Have We Not All One Father?

“Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?”

The prophet Malachi, along with the other minor prophets, is probably not high on our reading lists. We tend to be unable to find contemporary relevance and, therefore, disregard their message. This surely is to our detriment in light of 2 Tim. 3:16, 17 that says “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” We must, therefore, read and study these obscure portions of God’s Word.

Malachi delivers his message after the construction of the temple (520–516 B.C.) because there are some references implying the temple’s existence in his prophecy (see 1:10; 3:1, 8). Malachi’s name means “my messenger.” There is a strong similarity to themes in both Ezra and Nehemiah, and, therefore, we could say that Malachi’s prophecy is in a similar time frame. He reproves the same sins that we encounter in Ezra and Nehemiah: a corrupt priesthood (1:6–29), marriage to idol worshippers (2:10–12), taking advantage of others who don’t have the power or ability to resist (3:5), and not giving tithes to the Lord (3:8–10). In other words, though Israel did not become idol worshippers as they were before, they were now prepared to compromise. And compromise deadens commitment to the Word of God. So you can espouse true belief, yet not hold to it as firmly as you ought. You will play the field to your best advantage. That’s a compromise. It is always a spiritual temptation in this form.

Worshipping God is always serious business, whether it is in the Old Testament or the New Testament, for one simple reason: “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). All worship is to be with reverence and awe (Heb. 12:28). Compromise affects worship. It reduces it and changes it. People become cynical of God and spiritual exercises. So Malachi’s message is like a hurricane blasting across Israel’s dead orthodoxy.

Malachi launches his messages in the form of disputations (a question and answer format). He has six of these disputations that he brings before the covenant people of God (see 1:2–5; 1:6–2:9; 2:10–16; 2:17–3:5; 3:6–12; 3:13–4:3). First, he defends the covenant electing love of God in Malachi 1:2–5. Second, he reveals their sins (1:6–2:9). Third, he condemns their marriage alliances with pagans (2:10–16). Fourth God bears witness to their sins and promises judgment upon those sins in the future (2:17–3:5). Fifth the behavior of the people brought hardship upon them and they were under a curse. God’s solution is to give to God what rightfully belongs to him in their tithing (3:6–12). Finally, all evildoers will not escape God’s judgment, but God will deliver those who fear him (3:13–4:3).

There is a concentric connection between these arguments that Malachi delivers. The first and sixth go together. The second goes with the fifth, and the third with the fourth. These arguments that God has with his people are revealed by God who brings charges or indictments against the people for their sinful behavior. The people respond to the charge by questioning its validity, and then God replies to their response by delving deeper into their sins.

Our verse starts the third argument (2:10–16). This section probes Israel’s infidelity through marriage with idolaters and condemns their divorces among themselves as a violation of God’s covenant of marriage, of which God was the witness. Verse 10 reveals two important facts for any Christian to think on. First: God is Father. And second: God is Creator. God asks the question in the second argument: “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’”(Mal. 1:6). They were guilty of not honoring God with their offerings. They gave them grudgingly. True worship is not grudging worship. It is delightful and willing.

A father is by nature a caring preserver of life. God is the one who has brought them back to the land. He preserved them in captivity and he continues to do so, but they ignore this fact. The question in Malachi 2:10 points out that God is the only Father. Some commentators see Abraham as being the father, but the context doesn’t make this connection, especially given the next part of the verse about God as Creator. Verse 15 refers to the fact that God is one: “and what was the one God seeking?” This question is with respect to their divorcing of Israelite husbands and wives. God was seeking faithfulness.

This God was the same God found throughout their history, because he is the only God and he is one. This was what every Israelite knew as the Shema of Israel (Deut. 6:4). This God, who is one, cares for them and has made them. As a result, he has authority, dominion, and prerogative over his people. This only highlights the deceitfulness and corruption of their hearts. All of us are rebellious, even in the face of the kindness and goodness of God.

Paul tells us that God’s kindness is designed by God to lead us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Corrupt practices are the offspring of corrupt principles. Dealing falsely with God always arises because we think falsely about God. How false was Israel in Malachi’s time? They despised their own people, which was seen in their marriage alliances and broken marriages. They were faithless to each other and despised God’s covenant (2:10, 11).

All fathers are expected to be faithful to their fatherhood. Their relationship with their children demands the demonstration of being a father. God cannot but engage with his people. He is their Creator and their Father. If we were to forget this, we would be guilty of horrible things. In fact, forgetting that God is our Creator and our Father leads to sin. All sin is a profaning of our New Covenant relationship with the Lord. The central feature of that covenant relationship is that God is our God and we are his people (Jer. 31:31–34). The fruit of that relationship is that his law is inscribed on our hearts, and our sins are forgiven. This relationship within this covenant is as a father with his children. This is what Paul affirms in 2 Corinthians 6:14–18: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.’”

So God calls us always to faithfulness and fidelity. It helps to remind ourselves that he is our Father and Creator. He cares for us because he made us for himself. We have no rest or peace unless we find it in him. We worship God because he made us and because he loves and cares for us. Why be unfaithful then with God and with others?