The Pulpit Commentary — Malachi — Section 13

t,,_ iudividuals, hut, to bis pr~vidential dealings with. na~ion_s. Still, it, stands out pro- mmeotly that Gods ways with Israel had been the rnd1cat1on of selectmg love for her. I. Gon's LOYE FOR lsRAEL WAS A DISTINGt;ISHING LOVE. Of lsrael, as of Christ's ap11stles, it could be said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have.chosen you." The race of Abraham is a selected race. It was separated in order to preserve, and to witness for, the _great. primary religious truths w!1ich are essenti_al to the ,vorld's well-b~i?g, but are 1mperilled b., the free moral experiment of humamty. It was a sign of D1vme lol'P thnt. Israel received such a trust. II. GoD's LOVE FOR IsRAEL WAS A PATIENT LOVE. And the patience was very se,·erely tried by the wilfulness and waywardness of the loved ones.' This can bo illustrated from every stage of the histor;y. The patience is seen in this, that God kept on endeavouring to correct by chastisement. Under no provocation.did he give them up in despair, and let judgment pro,e finally overwhelming. Compo.re the case of Edom, which, as a nation, is lost beyond recovery. '1'.hat patience of .the Divine love is the holiest joy to us still. '' • ffi. GoD's LOVE FOR ISRAEL WAS A TRIUMPHANT LOVE. This is what seems chiefly in Malachi's mind. Re wants the people to· feel how the love had triumphed in .their recovery from captivity, and their restoration as a nation. And these proofs of the Lord's love should have acted as persuasions to the Lord's service.-R. T. Vcrs. 4, 5.-Divinefudgme,nts by disappointments. The Lord's dealings with Edom are here introduced as contrasting with the Lord's dealings with Israel. And one chief point of contrast is this-Israel's expectations will be realized; but Edom's eApectations will be disappointed. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts. They shaU build, but I will throw down." There was an exceedingly bitter feeling between Israel and Edom, dating from the time when Edom insultingly refused to allow the passage of Israel through her territory, and so compelled God's people to take the weary and perilous way up tbe Ara.bah. Again and again we have hints of the unfriendly feeling between the kindred and neighbour nations; and that it was continued up fo .the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar is indicated by the exclamation of the poet, in Ps. cn:Avii. 7, "Remember, 0 Lord, the children of Edom in the 'day,of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, ra.se it, even to the foundation thereof." That Jehovah, as God and King of Israel, took its part against Edom is clearly intimated in the 11rophecy of Obadiah. The point of the passage before us is th~t o.n the efforts· of Edom to recover itself as a nation no permanency would rest i whereas If Israel would but be faithful to its obligations, it as a kingdom should be established for ~;ver. I. FAILURE IN LIFE'S ENTERPRISES IS A SIGN OF DIVINE. DEALING WITH us. How- ever we may say that such failure attends (1) particular dispositions; or (2) imperfect training and culture, it remains true that a deeper explanation is possible. • The promise to the good is, "Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." The judgment on ~he evil may be, "Whatsoever he doeth shall fail." There is no experience of life more trying than the disappointment of failing again and again. 'l'here is no mi.sery like .the hopelessness of feeling as if we could not succeed1 and it is no use to try any i;nore. The man is lost who feels that. • IL 1''AIL17RE IN LIFE'S ENTEBPRIBES MAY BE DIVINE DISCIPLINE, BUT IT MAY 'BB DrvINE J'CDGMENT. Chastisement, to convince that we have done the thing wrongly. Juilgment, as in the case of Edom, of some sin committed in early life, th_e_ spirit of which we have kept up through the long years. If we fail in life, we sliould ·se~rch- ingly inquire why God lets us fail.-R. T. V t:r. 6.-Human claims impressing Divine claims. The figure of fatherhood is used in Scripture to suggest God's peculiar relation to Israel; and we are therefore invited to use the family sentiments and responsibilities in the endeavour to realize otif"obliga- tions to God. Our Lord, in his teachings, made a similar appeal to .family feelings: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how'. much mort: shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" And t1e writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews argues in a similar way, " Furthermore we L:i.,·1: Lad fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall 11 c nut much rather be in subjection unto the Father of fpirits, and live?" It is truo oe. 1. 1-14.) THE BOOK OF MALACHI. u that arguments based on human relationships.mUBt take due account of human infirmi• ties1 but there is nn ideal human relatianshir in every case, which men in their heart9 recognize, and the obligations connected with it may always be Hafely applietl to our relo.Lions with God. But there is a special point in Malo.chi's pleading with the priests of his day. In common with Jehovah's people, they came under the children'~ claims and responsibilities; but, as priests, they were children honoured with Mpecial trusts. They were favoured children, and were bound to be model children. The obligation of the servant to the master is similar to that of the son to the father, but in the case of the· child there ie the help of personal affection. The two figures may be used to illustrate the point of this passage. I. A .MAS'l'ER'l:l,OLAI.M ILLUSTRATES THE DIVINE CLAIM. "If I be a Master, where is my fear? saith .the Lord." This is taking the lowest ground. There is no necessary affection. in this relationship. There is simply obligation and duty. A servant is bound to serve. Apply to the priests, who were precisely the servants of Jehovah's house, or temple. He had a right to claim service that would honour him, that would show a cherished sense of reverence and fear, and would make others think highly of him. But just that service the priests of the day were failing to render. Still, if no higher relation be realized, God claims our service as his servants. II. A FATHER'S CLAIM ILLUSTRATES THE DrVINE CLAIM. This is higher ground to take, because it is a relation involving personal affection, and the refusal of the claim is therefore the more unworthy. Work out that if the father-figure as presented in the Old Testament was a great persuasion of the Divine claims, much more mllilt the Father-figure be as revealed in the teaching and Sonship of Jesllil Christ.-R. T. Ver. 7.-Polluted bread; or, priestly sins. What was consumed upon the altar was regarded as God's portion, and may, in a figure, be called "the bread of God." "The offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the bread of God, they do offer : therefore they !!hall be holy" (Lev. xxi. 6). By" polluted bread" we are to understand maimed and .bleJJ)ished sacrifices; The Divine reproach is that the priests show how little value they have for. the worship of God, since they do not care in how slight and con- temptuous a manner it is performed. The Prophet Malachi deals very largely with the unfaithfulness, the unpriestliness, of the priests of his day. It was at once a sign of a sad condition of morals and religion when the priests failed of their duty; and the way to recover the nation to righteousness, when the priests were recalled to the sense of their obligations. ' I.· SoOIETY REVEALED IN THE UNFAITHFULNESS OF THE PRIESTS. These may be ta.ken a.s representing the clergy of the Christian generations. It has always bee~ true that society is reflected in the moral standard of the clergy. This is embodied in the saying, "Like priest, like people; " and it is a. wider and more searching truth .than is usually apprehended. The clergy are the moral barometers by which the atmosphere of a.n age is discovered. The priests of Malo.chi's time declare the mora.l and religious degeneracy of the people. " The saddest sign of all was the degeneracy of.the priesthood which Malachi, though perhaps himself a priest, was specially com- missioned to denounce. 'rhe. Jack of all real faith and moral soundness in the very order which ought to have kept alive am9ng the people the essential elements of the spiritual life, was eating like a cancer into the heart of the national sincerity" (Farrar). It may be shown that prie~tly indifference and unfaithfulness are products and results of neglected personal religious life. So long as priestly duties are instinct with spiritual feeling they will be.worthily performed. When personal godliness fails, they become perfunctory, and then if in seeming they are kept up, in reality they deteriorate. It is in maintaining the personal religious life that priests lee.d the nations. II. SOOIETY IS RECOVERED BY TB;E RECOVERY OF THE PRIESTS. Therefore Malachi appeals to them. It may be tba.t the priests are the last to yield to the society evi.1;; but they must al ways be the first recovered. They must become forces on the side of God in the restoration of moral health to a nation. Revivals are always hopeless things unless their first effect is the spiritual reviva; of the clergy.-R. T.