I Have Loved You (Malachi 1:1-5)
Introduction
Our God is a God who writes the story and He is also a character in the story. God is the author who knows the end of the story from the beginning.
Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’ Isaiah 46:10
God also interacts with people in the story. He spoke with Adam the first man (Gen 2:16). He spoke with Noah, one of the only people to survive the flood (Gen 8:15). And He also spoke to Abraham, who was no one of note except that he was old and had no children. God chose Abraham to be the father of God’s covenant people who would become a mighty nation (Gen 12:1-3; Gen 17:1-8). God miraculously gave Abraham and his wife, Sarah, a son called Isaac. And Isaac later married Rebecca. Isaac and Rebecca had two sons Jacob and Esau. Jacob, the patriarch of Israel, and Esau, the ancestor of Edom, were twin brothers. While Rebecca, their mother, was pregnant with them, the Lord told her that the older will serve the younger (Gen 25:23). Esau was the first born and Jacob came after. You would expect God to either give Esau, the first born, the responsibility of carrying the promise or giving them both equal parts. But before they were born God chose Jacob to be the patriarch of Israel.
We know how the rest of the story goes. Esau gives up his brith right for some lentil stew, which proves he despised his birthright (Gen 25:34). And Jacob deceives his father to bless him instead of Esau. Esau responds with rebellion. He marries women who move his heart even further from God’s promises to spite his parents (Gen 26:34-35). Eventually, Jacob’s family multiplies to become Israel and Esau’s family grows to become Edom. Although they have a common ancestor in their father Isaac, the nations were enemies throughout biblical history. Edom was a proud nation (Jer 49:16). Pertinent to our passage today is that almost 150 years before Malachi wrote this prophecy, Edom helped the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem (Ps 137:7-9; Obad 10-12). Many in the nation settled into Judah during Judah’s exile in Babylon. However, during this time, God was also judging Edom for their sin in aiding and enjoying the destruction of Jerusalem. Apparently, other peoples invaded the territory of Edom and pushed them out of their homeland int the south to a land called Idumea. They would never return to their homeland while Jackals would surround their homeland to eat from the herd of the Arabic herdsmen.
The Passage
The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever.” Your eyes will see this and you will say, “The Lord be magnified beyond the border of Israel!” Malachi 1:1-5
Explain the Passage
Today’s passage is simple enough to break apart. The first verse introduces Malachi. The remaining four verses deal with the first dispute.
Malachi begins the message by saying his words are “the oracle of the Lord.” An oracle means urgent or burdened message. Malachi not reading the morning news. He’s presenting God’s word to God’s people. Whenever God reveals His word to His people, that word is now authoritative over His people. This is one reason why the canon of scripture is closed and God no longer speaks like He did during the bible times. Now, that doesn’t mean God doesn’t answer prayer or illumine in our spirit what He meant in the Bible.
Like I said last week, Malachi is a series of 6 disputes. The first one is about whether God loves Israel. God begins with stating His love for Israel (v.2). They respond with questioning His love (v.2). “How could you love us? We’re just a shadow of who we once were. You don’t love us.” God replies by reminding them of their history. He reminds them of Esau, Isaac’s first born. But instead of loving Esau, God loved Jacob (v. 2). Not only did God love Jacob, but He hated Esau (v.3). Even though God disciplined Israel with exile, He will destroy Edom and leave their lands for jackals and the wilderness (v.3). Even though Edom was displaced, they still had faith in themselves that they could return to their homeland and rebuild (v. 4). But even though Edom has opinions about their own strength, God has already decided that He will tear down whatever they rebuild like its legos. Where as God has called Jerusalem the holy land (Zech 2:12), He has called Edom a wicked land (v. 4). God ends this dispute by telling Israel, “One day you will see this and realize that I have bigger plans than just you (v.5).”
The Love of God
If a woman falls in love with a really bad poet, she shouldn’t be surprised if she receives really bad poems for anniversaries and Valentine’s Day. A really bad poet loves like a really bad poet. If a woman falls in love with a butcher, she shouldn’t be surprised if from time to time, her husband compares her beauty to a Wagyu ribeye. A butcher loves like a butcher. The same principle applies to God. He loves like an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-authoritative, ever-present God loves. Speaking of God’s love in terms of His authority to love whom He wants may sound new or uncomfortable. One reason is for a long time, the Church in the west has talked about God’s love. But how many of those sermons ever dealt with Malachi 1?
God does love in a universal way (Ps 145:8-9; 13-17; Ezek 18:23, 32; 33:11; Matt 5:44-45; 23:37; Acts 14:17). However, He still loves Jacob and hates Esau.
Paul quotes “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated” in Romans 9:13 in His discussion on election and God’s love. For many people, Romans 9-11, election, predestination, and God choosing people doesn’t sound loving. They begin sounding like Israel. “How could a loving God love Jacob and hate Esau?” We think that election disproves God’s love. But when God is asked to prove His love for His people, He proves it by explaining His election and choosing of them (Eph 1). Notice that the first word God speaks to Israel is “I love you.” But the people wanted to debate Him on it. Brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ, God loves you. He chose you. But why did He choose you? Was it because of anything special on your part? Was it because He saw something special about you before He created the world? Was it because you were more likely to believe in Him while others aren’t? No! God loves you precisely for the same reason He loved Jacob, because He loves you.
“The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Deuteronomy 7:7–8
One reason the people doubted God’s love was probably because they had weak love for their community and their marriages (Mal 2:13-16). The greatest commandment and the second greatest commandment aren’t items in a buffet that you can skip. They work together. If you don’t love God you can’t really love anyone else. If you don’t love anyone else, you aren’t really loving the God who made them either.
God disciplined Israel because He loved them. But He destroyed Edom because He did not love them. God expects things from the people He loves. God’s love for us transforms us. It’s not we loved God so much that He decided to send Jesus down to love us back. Instead, God loved us so much that we eventually love Him in return.
Our hope as christians should be to receive God’s love with gratitude and obedience instead of complaining and critique.
When you enjoy, thank, and glory in someone who loves you, it should make you humble toward that person. However, if you’re proud, then the unconditional love of another is loathsome to you. If a loving father teaches his son everything he knows and gives his son access to all his wealth, a humble son will respond in gratitude for the gifts, humility for the love, and pride that he has such a good father. But if the son was proud and wanted to do everything on his own, the more his dad taught him, the more he loathed him. The more the dad gave, the more his son resented.
The Glory of God
The judgement of Edom points to the judgement of all sinners (Ps 28:4-5).
But how can God be loving if He hated Esau? Because He loved Jacob. God being loving doesn’t mean He loves everyone the same way nor does it mean He saves everyone. He didn’t have to love or save anyone. There was no one in heaven forcing God to love anyone. So, the only reason God loves anyone is because He wants to. One of my favorite books is Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Its how unlikely heroes defeat great evil. Many believe Tolkien was one of the greatest Christian creative minds in the last few centuries because of that book. But was Tolkien evil for writing about all the monsters, goblins, evil wizards? No. Tolkien actually proved He was a righteous man for writing evil in such a way while also authoring it’s demise. God hating Esau doesn’t prove He isn’t loving. God loving Jacob for no reason at all proves He is loving.
God welcomed any Edomite who would humble himself and become a spiritual child of Jacob. One example is found during the life of David. After God punished Uzzah for touching the ark, David left it in the hands of Obed Edom, who was probably an Edomite (2 Samuel 6:10). God blessed Obed Edom’s house for the three months the ark was with him (1 Chron 13:13-14). Later it seems Obed Edom and his sons ministered before the ark in Zion (1 Chron 26:1-6). An Edomite was worshipping with Israelites on Mt. Zion. The ministry of the church is to be the heavenly Zion where former Edomites become Israelites.
Conclusion
When our faith is tested, God reminds us of the story we are in. We are in His story. And His love for us is not based on anything we have or can do, but on His own desire to give it. God told Israel He still loved them (Mal 1:2). He also reminded them of their story. Their story wasn’t over. If they stopped looking at their personal problems and looked outward to Edom, they would see desolation. Where God destroyed Edom, he merely disciplined them. God restores the faith of His people by reminding them of His story.