The Pulpit Commentary — Malachi — Section 38

u My coat is a coRrse ane e.n' yours me.y be floe, And I me.un drink water while you me.on drink wine; But we both he.'e a lee.I heart, unspotted to sbe,w, 'Sae gi'e me yonr he.nd-we're brethren e.'.' " Ye would ecoru to do fe,usel y by woman or me.n ; I he.ud by the right, a.ye, as well as I ce.n. We a.re n.ne in our joys, our affections e.n e.', •Oome, gi'e me your hand-we are brethren e.'.'" (R. Nicol.) D.T. Vere. 14-16.-The Divine institution of marriage. "Yet ye say, Wherefore?" etc. The subject of these verses is the Divine institution of marriage. In relation to this institution we observe- !. THAT IT WPLIEB A LOVING UNION OF TWO, AND ONLY TWO, B017LII tnlTIL DEATH. " Bees.use the Lord he.th been witness between thee a.nd the wife of thy youth, against whoru thou hast dealt treacherously : yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one?" "Wife of thy youth." The Jews had ever been a.ccustomed to marry very young, the husband often being not more than thirteen years of age, a.nd the wife younger. "Thy companion;" not a. slave, nor a.n inferior, but an equal and a. friend. Love-companionship is the highest idea.I of matrimony. "Wife of thy covenant." A relationship established by mutual agree- ment. Marriage (Prov. ii. 17) is ea.lied the covenant of God; it is so because he has ordained it. "Did not he make one?" Thine exclusively. "Yet had he the residue of the spirit," etc. Ma.urier a.nd Hengstenberg explain this verse thus: "The Jews had defended their conduct by the precedent of Abraham, who had taken Ha.ga.r to the injury of Sarah his lawful wife. To this Maia.chi says, 'Now no one [ever] did so in whom there was a. residue of intelligence [discriminating between good and evil], and what did the one [Abraha.m, to whom you a.ppeal for support] do, seeking a godly seed? His object [ viz. not to gratify passion, but to obtain the seed promised by God] makes the case wholly inapplicable to defend your position.' It is asked, 'And wherefore one?' Wherefore only Eve for Ada.m, Sara.h for Abraham?" "Instead," says Dr. Henderson, "of forming two into one, the Creator might have given to Adam many wives. There was no Ja.ck of spiritual existence from which to furnish them with intelligent souls. When be gave to Eve such an existence he did not exhaust the universal fountain of being, There remained all with which the human race had been furnished throughout its generations. What, then, the prophet asks, was the design of the restriction? To this he replies-The securing of a. pious offspring. Divorces and polygamy have ever been unfavourable to the education of children. It is only by the harmonious and loving attention bestowed by parents upon their children that they can be expected to be brought up in the fear of God, The reply bore hard upon the priests who had married idolatrous wives." II. THAT IT HAB BEEN BADLY OUTRAGED IN ALL AGES. The Jews outraged it. The command here, "Ta.ke heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth," implies this. They dealt "treacherously" against the wife of their youth by marrying others. "Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives" (Ezra. x. 10). They do so also by putting them away-by divorce. "For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth Tiolence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts." This has been done in all ages. 1. Polygamy is au ontrage on it. 2. Cruelty is an outrage on it. 3. Mutual unfaithfulness is an outrage on it. The Divine idea of marriage is that the two souls shall be one, so united in love, sympathy, aim, that the two would think, feel, and act as one. But how few a.wongst the million matrimonial a.lliances reach this ideal I lll. THAT OUTRAGE OF THIil INSTITUTION IS FRAUGHT WITH CALAMITOUS RESULTS. 1. It ia abhorrent to God. "The Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he ha.teth putting awo.y." A separation of man and wife, a divorce, is abhorrent to the Almighty, although by the Law of Moses it was allowed b~cause of the banlness of thtir hearts. 2. It involves violence. "For one cuvereth violence with his garment." S,ime suppo,e the garment here means the wife, o.nd that the idea. is that violence was tluue to her, ,18 THE BOOK OF M.ALACill, [cu. 11. 1-17.