Malachi 2:5-7 NLT

[5] “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. [6] They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin. [7] “The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

God had established a special binding agreement, a covenant, with the priests.  He had chosen Aaron and his descendants to have the responsibility of ministering to and for the people on His behalf.  They were to be God’s messengers to the people of Israel.  As His messengers, the priests had the responsibility of relaying to the people the laws and instructions of God.

They were to be a source of knowledge and advice on how to live righteously before God.  The priests were supposed to make sure the people knew about God and how to worship Him.  They were the spiritual leaders of Israel and were to pass the knowledge of God and His relationship with Israel from one generation to the next.

As God’s spokesmen and national leaders, the priests were expected to set an example for the people.  Prior to Malachi’s day, they had also done just that.  They had been honest and truthful in their dealings with the people and each other.  They had demonstrated through their actions how to live righteously in God’s eyes.  Through their instructions and examples, they had been able to help many in Israel turn from living in sinful ways to living righteously before God.

That special covenant with the priests required they revere and honor God.  When the covenant was first established the priests did demonstrate that reverence for God, but that attitude had not been maintained.  By being the type of spiritual leaders God originally intended them to be, the priests were able to reflect reverence for God.  Their words and actions showed the people God was to be respected, honored and held in highest esteem.  And living in that fashion brought the life and peace God intended them to have in the first place as His messengers.  Their model lives were a positive influence on the nation, and the people attempted to live as the priests lived.

The condemnation by God of the priests who were His messengers during the life of Malachi came because they had stopped living like their ancestors who revered God.  They had ceased to be models of how to live in righteousness to the people.  They had broken the covenant God had established with the priesthood.

By allowing the people to bring defiled sacrifices to place on the altar of God, the priests were failing as the spiritual leaders.  They were not correcting the people’s behavior.  They were not leading by example, and they were not properly sharing knowledge about God and His covenant with Israel.

In the middle of His condemnation of the priests, God has given them the correct standard for their lives.  He has reminded them of how the priests were supposed to live and serve God and the people.  He has tried to get them to refocus on reverence for Him and His name.

In the next part of this lesson, we’ll take a look at how what we have studied so far can be directly connected to our modern Christianity.