Malachi 2:1 Commentary and Bible Study

But though the people had a great fault, the priests had a greater fault, for the Lord held them responsible for protecting the purity of worship. What is the commandment referred to in this verse? It is the commandment to reform worship in the land and to go back to the original standard given by Moses. In chapter 2 we have the final condemnation of the priests. The priesthood, the priestly order, is warned and told they will be condemned if they will not hear. But God who knows their hearts knows that they will not hear, and they will not give glory to his name. To give glory to his name would be to treat the sacrifices and offerings with the respect they deserve as is fitting in coming before a God of such majesty. Since we are in darkness about what pleases him, we must scrupulously follow what he tells us.The priests, who were of the tribe of Levi and in particular were the descendants of Aaron, had received a great blessing from God in being the only tribe that was permitted to minister in the temple and draw near to God. But that blessing was going to be turned into a curse, because they treated their office with contempt in that they were not careful to precisely carry out God’s very clear instructions. Their privilege brought with it responsibility, ‘for unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more’ (Luke 12:48).This warning ought to have brought them to their senses, but to make it even stronger, God warns that he has already cursed them. They are not going to recover from this condition. Malachi will be the last prophets to speak to the Jews for 400 years. After his ministry there will be silence from heaven. So Malachi in the plainest, possible terms is predicting that the Jewish order from now on will run downhill until the coming of Christ, and it will never be restored in that time.