Malachia 1:8 Commento

Thus prophet is sent first to convince and then to comfort, first to discover sin and to reprove for that and then to promise the coming of him who shall take away sin. And this method the blessed Spirit takes in dealing with souls, Joh 16:8. He first opens the wound and then applies the healing balm. God had provided (and one would think effectually) for the engaging of Israel to himself by providences and ordinances; but it seems, by the complaints here made of them, that they received the grace of God in both these in vain. I. They were very ungrateful to God for his favours to them, and rendered not again according to the benefit they received (Mal 1:1-5). II. They were very careless and remiss in the observance of his institutions; the priests especially were so, who were in a particular manner charged with them (Mal 1:6-14). And what shall we say of those whom neither providences nor ordinances work upon, and who affront God in those very things wherein they should honour him?

In this chapter the Lord declares his love to the people of Israel, and proves it; and complains that the honour due unto him was not given him; which he demonstrates by various instances. The inscription is in Mal 1:1 showing the name and nature of the prophecy; the author of it; the people to whom it was sent; and the name of the person by whom. In Mal 1:2 the Lord affirms his love to the people of Israel, which they called in question; and proves it to be real, special, and distinguishing, by the instance of Jacob and Esau, two brothers; yet one, their ancestor, was loved, and the other hated; which latter is proved by the desolations made in his country, and by the fruitless attempts made to repair and rebuild; which was so clear a proof of the Lord's indignation against him, that the Israelites could not but see it, and would be obliged to confess it, to the glory of God, Mal 1:3 hence he passes on to observe the honour and fear that were due to him as a Father and master, which were not shown him; but, instead thereof, he was despised, and even by the priests themselves, with which they are charged, Mal 1:6 and which being objected to by them, is proved by offering polluted bread on his altar; and by polluting him, in saying his table was contemptible; and by sacrificing the blind, the lame, and the sick, unto him; things which would be justly resented, if offered to a temporal prince and governor, Mal 1:7 wherefore they are called upon by the prophet to pray to the Lord for grace and mercy for the people, seeing it was by their means (the priests) that these things were done; though it was questionable whether the Lord would have any regard to them, Mal 1:9 their sins being so dreadfully aggravated; and particularly, inasmuch as they did not serve in the temple, not so much as shut a door, or kindle a fire on the altar, for nothing, without being paid for it; hence the Lord declares he had no pleasure in them, nor would he accept their offerings; but would call the Gentiles by his grace, among whom his name would be great from one end of the earth to the other; and incense and pure offerings would be offered by them to him, Mal 1:10 and then he renews the charge against them, that they had profaned his name, by saying that his table, and the fruit thereof, were polluted, and his meat contemptible; by expressing a weariness in his worship, and a contempt of it; and by bringing the torn, the lame, and sick, as an offering to him, Mal 1:12 upon which such sacrificers are declared deceivers, and pronounced accursed, which they might assure themselves was and would be their case; since he was a great King, and his name dreadful among the Heathen, Mal 1:14.

And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil?.... Certainly it is, according to the law in Lev 22:22 or, as Kimchi interprets it, when they bring to you a lamb that is blind for sacrifice to offer it up, ye say, this is not evil; but it is good to offer it up, because the table is contemptible. The sense is, that, however evil this may be in itself, according to them it was good enough to be offered up upon the altar; which proves that they despised the name of the Lord, offered polluted bread or sacrifice on his altar, and had his table in contempt: and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? verily it is, by the law of God, which forbids the offering of such things, Lev 22:21 this was always observed, in all sacrifices under the law, that they were perfect, and without any blemish, whether of the flock, or of the herd; and this was strictly observed, even by the Heathens themselves: so Achilles, in Homer (a), speaks of the perfect lambs and goats they offered in sacrifice; and particularly they were not to be lame, or to halt; such were reckoned choice and excellent sacrifices, which were larger and better fed than others; and which were not lame, nor diseased, nor sickly; for things future could not be known, they say, but from a sound victim (b); for they pretended to have knowledge of them, by the entrails of the sacrifices. So Pliny (c) observes, that this is to be remarked, that calves brought to the altar on men's shoulders are not to be sacrificed; nor are the gods appeased by one that halts; in short, it is said (d), whatever is not perfect and sound is not to be offered to them; and, besides these here mentioned in the text, there were many others, which the Jews especially observed, which rendered creatures unfit for sacrifice. Maimonides (e) reckons up no less than fifty blemishes, by reason of which the priests under the law might not offer a creature for sacrifice: no doubt but the laws of Moses concerning this matter had a respect to the pure, perfect, and spotless sacrifice of Christ, which the legal ones were typical of; and teach us this lesson, that, without a complete sacrifice, no atonement or satisfaction for sin could be made: or, it is not evil in your eyes, as Aben Ezra glosses it; which is the same as before: offer it now unto thy governor; to Zerubbabel, who was governor of Judea at this time, Hag 1:1 for they had no king. The meaning is, offer a lamb or any other creature that is blind, sick, and lame; make a present of it to him that had the government of them; make trial this way, and see how acceptable it would be to him: will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts; will he thank thee for it, or have any respect to thee on account of it? but, on the contrary, will he not resent it as an affront to him? and if so it would be with an earthly prince, how can it be thought that to offer the blind, lame, and sick, should be acceptable to the King of kings, and Lord of lords? (a) Iliad. I. 1. 66. (b) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 3. c. 12. (c) Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 45. (d) Scholia in Aristoph. Acharn. Act 3. Scen. 3. p. 409. (e) Hilchot Biath Hamikdash, c. 7. sect. 1. &c.

(Verse 8) If you offer the blind animal for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and sick animal, is it not evil? Offer it to your governor; see if he is pleased with it or accepts your face, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: For if you offer the blind animal for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and sick animal, is it not evil? Offer it to your governor; see if he receives you, if he accepts your face, says the Almighty Lord. We learn more fully about the diversity of victims and what should or should not be offered in Leviticus (Lev. 21 and 22). Therefore, the priests and Levites, gatekeepers and singers, and the servants of Solomon who returned from Babylon, including those whose names were listed by Ezra, offered illicit victims to God, namely blind and lame animals, and those weakened by various infirmities (1 Esd. 2); for this is what is meant by 'languid,' encompassing everything in one word. If you were to offer gifts to your leader, would he not reject them? Would he not consider it an injustice done to him? And yet, you dare to offer this to God, when you do not dare to give it to humans? It would take too long to explain the mysteries of all the sacrifices; I will only speak about those that are contained in this present chapter. The victim of the soul is blind, as it is not enlightened by the light of Christ, nor does it have an eye that gazes upon the Gospel (Matthew 6). The prayer of the petitioner is lame, as it approaches prayer with a divided mind and listens to the people of the Jews: How long will you limp with both feet? (1 Kings 18:21) And weak, and covered with all infirmity, which does not have the power of Christ God, and the wisdom of God. Prayers of this kind, which are without the light of truth, and do not have firm traces of wisdom, decay with various weaknesses, if they are offered to the leader of the Church, or to any educated and wise teacher, will they not be rejected, and fall into contempt for him who dared to offer such things?

Such was the offering of the murderous Cain that was rejected. He had been told by God, “If you act well, I will receive it.” Such again were all the offerings of the Israelites that were rejected, whereby they received the curse of the prophet who says, “Cursed is the man who has a ram in his flock, and he vows and sacrifices to the Lord one that is sickly.” He rebukes and reproaches them, saying, “Try offering it to your ruler, to see if he will be pleased with it or show you favor; this is what the Lord says.” So how will any address made to God during the ministry of prayer that shows any contempt prove acceptable to God—an address that is full of all sorts of distractions, that is sickly and broken up by interruptions? This sort of thing would not be acceptable even to the most insignificant of human beings if he were thus addressed. The offering of turbulent prayer and the ministration of a heart that shows contempt are exactly like the sacrifice of a blemished ram.

GOD'S LOVE: ISRAEL'S INGRATITUDE: THE PRIESTS' MERCENARY SPIRIT: A GENTILE SPIRITUAL PRIESTHOOD SHALL SUPERSEDE THEM. (Mal 1:1-14) burden--heavy sentence. to Israel--represented now by the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with individuals of the ten tribes who had returned with the Jews from Babylon. So "Israel" is used, Ezr 7:10. Compare Ch2 21:2, "Jehoshaphat king of Israel," where Judah, rather than the ten tribes, is regarded as the truest representative of Israel (compare Ch2 12:6; Ch2 28:19). Malachi--see Introduction. God sent no prophet after him till John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, in order to enflame His people with the more ardent desire for Him, the great antitype and fulfiller of prophecy.

Your earthly ruler would feel insulted, if offered by you the offering with which ye put off God (see Lev 22:22, Lev 22:24). is it not evil?--MAURER translates, "There is no evil," in your opinion, in such an offering; it is quite good enough for such a purpose.

God's Love, and the Contempt of His NameMalachi 1:1-2:9 The Lord has shown love to Israel (Mal 1:2-5), but Israel refuses Him the gratitude which is due, since the priests despise His name by offering bad sacrifices, and thereby cherish the delusion that God cannot do without the sacrifices (Mal 1:6-14). The people are therefore punished with adversity, and the priesthood with desecration (Mal 2:1-9).