curse of God: <i>I
will send a curse upon you.</i> The wrath of God shall be revealed
against them, according to the threatenings of the written word.
Note, Those who violate the commands of the law lay themselves
under the curses of the law. 2. Neither their employments nor their
enjoyments, as priests, shall be clean to them: "<i>I will curse
your blessings,</i> so that you shall neither be blessed yourselves
nor blessings to the people, but even your plenty shall be a plague
to you and you shall be plagues to your generation." 3. The fruits
of the earth, which they had the tithe of, should be no comfort to
them: "<i>Behold, I will corrupt your seed;</i> the corn you sow
shall rot under ground and never come up again, the consequence of
which must needs be famine and scarcity of provisions; so that no
meat-offerings shall be brought to the altar, which the priests
will soon have a loss of." Or it may be understood of the seed of
the word which they preached; God threatens to deny his blessing to
the instructions they gave the people, so that their labour shall
be lost, as that of the husbandman is when the seed is corrupt; and
so it agrees with that threatening (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.23.32" parsed="|Jer|23|32|0|0" passage="Jer 23:32">Jer. xxiii. 32</scripRef>), <i>They shall not profit
this people at all.</i> 4. They and their services shall be
rejected of God; he will be so far from taking any pleasure in them
that he will loathe and detest them: <i>I will spread dung in your
faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts.</i> He refers to the
sacrifices that were offered at those feasts. Instead of being
himself pleased with the fat of their sacrifices, he will show
himself displeased by throwing the dung of them in their faces,
which he does, in effect, when he says, <i>Bring no more vain
oblations;</i> your <i>incense is an abomination</i> to me. Note,
Those who rest in their external performances of religion, which
they should count but <i>dung, that they may win Christ,</i> shall
not only come short of acceptance with God in them, but shall be
filled with shame and confusion for their folly. 5. All will end,
at last, in their utter ruin: <i>One shall take you away with
it.</i> They shall be so overspread with the dung of their
sacrifices that they shall be carried away with it to the dunghill,
as a part of it. Any one shall serve to take you away, the common
scavenger. <i>Reprobate silver shall men call them,</i> and treat
them accordingly, <i>because the Lord has rejected them.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Mal.iii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.10-Mal.2.17" parsed="|Mal|2|10|2|17" passage="Mal 2:10-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Mal.iii-p9.4">
<h4 id="Mal.iii-p9.5">Unlawful Marriages; Breach of the
Marriage-covenant; Charge of Corrupt Principles. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p9.6">b.
c.</span> 400.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Mal.iii-p10" shownumber="no">10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God
created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his
brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?   11 Judah
hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel
and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p10.1">Lord</span> which he loved, and hath married the
daughter of a strange god.   12 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p10.2">Lord</span> will cut off the man that doeth this, the
master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him
that offereth an offering unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p10.3">Lord</span> of hosts.   13 And this have ye done
again, covering the altar of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p10.4">Lord</span> with tears, with weeping, and with crying
out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or
receiveth <i>it</i> with good will at your hand.   14 Yet ye
say, Wherefore? Because the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p10.5">Lord</span>
hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against
whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet <i>is</i> she thy
companion, and the wife of thy covenant.   15 And did not he
make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one?
That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your
spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his
youth.   16 For the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p10.6">Lord</span>, the
God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for <i>one</i>
covereth violence with his garment, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p10.7">Lord</span> of hosts: therefore take heed to your
spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.   17 Ye have wearied
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p10.8">Lord</span> with your words. Yet ye
say, Wherein have we wearied <i>him?</i> When ye say, Every one
that doeth evil <i>is</i> good in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Mal.iii-p10.9">Lord</span>, and he delighteth in them; or, Where
<i>is</i> the God of judgment?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p11" shownumber="no">Corrupt practices are the genuine fruit and
product of corrupt principles; and the badness of men's hearts and
lives is owing to some loose atheistical notions which they have
got and which they govern themselves by. Now, in these verses, we
have an instance of this; we here find men dealing falsely with one
another, and it is because they think falsely of their God.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p12" shownumber="no">I. How corrupt their practices were. In
general, they <i>dealt treacherously every man against his
brother,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.10" parsed="|Mal|2|10|0|0" passage="Mal 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>.
It cannot be expected that he who is false to his God should be
true to his friend. They had dealt treacherously with God in his
tithes and offerings, and had defrauded him, and thus conscience
was debauched, its bonds and cords were broken, a door was opened
to all manner of injustice and dishonesty, and the bonds of
relation and natural affection are broken through likewise and no
difficulty made of it. Some think that the treacherous dealings
here reproved are the same with those instances of oppression and
extortion which we find complained of to Nehemiah about this time,
<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.5.3-Neh.5.7" parsed="|Neh|5|3|5|7" passage="Ne 5:3-7">Neh. v. 3-7</scripRef>. Therein they
forgot the God of their fathers, and the covenant of their fathers,
and rendered their offerings unacceptable, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.11" parsed="|Isa|1|11|0|0" passage="Isa 1:11">Isa. i. 11</scripRef>. But it seems rather to refer to
what was amiss in their marriages, which was likewise complained
of, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Neh.13.23" parsed="|Neh|13|23|0|0" passage="Ne 13:23">Neh. xiii. 23</scripRef>. Two
things they are here charged with, as very provoking to God in this
matter—taking strange wives of heathen nations, and abusing and
putting away the wives they had of their own nation; in both these
they dealt treacherously and violated a sacred covenant; the former
was in contempt of the covenant of peculiarity, the latter of the
marriage-covenant.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p13" shownumber="no">1. In contempt of the covenant God made
with Israel, as a peculiar people to himself, they married strange
wives, which was expressly prohibited, and provided against, in
that covenant, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.3" parsed="|Deut|7|3|0|0" passage="De 7:3">Deut. vii. 3</scripRef>.
Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p14" shownumber="no">(1.) What good reason they had to deal
faithfully with God and one another in this covenant, and not to
make marriages with the heathen. [1.] They were expressly bound out
from such marriages by covenant. God engaged to do them good upon
this condition, that they should not mingle with the heathen; this
was the <i>covenant of their fathers,</i> the covenant made with
their fathers, denoting the antiquity and the authority of it, and
its being the great charter by which that nation was incorporated.
They lay under all possible obligations to observe it strictly, yet
they profaned it, as if they were not bound by it. Those profane
the covenant of their fathers who live in disobedience to the
command of the God of their fathers. [2.] They were a peculiar
people, united in one body, and therefore ought to have united for
the preserving of the honour of their peculiarity: <i>Have we not
all one Father?</i> Yes, we have, for <i>has not one God created
us?</i> Are we not all <i>his offspring?</i> And are we not <i>made
of one blood?</i> Yes, certainly we are. God is a common Father to
all mankind, and, upon that account, <i>all we are brethren,</i>
members one of another, and therefore ought to <i>put away
lying</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.25" parsed="|Eph|4|25|0|0" passage="Eph 4:25">Eph. iv. 25</scripRef>),
and not to <i>deal treacherously,</i> no, not <i>any man against
his brother.</i> But here it seems to refer to the Jewish nation:
<i>Have we not all one father,</i> Abraham, or Jacob? This they
prided themselves in, <i>We have Abraham to our father;</i> but
here it is turned upon them as an aggravation of their sin in
betraying the honour of their nation by intermarrying with
heathens: "<i>Has not one God created us,</i> that is, formed us
into a people, made us a nation by ourselves, and put a life into
us, distinct from that of other nations? And should not this oblige
us to maintain the dignity of our character?" Note, The
consideration of the unity of the church in Christ, its founder and
Father, should engage us carefully to preserve the purity of the
church and to guard against all corruptions. [3.] They were
dedicated to God, as well as distinguished from the neighbouring
nations. <i>Israel was holiness to the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.3" parsed="|Jer|2|3|0|0" passage="Jer 2:3">Jer. ii. 3</scripRef>), taken into covenant with him, set
apart by him for himself, to be to him for a name and a praise, and
upon this account he <i>loved them</i> and delighted in them; the
sanctuary set up among them was the <i>holiness of the Lord, which
he loved,</i> of which he said, It is <i>my rest for ever, here
will I dwell, for I have desired it;</i> but by marrying strange
wives they profaned this holiness, and laid the honour of it in the
dust. Note, Those who are devoted to God, and beloved of him, are
concerned to preserve their integrity, that they may not throw
themselves out of his love, nor lose the honour, or defeat the end,
of their dedication to him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p15" shownumber="no">(2.) How treacherously they dealt,
notwithstanding, They profaned themselves in that very thing which
was prescribed to them for the preserving of the honour of their
singularity: <i>Judah has married the daughter of a strange
god.</i> The harm was not so much that she was the daughter of a
strange nation (God has made <i>all nations of men,</i> and is
himself <i>King of nations</i>), but that she was the daughter of a
strange god, trained up in the service and worship of false gods,
at their disposal, as a daughter at her father's disposal, and
having a dependence upon them; hence some of the rabbin (quoted by
Dr. Pocock) say, <i>He that marries a heathen woman is as if he
made himself son-in-law to an idol.</i> The corruption of the old
world began with the intermarriages of the <i>sons of God</i> with
the <i>daughters of men,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.6.2" parsed="|Gen|6|2|0|0" passage="Ge 6:2">Gen. vi.
2</scripRef>. It is the same thing that is here complained of, but
as it is expressed it sounds worse: The <i>sons of God married the
daughters of a strange god.</i> Herein Judah is said to have
<i>dealt treacherously,</i> for they basely betrayed their own
honour and <i>profaned</i> that <i>holiness of the Lord</i> which
they <i>should have loved</i> (so some read it); and it is said to
be <i>an abomination committed in Israel and in Jerusalem;</i> it
was hateful to God, and very unbecoming those that were called by
his name. Note, it is an abominable thing for those who profess the
holiness of the Lord to profane it, particularly by yoking
themselves unequally with unbelievers.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p16" shownumber="no">(3.) How severely God would reckon with
them for it (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.12" parsed="|Mal|2|12|0|0" passage="Mal 2:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>):
<i>The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this,</i> that marries
the daughter of a strange god. He has, in effect, cut himself off
from the holy nation, and joined in with foreigners and <i>aliens
to the commonwealth of Israel,</i> and so shall his doom be; <i>God
will cut him off, him and all that belongs to him;</i> so the
original intimates. He shall be cut off from Israel and from
Jerusalem, and not be <i>written among the living</i> there. The
Lord will cut off both <i>the master and the scholar,</i> that are
guilty of this sin, both the teachers and the taught. The blind
leaders and the blind followers shall fall together into the ditch,
<i>both him that wakeneth</i> and <i>him that answereth</i> (so it
is in the margin), for the master calls up his scholar to his
business, and stirs him up in it. They shall be cut off together
<i>out of the tabernacles of Jacob.</i> God will no more own them
as belonging to his nation; nay, and the priest that <i>offers an
offering to the Lord,</i> if he marry a strange wife (as we find
many of the priests did, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.10.18" parsed="|Ezra|10|18|0|0" passage="Ezr 10:18">Ezra x.
18</scripRef>), shall not escape; the offering he offers shall not
atone for him, but he shall be cut off from the temple of the Lord,
as others from the tabernacles of Jacob. <i>Nehemiah chased away
from him,</i> and from the priesthood, one of the sons of the high
priest, whom he found guilty of this sin, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.13.28" parsed="|Neh|13|28|0|0" passage="Ne 13:28">Neh. xiii. 28</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p17" shownumber="no">2. In contempt of the marriage-covenant,
which God instituted for the common benefit of mankind, they abused
and put away the wives they had of their own nation, probably to
make room for those strange wives, when it was all the fashion to
marry such (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.13" parsed="|Mal|2|13|0|0" passage="Mal 2:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>):
<i>This also have you done;</i> this is the second article of the
charge. For the way of sin is down-hill, and one violation of the
covenant is an inlet to another.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p18" shownumber="no">(1.) Let us see what it is that is here
complained of. they did not behave as they ought to have done
towards their wives. [1.] They were cross with them, froward and
peevish, and made their lives bitter to them, so that when they
came with their wives and families to worship God at the solemn
feasts, which they should have done with rejoicing, they were all
out of humour; the poor wives were ready to break their hearts,
and, not daring to make their case known to any other, they
complained to God, and <i>covered the altar of the Lord with tears,
with weeping, and with crying.</i> This is illustrated by the
instance of Hannah, who, upon the account of her husband's having
another wife (though otherwise a kind husband), and the discontent
thence arising, whenever they went up to the house of the Lord to
worship <i>fretted and wept,</i> and was in <i>bitterness of
soul,</i> and <i>would not eat,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.1.6-1Sam.1.7 Bible:1Sam.1.10" parsed="|1Sam|1|6|1|7;|1Sam|1|10|0|0" passage="1Sa 1:6,7,10">1 Sam. i. 6, 7, 10</scripRef>. So it was with these
wives here; and this was so contrary to the cheerfulness which God
requires in his worshippers that it spoiled the acceptableness of
their devotions: God <i>regards not their offering any more.</i>
See here what a good Master we serve, who will not have his altar
covered with tears, but compassed with songs. This condemns those
who left his worship for that of idols, among the rites of which we
find <i>women weeping for Tammuz</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.14" parsed="|Ezek|8|14|0|0" passage="Eze 8:14">Ezek. viii. 14</scripRef>), and the blood of the
worshippers gushing out upon the altar, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.18.28" parsed="|1Kgs|18|28|0|0" passage="1Ki 18:28">1 Kings xviii. 28</scripRef>. See also what a wicked
thing it is to put others out of frame for the cheerful worship of
God; though it is their fault by their fretfulness to indispose
themselves for their duty, yet it is much more the fault of those
who <i>provoked them to make them to fret.</i> It is a reason given
why yoke-fellows should live in holy love and joy—<i>that their
prayers may not be hindered,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.3.7" parsed="|1Pet|3|7|0|0" passage="1Pe 3:7">1 Pet.
iii. 7</scripRef>. [2.] They dealt treacherously with them,
<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.14-Mal.2.16" parsed="|Mal|2|14|2|16" passage="Mal 2:14-16"><i>v.</i> 14-16</scripRef>. They
did not perform their promises to them, but defrauded them of their
maintenance or dower, or took in concubines, to share in the
affection that was due to their wives only. [3.] They <i>put them
away,</i> gave them a bill of divorce, and turned them off, nay,
perhaps they did it without the ceremony that the law of Moses
prescribed, <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.16" parsed="|Mal|2|16|0|0" passage="Mal 2:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>.
[4.] In all this <i>they covered violence with their garment;</i>
they abused their wives, and were vexatious to them, and yet, in
the sight of others, they pretended to be very loving to them and
tender of them, and to cast a skirt over them. It is common for
those who do violence to advance some specious pretence or other
wherewith to cover it as with a garment.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p19" shownumber="no">(2.) Let us see the proof and aggravations
of the charge. [1.] It is sufficiently proved by the testimony of
God himself: "<i>The Lord has been witness between thee and the
wife of thy youth</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.14" parsed="|Mal|2|14|0|0" passage="Mal 2:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>), has been witness to the marriage-covenant between
thee and her, for to him you appealed concerning your sincerity in
it and fidelity to it; he has been a witness to all the violations
of it, and all thy treacherous dealings in contempt of it, and is
ready to judge between thee and her." Note, This should engage us
to be faithful both to God and to all with whom we have to do, that
God himself is a witness both to all our covenants and to all our
covenant-breaches; and he is a witness against whom there lies no
exception. [2.] It is highly aggravated by the consideration of the
person wronged and abused. <i>First,</i> "She is <i>thy wife;</i>
thy own, bone of thy bone and flesh of thy flesh, the nearest to
thee of all the relations thou hast in the world, and to cleave to
whom thou must quit the rest." <i>Secondly,</i> "She is <i>the wife
of thy youth,</i> who had thy affections when they were at the
strongest, was thy first choice, and with whom thou hast lived
long. Let not the darling of thy youth be the scorn and loathing of
thy age." <i>Thirdly,</i> "She is <i>thy companion;</i> she has
long been an equal sharer with thee in thy cares, and griefs, and
joys." The wife is to be looked upon, not as a servant, but as a
companion to the husband, with whom he should freely converse and
<i>take sweet counsel,</i> as with a friend, and in whose company
he should take delight more than in any other's; for <i>is she
not</i> appointed to be <i>thy companion? Fourthly,</i> "She is
<i>the wife of thy covenant,</i> to whom thou art so firmly bound
that, while she continues faithful, thou canst not be loosed from
her, for it was a covenant for life. It is the wife with whom thou
hast covenanted, and who has covenanted with thee; there is an oath
of God between you, which is not to be trifled with, is not to be
played fast and loose with." Married people should often call to
mind their marriage-vows, and review them with all seriousness, as
those that make conscience of performing what they promised.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p20" shownumber="no">(3.) Let us see the reasons given why man
and wife should continue together, to their lives' end, in holy
love and peace, and neither quarrel with each other nor separate
from each other. [1.] Because god has joined them together
(<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.15" parsed="|Mal|2|15|0|0" passage="Mal 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>Did not
he make one,</i> one Eve for one Adam, that Adam might never
<i>take another to her to vex her</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.18.18" parsed="|Lev|18|18|0|0" passage="Le 18:18">Lev. xviii. 18</scripRef>), nor put her away to make
room for another? It is great wickedness to complain of the law of
marriage as a confinement, when Adam in innocency, in honour, in
Eden, in the garden of pleasure, was confined to one. Yet <i>God
had the residue of the Spirit;</i> he could have made another Eve,
as amiable as that he did make, but, designing <i>Adam a help meet
for him,</i> he made him <i>one wife;</i> had he made him more, he
would not have had a <i>meet help.</i> And wherefore did he make
but one woman for one man? It was <i>that he might seek a godly
seed</i>—<i>a seed of God</i> (so the word is), a seed that should
bear the image of God, be employed in the service of God, and be
devoted to his glory and honour,—that <i>every man having his own
wife,</i> and <i>but one,</i> according to the law, (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.7.2" parsed="|1Cor|7|2|0|0" passage="1Co 7:2">1 Cor. vii. 2</scripRef>), they might live in
chaste and holy love, under the directions and restraints of the
divine law, and not, as brute beasts, under the dominion of lust,
and thus might propagate the nature of man in such a way as might
make it most likely to participate of a divine nature,—that the
children, being born in holy matrimony, which is an ordinance of
God, and by which the inclinations of nature are kept under the
regulations of God's command, might thus be made a <i>seed to serve
him,</i> and be bred, as they are born, under his direction and
dominion. Note, The raising up of a godly seed, which shall be
<i>accounted to the Lord for a generation,</i> is one great end of
the institution of marriage; but that is a good reason why the
marriage-bed should be kept undefiled and the marriage bond
inviolable. Husbands and wives must <i>therefore</i> live in the
fear of God, that their seed may be a godly seed, else were they
<i>unclean,</i> but <i>now they are holy, as children of the
covenant,</i> the marriage-covenant, which was a type of the
covenant of grace, and the conjugal union, when thus preserved
entire, of the mystical union between Christ and his church, in
which he seeks and secures to himself a godly seed; see <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Eph.5.25 Bible:Eph.5.32" parsed="|Eph|5|25|0|0;|Eph|5|32|0|0" passage="Eph 5:25,32">Eph. v. 25, 32</scripRef>. [2.] Because he is
much displeased with those who go about to put asunder <i>what he
has joined together</i> (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.16" parsed="|Mal|2|16|0|0" passage="Mal 2:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>): <i>The God of Israel saith that he hateth putting
away.</i> He hath indeed permitted it to the Jews, <i>for the
hardness of their hearts,</i> or, rather, limited and clogged it
(<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.19.8" parsed="|Matt|19|8|0|0" passage="Mt 19:8">Matt. xix. 8</scripRef>); but <i>he
hated</i> it, especially as those practised it who <i>put away
their wives for every cause,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p20.7" osisRef="Bible:Matt.19.3" parsed="|Matt|19|3|0|0" passage="Mt 19:3">Matt.
xix. 3</scripRef>. Let those wives that elope from their husbands
and put themselves away, those husbands that are cruel to their
wives and turn them away, or take their affections off from their
wives and place them upon others, yea, and those husbands and wives
that live asunder by consent, for want of love to each other, let
such as these know that the God of Israel hates such practices,
however vain men may make a jest of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p21" shownumber="no">(4.) Let us see the caution inferred from
all this. We have it twice (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.15" parsed="|Mal|2|15|0|0" passage="Mal 2:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>): <i>Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none
deal treacherously against the wife of his youth;</i> and again,
<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.16" parsed="|Mal|2|16|0|0" passage="Mal 2:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. Note, Those
that would be kept from sin must <i>take heed to their spirits,</i>
for there all sin begins; they must keep their hearts with all
diligence, must keep a jealous eye upon them and a strict hand, and
must watch against the first risings of sin there. We shall act as
we are spirited; and therefore, that we may regulate our actions,
we must consider <i>what manner of spirit we are of;</i> we must
<i>take heed to our spirits</i> with reference to our particular
relations, and see that we stand rightly affected to them and be of
a good temper, for otherwise we shall be in danger of dealing
treacherously. If our own hearts deal treacherously with us, whom
will they not deal treacherously with?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Mal.iii-p22" shownumber="no">II. Observe how corrupt their principles
were, to which were owing all these corrupt practices. Let us trace
up the streams to the fountain (<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.17" parsed="|Mal|2|17|0|0" passage="Mal 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): <i>You have wearied the Lord
with your words.</i> They thought to evade the convictions of the
word, and to justify themselves by cavilling with God's
proceedings; but their defence was their offence, and their
vindication of themselves was the aggravation of their crime; they
affronted the Lord with their words, and repeated them so often,
and persisted so long in their contradictions, that they even
<i>wearied him;</i> see <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.13" parsed="|Isa|7|13|0|0" passage="Isa 7:13">Isa. vii.
13</scripRef>. They made him weary of doing them good as he had
done, and stopped the current of his favours; or they represented
him as weary of governing the world, and willing to quit it and lay
aside the care of it. Note, It is a wearisome thing, even to God
himself, to hear people insist upon their own justification in
their corrupt and wicked practices, and plead their atheistical
principles in vindication of them. But, as if God by his prophet
had done them wrong, see how impudently they ask, <i>Wherein have
we wearied him?</i> What are those vexatious words whereby we have
wearied him? Note, Sinful words are more offensive to the God of
heaven than they are commonly thought to be. But God has his proofs
ready; two things they had said, at least in their hearts (and
thoughts are words to God), with which they had wearied him:—1.
They had denied him to be a holy God, and had asserted that
concerning him which is directly contrary to the doctrine of his
holiness. As he is a holy God, he hates sin, <i>is of purer eyes
than to behold it,</i> and <i>cannot endure to look upon it,</i>
<scripRef id="Mal.iii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Hab.1.13" parsed="|Hab|1|13|0|0" passage="Hab 1:13">Hab. i. 13</scripRef>. He <i>is not a
God that has pleasure in wickedness,</i> <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.5.4" parsed="|Ps|5|4|0|0" passage="Ps 5:4">Ps. v. 4</scripRef>. And yet they had the impudence to
say, in direct contradiction to this, <i>Every one that does evil
is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.</i> This
wicked inference they drew, without any reason, from the prosperity
of sinners in their sinful courses (see <scripRef id="Mal.iii-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.15" parsed="|Mal|3|15|0|0" passage="Mal 3:15"><i>ch.</i> iii. 15</scripRef>), as if God's love or
hatred were to be known by that which is before us, and those must
be concluded <i>good in the sight of the Lord</i> who are rich in
the world. Or this they said because they wished it might be so;
they were resolved to <i>do evil,</i> and yet to think themselves
<i>good in the sight of the Lord,</i> and to believe that <i>he
delighted in them,</i> notwithstanding; and therefore, under
pretence of making God not so severe as he was commonly
represented, they said as they would have it, and thought he was
<i>altogether such a one as themselves.</i> Note, Those who think
God a friend to sin affront him and deceive themselves. 2. They had
denied him to be the righteous governor of the world. If he did not
delight in sin and sinners, yet it would serve their turn to
believe that he would never punish it or them. They said, "<i>Where
is the God of judgment?</i> That God who, we have been so often
told, would call us to an account, and reckon with us for what we
have said and done—where is he? He has forsaken the earth, and
takes no notice of what is said and done there; he has said that he
will <i>come to judgment;</i> but <i>where is the promise of his
coming?</i> We may do what we please; he sees us not, nor will
regard us." It is such a challenge to the Judge of the whole earth
as bids defiance to his justice, and, in effect, dares him to <i>do
his worst.</i> Such scoffers as these there were in the latter days
of the Jewish church, and such there shall be in the latter days of
the Christian church; but their unbelief shall not make the promise
of God of no effect; for the day of the Lord will come. <i>Behold,
the Judge stands before the door;</i> the God of judgment <i>is at
hand.</i></p>
</div></div2>