Malachi 3:10

Malachi 3:10, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Charles John Ellicott (1819–1905) was a distinguished English Christian theologian, academic and churchman. He writes the following helpful Bible commentary to explain Malachi 3:10...

(10) One father—i.e., not Adam, Abraham, or Jacob (as various commentators have held), but God Himself (Malachi 1:6; Deuteronomy 32:6; Deuteronomy 32:18), who is the spiritual Father of the nation, and in whom they are all brothers and sisters; so that when an Israelite married a heathen woman, or divorced an Israelitish wife, it was an offence against God, a “profaning the covenant of the fathers,” and a violation of the fraternal relation. Moreover, “one God created” them for His glory (Isaiah 43:7), for the special purpose of being a witness to His unity. The admission of idolatresses into their families would be fatal to this object.

That is helpful exegesis. God is a jealous God.

Exodus 34:13-16, “But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;  And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.”

I love that God is a jealous God; so much so, that He calls His name, “Jealous.” I am glad that God is jealous over me and refuses to share my praise with another. It is tragic that millions of American teenagers have posters of their music, sports or Hollywood actors hanging on their wall, who are effectively their idols, their gods. 

Rocker Frank Zappa (who discovered the awful truth that Hell is real on December 4, 1993 the second he died) proudly boasted:

"I'm the devil's advocate. We have our own worshippers who are called 'groupies.' Girls will give their bodies to musicians as you would give a sacrifice to a god." (Peters Brothers, 'What About Christian Rock,' p. 17)

When we are consumed with the things of this temporary world—so that we give those things our attention, adoration, money, love and time, but forget about the God who created and made redemption available to us—those things have become idols. Hebrews 12:3 tells us to LOOK TO JESUS, who is the Author and Finisher of our Christian faith. Idolatry is a horrible sin. Even a child, a spouse, a ministry or something good can become an idol if we allow those things to take God off the throne of our life.

Hellbound new age false teacher Oprah Winfrey said:

'We are not servants of some God; we are 'our own gods?'' —billionaire Tv host, Oprah Winfrey

Manly P. Hall (1901-1990) said:

“We are the gods of the atoms that make up ourselves but we are also the atoms of the gods that make up the universe.” —33rd degree Freemason and prolific writer, Manly P. Hall

Marriage is sacred in God's sight. Woe be unto anyone, any lawyer, any judge, any meddling church member, any meddling family member, who recommends, helps, nurtures or causes a divorce. If you do, God's judgment is upon you!!!

In the book of Malachi, God's people were divorcing their Israelite wives and marrying heathen women from other nations, which was idolatry since it was a betrayal of their covenant with God. In Jeremiah 3:20 we read that Israelite women were divorcing their husbands. God called it treacherous! If you divorce your spouse, you are dealing treacherously with them. 

Everyone seeking freedom from a bad marriage looks for excuses. They will seek counsel from multiple pastors until they find one who agrees with their choice to file for divorce. That is what wicked people do! People don't usually make their decisions because of any particular reason(s). They have already decided what they want to do, and then they look for excuses to rationalize and justify that decision. In the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis, long before Eve ever even started to rationalize about eating the fruit, she had already made her decision.

Divorce is a sin! Please don't do it. If you need to leave a bad marriage, then do so if your safety and mental well-being are at risk, but do not file for divorce. The word "divorce" ought not even be in your vocabulary. Woe unto America, the land of quick divorces.