One Flesh

DEVOTION

MALACHI

ONE FLESH

Mal 2:10-17

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? 11 Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. 12 As 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. 13 Another 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. 14 You 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. 15 Has not [the LORD] made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. 16 "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith. 17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. "How have we wearied him?" you ask. By saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them" or "Where is the God of justice?"

NIV

Historically, we know that priests forsook their Hebrew wives and took wives for themselves from foreign lands, who worshipped foreign gods. We also know from a historical perspective they defiled themselves by allowing these foreign gods, idols brought by their foreign wives into their homes. How can the Lord accept any offering from their hands as long as they have broken faith with him and with their wives who he has made them one flesh with? We could use this example to illustrate that as believers we can never divorce and remarry.  However, in our society today, it seems that this concept is not a matter of concern. The divorce rate within the church may not have reached the number of those that happen outside the church, In fact, it is significantly lower, but it has been climbing over the years. The Lord is angry with them because they have broken covenant with their wives. Here is a take away for us today in regard to our daily lives as believers. We are in a covenant relationship with the Lord. The question we must ask ourselves is if we have broken covenant with him. We are the bride of Christ, and as such we cannot take another husband, so to speak. It is said in another way when we are told that we cannot serve two masters, we cannot serve both God and money. We will either love the one or despise the other, but we cannot love both. Of course, the money issue is never really spoken of in the church. Sure,  it is spoken of in regard to tithing or giving, but nothing is said about how we live our daily lives and our concerns about money, about investments, about retirement accounts, or the like. The question we have to ask is through investments are we partnering with the secular world for the sake of financial gain. In essence is that in some form of having an affair with the world, or committing adultery with the world? Is that is some way of breaking faith with the Lord? Is that is some way of bringing a foreign god into our homes? We think we have to be careful as to not judge anyone, but yet it appears God is judging these priests for their offense through the prophet Malachi. Let us not be in that position, let us serve the Lord and him only. Let us be as one flesh with Christ.