2:4
The term “covenant with Levi” is used only here. Aaron and Moses are included in this, so it may just be a way of referring to the Mosaic covenant, of which the Levitical priests were meant to be ministers. The purpose of the judgement upon the priests was not to bring things to an end, but in order that the covenant would continue. This may have been something of a surprise to the priests, for if they were removed how could the covenant continue? What they failed to realise, along with the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, and many religious people ever since, is that it is our hearts above all that God wants. He wants our hearts to be truly dedicated to Him, not just outward actions. Yet, time and time again we will focus on the outward actions, on religious ritual. We do this because it is easier to do, and we fool ourselves into thinking that we are pleasing God, when we are not.
2:5
God’s covenant was a covenant of life. Yet men rejected it. We see the same pattern all too often today. So called ministers of religion reject the deity of Christ, reject the resurrection, reject God’s moral teaching, reject anything they can find! In doing so they think they are being clever, or will make the church more acceptable to people. This is foolishness. God’s ways are actually ways of life. And God calls for reverence and awe on our part. Instead of deciding why God is wrong, we would do far better to worship Him. We should ask God to give us understanding, rather than imagining that we can improve God’s understanding!
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