A complaint against Israél and chiefly the Priests.
1.The aburden of the word of the Lord to Israél by the ministry of Malachí.
2.I have loved you, saith the Lord: yet ye say, bWherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esáu Jaakób’s brother, saith the Lord? yet I loved Jaakób,
3.And I chated Esáu, and made his mountains waste, and his heritage a wilderness for dragons.
4.Though Edóm say, We are impoverished, but we will return & build the desolate places, yet saith the Lord of hosts, they shall build, but I will destroy it, and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, & the people, with whom the Lord is angry forever.
5.And your eyes shall see it, and ye shall say, The Lord will be magnified upon the border of Israél.
6.A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear, saith the Lord of hosts unto you, dô Priests, that despise my Name? and ye say, eWherein have we despised thy Name?
7.Ye offer funclean bread upon mine altar, and you say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say the table of the Lord is not gto be regarded.
8.And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, it is hnot evil: and if ye offer the lame and sick, it is not evil: offer it now unto thy prince: will he be content with thee, or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hosts?
9.And now, I pray you, ipray before God, that he may have mercy upon us: this hath been by your means: will he regard kyour persons, saith the Lord of hosts?
10.Who is there even among you, lthat would shut the doors? and kindle not fire on mine altar in vain, I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
11.For from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, my Name is mgreat among the Gentiles, & in every place incenses shalbe offered unto my Name , and a pure offering for my Name is great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.
12.But ye have polluted it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is npolluted, & the fruit thereof, even his meat is not to be regarded.
13.Ye said also, Behold, it is a owearness, and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts, and ye offered that which was torn and the lame and the sick: thus ye offered an offering: should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord?
14.But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock pa male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my Name is terrible among the heathen.
Which declares their great ingratitude that did not acknowledge this love, which was so evident in that he chose Abraham from out of all the world, and next chose Jacob the younger brother of whom they came and left Esau the elder.
For besides that the signs of mine hatred appeared even when he was made servant unto his younger brother, being yet in his mother’s belly, and also afterward in that he was put from his birthright, yet even now before your eyes the signs hereof are evident, in that that his country lies waste, and he shall never return to inhabit it, where as you my people whom the enemy hated more then them are by my grace and love toward you delivered, read Rom. 9.13.
Besides the rest of the people he condemns the Priests chiefly be- cause they should have reproved others for their hypocrisy, & obstinacy against God, & not have hardened them by their example to greater evils.
You make is no faute: whereby he condemns them, that think it sufficient to serve God partly, as he has commanded, and partly after man’s fantasy, and so come not to that pureness of religion, which he requires, and therefore in reproach he shows them that a mortal man would not be content to be so served.
He derides the Priests who bare the people in hand, that they prayed for them, and showed that they were the occasion, that these evils came upon the people.
Because the Levites who kept the doors, did not try whether the sacrifices that came in, were according to the Law, God wishes, that they would rather shut the doors then to receive such as were not perfect.
God shows, that their ingratitude, and neglect of his true service shall be the cause of the calling of the Gentiles: and here the Prophet that was under the Law framed his words to the capacity of the people, and by the altar, and sacrifice he means the spiritual service of God, which should be under the Gospel, when an end should be made to all these legal ceremonies by Christ’s only sacrifice.
Both the Priests and the people were infested with this error, that they passed not what was offered, for they thought that God was aswell content with the lean as with the fat: but in the mean season they showed not that obedience to God, which he required, and so committed both impiety, and also showed their contempt of God and covetousness.
The Priests and people were both weary with serving God, and passed not what manner of sacrifice and service they gave to God, for that which was least profitable, was thought good enough for the Lord.