Wednesday
Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. . . .
Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. . . .
“I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the Lord Almighty.
So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.
(Malachi 2:11, 13-14, 16, NIV)
The book of Malachi was written in the period following the return of the exiled Jews to Palestine. Under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, the temple was reconstructed and the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt. Despite this liberation from captivity and the restored temple, the Jews were discouraged. Their nation was no longer a major power in that part of the world, as it was under David and Solomon, and the glorious future promised by Haggai and Zechariah had not yet been realized.
In today’s passage, Malachi rebukes the Jews for doubting God’s love and challenging his justice. Although God used war as an instrument of his judgment, as we saw yesterday, these verses establish God’s hatred of violence. Judah’s unfaithfulness to God through her practice of idolatry is condemned and the unfaithfulness of Judah’s men to their wives is also pointed out. In the midst of condemning both types of unfaithfulness, God states his hatred of violence.
Violence is the companion of evil. When idolatry is present, injustice results and injustice leads to violence. As in the days of Noah, when “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence” (Genesis 6:11), so in Malachi’s time God’s heart was angered by violence and unfaithfulness. To a God of peace, violence is a product of sin that God despises, but God will use force to punish evil.
Prayer
Jehovah God, forgive us of our unfaithfulness to you when we pursue false gods. Forgive us of our unfaithfulness to our spouses and friends. Help us to hate evil and violence as you do. Amen.