Commentary on Malachi, Commentary · Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
THE burden of the word of the Lord to Iſrael by the miniſtery of Malachy.
2 I have loved you, ſayth the Lord: yet yee ſay, Wherein haſt thou loved us? Was not Eſau Jacobs brother, ſaith the Lord? yet I loved Jacob,
3 And I hated Eſau, and made his mountaines waſte, and his heritage a wilderneſſe for dragons.
4 Though Edom ſay, We are impoveriſhed, but we will returne and build the deſolate places; yet ſaith the Lord of Hoſtes, They ſhall build, but I will deſtroy it, and they ſhall call them, The border of wickedneſſe, and the people, with whom the Lord is angry for ever.
5 And your eyes ſhall ſee it, and ye ſhall ſay, The Lord will be magnified upon the border of Iſrael.
6 A ſonne honoureth his father, and a ſervant his maſter. If then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a maſter, where is my feare, ſaith the Lord of Hoſtes unto you, O Prieſts that deſpiſe my Name? and ye ſay, Wherein have we deſpiſed thy Name?
7 Ye offer uncleane bread upon mine Altar, and you ſay, wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye ſay, The Table of the Lord is not to be regarded.
8 And if ye offer the blind for ſacrifice, it is not evill: and if ye offer the lame and ſick, it is not evill: offer it now unto thy Prince: will he be content with thee, or accept thy perſon, ſaith the Lord of Hoſtes?
9 And now, I pray you, pray before God, that he may have mercy upon us: this hath beene by your meanes: will he reward your perſons, ſaith the Lord of Hoſtes?
10 Who is there even among you, that would ſhut the doores, and kindle not fire on mine Altar in vaine? I have no pleaſure in you, ſaith the Lord of Hoſtes, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
11 For from the riſing of the Sunne unto the going downe of the ſame, my Name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place incenſe ſhall be offered unto my Name, and a pure offering: for my Name is great among the Heathen, ſaith the Lord of Hoſtes.
12 But ye have polluted it, in that ye ſay, The Table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even his meate is not to be regarded.
13 Ye ſaid alſo, Behold, it is a wearineſſe, and ye have ſnuffed at it, ſaith the Lord of Hoſtes, and ye offered that which was torne, and the lame, and the ſick: thus ye offered an offering: ſhould I accept this at your hand, ſaith the Lord?
14 But curſed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and ſacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, ſaith the Lord of Hoſtes, and my Name is terrible among the Heathen.
The parts of this Chapter are two:
1. A Preface or Inſcription.
2. The Oracle or Prophecy.
1. The Preface in the firſt verſe, generall to the whole.
2. The Prophecy in the reſt.
1. An expoſtulation with the people and Prieſt for their ingratitude and corrupting of his worſhip, from verſe 2. to the 9.
2. A Commination of judgment deſerved by it, or a Commination of divers judgments, from verſ. 9. to the end.
In the Preface or Inſcription we conceive two things: The ſubſtance and circumſtance of it.
1. The ſubſtance, being the ſubject or matter of the whole, is in that it is-called a Burden.
2. The Circumſtance of the perſon, which is three-fold.
1. From whom, as the Efficient.
2. To whom, as the Object.
3. By whom, as the Inſtrument.