For a printable copy of this chapter (8) click here: 8.5×11″; A4 paper

Click here for a pdf of Genesis 1–3 in Redemptive History: 8.5×11″; A4 paper

For one of Women and Marriage Throughout Redemptive History click here: 8.5×11″; A4

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3) Mal 2:13–16: As a result of the sins of these men, God refused to accept their offerings, leading them to weep and to wail. Despite this, they failed to truly exhibit a broken spirit or a contrite heart.[1]

Through the prophet Malachi, the Lord called for marital faithfulness, noting that a marriage covenant exists between three parties: the husband, the wife, and God.[2]

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Malachi announced, “The Lord God of Israel said he hates divorcing (shalakh) and covering over the garment with violence (khamas),[3]…so guard yourselves on peril of your life, and you shall not deal treacherously” (bagadh).[4]

In Hebrew, “violence” can refer to an attitude which oppresses others as well as to physical destruction.[5]

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An official statement of the theologically conservative Presbyterian Church of America says:

The Committee believes that when there are words and actions on the part of one spouse that threatens the life of the other spouse and/or children, that the one(s) threatened should be counseled by the [elders], or representative thereof, to remove themselves from the threatening situation and the abuser should be urged to seek counsel.  Such a procedure will protect those threatened.

When the abuser does not cease these words and actions, the [elders] should investigate whether these words and actions are in effect breaking the one-flesh relationship by ‘hating’ the abused spouse and not ‘nourishing and cherishing’ this one (Eph 5:28–29).

In counseling the abuser, the reality of his Christian faith should be ascertained. When it is determined by the [elders] that the abuser does not appear to them to be Christian and the abuse continues, the Pauline teaching about an unbeliever leaving a believer should be applied [1 Cor 7:12–16].[6]

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God holds accountable those who break their marriage covenants, causing a divorce.[7]

This passage does not apply to someone who discovers a spouse’s treachery and responds to those broken vows by filing for divorce.[8]

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Since one of the terms in 1 Cor 6:9–11 means “reviler, abusive person” (loidoros),[79] Paul recognized that such behavior is incompatible with the presence of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:19–24). In fact, he advised the church to remove abusive people from their fellowship (1 Cor 5:9–13).

Domination and cruelty violate God’s order. He regards them as deplorable, hateful, and completely unacceptable within a marriage.[10]

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The National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence produced an Equality Wheel and a Power and Control Wheel to help people differentiate between healthy and abusive relationships.[11]

Image via Wikimedia Commons

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Read Mal 2:13–16. How does God depict treachery and violence in this passage? Have you ever experienced people entering a room as if they wore a cloak of violence? Compare the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence’s Equality Wheel to the Power and Control Wheel.

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How can you identify a healthy relationship? What constitutes abusive behavior?[11] What does the Lord’s refusal of the offerings of these men tell us about his heart toward those in abusive relationships? How can you align yourself with God’s concern?

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Go to Effects of the Fall Reversed (Rom 5:12–21 and Rom 16:1–12)

[Related posts include A Transfer of Loyalty (Gen 2:24); A Renewed Covenant (Gen 3:20); Slaves and War Brides (Exod 21:10–11 and Deut 21:10–14); Marital Separation (1 Cor 7:10–11); Concerning Mixed Marriages (1 Cor 7:12–13); Contagious Holiness (1 Cor 7:14); Dissolution of Marriage (1 Cor 7:15–16); Unity in the Spirit (Eph 5:18–21); Submissive to One Another (Eph 5:21–24); Sacrificial Love (Eph 5:25–30); and Living Together with Understanding (1 Pet 3:7–9)]

[Click here to go to Women and Marriage Throughout Redemptive History; or to Chapter 8: Pain and Desire (Genesis 3:16, 20)]

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[1]Pieter A. Verhoef, The Books of Haggai and Malachi (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 273.

[2] Smith, Micah–Malachi, 325.

[3] Brown, Driver, and Briggs, “חָמָס” (khamas), BDB, 329, https://archive.org/stream/hebrewenglishlex00browuoft#page/328/mode/2up.

[4]Brown, Driver, and Briggs, “בָּגַד” (baghadh), 93, https://archive.org/stream/hebrewenglishlex00browuoft#page/92/mode/2up. I cover the topic of divorce extensively in four consecutive posts on 1 Cor 7:10–16.

[5]H. Haag, “חָמָס” (khamas), TDOT 4:480–7, 480–1.

[6]PCA Digest, “Report of the Ad-Interim Committee on Divorce and Remarriage.” (To the Twentieth General Assembly, 1992), Appendix 0, 291–2, http://www.pcahistory.org/pca/divorce-remarriage.pdf.

[7]Instone-Brewer, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context, 57.

[8]Richard A. Taylor and E. Ray Clendenen, Haggai, Malachi (NAC; Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2004), 359.

[9]Danker et al., “λοιδορος” (loidoros), BDAG, 602, https://archive.org/stream/greekenglishlex00liddrich#page/902/mode/2up.

[10]David W. Baker, Joel, Obadiah, Malachi (NIVAC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), 260.

[11] http://www.ncdsv.org/publications_wheel.html. Used with the permission of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence.