
“And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; [So] He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the LORD has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. Has not [the Lord] made them one, [having a portion of the Spirit]? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. Therefore guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.”[Amp] Malachi 2:13-15 NKJV
The point is God is informing them of the things they do. So in what manner are they covering the Lord’s alter with tears, with weeping and crying, for Him to disregard their offering? The key is, they have no idea why God is saying that to them so they ask, “For what reason?” If they had no idea their offering were rejected they had no cause to cover the Lord’s alter with their own tears. So He answers them, “Because you have broken faith with your wife.” So it is the tears and cries of their wives that covered the Lord’s alter, so He disregard their offering and could not accept it in goodwill from their hands.
He then explains His point to them saying, “Has not [the Lord] made them one, having a portion of the Spirit?” Now what does He mean by this? If not, when they are joined to be one in the flesh they also share in the same spirit because they are made one body. “No longer two but one,” therefore “take heed to your spirit,” the violence you cause them is a violence against yourselves. The Lord also speaking of marriage says, “Therefore what God has joined together let no man separate.” Matthew 19:6 That is a husband and wife may be joined to be one in the flesh but it is God who joins them to be one in spirit. “having a portion of the spirit.”
“For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.” Malachi 2:16
Here Malachi compares the garment to the spirit, the same garment that covers the wife. And God speaking of how He betrothed Israel to Himself says, “Indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing [garment] over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord God. Ezekiel 16:8 This relationship is also expressed as one between a husband and wife in the story of Ruth. Ruth says to Boaz in an offer of marriage, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing [the corner of your garment], for you are a close relative.” Ruth 3:9 It is the husband’s spirit that covers the wife, and they are one/joined in spirit! And Christ relationship to His church is also expressed in terms of a husband to his wife. [Ephesians 5:22-32]
Therefore when you come before Him to make your offerings, He says, take heed to your spirit, because when you break faith with your wife it is violence against oneself, so as to stand before Him with your garment covered in their tears and cries. So it is the state of their wives that made the husband’s offering of no value to God. Similarly Peter also says, to treat your wives in love and honour because the distress you cause them is a hinderance to your prayer.
“Husbands do likewise, dwelling with them according to knowledge, as with a weaker vessel, with the female, rendering honour as joint-heirs also of the grace of life, so as for your prayers not to be hindered.” 1 Peter 3:7
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