Monday: Loving and Respecting Others

God’s voice, which dominates Malachi’s book, is the voice of a loving father who pleads with His children.

Image © Janet Hyun from GoodSalt.com

When the people raise questions and make complaints, He is ready to dialogue with them. Most of the issues discussed by God and His people have to do with a few basic attitudes.

Read Malachi 2. Though a number of issues are dealt with, for what practice is the Lord especially condemning them? See Mal. 2:13-16.

While all the Jews recognized God as Father and Creator in their worship, not all of them were living as if God was the Lord of their lives. Malachi takes marriage as an example to illustrate lack of faithfulness and commitment to one another. According to the Bible, marriage is a sacred institution established by God. The people of Israel were warned against marrying outside the faith, because by so doing they would compromise their commitments with the Lord and fall into idolatry. (See Josh. 23:12-13.)

God had intended that marriage should be a commitment for life. In Malachi’s time, however, many men were breaking the vows that they had made early in life with, as the prophet said, the “wife of your youth.” Seeing their wives grow older, the husbands would divorce them and marry younger and more attractive women. For this reason, God says, he hates divorce (Mal. 2:16). This strong statement reveals how serious God is about marriage commitments, which so often people take very lightly. The strict rules in the Bible about divorce show just how sacred marriage is.

Because divorce was legal in Israel (Deut. 24:1-4), some men did not hesitate to break their marriage vows. Toward the end of the Old Testament period, divorce appears to have become common, somewhat like many countries today. Yet, in the Bible marriage is consistently presented as a holy covenant before God (Gen. 2:24, Eph. 5:21-33).

Read Malachi 2:17. What warning should be taken from these words, especially in the context of the day’s lesson? Or even in general? How could we be in danger of harboring that same attitude, even subconsciously?

12 comment(s) for this post:

Carmen Roberts:
23 Jun 2013 Jehovah hates divorce (mal. 2:16) . As a rule, his church must hate it, too. Let's sacrifice to save our marriages. Jehovah will honor our meak and humble efforts by keeping our marriages safely prospering together in spite of disunity. It's true. It's my personal experience. It's the FAITH I LIVE BY.
Carmen Roberts:
23 Jun 2013 The spiritualist teachers virtually declares, "everyone that doeth evil is good inthe sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or where is the God of judgment?"(mal. 2:17) saith fhe word of God "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil;...(Isa. 5:20)- It is true that spiritualism is now changing its form, and, veiling some of its more objectionable features, is assuming a Christian guise. While it formerly denounced Christ and the Bible, it now professes to accept both. Love is dwelt upon as the chief attribute of God, but it is degraded to a weak sentimentalism making little distinction between good and evil. - Great Controversy pp557-559
Tinah Richard:
24 Jun 2013 Marriage is taken lightly these days, such a shame . We are imperfect people looking for the perfect mate. When we allow the Lord in our marriage and built on it, we have a better chance of making marriage last. We need to treat each other with respect and love. If we have a job, no matter how tough, we make it work, it should be the same with marriage. Let us put the Lord first in all that we do
Margaret Lazarus:
24 Jun 2013 Carmen if we really believed that God hates divorce and that as a church, we should hate it too we would not have as many divorced couples as we do today. Let's face it, even our Pastors are not hesitating to get divorced and remarry. It is time that we stop spouting out platitudes and take God at his word. If God hates divorce so should we!
William Earnhardt:
24 Jun 2013 While God hates divorce, let's remember the reason why He hates it. He hates divorce because of the pain it causes the families involved. He hates divorce but He loves divorcees and their children! God hates anything that causes His children pain.
Tyler Cluthe:
24 Jun 2013 William, I think you are right but I believe there is also the matter of spiritual divorce. Throughout the Bible God speaks of His church as being the bride of the lamb and often discusses adultery in that context which He hates even more. If we spiritually divorce God then all kinds of other social problems follow including relationship problems between people along with the attending pain. Jesus said to him, "`You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment" (Matt. 22:37-38 NKJV).
KaRan McLin-Collins:
24 Jun 2013 Also brethren remember God allowed divorce because of the hardness of men's (our) hearts. In a case like mine my marriage was through trickery. My husband committed adultery too many times for me to count though I loved him truly and even by his account was a good and Godly wife. I would forgive him when he would confess and seem to go to God. However the longer we were married the more he got into violence. I have since realized I married a narcissist who almost drove me to suicide. And he is still putting on the kind sweet face at church. So I too hate divorce with all my heart for our children suffer because of my bad choice and his hard heart. Just wanted to present the other side of an ugly situation.