Reverence for God’s Name: The second speech continues the theme of family relationships and domestic life as a metaphor for Israel’s life with God. Verse 6 introduces the Lord as a father figure and master of a patriarchal household. By the contempt they have shown for the Lord’s table and the food placed on it, the priests have fouled their own home, hurt the other family members, and brought the name of the Lord, their father and master, into disrepute. Yet an opportunity for restoration and renewal accompanies Malachi’s rebuke.

1:6  An accusation against the priests begins the next section, “you . . . show contempt for my name.” Contempt for God’s name is contempt for God. “My name” stands for God’s self eight times in this speech. The Jerusalem temple was, in the theological idiom of De…