Verse 8
The priests of Malachi’s day had deviated from the straight path of truth and had caused many people who followed them to stumble through their instruction (Heb. torah).
"The definite article on . . . (tora), ’instruction,’ suggests that here it is not just any teaching in general but indeed the instruction, namely, the Torah, the law of Moses. The defection of the priests is all the more serious, then, for they are actually creating obstacles to the people’s access to the Word of God itself. To cause the people to ’stumble in the Torah’ is to so mislead them in its meaning that they fail to understand and keep its requirements. There can be no more serious indictment against the man of God." [Note: Merrill, p. 410.]
The unfaithful priests had corrupted the Lord’s covenant with Levi in the sense that they had put its continuance in jeopardy by their evil conduct.
"To have an ill-prepared minister, an incompetent pastor, a hireling for a shepherd was bad enough; much worse was it to have a deceiver, a schemer, a wolf in sheep’s clothing for a leader." [Note: Alden, p. 715.]
Malachi referred to three covenants in this book: this covenant with Levi, the covenant of the fathers (Malachi 2:10), and the covenant of marriage (Malachi 2:14).
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