Malachi 2:5-8
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Malachi 2:5
"My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I
gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood
in awe of my name."
The Hebrew term for life is properly an adjective meaning "living,
having vital energy; life." And the term for "peace" is
SHALOM, and here refers to "a sacrifice offered to God," i.e.,
that sacrifice that provides reconciliation. The previous term for "life"
refers to eternal life, i.e., that which is gained through salvation faith
in Christ. Thus, reconciliation provides eternal life.
Here, then, God is reminding the priests that the contract with Levi specified
reconciliation and salvation. And the priests have breached these conditions
of the contract. They do not believe that Christ is the efficacious sacrifice,
nor do they have eternal life.
And the the last clause in verse 5, which reads, "this called for reverence
and he revered me and stood in awe of my name," could perhaps be better
translated as follows: "this covenant called for faith (salvation
through belief in Christ) and he (Levi) worshiped me (God) and had respect
for my name (the coming Christ, the Messiah, the manifest One, the Living
God)." In other words, knowledge of God led Levi to the point where
he respected and loved God, the visible Christ to come. But Levi's starting
point was faith in God, i.e., belief in Christ. And the priests of Malachi's
day have no faith in God, no fear of God, no respect for God, and certainly
no love for God; they are just mechanical men going through mechanical motions
as they perform the animal sacrifices. Their conduct stinks of secularity
and infidelity.
Malachi 2:6
"True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found
on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many
from sin."
In verse 6, Malachi compares Levi with the priests of Malachi's day. Levi
spoke "true instruction," that is, by offering unblemished animal
sacrifices, Levi instructed the Jews in the shadow Christology of the Old
Testament. And 'truth was in his mouth' and "nothing false" on
"his lips;" these two phrases delineate the following concept:
words are the expression of thoughts, and thoughts originate in the soul.
Thus, Levi thought the absolute truth of God's Word and imparted it with
his lips.
"Peace" SHALOM, again refers to the concept of reconciliation.
In other words, Levi was reconciled to God by faith in Christ. He believed
what he was teaching through the sacrifices. Levi had fulfilled the contract
with God in every way. He had true fellowship with God. And the term "uprightness"
MISHOR, declares that because Levi had been reconciled to God, he had also
satisfied the Righteousness of God, by means of faith in the Lamb of God,
and thus was 'justified' in God's eyes.
The Hebrew term for "sin" is NOfA, AWON, and here, in context,
refers to 'apostasy and its concomitant divine discipline.' [48] Thus, by
teaching faithfully the shadow Christology of the sacrifices and the Tabernacle,
Levi prevented spiritual apostasy, civil lawlessness, and national and personal
divine discipline to the Israelites of his day. Therefore, the term designates
'sin and punishment' as an inseparable unit, that which von Rad defines
as "a synthetic view of life." [49]
Malachi 2:7
"For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from
his mouth men should seek instruction -- because he is the messenger of
the Lord Almighty."
Verse 7 presents a maxim: the lips cannot speak what the soul does not
know. Thus, the priesthood was to know, to preserve, and to impart God's
Word to the Jews. And the phrase "seek instruction" denotes that
the "truth must be available." And if the priesthood does not
make it available as the "messengers" of God, then God will make
it available [50] through another "messenger," His messenger,
Malachi. Here, God is mocking His messengers, the Levitical priesthood,
by His use of the term MALAK. Thus, if the Jews of Malachi's day sought
the truth, they would have to seek it at the 'lips of Malachi,' since the
'MALACH' spoke only deceit.
Malachi 2:8
"'But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused
many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,' says the Lord
Almighty."
By way of contrast, the priests of Malachi's day have SUR, "turned
away, departed" from the "way," DEREK, which is used metaphorically
herein, and refers to 'the way to eternal life and fellowship with God in
time.' And this way is through reconciliation to the Justice of God, which
is through the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. For Genesis 3:24 declares
that the "way to the tree of life" was closed after the fall of
man. But there is a 'new way,' a 'new tree of life,' that is, the Tree
upon which Christ hung for the sins of the world. And this 'way' was to
be taught by the Levitical priests, graphically so, as they sacrificed the
animal offerings. The priests have failed in their function as communicators
of 'the way.'
This functional failure of the priesthood has led "many" to "stumble,"
which is the hiphil of KASHAL, and refers to 'enfeebling the spiritual life
to the point of apostasy.' In other words, the apostate teaching of the
priests has led the Jews to spiritual apostasy, civil lawlessness, idol
worship; and, moreover, has led to the destruction of personal freedom within
Judah, and the destruction of the institution of marriage and the concept
of family. [51]
The priests have "violated," SHACHAT, "destroyed or corrupted"
the covenant that God made with Levi. And according to Robert Thieme, the
term SHACHAT refers "to something false that spreads," [52] which
refers to spiritual apostasy and, here, may be hinting at "religious
legalism." [53] Thus, the unbelieving apostasy of the priests has
lead to the corruption of the entire ethical, civil, and legal codes of
the people and nation of Judah, circa 420 BC. And the pecuniary corruption
of the priesthood has led to a system of religious legalism, and religious
favoritism based upon personal wealth, personal favors, and social status
-- that conspiracy of self "which confuses status with salvation, erudition
with spirituality, sex with love, fun with pleasure." [54]
Truth
"True instruction" implies truth. Thus, the subject of 'truth'
will now be discussed.
A syllogism is a logical method of reasoning in which two premises are declared
and a logical conclusion is extracted from them. One such syllogism speaks
voluminously concerning the concept of truth, and the concept of God:
Major premise: Absolute Truth comes from God.
Minor premise: Something cannot come from nothing.
Conclusion: Both absolute Truth and God exist.
Or, as Aristotle put it: "To say of what is that it is not, or of
what is not that it is, is false; while to say of what is that it is, and
what is not that it is not, is true." [55]
Truth, then, exists in two forms: relative truth and absolute truth. And
mankind, without any revelation from an outside source, in this instance,
God, has no sure way of knowing whether any belief about the world is absolutely
true or not. Thus, the finite mind can only know truth in a limited and
relative sense without revelatory enlightenment. Indeed, apart from theological
revelation, no creature has any procedure or thought process, other than
the fallibility of relativism, for arriving at any part of God's total knowledge,
which knowledge theologians have defined as omniscience. Therefore, the
known is defined by the knower.
"But when all is said, the Teacher of teachers is Jesus. His words
alone always proclaim eternal principles. Truth is axiomatic, if it is
fundamental. Jesus dared to say that he was the Truth. No other man can
say that and tell the truth. The significant thing is that men recognize
that this claim is true. His kingdom, as he said to Pilate, is that of
truth. This is his realm." [56]
The above statements by A.T. Robertson are true, but how does one, epistemologically,
know that they are the Truth, if one recognizes that one's faculties are
finite and, therefore, flawed? The statements achieve the status of Truth
only when they are revealed to the finite mind by an outside agency. Otherwise
they are merely true, and not the Truth.
This is where the Christian doctrine of the ministry of the Holy Spirit
enters the scene. For God the Holy Spirit, an outside agency, reveals what
is true to the souls of mankind and convinces the soul that the information
imparted is the Truth. But this in turn, brings us back to the original
question: Is the ministry of the Holy Spirit true? Or the Truth? And
how does one recognize the true from the Truth, even where it concerns the
Holy Spirit, with limited faculties?
As can be seen, the maze surrounding the arrival at the Truth is endless,
and questions mount upon questions. And the only conclusion that can be
generally acknowledged is that the philosophical systems devised by mankind,
empiricism and rationalism, are deficient. Thus, rather than pursuing the
question itself, that is, how to detect the true from the Truth, perhaps
the system of perception should be altered. And this is where the concept
of faith enters the scene. For faith is the third element of perception.
Faith is reliance upon a system of perception outside the perceiving agent,
i.e., "firm persuasion, the conviction which is based upon hearing,
not upon sight, or knowledge; a firmly relying confidence in what we hear
from God in His Word." [57]
Dr. Bullinger's definition is a remarkable statement. For it is the presentation
of a third system of perception outside of "hearing, sight or knowledge."
In other words, outside of rationalism (knowledge) or empiricism (sight
or what is observable). It is non-rational and non-empirical, it is instead
based upon "hearing." It is a system of being informed or educated
by means of hearing. Thus, by means of hearing sagacity and decision take
place; in other words, the Truth as revealed by an outside agency may be
distinguished from what is simply true, and upon this demarcation a decision
as to true or Truth might be made. And this is the ministry of God the
Holy Spirit: to present spiritual information that is discernible, and
axiomatic. Then, upon this revelatory foundation, judgment, that which
we define as 'a decision,' may be made. And thus relative truth and absolute
Truth may be separated and distinguished.
And Truth and 'hearing' demand the examination of Faith and Conviction.
Faith
Faith is defined by Robert Thieme, "as a system of perception which
accepts an established criterion as the basis of reality." [58] And
this criterion is external to the abilities of mankind, and thus faith is
a system of perception that does not depend upon the rational or empirical
capabilities of the individual. Thus faith is equivalent to reliance upon
the Person and truthfulness of God. The reliance, then, is retained in
the object of faith. God receives the reliance, mankind does the relying.
And Ephesians 2:8,9 state that faith is the only system of perception using
the same operating system as Grace. "For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift
of God -- not by works (human ability or thought), so that no one can boast."
[Parenthetical insertion added by way of explanation.]
And faith as a system of perception is attainable by all members of mankind.
This is why faith is the means of obtaining salvation. For, if Christ
died for all, then all must be able to perceive the Truth. [59]
The subject of faith revolves around Habbakuk 2:4, which says, "The
just shall live by faith." And Habbakuk 2:4 is quoted three times
in the New Testament, and in each instance the emphasis changes:
Romans 1:17: "The just shall live by means of faith."
Galatians 3:11: "The just shall live by means of faith."
Hebrews 10:38: "The just shall live by means of faith."
In Hebrews 11:1, faith is defined as "The foundation of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not seen." And faith is obtained how?
According to Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes
by the word of God." Thus, to quote E.W. Bullinger, "If we have
heard nothing, there can be nothing to believe. There is neither place
nor room for faith. We may think it, or imagine it, or hope for it; but
we cannot possibly believe it, because we have not heard anything about
it. Our hopes and thoughts and imaginations are all vain, being without
any 'foundation.'" [60]
And the methodology by which "hearing" becomes "faith"
is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. This ministry will now be examined.
Conviction
Conviction, in a Christian sense, is the work of God the Holy Spirit prior
to the salvation of any member of mankind. Through conviction, God the
Holy Spirit functions as a human spirit for unsaved mankind. And as He
functions as a human spirit for the spiritually dead, God the Holy Spirit
imparts the Truth to the individual. And I Corinthians 2:11 and 14 declare
the necessity of this function. For the unsaved, wanting a human spirit,
cannot understand spiritual information. "For who among men knows
the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way
no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. The man without
the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because
they are spiritually discerned."
And the first reference to conviction by means of the Holy Spirit is in
Genesis 6:3, which says, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever,
for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
I John 5:6,9, assert that God the Holy Spirit functions as a human spirit
for unsaved mankind, "This is the one who came by water and blood --
Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And
it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the Truth. We accept
man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony
of God, which he has given about his son." And in John 16:8, the Apostle
John first affirmed the conviction of the Spirit: "When he comes,
he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and
judgment." [61]
The above dissertation elucidates the sin of the priests of Malachi's day,
i.e., unbelief, which is the only "unpardonable sin."
The Unpardonable Sin
The "unpardonable sin" is delineated by the Apostle John in John
3:18, which says, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever
does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in
the name of God's one and only Son." And here, then, is the "unpardonable
sin," and it involves free-will. The unpardonable sin is failure to
believe in Christ.
The following verses, Jeremiah 23:13, John 7:17 and Acts 17:27, dogmatically
assert that all mankind attains "God-consciousness;" [62] at
this juncture, all mankind must decide upon a epistemological course: pursue
the Truth or not. And those who do not attain this state, "God-consciousness,"
are saved because of their very inculpability. "If any one chooses
to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or
whether I speak on my own." [John 7:17]
The unpardonable sin, then, is declining to consider the Truth as it is
imparted by God the Holy Spirit functioning as the human spirit to an individual.
And Hebrews 10:29 states this truth quite clearly: "How much more
severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the
Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the
covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?"
This verse concerns the Jews, as an illustration, but is necessarily germane
to Gentiles. By rejecting Christ's sacrifice, and its impartation as Truth,
"there remained for them no other, 'no more sacrifice for sins.' Their
own sacrifices had all been done away by His one sacrifice; and, despising
that, no other sacrifice was left for them." [63] It must be noted
that Dr. Bullinger then goes on to state that this "must not be applied
to the Members of the Body of Christ to-day." [64] This interpretation
cannot be sustained as well-founded, i.e., as operational to one group and
not another. For John 16:9 lucidly declares, without equivocation, that
failure to believe in Christ is a sin: "In regard to sin, because
men do not believe in me." Indeed, II Thessalonians 2:10, states that
unbelief is the cause of "perishing." "And in every sort
of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they
refused to love the truth and so be saved."
And according to I Corinthians 1:18, unbelievers consider the gospel of
Christ to be preposterous: "For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power
of God."
Moreover, those guilty of the "unpardonable sin," in due time,
will be judged, according to Hebrews 10:30, which says, "For we know
him who said, 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord
will judge his people.'"
Finally, the "unpardonable sin" is also called: "resisting
the Spirit," in Acts 7:51; "the deliberate sin," in Hebrews
10:26; "insulting the Spirit of grace," in Hebrews 10:29, and
"blasphemy against the Spirit," in Hebrews 12:31. [65]
Thus, the priests of Malachi's day have failed in their function as Levitical
priests, and they have renounced the function of God the Holy Spirit in
conviction.
Notes:
[48] This designation, 'divine discipline,' borrowed from the theology
of Robert Thieme.
[49] Harris, Archer, Waltke, Editors. Theological Wordbook of the Old
Testament; vol. ii., page 651.
[50] Thieme, Robert. Malachi; from notes, 1968.
[51] Redditt, Paul L. Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
[52] Thieme, Robert. Malachi; from notes, 1968.
[53] Ibid.
[54] Paraphrase of Malcolm Muggeridge; source unknown; from notes.
[55] Plato. Dialogues.
[56] Robertson, A.T. Keywords in the Teaching of Jesus; page 11.
[57] Bullinger, E.W. A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English
and Greek New Testament; page 271.
[58] Thieme, Robert. Basics; from notes, undated.
[59] Thieme, Robert. Principles of Faith; first compiled by Robert Thieme;
revised, altered and appended by R.E. Radic.
[60] Bullinger, E.W. Great Cloud of Witnesses; page 6.
[61] Thieme, Robert. Doctrine of the Convicting Ministry of God the Holy
Spirit; taken from Hebrews, from notes, undated. This doctrine was originally
compiled by Robert Thieme; revised, altered and appended by R.E. Radic.
[62] Terminology borrowed from the theology of Robert Thieme.
[63] Bullinger, E.W. Word Studies on the Holy Spirit; page 182.
[64] Ibid.
[65] Thieme, Robert. The Unpardonable Sin; from notes on Hebrews. This
categorization was originally compiled by Robert Thieme; revised, altered
and appended by R.E. Radic.
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