Malachi

Chapter 2
{Note: RBT says this is not a good chapter break - the thought continues right on. In the Hebrew there are only three chapters instead of four}.

{Chapter 2: What Causes A Nation To Be Destroyed?}
{Verses 1-9: The Indictment of the Levitical Priesthood}
1~~And now, O you priests {kohen},
this commandment/'threat of punishment' {mitzvah} . . . {is} for you.

{Note: The principal here is that God always gives a 'grace' warning before judgment. The priests/'teachers of doctrine' are under examination first. Then this 'messenger of God' will warn the people of the nation.}

{Verses 2-3: The Discipline of the Priesthood}
2a~~"If you will not hear {means to 'concentrate and learn bible
  doctrine' so they can teach accurately},
and if you will put it in your 'right lobe'/heart
  {metabolize it into your norms and standards in your soul},
to give glory unto My Name
  {learning Doctrine leads to glory for the Lord},"
said the Jehovah/God of the Armies/hosts.

2b~~"I will even send a curse upon you
  {concept of national discipline},
and I will curse your blessings."

2c~~"Yes, I have cursed them already . . .
  {indicates already in one of the cycles of discipline}
because you do not lay it to your 'right lobe'/heart
  {to 'lay it to heart' is an idiom which means to study, concentrate
  and comprehend doctrine - to learn His Word so they can teach
  others}."

{Note: Principals: You can not teach what you do not know! It was the Levitical Priest's job to teach the people doctrine. Being unbelievers, they could not understand and learn themselves! We also learn the method of bringing glory to the Lord! Study His Word - apply His viewpoint to life's experiences - means He is producing divine good through you - He gets the glory/credit!}

3~~"Behold, I will corrupt your seed,
  {prophetical reference to God obscuring 'who are descendents of
  Aaron" after 70AD, Jews are not sure who are really descended
  from Aaron and therefore - even though they reject the Truth of
  the change of priesthood from Levitical priest to Royal Priests -
  they are not sure enough of their lineage to have 'priests' offer
  animal sacrifices}
and scatter/spread dung {animal excrement} upon your faces
  {the dung was scattered OUTSIDE - so the priests are outside the
  tabernacle here},
even the dung of your solemn feasts;
and one {the Romans prophetically}
shall take you away with it."

{Note: The Levitical priesthood was appointed on the basis of descent from Aaron - only Aaron, not the whole tribe of Levi. The priests since 70 AD have dung in their faces. The dung had to be thrown outside the sacred areas. So, the priests are outside - meaning unbelievers. Next, there is no Levitical priesthood today and there hasn't been since the fifth cycle of discipline began because God obscured the line of Levi and the Jews will not go through the sacraments without a true Levitical priest. Finally, since the Roman crackdown, the Jews have been 'scattered like dung' over the earth - not just scattered but despised wherever they go while under the 5th cycle.}

{Levitical Covenant/Contract with God}
4~~"And you shall know {yada` - perfect tense - the Principal}
that I have sent this covenant/contract to you,
that My covenant might be with Levi,"
said the Jehovah/God of the Armies/hosts.

{Verses 5-6: Function of the Levitical Priesthood}
5a~~"My covenant/contract was with him . . .
of life {chay}
  {RBT says means must be born again and eternal life}
and peace {shalowm}
  {RBT says doctrine of reconciliation of mankind to God at
  salvation}.

5b~~"And I gave them to him {Aaron of the tribe of Levi}
for the reverence {idiom for 'Occupation with Christ'},
wherewith he revered Me
and worshiped before/'face to face with' My Name."

{Note: The contract had two characteristics: life and peace. "Life" is eternal life, which means that they had to be born again. "Peace" was the reconciliation by which it was possible - doctrine of reconciliation. The point is: you have to be born again before you can communicate spiritual things.}

{See also Nehemiah 13:28-30}
{The Levitical Priesthood functioning properly}
6~~"The law of truth/'proper rulings' {towrah 'emeth}
were in his {the Levitical priest's} mouth,
and 'iniquity was not'/'nothing perverse was' found in his lips
  {the priest's used to teach accurate bible doctrine}.
He served Me with complete loyalty {shalowm miyshowr}
  {literally 'in peace and uprightness'},
and did turn many away from iniquity
  {means the priest's evangelized many so they
  started walking in the righteous Way of God}."

{Verses 7-9: Failure of the Priesthood under the Contract}
7`` "For the priest's lips should guard knowledge {shamar da`ath}
  {God decreed the tribe of Levi to be responsible for protecting the
  truth, and giving true doctrine to Israel}
and they {the Jews - hearers} should seek {baqash}
the law {God's Word} at his mouth.
For he . . . {is} 'messenger' {mal'ak} . . .
of the Jehovah/God of the Armies/hosts."

{Note: This verse is saying the Levitical Priests SHOULD be teaching bible doctrine and the Jews SHOULD be listening. The Priest SHOULD be mal'ak - messengers of God. But God had to rise up Malachi - meaning 'My messenger' because they were NOT being messengers of God. So, God is now rising up this man - with the pseudonym of Malachi - as a prophet to communicate God's word to the people this way.}

8a~~"But you {the Levitical priesthood} have departed out {cuwr}
of the Way {derek} {at the time of Malachi}
  {the Way means to teach the Way of God - salvation and then the
  spirit filled life (in the Church Age, we have a More Excellent Way
  - I Corinthians 12:31)}."

8b~~"You have caused many to stumble {kashal} at the law {towrah}."

{Note: By not properly teaching the Word the people, the priests have 'caused' many to not practice the Ways of God. They turned away from the righteous Way of God - as explained to them by the Mosaic Law and are involved in idolatry, adultery, etc.}."

8c~~"You have corrupted/'infiltrated with something false that spreads' {shachath} the covenant of Levi,"
said the Jehovah/God of the Armies/hosts.

{Note: Shachath in the piel stem is the Hebrew word that means 'infiltrated with something false that spreads'. The infiltration is legalism. Even though they still have the Word they have the framework of legalism and therefore this neutralizes the possibility of orienting to grace and neutralizes the possibility of understanding the doctrinal issues. The "covenant of Levi" is described in Exodus 32, Numbers 25, and Deuteronomy 33, and it was the basis for the function of the priesthood in communicating doctrine.}

9~~"Therefore have I also made you contemptible {bazah}
  {no respect from the Jews}
and vile/'base'/flattened'/'low status' {shaphal}
before all the people,
because you have not kept My Ways
  {the Levitical priests did not follow their rituals properly and
  therefore they did not teach doctrine properly - each part of their
  ritual had a purpose - it explained a prophetic doctrine to the
  people usually about the Messiah},
but have been partial
'in the presence of'/before the law
  {the Law should be applied equally - no catering to people who are
  powerful or rich type thing here}."

{Note: Because they were not teaching the word properly, the people lost respect for the priests. God makes the Truth of the teaching clear to the people. Many recognized the false teaching.}

{Verses 10-17: The Indictment of the People}
10a~~"Have we not all one father?" {meaning God the Father}

10b~~"Has not one 'El/God created us? "
  {we learn later, that Jesus Christ created everything}

10c~~"Why do we deal treacherously/'with deceit' {bagad}
with every one {in your area}
by profaning/'mentally despising' {chalal}
the covenant/contract {b@riyth} of our fathers?

{Note: Malachi is addressing believing Jews here. All believers are sons of the same God.}

11a~~"Judah has dealt with deceit . . .
and an abomination {tow`ebah}
is being manufactured/committed {'asah}
  {referring to idolatry and adultery in the Phallic Cult}
in Israel and in Jerusalem {Southern Kingdom}."

11b~~"For Judah has 'mentally despised' {chalal - Piel perfect}
the "holiness of Jehovah/God"/"sanctuary of Jehovah/God"
which He loved,
and has 'become involved in the sexual activity of the Phallic Cult"
  {Idiom: literally "married the daughter of a strange 'el/god"}."

{Note: The 'holiness of the Lord' or the sanctuary of Jehovah refers to the temple, the second temple, which was a basis for teaching Bible doctrine to the Jews and it has been "profaned"/despised . . . which is negative volition toward Bible doctrine. Negative volition opens up a vacuum in the soul into which is drawn religion and - as a result of religion - the Phallic Cult form of idolatry is being practiced. And a part of this false type of worship is the practice of fornication (word really means to have sex in conjunction with religion) with unbelievers/'Gentile women'.}

12~~"Jehovah/God will keep on cutting off {karath}
the man who manufactures/does this
  {evil out of negative volition to God - here adultery in idolatry} . . .
the 'one calling' {them into the cult}
and the 'the one answering the call' {to join the cult} . . .
out of the tents of Jacob
  {see also Nehemiah 13:23-29},
and him that offers an offering
unto the Jehovah/God of the Armies/hosts."

{Note: Personal judgement is the sin unto death. National Judgment is loss of client nation to God status and complete destruction of the nation under the five cycles of discipline. The priestesses/prostitutes get on top of knolls and call to the men to leave their tents and come up and fornicate under idolatry. Those that accept are punished and sometimes killed. Here they are involved in idolatry AND in offering Levitical offerings - one foot in and one foot out of God's Way . . . and that is not acceptable to God.}

13~~And this have you have manufactured/done {'asah}
again {and again},
covering the altar of the Jehovah/God with tears
  {the adulterous people's spouses come to the temples and cry over
  their spouse's activities - this also is a mental attitude sin - they
  should leave it in the hands of the Lord}
with weeping, and with screaming
  {other spouses did not only cry, but also threw tantrums in the
  temples},
with the result that
  {the consequence now of the mental attitude sins of the spouses}
He {God} regards not the offering any more,
or receives it with good will { ratsown } at your hand.

{Note: The sinner here is going to the temple and making an offering and then going to the groves to fornicate in the Phallic Cult. The spouse is also sinning. They should be leaving it in the hands of the Lord. Instead they are judging and creating other mental attitude sins. As a result, God removes the punishment from the sinner and places it on the judger! So, now God is not free to take care of the situation Himself and none of the offerings going to Him are accepted. All are then facing severe judgment.}

14a~~"Yet you say, Wherefore/'For what reason'?"

14b~~"Because Jehovah/God
has caused witness
between you and your 'legitimate wife'
  {idiom: literally 'the wife of your youth'}."

14c~~"Against whom you have dealt with, with deceit.
Yet is she your companion, and the wife of your covenant/contract?"

{Note: Some of the men were saying 'honey I am going to the temple to worship'. Then running to the groves and lying to their wives. This type of man is being deceitful and trying to cover his tracks.}

15a~~"And did He not manufacture/make {'asah} one {'echad}?"
  {in view here is Adam}

15b~~"Yet He had residue {sh@'ar} of breath/spirit { ruwach}!"
  {God breathes life into man - here He had breath left over for an
  Ishshah/Woman}

15c~~"And why one { 'echad }?"

15d~~"That he might seek godly children
  {idiom: literally a godly seed {'elohiym zera`}."

15e~~"Therefore guard {shamar}
your breath/spirit {ruwach} {your wife - your right woman}"

15f~~"And let none deal with deceit against your wife!
  {not even YOU!}."

{Note: RBT says this verse brings out it is God's principal for a family to have one husband and one wife. Why? So they can have a stable and orderly home in which to raise 'God obeying' children!}

16a~~"For the Jehovah/God,
the 'Elohiym/Godhead of Israel,
said that He hated divorce/'putting away' { shalach}."

16b~~"For one 'divorces his wife under the cloak of a legalistic trick'
  {Idiom: 'covers hatred with his cloak'}
said the Jehovah/God of the Armies/hosts."

16c~~"Therefore give attention to your breath/spirit {ruwach}
  {referring to his wife},
that you do not deal {with HER} in deceit."

{Note: In this day, a man usually divorced a woman because he hated her. He would throw her out of the house under a 'cloak of legality'. Under the Mosaic Law, a woman could be divorced if she was found to be 'unclean' (Jesus later would explain this to mean 'spiritually unclean as in committing adultery'). So the husband would have the woman touch a dead animal, declare her unclean (Jews could not touch dead people or animals or would be said to be 'unclean) and then divorce her. God's word again being twisted into legalism for man to do what he wants . . . and pretend that it is 'right with God'.}

17a~~"You have bored/wearied {yaga`}
Jehovah/God with your words
  {and under the words is their 'thinking' - they were thinking and
  practicing deceit}."

17b~~"Yet you say, "Wherein/'how'
have we bored/wearied Him?"

17c~~"When you say,
"Every one who manufactures/does {'asah} evil { ra`}
is good { towb} in the sight of Jehovah/God
  {this is an idiom for the rationalization of sin}
and He delights in them
  {Malachi is attributing to them a WRONG conclusion};
or, Where is the 'Elohiym/Godhead of judgment {mishpat}?"

{Note: This last part is what the injured spouse is thinking and resulting in Mental attitude sins - see next chapter.}

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This page is sponsored by Kenneth Sidley, CPA.

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