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Malachi 1

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1 The burden of a word of Jehovah unto Israel by the hand of Malachi:

2 I have loved you, said Jehovah, And ye have said, `In what hast Thou loved us?'

3 Is not Esau Jacob's brother? -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I love Jacob, and Esau I have hated, And I make his mountains a desolation, And his inheritance for dragons of a wilderness.

4 Because Edom saith, `We have been made poor, And we turn back and we build the wastes,' Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: They do build, and I do destroy, And [men] have called to them, `O region of wickedness,' `O people whom Jehovah defied to the age.'

5 And your eyes do see, and ye say, `Magnified is Jehovah beyond the border of Israel,

6 A son honoureth a father, and a servant his master. And if I [am] a father, where [is] Mine honour? And if I [am] a master, where [is] My fear? Said Jehovah of Hosts to you, O priests, despising My name! And ye have Said: `In what have we despised Thy name?'

7 Ye are bringing nigh on Mine altar polluted bread, And ye have said: `In what have we polluted Thee?' In your saying: `The table of Jehovah -- it [is] despicable,'

8 And when ye bring nigh the blind for sacrifice, `There is no evil,' And when ye bring nigh the lame and sick, `There is no evil;' Bring it near, I pray thee, to thy governor -- Doth he accept thee? or doth he lift up thy face? Said Jehovah of Hosts.

9 And now, appease, I pray thee, the face of God, And He doth favour us; From your own hand hath this been, Doth He accept of you appearances? Said Jehovah of Hosts.

10 Who [is] even among you, And he shutteth the two-leaved doors? Yea, ye do not kindle Mine altar for nought, I have no pleasure in you, said Jehovah of Hosts, And a present I do not accept of your hand.

11 For, from the rising of the sun to its going in, Great [is] My name among nations, And in every place perfume is brought nigh to My name, and a pure present, For great [is] My name among nations, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

12 And ye are polluting it in your saying, `The table of Jehovah -- it is polluted, As to its fruit -- despicable is its food.'

13 And ye have said, `Lo, what a weariness,' And ye have puffed at it, said Jehovah of Hosts, And ye have brought in plunder, And the lame and the sick, And ye have brought in the present! Do I accept it from your hand? said Jehovah.

14 And cursed [is] a deceiver, who hath in his drove a male, And is vowing, and is sacrificing a marred thing to the Lord, For a great king [am] I, said Jehovah of Hosts, And My name [is] revered among nations!

Komentář

 

Present

  

It was customary in the representative Ancient Church, and later in the Jewish Church, when people went to the judges, and at a later time, to the kings or priests, to present them with a gift. The people were commanded to do this. The reason for this custom was that the gifts people presented to those men represented the kinds of things mankind possessed that ought to be offered to the Lord when any approach is made to Him. Such gifts are ones that a person offers in freedom and therefore ones that come truly from himself, because his freedom resides in what comes from his heart, and what comes from his heart comes from his will. What comes from his will comes from a desire arising from his love, and this desire constitutes his freedom, or what is truly his own. This should be the origin of any gift made by a person to the Lord when making any approach to Him. This kind of gift was represented by the gifts mentioned above, for 'kings' represented the Lord regarding Divine Truth, while 'priests' represented Him regarding Divine Good. These gifts also served as introductions, which were made to obtain favor.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 5619)