There is nothing more damaging to a relationship than for people to lose faith in each other. It is easy to question the other person’s motives when you don’t believe they have your best interests at heart. If trust is lost, even a close relationship can devolve into a shell of what it once was.

In Malachi 2:10–16, the message of the Lord is straightforward, “Judah has been unfaithful” (v. 11). Judah made promises to the Lord through the covenant, yet they broke them. In particular, they married women who worshiped foreign gods (v. 11). The issue was not that they were foreign women. The Old Testament has many examples of foreigners marrying into Israel. Rahab and Ruth are two prominent examples (Josh. 6:25; Ruth 4:13). In those cases, the women became followers of the God of Israel. In this passage though, the women remained idolaters and led their husbands to join them (Neh. 13:23–27).

Israel’s unfaithfulness ran even deeper. Their unfaithfulness to their covenant with God was matched by their unfaithfulness to the marriage covenant, “You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant” (v. 14). The Lord does not mince words: “The man who hates and divorces his wife,…does violence to the one he should protect” (v. 16). While other places in Scripture recognize that marriages at times break apart due to infidelity or spousal abandonment, that is not what God intended (Matt. 19:9; 1 Cor. 7:15).

We all need the warning to “be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful” (v. 15). The human heart is prone to wander. Praise the Lord that we worship a God who does not break faith with us. Let us seek to follow “God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love” (Eph. 5:1–2).

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