Malachi, apocalyptic series, Disputation #1: Does God make a distinction between the good and the arrogantly wicked? God’s elective love vindicated in His judgment (1:2-5).
“‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD” (Malachi 1:1 ESV). These are God’s first words to Israel as penned by Malachi. This scroll begins with love.
And yet, “the popular attitude was that God had forsaken His people. Though the Exile might have prompted such feelings, one would think that the near miraculous turn of events that led to the repatriation of many of the Hebrews would have given the people cause to think about God’s faithfulness.”1.
This fact of God’s love, the most significant reality in their lives (and in ours), is essential. God’s love for them surpasses all of their current trials and all of their sin, if only they had turned to the Lord. We are exactly like them in this need for God’s love and in this type of stubbornness.
The History of their Current Situation
“The captivity formally ended in 538 BCE, when the Persian conqueror of Babylonia, Cyrus the Great, gave the Jews permission to return to Palestine. Historians agree that several deportations took place (each the result of uprisings in Palestine), that not all Jews were forced to leave their homeland, that returning Jews left Babylonia at various times, and that some Jews chose to remain in Babylonia—thus constituting the first of numerous Jewish communities living permanently in the Diaspora.”2.
Judah remained an almost insignificant territory of about 20 by 30 miles (32 by 48 km), inhabited by a population of perhaps 150,000. They lived on the land that now includes Israel, Gaza, the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), the Golan Heights, parts of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
Although they enjoyed the benefits of Persia’s enlightened policy of religious toleration and limited self-rule, the Jews acutely felt their subjugation to a foreign power (Neh. 1:3; 9:36ff), and they suffered persistent opposition from their neighbors (Ezra 4:23; Dan. 9:25).
Judah was no longer an independent nation and was no longer ruled by a Davidic king.
“Worst of all, in spite of the promises of the coming Messiah and God’s own glorious presence (e.g. Zech. 1:16ff; 2:4, 10-13; 8:3-17, 23; 9:9-13), Israel experienced only spiritual destitution. Unlike Bible books from earlier periods, the postexilic books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are remarkably candid in their description of Judah as generally lacking miraculous evidences of God’s presence.
“In contrast to both Solomon’s temple and the prophetic promise of the restored temple (Ezekiel 40-43), the actual postexilic temple was physically and spiritually inferior. As Malachi 3:1 implies, the Most Holy Place in this second temple had no visible manifestation of the glory of God. Though God was certainly alive and well (as revealed, e.g., by his remarkable providences in the book of Esther), it was a period in which God’s people had to live more by faith than by sight.”3.
Coupled with their own personal experiences, all of this had caused them to harden their hearts.
This wasn’t what they had expected. Hence, we arrive at them hurling this question at God:
“How have you loved us?” (Malachi 1:2b). The difficulties overwhelmed their faith.
God’s reply: “‘Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?’–and so, as far as dignity went, as much entitled to God’s favor as Jacob. My adoption of Jacob, therefore, was altogether by gratuitous favor (Romans 9).”4.
Jacob I have loved.
Esau I have hated (in this context it implies “not chosen,” even though Esau was the firstborn). “I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert” (Malachi 1:3 ESV).
None of this was a mistake. All of this was under the LORD’s sovereign control. These truths are what gave Israel its position and which kept Esau from overtaking them. Jacob I have loved.
Years later, the apostle Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write a helpful explanation, so that we might understand this better. This doesn’t seem fair, but it is.
“14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (Romans 9:14-18 NIV).
Lest that sound harsh, recall that God is love. He determined the best plan to bring as many people into relationship with Himself as is possible through His Son via the lineage of Abraham: Jacob I have loved. God could have simply ignored all of humanity completely, watching us flame out and perish.
But God is love. His love does not let go.
“6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor, because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children...”On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” (Romans 9:6-9 NIV).
Sarah did have a son, just as God has promised. And this son was Isaac, who fathered Jacob and Esau, and from this lineage, God chose Jacob, not Esau to produce the family tree that would father Messiah. Even though Esau was firstborn, God did not choose him.
“Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Romans 9:10-13 NIV).
“Not by works but by Him who calls” assures us that we cannot work our way to heaven.
None of us can. This is a matter of God’s choice. We don’t know the whys of God’s choices. But He is good, and He loves us. He sent His son to redeem us. It’s all in God’s hands.
We can't work our way to heaven. None of us can. It's a matter of God's choice and sovereignty. We don't know the whys of God's choices. But He is good, and He loves us, even sending His own Son to redeem us.#LoveOfGod #bgbg2 Click To TweetGod said, “Jacob I have loved.”
And yet now, due to all of their diminished circumstances, Jacob’s descendants did not believe that they were loved by God.
God’s chosen people should have focused on the good that God had done for them as Jacob’s descendants. The LORD had brought them back from Babylon alive. And now, they lived in Jerusalem once more, preparing for Messiah.
These descendants of Jacob should have focused on God’s acts of kindness, and then they would have understood the love God had shown to them.
But they did not do this. They are so much like us!
“14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy“ (Romans 9:14-16 NIV).
God Decides.
Like them, do we forget the sovereign goodness of God and the graciousness of His blessings?
Like them, do we let the intimate moments when we are aware of His nearness to simply slide by, unacknowledged and soon forgotten?
Like them, do we forget the LORD’s latest miracle on our behalf, a prayer answered, a child believing in Jesus as their Savior, a baby born to the family, an accident or sickness averted?
If we forget, we are just like they were, our hearts just as hard, our discontent visible.
- Kenneth L. Barker, John R. Kohlenberger III, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged Edition, Old Testament, Zondervan. pg. 1543-1544.
- https://www.britannica.com/event/Babylonia-Captivity
- Introduction to Malachi, Purpose, Occasion, and Background., ESV Study Bible, Crossway Bibles, Wheaton, Illinois, 2008, pg. 1771
- Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997) Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 736-737). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
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“Jacob I have loved . . . Esau I have hated” – one of the most misunderstood dichotomies in all of Scripture. Thank you for this insightful exposition!
There are so many layers to this, Ava. The tribe that should have remembered all that God had done for them, seeing it as evidence of his love, instead turned their backs on Him when they were relocated away from Israel and into captivity. Had they clung to Him, they would not have fallen away.
Ouch, and sadly YES: “Like them, do we forget the sovereign goodness of God and the graciousness of His blessings? Like them, do we let the intimate moments when we are aware of His nearness to simply slide by, unacknowledged and soon forgotten?” I confess I do sometimes forget how blessed I am. I get caught up in daily life and forget to stop and marvel at the gracious and magnificent love God chose to bestow on me. I let special and precious moments slip aside, forgotten. But I strive to remember, and I strive to do better. I don’t want to let any precious moments or memories of these blessings to slip away forgotten or unappreciated. Thanks for this, Melinda!
Loving the LORD passionately is what we are called to, and yet, all of us are the same, Jessica, in that we neglect Him, we let those moments slip by unnoticed by us, and we forget to connect with Him in His Word. Israel had done this to the extreme. Our country seems to be sliding this direction. This apocalyptic book calls us to love our Lover.
Amen. God is love. The scroll begins with love. God’s love for us is more than we can imagine. What a true comfort to know we are loved by Him! `
The love of God for His people is the driving power of the Almighty, for His plan to send a Savior for us, so that we might know how much He loves us and might find a way to be forgiven and to become His own children is what moves both the Old Testament and the New to proclaim this. I’m grateful for Malachi and all that it says about God’s love. Thanks for commenting, Melissa.
I have to agree we are too much like them. Our country has become a post-Christian country, forgetting the spiritual foundation on which this country was founded. We need to pray for an Awakening in this country again.
Thanks for commenting, Mom.
Thanks for tackling what are often misunderstood concepts, Melinda. I pray to not “forget the sovereign goodness of God and the graciousness of His blessings.” Oh, I’ve often pointed fingers at God’s people in the Old Testament accounts of them forgetting what God had already done and what He would do. Yet, as you note, we are just as guilty of letting it slip our mind and leave our hearts. ““Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—” Deuteronomy 4:9 ESV
Amen to that, Karen! I’m so grateful for the Bible and all the wealth of information and help in our times of need that we can find. That’s a great verse. Thank you for adding that.
This passage has been hard to hear in the past but you have given me new insight. Thanks Melinda
That’s an encouragement, Yvonne, thank you! The research is exhausting, but my mind wants to KNOW these things., too
What a challenge you’ve taken on here, Melinda. Thanks for so clearly explaining these difficult concepts. May America pursue repentance and awakening. God bless!
Amen to that, Nancy! These apocalyptic books st the end of the OT all point toward Messiah’s first coming and to His second coming and what is necessary for us to navigate both. Old and new are all intertwined .We bog ourselves down seeking how and when rather than seeking to prepare our hearts and our souls.
Amen to that! If only the world would recognize what’s going on! We have been blinded.
As my husband and I prepared to write the apocalyptic series we are currently working on, we knew it would require much Bible study and searching of ancient sources. We know which of the accepted viewpoints we believe is closest to the truth as is possible, but we also know that no one but God actually knows. And so we work to try to dig as much out as we can. My husband is on the other apocalyptic books that take up the end of the OT. We love doing this type of work. But you’re right, Nancy, breaking it down to write about it is a lot of work, but necessary. Thank you for commenting!
Interesting. I did not know that when it says Esau I have hated that it meant not chosen. This whole issue has deep theological issues, and I have studied this a bit, too. The short take on what I have learned is that this issue surrounds God extending salvation to the Gentiles, too. The Jews thought it was only for them, but God in His great mercy, has called ALL people to enter into a love relationship with Him. He desires all to be saved. He is that good! Thanks, Melissa, for sharing your understanding.