In the second disputation, Malachi charges the priests with not giving honor to God; they offer defiled and blemished offerings and sacrifices. In this third disputation, focus shifts from their cultic function to their function as teachers of God’s word. The key word is “warning” (literally “commandment,” 2:1, 4). Malachi repeats the word and purposely builds up suspense so as to stimulate the question, what commandment has been broken that causes the Lord’s curse to rest on the priests? It is not until verse 7 that the commandment is set forth in a straightforward manner: “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.”

The knowledge of God is not knowledge about God or secrets pertainin…