Calvin's Commentary on Malachi
(... continued from file 4)
Lecture One Hundred and Seventy Third.
I repeated yesterday the last verse of the first
chapter, but I did not explain it. The Prophet declares
here, that all who dealt deceitfully and unfaithfully
with God were under a curse; and at the same time he
specifies the kind of fraud practiced; they chose from
the flock such as were diseased or defective to offer as
sacrifices to God. It was indeed a proof of extreme
dishonesty thus perversely to mock God: for as we have
seen no man would bear such an insult. Then the Prophet,
in order at once to complete what he had begun,
distinctly says, that they were all accursed.
The verb , necal, means in Hebrew, to think; but it
is taken almost at all times in a bad sense: hence
interpreters have not improperly rendered it here,
deceitful; but the deceit the Prophet meant to express is
of this kind - when men craftily contrive for themselves
vain pretences; for when they can cover their baseness
before the world, they think that they are at the same
time absolved in heaven. The Prophet then says, that they
who think that they can escape God's judgment by such
artifices are under a curse.
I come now to the kind of fraud they practised, If
there be, he says, in his flock a male, that is, a lamb
or a ram, when he vows, then what is corrupt he offers to
Jehovah. He then means, that though they pretended some
religion, yet nothing was done by them with a sincere and
honest heart; for they immediately repented of the vow
made to God; they thought that they might be reduced to
poverty, if they were too bountiful in their sacrifices.
Hence then the Prophet proves that they offered to God
with a double mind, and that whatever they thus offered
was polluted, because it did not proceed from a right
motive.
We said yesterday, that the Prophet did not require
fat or lean beasts, because God valued either the blood
or flesh of animals on its own account, but for the end
in view; for these were the performances of religion by
which God designed to train up the Jews for the end
contemplated, and in the duty of repentance. As then they
were so sordid as to these sacrifices, it was easy to
conclude, that they were gross and profane despisers of
God, and had no concern for religion.
The reason follows, For a great king am I, saith
Jehovah, and my name is terrible' among the nations. God
declares here that his majesty was of no account among
the Jews, as though he had said, "With whom do you think
that you have to do?" And this is what we ought carefully
to consider when engaged in God's service. We indeed know
that it is a vice which has prevailed in all ages, that
all nations and individuals thought that they worshipped
God, when they devised foolish and frivolous rites
according to their own fancies. If then we have a desire
to worship God aright, we must remember how great he is;
for his majesty will raise us up above the whole world,
and cease will that audacity which possesses almost all
mankind; for they think that their own will is a law,
when they presumptuously obtrude anything on God. The
greatness of God then ought to humble us, that we may not
worship him according to the perceptions of our flesh,
but offer him only what is worthy of his celestial glory.
He again repeats what we have before observed,
though it was disregarded by the Jews, - that he was a
great king through the whole world. As then the Jews
thought that sacrifices could not be offered to God, such
as he would accept, in any other place but at Jerusalem,
and in the temple on Mount Sion, he testifies that he is
a great king even in the farthest parts of the world. It
hence follows, that God's worship would not be confined
to Judea, or to any other particular part of the world;
for by the gospel the Lord would receive to himself all
nations, and come into the possession of his kingdom. Now
follows
CHAPTER 2.
1. And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. 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.
1. Et nunc ad vos praeceptum hoc, O sacerdotes,_ 2. Si
non audieritis et non posueritis super cor, ut delis
gloriam nomini meo, dicit Iehova exercituum, mittam
(copula hic abundat) in vos maledictionem, et maledicam
benedictionibus vestries, atque etiam maledixi eam (est
mutatio numeri, pro eas,) quia non ponitis super cor.
Though the priests did not sin alone, yet it is not
without reason, as we have said, that they were regarded
as the first in wickedness; for it was their office to
correct what the people did amiss. Their dissimulation
had the effect of encouraging the common people to sin:
hence the Prophet accuses them especially as the authors
of impiety; and this is what the words intimate, if they
are rightly considered.
To you, he says, O priests. They might have indeed
exonerated themselves, or at least transferred a part of
their guilt to others: "Oh! what can we do? for we see
that the people are growing cold in God's worship; it is
better that imperfect sacrifices should be offered than
none at all." As then they might by evasion have somewhat
extenuated their guilt, the Prophet the more sharply
reproves them and says, To you especially is addressed
this command, as they ought to have shown to others the
right way; for when they dissembled, their connivance was
nothing else but a consent; and thus they divested the
people of God's fear, and allowed them to corrupt the
whole of religion by offering spurious sacrifices. To you
then, he says, that is, "Though the whole people is
guilty before God, think not that ye are on this account
excused; for it behoves you to check this wickedness, for
God has set you over the people as their teachers and
guides: as then ye have neglected your duty, whatever
others have done amiss, falls justly on your heads. For
how has it happened that the people have dared to proceed
so far in impiety? even because you have no concern for
religion; for God has promoted you to the priesthood for
this end - to preserve in integrity the worship of his
name; but ye know of all the prevailing profanations, and
ye hold your peace: To you then is this command."
He then adds, If ye will not hear nor lay it to
heart to give glory to my name, &e. He seems here to
threaten the priests alone; and yet if any one carefully
considers the whole passage, he will easily perceive that
this address extends to the whole people, in such a way
however that it is in the first place directed to the
priests; for as I have said the greater portion of the
guilt belonged to them. God then denounces a heavy
punishment on the whole people as well as on the priests,
even that he would send a curse. But that they might not
object and say that they were too severely dealt with,
God shows how justly he was displeased with them, because
they hearkened not nor attended to his warnings. What
indeed is less tolerable than not to hear God speaking?
But as many thought it enough to stretch the ear, and
then immediately to forget what had been spoken, it is
added, If ye lay it not to heart, that is, If ye attend
not and seriously apply your hearts to what is said. We
see then that the Prophet shows how that God had a just
cause for severely punishing them; for it was an impiety
not to be borne, when he could obtain no hearing from
men. But the Prophet shows at the same time what it is to
hear God; he therefore adds the latter clause as a
definition or an explanation of the former: for God is
not heard, if we receive with levity his words, so that
they soon vanish away; but we hear them when we lay them
on the heart, or, as the Latins say, when we apply the
mind to them. There is then required a serious attention,
otherwise it will be the same as though the ears were
closed against God.
Let us further learn from this passage that
obedience is of so much account with God, that he bears
nothing less than a contempt of his word or a careless
attention to it, as though we regarded not its authority.
We must also notice that our guilt before God is
increased and enhanced, when he recalls us to the right
way, and seeks to promote our welfare by warning and
exhorting us. When therefore God is thus kindly careful
for our salvation, we are doubly inexcusable, if we
perversely reject his teaching, warnings, counsels, and
other remedies which he may apply.
He now adds, I will send on you a curse; and this
curse he immediately explains, I will curse your
blessings. The word blessing, we know, means everywhere
in Scripture the beneficence or kindness of God. God then
is said to bless us when he bountifully supports us and
supplies whatever is necessary for us. And hence seems to
have arisen the expression, that God by his nod alone can
satisfy us with all abundance of good things. By
blessings then he means a large and an abundant
provision, and also rest from enemies, a healthy air, and
everything of this kind. Some think that those prayers
are intended, by which the priest blessed the people; but
there is no reason for this. God then had manifested his
favor to the Jews; he now declares that he will deprive
them of all his benefits, that they might know that he is
not propitious to them. Blessings then are evidences of
God's bounty and paternal favor.
But he immediately adds, Yea, I have cursed. By
which words he proves their senselessness: for they were
not even taught by their evils, which yet produce some
effect even on fools, who, according to the common
proverb, begin to be wise when they are chastised. God
then here reproves the stupidity of the Jews; for they
had already been deprived of his benefits, and they might
have known by experience that he was not propitious to
them, but on the contrary an angry judge; and yet they
were touched by no penitence, according to what we have
seen in the other Prophets.
We now understand the import of the words, and at
the same time the object of the Prophet: I will then
curse your blessings, and what is more, (so I explain
,ugam,) I have already cursed them: but ye are like
blocks of wood or stones; for the very scourges avail
nothing with you. He again repeats, because ye lay it not
on your heart, in order to show that he could not bear
the contempt of his word, for it was, as we have said, a
sign of extreme impiety. It follows
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.
3. Ecce ego corrumpo (vel perdo) vobis semen (vertunt
Graeci, brachium; sed decepti sunt in una litera,) et
spergam stercus super facies vestras, stercus
solemnitatum vestrarum; et tollet vos ad se (alii
vertunt, tollet vos ad ipsum; sed coacta est illa
expositio.)
He confirms here again what he had said in the last
verse, - that they would perceive God's curse in want and
poverty. The curse of God is any kind of calamity; for as
God declares especially his favour by a liberal support,
so the sterility of the land and defective produce most
clearly evidence the curse of God. The Prophet then
shows, by mentioning one thing, what sort of curse was
nigh the Jews, - that God would destroy their seed. Some
read, but improperly, "I will destroy you and the seed."
I wonder how learned men make such puerile mistakes, when
there is nothing ambiguous in the Prophet's words. I will
destroy then for you the seed; that is, "Sow as much as
you please, I will yet destroy your seed, so that it
shall produce no fruit." In short, he threatens the Jews
with want and famine; for the land would produce nothing
when cursed by God.'
But as the Jews flattered themselves on account of
their descent, and ever boasted of their fathers, and as
that preeminence with which God had favoured them proved
to them an occasion of haughtiness and pride, the Prophet
here ridicules this foolish confidence, I will scatter
dung, he says, on your faces: "Ye are a holy nation, ye
are the chosen seed of Abraham, ye are a royal
priesthood; these are your boastings; but the Lord will
render your faces filthy with dung; this will be your
nobility and preeminence! there is then no reason for you
to think yourselves exempt from punishments because God
has adopted you; for as ye have abused his benefits and
profaned his name, so ye shall also find in your turn,
that he will cover you with everything disgraceful and
ignominious, so as to make you wholly filthy: ye shall
then be covered all over with dung, and shall not be the
holy seed of Abraham."
But as they might have again raised a clamour and
say, " Have we then in vain so diligently served God? why
has he bidden a temple to be built for him by us and
promised to dwell there? God then has deceived us, or at
least his promises avail nothing, - "the Prophet gives
this answer, " God will overwhelm you with disgrace and
also your sacrifices." But he calls them the dung of
solemnities, as though he had said, " I will cover you
with reproach on account of your impiety, which is seen
in your sacrifices." Had the Jews any holiness they
derived it from their sacrifices, by which they expiated
their sins and reconciled themselves to God: but the
Prophet says that it was their special ill-savour which
offended God, and which he abominated, because they
vitiated their sacrifices. Nor is that to be disapproved
which some of the rabbins have said, that the Prophet
alludes to the oxen, calves, and rams; for when the Jews
from various places brought their sacrifices, there must
have been much dung from all that vast number. There is
then here a striking allusion to the victims themselves,
as though he had said, "Ye think that I can be pacified
by your sacrifices, as though loads of dung were pleasing
to me; for when ye bring such a vast number, even the
place itself, the area before the temple, throws an
ill-savour on account of the dung that is there. Ye are
then, forsooth! holy, and all your filth is cleansed away
by means of this dung. Begone then together with the dung
of your solemnities; for I will cast this very dung on
your heads."
We now perceive what the Prophct means: and
emphatical are the words, Behold I; for God by these
single words cuts off all those pretences by which the
Jews deceived themselves, and thought that their vices
were concealed from God: "I myself," he says, "am
present, to whom ye think your sacrifices to be
acceptable; I then will destroy your seed, and I will
also cast dung on your faces; all the dignity which ye
pretend shall be abolished, for ye think that ye are
defended by a sort of privilege, when ye boast yourselves
to be the seed of Abraham: it is dung, it is dung," he
says. He afterwards shows what was especially the dung
and the filth: for when they objected and said, " What!
have our sacrifices availed nothing?" he answers, "Nay, I
will cast that dung upon you, because the chief pollution
is in your sacrifices, for ye vitiate and adulterate my
service: and what else is your sacrifice but profanation
only? ye are sacrilegious in all your empty pomps. Since
then all your victims have an ill-savour and displease
me, and as I nauseate them, (as it is also said in the
first and last chapter of Isaiah,) I will heap the dung
on your own heads, because ye think it to be your chief
expiation."
He adds at last, It shall take you to itself; that
is, " Ye shall be dung altogether; and thus all your
boastings, that ye are descended from the holy Patriarch
Abraham, shall be wholly useless; though I made a
covenant and promised that you should be to me a royal
priesthood, yet the dung shall take you to itself, and
thus whatever dignity I have hitherto conferred on you
shall be taken away." Let us proceed
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.
4. Et scietis quod miserim ad vos hoc mandatum ut sit
(vel, ut esset; sed magis placet, ut sit; est, ad
essendum, ad verbum; ergo ad essendum pactum meum, si
posset dici Latine,) pactum meum cum Levi, dicit Iehova
exercituum.
Here he addresses in particular the priests; for
though the whole people with great haughtiness resisted
God, yet the priests surpassed them. And we know how
ready men are to turn to evil whatever benefits God may
bestow on them. It has been then a common evil in men
from the beginning of the world, to exalt themselves and
to raise their crests against God, when they found
themselves adorned with his benefits: but we know that
the more any one is bound to God the more thankful he
ought to be, for our gifts are not our own, but the
benefits by which God binds us to himself. "What best
thou as thine own?" says Paul, " thou best then no reason
to glory." (1 Cor. 4:7) This evil however has ever
prevailed among men - that they have defrauded God of his
glory, and have turned to an occasion of pride the
favours received from him. But it is an evil which is
very commonly seen in all governors; for they who are
raised to a high dignity, think no more that they are
men, but take to themselves very great liberty when they
find themselves so much exalted above others. Thus kings
and those in authority seem to themselves to be above the
common order of men, and presumptuously disregard all
laws; they think that everything is lawful for them, as
no one opposes their willfulness. The same thing is also
to be seen in teachers. For when God favored the priests
with the highest honour, they became blinded, as it will
hereafter be seen, by that favour of God, that they
thought themselves to be as it were semi-gods; and the
same thing has taken place in the kingdom of Christ.
For how have arisen so great impieties under the
Papacy, except that pastors have exercised tyranny and
not just government? For they have not regarded the
purpose for which they have been called into their
office, but as the name of pastor is in itself
honourable, they have dared to raise themselves above the
clouds, and to assume to themselves the authority of God
himself. Hence it has been, that they have dared to bind
consciences by their own laws, to change the whole truth,
and to corrupt the whole worship of God: and hence also
followed the scandalous sale of justice. How have these
things happened? Because priests were counted as angels
come down from heaven; and this same danger is ever to be
feared by us.
This then is the vice which the Prophet now refers
to; and he shows that the priests had no reason to think
that they could shake off the yoke, Ye shall know, he
says, that to you belongs this command. We indeed see
what they objected to Jeremiah, "The law shall not depart
from the priests nor counsel and wisdom from the elders."
(Jer. 18:18.) These are the weapons by which the Papists
at this day defend themselves. When we allege against
them plain proofs from Scripture, they find themselves
clearly reproved and convicted by God's word; but here is
their Ajax's shield, under which they hide all their
wickedness, retailing as it were from the ungodly and
wicked priests what is related by Jeremiah, "'The law
shall not depart from the priests;' we are the Church,
can it err? is not the Holy Spirit dwelling in the midst
of us? 'I am with you alwavs to the end of the world,'
(Matt. 28: 20;) did Christ intend to deceive his Church
when he said this to his Apostles? and we are their
successors." The Prophet now gives the answer, Ye shall
know, he says, that to you, belongs this cornmand.
And he adds, not without severity, that my covenant
may be with Levi; as though he had said, "On what account
are ye thus elated? for God cannot get a hearing for
himself, yet ye say that the covenant with Levi is not to
be void, as though God had put Levi in his own place, and
divested himself of all authority when he appointed that
tribe, and made you ministers of the temple and teachers
of the people; is he nothing? What was God's purpose when
he honoured you with that dignity? He certainly did not
mean to reduce himself to nothing, but, on the contrary,
his will was, that his own right should remain entire and
complete. When therefore I reprove your vices, and show
that ye are become vile, and as it were dung, that ye are
defiled by everything disgraceful, - when I make these
things openly known, I do not violate the covenant made
with Levi. God then justly summons you before his
tribunal, and strips you of your honour, in order that
the covenant he made with Levi may be confirmed and
ratified." This is, as I have said, a severe derision.
But we may hence learn a useful truth. The Prophet
briefly teaches us that the priestly office takes away
nothing from God's authority, who requires a pure and
holy worship, and that it lessens in nothing the
authority of the law, for sound doctrine ought ever to
prevail. So at this day, when we resist the Papal
priests, we do not violate God's covenant, that is, it is
no departure from the order of the Church, which ought
ever to remain sacred and inviolable. We do not then on
account of men's vices, subvert the pastoral office, and
the preaching of the word; but we assail the men
themselves, so that due order may be restored, that sound
doctrine may obtain a hearing among men, that the worship
of God may be pure, which these unprincipled men have
violated. We therefore boldly attempt to subvert the
whole of the Papacy, with this full confidence, that we
lessen nothing from the authority of teaching, nor in any
way defraud the pastoral office; nay, order in the
Church, the preaching of the truth, and the very dignity
of pastors, cannot exist, except the Church be purged
from its defilements, and its filth removed. Thus must we
say also of those unprincipled men, who are too nearly
connected with us, or too near us, and I wish they were
wholly extinct in the world: but how many pests conceal
themselves under this covering, or under this mask -
"What! are we not the ministers of the word?" So say you
who are without any principle; I wish ye were in your
dung, or in your cells, where formerly ye too much
corrupted the world; but now the devil has brought you
forth into the Church of God, that ye may corrupt
whatever had hitherto remained sound. As then there are
many at this day who boast of this honour - that they are
ministers of the word, and pastors, and that they teach
the gospel, they ought to be checked by this answer of
the Prophet - that when all their corruptions are fully
and really cleansed away, then confirmed and ratified
will be the compact which God would have to be valid with
his Church and with the ministers of his word. He then
adds an explanation -
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.
5. Foedus meum fuit cum eo vitae et pacis; et dedi illi
timorem; et timuit me, et a facie nominis mei contritus
fuit.
The Prophet now proves more clearly how God violates not
his covenant, when he freely rebukes the priests, and
exposes also their false attempts in absurdly applying to
themselves the covenant of God, like the Papal priests at
this day, who say that they are the Church. How? because
they have in a regular order succeeded the apostles; but
this is a foolish and ridiculous definition; for he who
occupies the place of another ought not on that account
only to be deemed a successor. Were a thief to kill the
master of a family, and to occupy his place, and to take
possession of all his goods, is he to be accounted his
legitimate successor? So these dishonest men, to show
that they are to be regarded as apostles, only allege a
continued course of succession; but the likeness between
them ought rather to be the subject of inquiry. We must
see first whether they have been called, and then whether
they answer to their calling; neither of which can they
prove. Then their definition is altogether frivolous.
So also our Prophet here shows, that the priests
made pretences and deceived the common people, while they
sought to prove themselves heirs of the covenant which
God had made with Levi their father, that is, with the
tribe itself. "I shall be faithful," says God, "and my
faithfulness will be evident from the compact itself; my
compact with your father was that of life and peace:' but
it was mutual: ye seem not to think that there are two
parties in a compact, and that there is, according to
what is commonly said, a reciprocal obligation: but I on
my part promised to your father to be his father, and I
also stipulated with him that he was to obey me, to obey
my word, and whatever I might afterwards require. Now ye
will have me to be bound to you, and yourselves to be
free from every obligation. What equity is this - that I
should owe everything to you and you nothing to me? My
compact then with him was that of life and peace; but
what is your compact? what is it that ye owe to me? Even
what the mutual compact which I made with your father
Levi and his tribe requires; perform this, and ye shall
find that I am faithful and constant in all my promises."
I cannot go farther now.
PRAYER
Grant, Almighty God that as thou hast been pleased to
choose us at this day thy priests, and hast consecrated
us to thyself by the blood of thine only-begotten Son and
through the grace of thy Spirit, - O grant, that we may
rightly and sincerely perform our duties to thee, and be
so devoted to thee that thy name may be really glorified
in us; and may we be thus more and more confirmed in the
hope of those promises by which thou not only guides us
through the course of this earthly life, but also invites
us to thy celestial inheritance; and may Christ thy Son
so rule in us, that we may ever cleave to our head, and
be gathered as his members into a participation of that
eternal glory into which he has gone before us. - Amen.
Calvin's Commentary on Malachi
(continued in file 6...)
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