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“Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why do we betray each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors?” Malachi 2:10 (NLT)

Last week we looked at how God takes His holiness seriously, and He holds the spiritual leaders accountable to honor Him and represent Him to the people.

This week we are going to take a look at Malachi 2:10.  “Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why do we betray each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors?”

God begins with the fact that every single person that has ever lived came from Him. Every single one of us was created by Him. We all have the same beginnings.

It was His choice to create us, and He knew His world was not complete without each one of us.

God chose these last chapters to remind us that we are His precious creation and that He designed us for relationship with Him and with each other.

Then He moves on to ask why we betray each other and why we do not follow His Covenant.

God is specifically talking about covenant relationships here. Our relationship with Him, marriage bonds, or our spiritual community. God uses the word ‘chalal’ to show us that something that was supposed to be holy was now defiled. The people were choosing to defile their sacred relationships.

God is all about our relationship with Him and our relationships with each other. God was asking how the people (men, in this case) dared to turn loyal and honorable relationships to meaningless things. God says they were dealing treacherously with one another, especially their wives. This is interpreted as “bagad” which goes into more detail. It tells us that relationships that were supposed to guard our safety and relationships we could rest and trust in are never supposed to be violated.

God sees covenant faithfulness in our relationships and He is pleased, but He also sees covenant betrayal in relationships and He is angry.

He is asking why this is happening.

If you have been hurt by your spouse, God sees it.

If you have been hurt by spiritual leadership, God sees it.

If you have been hurt by a family member-church family or biological family, God wants us to know He sees it.

God continues on in Malachi 2 to tell His people if they are betraying covenant relationships not to be surprised when He does not accept their offerings. He also says every man who has not honored his covenant will be cut off from the community.

That is how serious God takes this unfaithfulness and betrayal.

God used some of His last words to remind His people what He thinks about relationships and how He feels about men who are not faithful to their wives (Malachi 2:14). He sees broken hearts in places that were meant for safety. And He has consequences for those who have dishonored Him and hurt His children.

The best solution is to honor others and reap the blessing of covenant relationships that glorify God.

“Father, heal our hearts and help us to trust You with our broken hearts.”

For His Glory

Terrie Tollerson (www.TerrieTollerson.com)
TRBC Women’s Life