Malachi accuses God’s people of saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them." It would be extremely difficult to believe that any Jew would actually utter such a statement, for it would be a most blasphemous attack on the holiness and goodness of God. The Jews understood that the Lord “hates all evildoers” (see Psalm 5:5; Psalm 11:5; Habakkuk 1:13). But Malachi draws their criticisms against God to their logical conclusion. They saw that God did nothing to punish the ungodly who sinned with impunity. If God hates evil, then one would expect that he would do something to stop it, or at least punish it. But God did nothing! Drawing these criticisms to their natural conclusion leads Malachi to express the sentiments in such an extreme way, to show them the severity of their criticisms of God’s inaction.
17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”