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Texts -- Malachi 2:11-17 (NET)

Context
2:11 Judah has become disloyal , and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem . For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god ! 2:12 May the Lord cut off from the community of Jacob every last person who does this, as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all ! 2:13 You also do this : You cover the altar of the Lord with tears as you weep and groan , because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. 2:14 Yet you ask , “Why ?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young , to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law . 2:15 No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God ? Be attentive , then, to your own spirit , for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth . 2:16 “I hate divorce ,” says the Lord God of Israel , “and the one who is guilty of violence ,” says the Lord who rules over all . “Pay attention to your conscience , and do not be unfaithful .”
Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit
2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words . But you say , “How have we wearied him?” Because you say , “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion , and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice ?”

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • A discussion of divorce and remarriage fits into this context because they both involve respect for the rights of others. The first of the two situations Moses dealt with in this section concerns a married, divorced, and rema...
  • Ruth carried out Naomi's instructions exactly, further demonstrating her loyal love to her mother-in-law, and encouraged Boaz to pursue the possibility of marriage (vv. 6-9)."Note that the threshingfloor was a public place an...
  • This general assembly took place in late November or early December of 458 B.C. The people who were guilty agreed to divorce their foreign wives and to do this in various local towns that were convenient to their homes in the...
  • Nehemiah confronted this problem as Ezra had several years earlier (Ezra 9-10). The text records only Nehemiah's words to the people, but since we know what kind of person he was we can safely assume that he followed up his w...
  • Wisdom safeguards a person morally. The first part of this pericope shows how God protects (vv. 10-11; cf. vv. 7b-8). The last part presents the temptations one can overcome (vv. 12-15 and 16-19). When a person submits himsel...
  • Isaiah continued to show that Yahweh was both willing and able to deliver His people, a theme begun in 42:10. He confronted the gods, again (cf. 41:21-29), but this time he challenged them to bring forth witnesses to their de...
  • Sometimes God used the events in the lives of His prophets to speak to the people as well as their messages."Hosea's unhappy marriage (Hos. 1-3), Isaiah's family (Isa. 7-8), the death of Ezekiel's wife (Ezek. 24:15-27), and J...
  • Chapter 8 not only contains two major messages from the Lord (vv. 1-17, 18-23) but 10 minor messages, "a decalogueof divine words,"155that make up the two major ones. "Thus says the Lord"introduces each of these minor message...
  • "Haggai and Zechariah . . . are noteworthy for the chronological precision with which they related their lives and ministries to their historical milieu. This is not the case at all with Malachi. In fact, one of the major pro...
  • Malachi was one of the three post-exilic writing prophets along with Haggai and Zechariah, and he was quite certainly the last one chronologically, even though we cannot be dogmatic about a date for his writing.The first grou...
  • Malachi's style is quite different from that of any other writing prophet. Instead of delivering messages to his audience, he charged them with various sins, six times in all. His was a very confrontational style of address. ...
  • Malachi prophesied during the times of Nehemiah. The dates of Nehemiah's ministry were about 445-420 B.C. Possibly Malachi ministered during the time when Nehemiah returned to Babylon following the completion of Jerusalem's w...
  • I. Heading 1:1II. Oracle one: Yahweh's love for Israel 1:2-5III. Oracle two: The priests' illicit practices and indifferent attitudes 1:6-2:9A. The priests' sins 1:6-141. Disrespectful service 1:6-72. Disqualified sacrifices ...
  • "The style of the third oracle differs from the others. Instead of an initial statement or charge followed by a question of feigned innocence, this oracle begins with three questions asked by the prophet. However, as at the b...
  • That another oracle is in view is clear from the question and answer format that begins this pericope, as it does the others. Verse 17 contains the question and answer, and the discussion follows in 3:1-6. The Israelites' cha...
  • 3:13 The people had spoken arrogantly against the Lord, yet when faced with their disrespect they asked for proof.3:14 The Lord obliged them. They had said that serving the Lord and obeying Him did not benefit them, that it d...
  • Matthew evidently included this instruction because the marriage relationships of His disciples were important factors in their effective ministries. Jesus clarified God's will for His disciples that was different from the co...
  • Paul turned from how not to walk to the positive responsibility Christians have to live in holiness.4:20 In contrast to unsaved Gentiles, Christians' minds are no longer dark, they are no longer aliens from God, and their hea...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • 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, O priests, that despise My Name. And ye say, Wherein...
  • The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, out of the tents of Jacob, 14. Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth,'--Malachi 2:12-14. (R.V.).IT is obvious from the ...
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