Malachi 2:2

"If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart."

"Then will I send the curse upon you ..." The use of the definite article in "the curse" is significant. "The curse" almost certainly refers to the comprehensive curse threatened from the very beginning of Israel's history to the effect that if they failed to keep God's commandments, "all these curses shall come upon thee":

"Cursed shall thou be in the city, and cursed shall thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out (Deuteronomy 28:16-19)."

The grand axiom that underlies both the promises and the punishments that come from God is that "all are conditional," blessing being conditioned upon obedient faithfulness, and cursing being conditioned upon whether or not the object of it repents and returns to God. But this basic truth is far from a denial that there is also "a point of no return," especially with regard to cursing, beyond which there is a judicial hardening of the sinner and the practical impossibility of his renewal in God's fellowship. The stern language here seems to indicate the latter condition has developed in the returned Israel. But, is not this passage directed solely to the priesthood? Certainly, the priesthood is in focus here; but, as the last verse of the previous chapter indicated, and as it will be further developed in the latter paragraph of this one, practically all of the people are the victims of this flourishing apostasy.

"I will curse your blessings ..." Whether this refers to the taking away of privileges and benefits enjoyed by the priests, or to the benedictive blessings bestowed by them upon the people is immaterial. All blessings would be cursed.

"I have cursed them already ..." "The Hebrew text here means, `I have cursed them severally,' meaning, I have cursed each one of your blessings."[3]