Mal 2:10-16'

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Divorces and mixed marriages (Mal 2:10-16)

Marriage disorders were a further cause of Israel’s troubles. Many Jewish men had married idolatrous heathen women, and introduced idolatrous practices into the holy worship of God (cf. Ezra 9:1-2; Neh 13:23-27).

Not only did these Jewish men marry idol worshippers, but they divorced their Jewish wives to do so. They despised both the marriage covenant and the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai. God designed the covenant to promote family and national unity, but these men break up families and intermarry with pagans (Mal 2:10-11).

Malachi warns that God will act in decisive judgment against those guilty of such selfishness and disloyalty (Mal 2:12).

The wrongdoers are upset that God no longer accepts their ritual sacrifices and offerings, but they show no concern at their own unfaithfulness in breaking a marriage covenant that God himself had witnessed (Mal 2:13-14).

By marrying idolatrous wives they show that they have no real desire to bring their children up to know and follow God. They also show that they are unconcerned that their former wives are left to face lives of hardship (Mal 2:15-16).