The theme of this passage is rather clear because of one word repeated a few times - faithless (ESV), broken faith (NIV), treachery (KJV), being unfaithful.
• The people has been unfaithful to God and to one another. They had betrayed God and broken the trust with Him.
• Their disregard for God led to the breaking of faith with their partner in marriage.
God has been faithful one. The remnant was back in this land precisely because God has been faithful and true to His promise.
• God fulfilled what He said. The people were back in Judah, the Temple and Jerusalem rebuilt.
• God promised through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah that the future would be glorious because He would one day dwell among them in glory.
Israel could have trusted God and held on to the covenant that He has made with them.
• But the messages of Malachi tell us otherwise. The difficult circumstances and the pagan surroundings led them to betray God.
• We saw that in the last few messages from this book and the charges continues.
Mal 2:10 “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?”
• God made a covenant with Abraham that He will be their God and they will be His people. God will bless them and through them the nations will be blessed.
• But now they were “faithless”, they could not trust God. They profane the covenant and yet continued with their religious acts.
• Judah has broken faith with God! The result of which was all these rebuttals that we’ve been reading.
And their unfaithfulness to God was clearly seen in their marriages.
• The charges were: (1) Marrying the daughters of foreign gods, introducing idolatry into the community of faith (2:11), and (2) divorcing the wives of their youth, discarding those in the faith.
• These two issues mentioned together indicate very likely that they were actually divorcing their wives for the foreign women.
Intermarriages wasn’t a new problem; it was a lingering problem.
• When Ezra the priest returned to Jerusalem some 40 years ago, we read in Ezra 9 that the priest was greatly appalled and grieved at what he saw.
• Ezra 9:2 “They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”
• Ezra agonised in prayer for the people and urged them to repent.
We are talking about bringing idolatry into the family!
• Noticed what verses 12-13 says. “12As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD cut him off from the tents of Jacob - even though he brings offerings to the LORD Almighty. 13Another thing you do: You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.”
• We’ve been reading this in chapter 1 and 2. They were still doing religious acts!
• They are bringing offerings to the Lord while opening the door to idolatry.
• Quite unthinkable, but it’s happening, not just then but today. People can be sinning and still doing religion. The Lord condemns this.
BE WATCHFUL. GUARD YOUR FAITH.
That was King Solomon’s mistake - 1 Kings 11:1-4.
1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter-Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
• Clearly it’s not about marrying someone who looks different or speak a different language. It is about marrying someone who worships false gods or idols.
• When this happens, there is no real union between two persons in marriage, because one aspect can never meet - spiritual union - the worship of God, Lordship of Christ.
Notice the Word says: AS SOLOMON GREW OLD, his wives turned his heart after other gods.
• The consequences did not reveal themselves immediately. You don’t feel the pain immediately, but it’s killing you slowly. Not overnight but ultimately.
• Slowly and surely Solomon finds himself drifting away from God.
• The final verdict? 1 Kings 11:6 “So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.”
This is not to say that if we are married to an unbeliever, then we should get out.
• Paul says in 1 Cor 7:12-16 “12To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.
• 14For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
? In other words, the believing wife or husband can bring about a godly influence into their marriage (now that they are already married).
? Keeping this relationship intact will mean their children have a chance to know Christ and become holy, by the grace of God.
• 15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
We cannot turn the clock back. We cannot undo the wrong done, and for some, because we do not know Christ then. But NOW we can chart out a NEW FUTURE by the grace of God.
• If the choice of a marriage partner is still before you, then settle it in your mind today to marry someone in the faith, who knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
• You can decide NOW even if marriage is far away. Settle it in your mind to guard your faith.
• And watch the friends you make, they will influence you. If they have bad habits, you’ll soon find yourself speaking their language and doing their things. Don’t allow that to happen. WHY? We want to honour God.
BE WATCHFUL. GUARD YOUR MARRIAGE.
2:13-14 13Another thing you do: You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14You ask, "Why?"
It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
• Again we have this hypocritical worship. It has been the running theme in this book.
• Church, we need to heed this. Honour God. Watch your heart and conduct. We want to be serious with God. We do not want to play games with Him.
When they were told that God has rejected their worship, their response wasn’t one of fear and reverence, but WHY? It was a proud challenge to what God declared.
• Then came the rebuke from the prophet. God is a witness. You have divorced the wife of your youth and broken the marriage covenant.
• 2:15 “Has not [the LORD] made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring.”
• Which would not be possible or would be compromised, now that they have taken foreign wives who worship false gods. You have two allegiances in the house – God and idol.
God has chosen Israel to be His people, to be set apart and be holy, in a relationship with Him that was cut out in the covenant He made with them.
• The covenant could only be kept if the people remained faithful to God.
• That would mean they need to guard their marriages and not bring in foreign wives and false gods.
• The Lord is looking for godly offspring. The faith of the next generation would be threatened and compromised with intermarriages and with divorces.
BE WATCHFUL. GUARD YOURSELF.
2:15b “So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.”
2:16b “So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.”
We guard our faith, we guard our marriages, and we guard ourselves.
• No marriage is perfect. There will be failings and frictions, but by God’s grace and help we shall honour God by honouring the marriage covenant we made.
• If marriage is still before you, then decide right now to marry someone in the faith. The consequences are there and they are not apparent at the beginning.
• Watch who you befriend. We do not want them to pull us away from God or influence us to dishonour Christ, and end up like Solomon, doing evil in the eyes of God.
Marriage union is held with such high regard because it is a picture of the covenant relationship God has with His people. God did not and will not break faith with His people.
• When Jesus came and established the new covenant, the same picture remains.
• Paul compares the marriage union to that of Christ and the church in Eph 5.
• The church is the bride of Christ (Rev 19, 21) and Christ loves the church.
In a fallen world, divorces do happen. Sometimes, the unbelieving partner chooses to leave (as Paul mentions in 1 Cor 7:15) and sometimes, as Jesus said in Matt 19:8-9, there is marital unfaithfulness; one partner committing adultery and divorce happens.
• But our heart has to be steadfast. We seek to honour God and obey His Word.
• Wherever we are in our relationships, we turn to God and seek His wisdom.
• We pray and ask the Lord to heal our relationships because we need His grace and mercy.
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As we prepare to take the Holy Communion this morning, let us remember our faithful God and take some time to confess our sin and come clean with God.
Isaiah 54:5-8 paints this beautiful relationship we have with God:
5 For your Maker is your husband - the LORD Almighty is his name - the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.
6 The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit - a wife who married young, only to be rejected," says your God.
7 "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer.
God is always the faithful One, the covenant Keeper.
• What about us? Have we been faithful? Do we love Him? Do we honour Him?
• Let’s take a moment to reflect on the Word and examine ourselves before we take the bread and cup.
• Later we’ll sing CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART (Psalm 51:10-12)
Prayer:
Thank you, heavenly Father, for the forgiveness of our sin in your Son Jesus. Thank you Jesus, for Your sacrifice made us whole. Help us stay faithful and devoted to you. Help us trust You and obey You always.
Consecrate this bread and cup, and bless everyone who takes them today. Grant us unwavering faith in You and your Word. Teach us to pray and trust You. Let no circumstances in life distract us from You and Your will for our lives. Let us never take for granted what You have blessed us with. In Jesus’ Name we pray, AMEN.
