Audio Download

Mal 2:1-17  And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you (Going from a corrupt seed to a holy seed!)

[Study Aired December 28, 2023]

Mal 2:1  And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. 
Mal 2:2  If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
Mal 2:3  Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
Mal 2:4  And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:5  My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. 
Mal 2:6  The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. 
Mal 2:7  For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 2:8  But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 2:9  Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law. 
Mal 2:10  Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers? 
Mal 2:11  Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. 
Mal 2:12  The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 2:13  And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand. 
Mal 2:14  Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 
Mal 2:15  And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. 
Mal 2:16  For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. 
Mal 2:17  Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment? 

We spent two studies with chapter one of Malachi which points to a type and shadow event that represented the yet carnal mind of Christians who could not as yet whole-heartedly present their bodies a living^G2198 sacrifice acceptable to Him through Christ. The nation of Judah was going through the motions, but their devotion to God was lacking and being exposed by the wanting display of blind, lame, and torn animals that were being offered for sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2, Eph 1:6, Mal 3:10). 

In this second chapter of Malachi, the focus is more on the priests, as stated in the first verse “And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.” The commandment is for the priests who represent the ministers of Babylon today who are not able to lay the commandments of God to heart, and contribute to the contemptible way in which the people have brought their blind, lame and torn animal sacrifices to the altar (Isa 9:15-16). The elect are typified as coming out from these priests and people in the persons of Levi (Mat 20:16). God has ordained from the foundation of the world for a royal priesthood (1Pe 2:9-11) to “come out of her, my people” through judgment (1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17, Heb 12:6), to be made kings and priests by His great power (Rev 1:6).

Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. 
Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 
1Pe 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy [Rom 11:30-32].
1Pe 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 

Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen [Rev 5:10].

The remnant spoken of in this section of Malachi, “Yet had he the residue^H7605 of the spirit” (Mal 2:15), are the typical remnant of God (Rom 11:5) which represents those who have been granted to live by the faith of the son of God in this life that saves us (Gal 2:20, 1Jn 5:4). 

residue H7605 she‘âr  sheh-awr’  From H7604; a remainder: –  X other, remnant, residue, rest.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me [Php 2:12-13]: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God [1Jn 5:4], who loved me, and gave himself for me.

These words, “And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts” (Mal 2:4) are an old covenant type and shadow statement that is declaring that God has a remnant [Levi – the elect]  that He is going to use to save all Israel [all the world] in time. In this section of Malachi we are learning how the people cannot obey the commandments of God because God has not put in their hearts and minds his law as he typically was doing in the life of Levi who represents the elect of God in this case (Rom 11:26-27).

The priests continue to be admonished for leading the people astray and corrupting the covenant relationship with Levi in the following verses (Mal 2:8-11), especially regarding Judah who has “profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.” Those daughters represent “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” and her daughters that have deceived the whole world (Rev 17:5).

Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The remaining verses of Malachi (Mal 2:12-17) go on to explain the curse that the whole earth is under and reminds Judah, as a type of the Christian religious world today, how they have despised the covenant of Levi, which covenant represents our first love with Christ which over time is corrupted and dealt treacherously with and lost (Rev 2:4-5). 

Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

It is very few who see God’s modus operandi which is to give all of humanity a heart that is not able to lay to heart the commandments of God (Rom 3:10, Rom 7:14, Rom 10:4), even losing our first love. Then out of those masses ( the many called) a few come to have those commandments written on their hearts (Mat 22:14), who few in turn will witness against those who were not dragged out of Babylon in this age, all summed up with the words in these verses found in Malachi 2:4 and Romans 11:11-12.

Mal 2:4  And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.

Rom 11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Rom 11:12  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

Mal 2:1  And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. 
Mal 2:2  If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

This commandment is for the priests, so it is for the body of Christ as well as for the ministers of this world. Its effectiveness on the ears who are hearing the commandment is completely dependent on whether God gives us spiritual ears to hear or not hear the command (Luk 10:24, Mat 11:25, Mat 13:16).

Luk 10:24  For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Mat 11:25  At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

These verses reveal that God is not holding out any hope for the nation of Israel or Judah to give “glory unto my name”, but rather we are being told that God already knows the condition of the heart of mankind, just as He did Adam and Eve in the garden. So, this is what is written, “I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart“ (dying you shall die – Gen2:17)

Gen 2:17  but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die. [LITV]

Mal 2:3  Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

None of this is going to be averted. God has promised that the first seed of the woman is going to be corrupt (Gen 3:15) and that we are going to be carried away into Babylonian captivity by way of the traditions of men “and one shall take you away with it.“

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Mat 15:9  But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Paul looked back and considered his captivity under the law for the lawless (1Ti 1:9-14) as part of the loss of all things he talked about, and as dung in comparison with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, or the law of Christ (Gal 6:2). Like dung, the law if used correctly (1Ti 1:8) is like fertilizer, the schoolmaster God used to bring about all the growth and zealous works that were accomplished through apostle Paul when the time came for those to become a reality (Php 3:8, Gal 4:1-2, Gal 3:23-24). 

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 
1Ti 1:10  For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; 
1Ti 1:11  According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. 

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. [“under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father“]
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 

The nation of Judah was not using the law lawfully, and God is the one who worked all of those actions of the nation and administered the punishment for their disobedient hearts expressed in these words: “Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.” Once again we see God causing the nation to err and then correcting them. This was all according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11), which was all written for our sakes (1Co 10:11) to learn how God works with our own hearts and minds as His workmanship that goes from being marred in the hand of the Potter to becoming something new and glorious “as seemed good to the potter to make it.” (Isa 63:17, Rom 9:19-21, Eph 2:10, Jer 18:4-6).

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Mal 2:4  And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. 

God sends His commandments to us as He did to Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, knowing that we will not be able to keep those commandments. He also, at the appointed time, gives us the ability to keep that commandment and reveals those who can’t by heresies that are made manifest so we can discern who is approved in our midst through their disobedience (1Co 11:19). The world will understand in time that God’s covenant was with the elect who were predestined to fulfill God’s purpose in this life (Eph 1:11-12) which is what “ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi” means.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. [2Co 1:9, 1Co 15:31]

Mal 2:5  My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. 
Mal 2:6  The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. 
Mal 2:7  For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 

These next verses typify for us the covenant relationship God has with the elect today, and it all points to the life of Christ within us that gives us “life and peace” (Joh 6:63, Php 4:7) along with the proper fear wherewith we fear him and tremble at His words because we know that those words are “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom 1:16, Luk 12:5).

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

God’s indwelling spirit within the body of Christ (Rom 8:9) makes it possible for all of these things listed in verse 6 to be a reality just as they were with Christ when He walked on this earth (1Jn 4:17).

1: The law of truth was in his mouth 
2: Iniquity was not found in his lips 
3: He walked with me in peace and equity 
4: Did turn many away from iniquity 

In order for these four points to become a reality, we are then told, “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts” (verse 7), meaning all of this is being obtained through Christ who is our sufficiency in this life, to whom our heavenly Father is dragging us (2Co 3:5, Joh 6:44) making it possible for us to keep knowledge (Rev 1:3), as He blesses us with the hunger and thirst to “seek the law at his mouth” (Mat 5:6, Heb 11:6,  Col 1:29); and all of this telling us that the “messenger of the LORD of hosts” is blessed to come in His name (Psa 118:26) to perform these actions of righteousness through Him who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure, which is to give us the kingdom (Php 2:12-13, Luk 12:32). “Levi” here typifies those who are coming in the name of the Lord as His messengers with the true gospel of Jesus Christ that brings us to worship our Father in spirit and in truth (Joh4:24).

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is [1Jn 5:4] impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Psa 118:26  Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD. 
Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Mal 2:8  But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:9  Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

Corrupting “the covenant of Levi” by being “partial in the law” is what is in review here, and the lesson for the body of Christ is that when we depart “out of the way” we can cause others to “stumble at the law” (Heb 12:14-17).  The law in question is speaking about the old covenant laws which represent a type and shadow admonition for the elect of God today to not depart from the law of Christ “out of the way” and from the obedience to God’s commandments (1Jn 5:2-3).

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 
Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Whatever we sow we are going to reap, knowing it is God who causes us to corrupt “the covenant of Levi.” This departing from the way by the nation of Judah typifies for us how we lose our first love and expresses how Babylon has caused “many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi.” The many who stumble at the law are the many called, and out of those many God calls a few to repent of our iniquities and sins and overcome through Christ (Rom 8:26-28). It is all of the Lord and demonstrates His sovereignty over the vessels of clay to make one unto honor and one unto dishonor as He determines and for His purposes (Rom 9:20-24).

Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 
Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 
Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

Mal 2:10  Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers? 
Mal 2:11  Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. 
Mal 2:12  The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts. 

“Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?”

Of course the answer to this rhetorical question is that we do have one father and that we do “deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers.” God has made us that way, marred in the hand of the Potter to be made something anew in His perfect time and order, each man in his own order (1Co 15:23-24). The marred clay is also referred to as the “same lump” and God purges, chastens and scourges His children in this age so that they can become a “new lump” that comes out of the old lump  (Rom 9:21, 1Co 5:7, 2Co 5:17, Heb 12:6).

Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 

1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:[“new lump”] old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The whole world is deceived by Satan (2Co 4:4, Rev 12:9), and in that regard we also all start off with one father in the negative sense of a father (Joh 8:44), to whom we are unknowingly subject as the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2, Rom 6:16).

It is Judah who has dealt treacherously, where an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem that represent God’s people. That abomination spoken of typifies the abomination of desolation within the temple of God that we are (Mar 13:14, 1Co 3:13), which must be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming (2Th 2:2-4) if we are going to overcome the beast who wants to rule in that temple and sit on the throne of our heart that belongs to Christ himself. “Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.” The initial union we have with the false doctrines of Babylon is represented by “the daughter of a strange god” whom we have married, and whom God calls us out of if He is working with us in this age (Rev 18:4).

Mar 13:14  But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: 

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

The way that, “The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts” [as a man who offers these things in the condition of one who “hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved and hath married the daughter of a strange god”]  is by having men trust in their own righteousness, which is what the wisdom of man produces through the master and the scholar, rather than trusting in God’s power that can only come from Him via the faith of Christ “the righteousness which is of God by faith” (1Co 2:5, Luk 18:9, Php 3:9).

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 

Luk 18:9  And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:  

Mal 2:13  And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand. 
Mal 2:14  Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 

God is continually showing us who we are through these old covenant examples and how it is impossible to change the spots of the leopard unless the Lord intervenes and does so (Jer 13:23). Esau, who represents our flesh that must be put off, sought the Lord with bitter tears, “covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.” Esau’s heart was not changed, and God knew this about him just as He did with the nation of Judah, and reminded the nation, “yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant“, meaning this “wife” represents a covenant that you were not able to keep, and you were together with her in name only and not in spirit, typifying Christianity today (Isa 4:1).

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. 

The nation of Judah had the same question in mind as Esau when they were being tried by the Lord, “Yet ye say, Wherefore?”  God is showing us who we are (that we are beasts), and this evil experience is a witness God gives us through which we must go in order to be brought to our wits’ end and acknowledge that reality of our existence “Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.” It is only when we miraculously take heed to that witness that we ‘come out of her my people’, as the Lord drags us to Christ through His power (Joh 6:44, Joh 8:36)

Where we fall short is in the most important and treasured relationship we have in the earth, with the wife of our youth [that represents our covenant relationship with Christ], and the Lord uses that failed relationship to show us that we are incapable of being anything other than the basest of beasts, which we are without His mercy being shown to us that leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4), changing us from within. He knows the end result of our falling seven times in the wilderness will one day lead to all the world being reconciled to Him, and how blessed we are today then, to know that He calls us friend (Joh 15:14-15). We are His companion, we are “the wife of thy covenant” if Christ is our head and we are obeying His commandments.

Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 
Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Mal 2:15  And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. 
Mal 2:16  For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. 
Mal 2:17  Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

God did make one lump (Rom 9:21), and out of that same lump He purposed from the foundation of the world to have a remnant, a kind of firstfruits to be saved first “Yet had he the residue of the spirit.” So the question is asked, “Why one lump?” The answer is “That he might seek a godly seed” that holy seed (Gal 3:16) being the means by which He would redeem all his banished in this life, all humanity (2Sa 14:14). 

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him. 

What are we to do now as the body of Christ while we tarry and wait for our Lord’s return is answered with these words, “Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.” This wife of our youth represents our new covenant relationship we have as the wife of Christ, and we are being warned to judge ourselves, and keep under ourselves, as the body of Christ with these words, “For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, [our garment, our own righteousness excusing our bad behavior] saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously” (Heb 12:15, Eph 4:31, 1Pe 4:17-18). 

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

If we don’t do this, we will be cut off (Rom 11:20-21), and yes, God hates “putting away.” However, if we are granted to “take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously“, then we will not have to be cut off. The last verse expresses the fruit of our losing our first love, which spirit wearies the Lord and must be repented of. It’s not someone else. It’s the beast I see in the mirror every morning who has the potential to do what is written here, “Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?“

This phrase “Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?” is an expression of that Laodicean spirit God hates and will spew out of His mouth, when we call light dark and dark light, leaning to our own understanding and thinking that we won’t reap what we sow. In doing so we forget that we are to seek his judgments against our hearts every day as we die daily (Psa 139:23-24, Rev 3:18, 1Co 11:31, Heb 12:15).

Psa 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 
Psa 139:24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire [1Pe 4:19], that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 

The Lord can keep us, but it will only be through His judgements that are upon us that we will continue to be able to hold fast to the crown of righteousness (Rev 3:18) that is being forged through Christ who is going to make the bride ready (Rev 19:7). This is the covenant relationship Christ has with His bride, and it will not fail (Rev 3:11-12, Mat 24:24, Mat 16:18).

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, [Rom 8:36-39] they shall deceive the very elect.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.