Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because Jehovah hath been a witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt unfaithfully yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
Malachi's hearers flooded the altar with tears. They could not see why God turned away from their offerings. The prophet answers by naming someone they did not expect: the wife they had betrayed. God Himself stood at that wedding as a witness.
One writer notes how far self-deception can go. People who have left God still expect Him to accept their worship:
This would seem very strange, if we did not know how much we can deceive ourselves. They knew how far they had left the living God. Yet they still could not — or claimed they could not — understand why the Lord did not accept their offerings... How often this happens with God's people even now. They cling to their sins, and yet are surprised that He does not hear their cries. They forget the truth the apostle spoke: "whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything." (1 John 3:20)
The verse gives the reason God refused their worship. He was there at the wedding as a witness.
How little people care that the marriage relationship cannot be dissolved! How little they care that the Lord was the witness of it, and will be a swift witness against those who violate it! The Saviour allows only one cause for divorce. Divorce for any other reason He treats as adultery.
Moses did allow divorce. Another writer sets out on what terms:
We learn from the Lord's answer to the Pharisees that the law of Moses permitted divorce to the Jew because of their hardness of heart. But He adds plainly, "from the beginning it was not so." (Matthew 19:3-9) And the farther they went from God in heart and ways, the more often they used this permission. They also abused it, until the marriage bond became loose on every side, and they separated from their wives at their own will and pleasure.
The verse does not call the wife a possession. It calls her his companion and his wife by covenant.
They were both placed on a common footing with God... What alienation from God's mind and ways! They were given up to self.
The word translated "faithless" is not used only here. It keeps coming back through the chapter.
As we read these solemn charges, one word keeps striking us: "treacherously." It occurs in verses 10, 11, 14, 15, and 16. In each case a better translation is "unfaithfully." Having turned out of the way, they were unfaithful in every circle. They were unfaithful to one another, brother with brother. They were unfaithful in relation to the world. They were unfaithful in the home. They were unfaithful in their discipline.
The sins in this chapter come in an order.
Notice again the order of the sins listed here. First came the corruption of the covenant of Levi. Then men dealt unfaithfully with their brothers. Then they dealt unfaithfully with God in the matter of idolatry. Last, they dealt unfaithfully with the wife of their youth. It is religious, social, and home corruption. Note it well: the last two flow from the first... Where the conscience is not exercised before God, there is no guarantee of faithfulness to anyone. That includes, as in this passage, those bound by the closest of all ties. Dissolve the tie between man and God, and you dissolve every other tie that binds man to man.
There is a reason God made husband and wife one.
The prophet declares the purpose of the oneness of man and wife, the unbreakable nature of the marriage bond... "And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring." The Lord looks to find His people among the children of His servants... God Himself ties the godliness of the children — "godly offspring" — to keeping the marriage relationship sacred and unbroken.
Some people treat home duties as beneath a truly spiritual life. One writer answers that directly.
In this way the Lord puts great weight on keeping natural relationships in a godly way. Wherever people treat these lightly, under any excuse, spiritual or otherwise, the door is already open to the worst forms of loose living and corruption. It is worth pressing this in a day when so many try to free themselves from natural claims, under the plausible excuse of a higher spirituality.
- Witness. The God who witnessed the wedding vow now testifies against the man who broke it.
- Companion. The wife is not a lesser party. Husband and wife stand on common ground before God.
- Unfaithful. One word covers the chapter: unfaithful with God, with the brother, with the world, and at home.
- Order. The chain runs downward — cut the tie with God, and every human tie loosens, the closest one first.
- Offspring. God guards the marriage bond because He is seeking godly children through it. Keep it, and you serve His purpose.
And did not one make [them]? and the remnant of the Spirit was his. And wherefore the one? He sought a seed of God. Take heed then to your spirit, and let none deal unfaithfully against the wife of his youth,
Here God charges men who divorced the wives they married in their youth. They protest, and He answers with a question about creation: why did God make husband and wife one? Two phrases carry the argument — "a portion of the Spirit" and "godly offspring", which older translations render "the residue of the Spirit" and "a godly seed".
One writer takes the reasoning step by step. He reads the words about the Spirit as a statement of God's creative power:
The hard fifteenth verse is about marriage, where God makes two into one. He made the woman for the man, though He had the residue of the Spirit — the creative power by which He could have made many women for one man. And why one? That is, one woman for the man. It was so that He might seek a godly seed, and keep godly people continuing. Divorce, such as they practised, works against this.
The people had drifted far from this pattern. The pattern itself did not move:
There was much marital unfaithfulness. Men were putting away their wives treacherously, ignoring God's original purpose in making a man and his wife one. Here once more we see that God's original design stands unshaken, no matter how far people forsake and forget it. We also see that when people ignore God and forget His things, confusion soon follows about our own things.
The oneness of marriage has a purpose, and that purpose reaches the next generation:
The prophet states why man and wife are one, and why the marriage bond must not be broken — apart from the one sin our Lord named in Matthew 19, a sin which is itself the breaking of that bond. "And why one? That He might seek a godly seed." So the Lord looks to find His people among the children of His servants… We have not remembered enough how much the Lord cares for the children of His people and loves them. Nor have we remembered that the godliness of the children — "a godly seed" — is tied by God to keeping the marriage relationship holy and unbroken.
The remedy falls on the parents:
To counteract this unfaithfulness, the prophet reminds them that marriage makes husband and wife one, so that among His people there would be "a godly seed." How deeply important this principle is. If the children are to be holy, let the parents be holy.
One writer adds that we now know something Malachi's hearers did not:
We have even further light now, because the Lord has been pleased to show us that the union of husband and wife is a picture of the union between Him and the Church. So our responsibility is greater — both to understand what marriage is, and to know God's attitude of grace and blessing toward the children of His people.
One word keeps coming back through this passage, and it reaches into circle after circle:
As we read these solemn charges, we cannot miss how often the word "treacherously" comes back. It occurs in verses 10, 11, 14, 15, and 16. In each case it may be better translated "unfaithfully." Once they had turned out of the way, they were unfaithful in every circle: each man with his brother, in relation to the world, in the family, and in their discipline.
The order of those failures matters. It shows how one failure feeds the next:
Notice the order of the sins listed here. First came the corruption of the covenant of Levi. Then men dealt treacherously with their brothers, then treacherously with God in the matter of idolatry, and last of all treacherously with the wife of their youth. This is corruption in religion, in society, and in the home. Note carefully that the last two flow from the first… If a man's conscience is not active before God, there is no guarantee that he will be faithful to man… Dissolve the tie between man and God, and you dissolve every other tie that unites man to man.
The verse ends with a command about the inner man, not just conduct. The danger can wear a religious disguise:
In this way the Lord puts great weight on keeping natural relationships in a godly way. Whenever people push these aside under any excuse, spiritual or otherwise, the door is already open to the worst kinds of licence and corruption. This is worth pressing today, when so many try to escape natural claims under the plausible excuse of a higher spirituality… One of the plainest signs that a person wants to please the Lord is doing his duties at home faithfully and carefully.
- One by design. God had the power to make many, and made one. The single marriage bond is His choice.
- One for a reason. The purpose of that oneness is godly offspring. God looks for His people among the children of His servants.
- One demands holiness. If the children are to be holy, the parents must be holy.
- Unfaithfulness travels. One word covers their dealings with God, with the world, and with their wives. Break the tie with God, and every other tie loosens.
- Guard the spirit. Watch your own spirit. Any excuse for neglect at home, even a claim to higher spirituality, opens the door to corruption.
(for I hate putting away, saith Jehovah the God of Israel;) and he covereth with violence his garment, saith Jehovah of hosts take heed then to your spirit, that ye deal not unfaithfully.
Malachi speaks to men who ended their marriages on light grounds while still bringing offerings to God's altar. God gives His verdict on that, then warns each man to guard his own spirit.
One writer counts how often this charge returns in the chapter, and how far it reaches.
In reading these solemn charges we cannot help being struck by how often the word "treacherously" comes back. It occurs in verses 10, 11, 14, 15, and 16. In each case it may be more correctly translated "unfaithfully." Having wandered out of the way, they were unfaithful in every circle. They were unfaithful each man with his brother. They were unfaithful in relation to the world. They were unfaithful in the home. And they were unfaithful in their discipline.
The order of the sins in this chapter carries its own lesson.
Nothing shows moral corruption more clearly than the light view people take of divorce. Even now, when a people or nation makes it easy for husband and wife to get a legal separation, it is a sure sign that public morals are decaying. Notice again the order of the sins listed here. First came the corruption of the covenant of Levi. Then each man dealt treacherously against his brother. Then they dealt treacherously with God in the matter of idolatry. Last, they dealt treacherously with the wife of their youth. This is corruption in religion, in society, and in the home. Note carefully: the last two flow from the first… Dissolve the tie between man and God, and you dissolve every other tie that unites man to man.
These writers quote an older translation of this verse, which reads, "He hates putting away." One of them finds the reason for that hatred in how God has treated His own people.
God has made husband and wife one. He also hates putting away. The prophet introduces this in a most solemn way: "For the LORD, the God of Israel, says that He hates putting away." So if His people share His own mind, they will hate it too. And how abundantly the whole history of Israel as a nation proves that the Lord does hate putting away! If He had not hated it, Israel would long ago, and many times over, have been renounced. They broke His covenant again and again. By that they forfeited every claim on His favour and love. But He bore with them with much patience, for His gifts and calling are without repentance. In the prophets He kept reminding them of His union with them — that He was married to them, and so could not cast them off.
Yet God's hatred of putting away is not a promise that He never separates from anyone. One writer points to the names God gave the children of the prophet Hosea.
The LORD hates putting away (Mal. 2:16). Yet He is the same One who said "Lo-ammi, not my people," to her whom He had called "Ammi, my people." He said "Lo-ruhamah, not pitied," to her whom He had called "Ruhamah, pitied." (Hosea 1 and 2) He ought to put people away from Himself, and He can, and He will, if they do not put away their sin and their bad ways.
The verse then tells each man to guard his own spirit. That guard starts at home.
In this way the Lord lays great stress on keeping natural relationships in a godly way, and attaches great importance to it. Wherever people treat these ties lightly, under any pretext, whether spiritual or otherwise, the door is already open to the worst forms of licence and corruption. It is worth pressing this subject today. So many, under the plausible excuse of a higher spirituality, try to free themselves from natural claims. In many cases they want out of the tiresome duties of home or the control of parents. One of the plainest evidences of a desire to please the Lord is the faithful and diligent discharge of our responsibilities in the home circle.
The verse also pictures a man covering his garment with violence. That image carries the principle beyond marriage.
They dealt treacherously with their wives, putting them away on trivial pretences. But the prophet says, "the LORD, the God of Israel, says that He hates putting away" (verse 16). … Under the appearance of keeping order, they acted with the greatest violence. This passage speaks directly of men who wrongly put away their wives. But the principle reaches wider. We may well think of it in connection with "putting away" an offender from among the company of God's people. It is a solemn warning against violently getting rid of a brother without proper, scriptural grounds.
- Treachery — the key word of the chapter means unfaithfulness. It spreads: with a brother, with the world, in the home, and in discipline.
- Root — religious corruption came first; social and domestic collapse followed. Cut the tie with God and every other tie loosens.
- Hatred — God hates putting away, and Israel's history proves it. They forfeited every claim, yet He bore with them patiently.
- Balance — He still puts people away from Himself when they refuse to put away their sin.
- Heed — the remedy is personal. Watch your own spirit. Start with the duties of home, and never use a show of order to cover violence.