Malachi 2

The priests had also lost all fear of the Lord in accepting substandard sacrifices, which in turn jeopardized the life and peace of Israel, since they were appointed to administer the duties of the priesthood to meet God's requirements for sin and in applying the law as it related to sacrifices, feasts, and temple maintenance. Likewise, it is not much of a stretch to infer that the relaxation of standards in the typical Christian church today reflects their lack of fear for the Lord. Few Pastors today could meet the requirements of verse 6: speaking the word of truth, turning many from iniquity, and living a pure life walking with God.

The last part of the chapter deals with God's displeasure with the Jews' intermarriage with pagan women and the divorcing of their Jewish wives. Judah was specifically called out, but this was a direct consequence of the priests' lackadaisical attitude toward following the law, as well as the ignorance of their history (Samson, Ezra, Ahab, etc…), which clearly exposes the folly of being unequally yoked. But since they also chose to destroy what God brought together through divorce, they put their Godly seed at risk.

We know that he was also referring to Jesus coming out of the tribe of Judah, and the danger the intermarrying posed to his fleshly ancestry remaining untainted. But God was also dealing with the destruction sin was having on the Godly homes and their offspring.

These same attitudes towards marriage are reflected in the way most pastors will marry any two people regardless of their beliefs, lifestyle or motivations for getting married. Modern standards for marriage and remarriage are so low as to question whether certain churches even pose any to potential newlyweds. But in God's eyes in this chapter, they lead a nation down the road to ruin.

Paul Pixley