Malachi chapter 2

vs 1

That is, another warning for them, because the first one was to them as well, although it expanded out to include all the Jews.

vs 2

So God in fact promises something he's already done, and will continue doing. He said he wished they'd shut the temple doors rather than make sacrifices that belittled him, and he means it. So not only will their actions done to please the Lord not be a blessing to them, it will actually make things worse.

vs 3

That's quite strong language. God feels so strongly about what they have done to dishonour his position that their children are going to pay. As for the fecal smearing going on - my assumption is that when you kill an animal for a sacrifice, there are certain bits you clean out and throw away - anything inside the intestines would be included in that. Well, God is so upset with the Jews, that he's going to smear the contents of those intestines on their faces, so that when it is carried away, the dirty Jews have to be carried away and thrown out too.

vs 4

God's purpose in this threat is not to show them their downfall and to bring judgement - it is merely a warning so that they can get their act together. God wants to continue to live in convenant relationship with his people.

vs 5

God is focused primarily on the covenant with Levi, because he's talking particularly with the priests. To my knowledge there was no covenant made with Levi the man, so I am assuming God is talking about the tribe, and their special role played in the covenant God makes with Israel before he takes them out of Egypt.

It was a two way covenant - life and peace for the Levites, and honour and reverence for God.

vs 6

The Levites were to be responsible for the instruction of the people in the things of God. As a tribe, they were meant to be the mediators of the mediators. They fulfilled the role in Israel that Israel was to fulfil in the world. And God was happy with them, at least for a while - as long as they were walking in a righteous way, their example was helping people to turn from sin.

vs 7

This is the way a priest should be. God has a lot of respect for the office of priesthood, if you like. It's the individual priests that he's harping on.

vs 8

And boy is he harping on them. These priests have not kept their part of the covenant. Their actions have caused the opposite of what they were meant to. God's name has not been glorified. People have not been turned away from sin.

Although people might be bringing crappy sacrifices, God is placing the blame foremostly on the priests, who should know better.

vs 9

A covenant is not like a contract. It is not an equal trade between two parties. A covenant is a socially binding agreement between two unequal parties. It is the way for a ruler to say "If you act in accordance with my laws, then I won't punish you". So it's not just a contract where the priests haven't held up their part of the deal, so they don't get paid, or they can be sued for damages. They have broken fealty with their God, and so God punishes them. He allows their social position to be brought into disrepute, so that people don't respect them anymore. A fitting punishment, as this is what they have done to God.