One of the many wonderful characteristics of God is his faithfulness. He is totally trustworthy, unwaveringly reliable, infallibly dependable, and completely incorruptible. So, it shouldn’t surprise that he expects his people to be faithful as he is faithful, to value fidelity as he values fidelity.

Unfortunately, during the days of Malachi’s prophetic ministry, Israel had developed a pattern of unfaithfulness. They’d started minimizing God’s covenants—the ultimate proofs of his trustworthiness—saying, “God didn’t really mean all that he said.” This serpentine posture allowed them to then ignore their covenant responsibilities. “If God’s not obligated to his word, then we aren’t to ours either.” And this lax loyalty, this playing fast-and-loose with promises, offended God, hurt people, and squandered unity. May God help his people learn from the mistakes of generations past and, thus, enjoy the unity he creates and offers.