How Have You Loved Us

Malachi 1 – How Have You Loved Us?

Today we start a new series on the book of Malachi. Some of you may not be terribly excited about that, but others might be pumped because you know some of the famous passages in Malachi on topics like tithing and divorce. (Don’t worry, those don’t come up today; they’re for later.)

There are three reasons we’re going into Malachi for the next seven weeks. Here’s an inside look at how I plan what I’m going to teach over the course of a year.

• Some pastors prefer to preach topical series. Others think the best way is to walk step by step through books of the Bible. I see value in both approaches. Sometimes grouping topics together helps you understand the breath of God in a way no single book can cover. At other times, you learn deeper truths when you walk slowly through a single book of the Bible. Since we have done a lot of topical sermons this year, I wanted to use this latter approach.
• Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. It contains the last words God spoke to the Israelites before the stories surrounding the birth of Jesus. This is actually the perfect pre-Christmas series. You’ll just have to trust me on this; I have plans
• Finally, Malachi is a very applicable book for today and covers topics that otherwise might not be discussed often.

Knowing that not many people have a great working knowledge of where Malachi fits into the biblical story, we must begin by first discussing what was going on in Israel when God gave this prophetic message through Malachi. To give us some background for today’s message, we must go way back – all the way to Abraham.

• God chose to interact with the world through a single family. In Genesis 12 He chose Abraham to be the patriarch of that family.
• God miraculously gave 100-year-old Abraham a son, whom he named Isaac.
• Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, had twin sons: Jacob and Esau; but their story did not go as expected.

Genesis 25:22-23 – ²²The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. ²³The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

• So Esau, who technically was born first, was supposed to be Abraham’s heir; but he carelessly traded his birthright as the firstborn to his little brother for a bowl of soup. Then, as their dad was getting old and was ready to give his blessing to his boys, Jacob tricked his dad and received the special blessing meant for Esau, the first-born brother.

All that is in the first half of the first book of the Bible!

As we read through the rest of the Old Testament we learn that God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Israel had twelve sons, who became heads of the twelve tribes of Israel throu the rest of the Bible. God gave them His law and promised to give them the Promised Land (where modern-day Israel is) plus the land from a lot of today’s surrounding countries.

Moses led the Israelites TO the Promised Land. Joshua led them INTO the land and helped them defeat many of the cities in the area. Centuries later, David, their great king, helped them grow in power.

After King David, however, there was a series of bad kings and good kings. Some followed God’s law and others didn’t. Eventually the northern tribes of Israel were dragged away by the Assyrians to modern-day Syria. About 100 years later the southern tribes of Israel – known as Judah – were taken captive by Babylon, which is modern-day Iraq.

Eventually the Israelites were able to return to their land and begin rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, including their temple.

Now we finally come to the book of Malachi, written about 400 B.C. (about 100 years after the Israelites returned to their destroyed city). They have been trying to rebuild, but it looks nothing like the glory it was once known for. God’s people, the Israelites, lack any zeal for God and are simply going through religious motions. They feel that God had abandoned them to this second-class existence when they compare it to the status their nation once had.

Message of Malachi 1

Now, with all that as the backdrop of today’s passage, let’s turn to Malachi 1:1.

Malachi 1:1 – A prophecy. The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.

This is just what it says: God’s message to His people through the prophet Malachi. Nearly the entire book is written from the voice of God.

Malachi 1:2 – “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you ask, “How have you loved us?”

Here we see the first of several disputes God sets up in this book. These will be the core of many of our messages.

This first dispute strikes at the core of many people’s doubts today. God is telling his covenant people He loves them, but they don’t feel the love. They wonder if God cares about them at all anymore. They look at their circumstances, their struggles, and the success of their enemies, and they don’t feel loved.

Here’s my question to you today: do you wonder if God actually loves you? Does this passage hit home because you wrestle with this same question? Do you ever feel a massive disconnect between what you hear about God’s love at church and what you experience Monday through Saturday with all the garbage you have to deal with?

Do you wonder if God actually loves you?

Remember, I said this series is very applicable to our lives today. Here we are two verses in, and we already see people asking God the same questions that so many people in our culture are still asking God today: “How have you loved me?”

Some people actually get very angry at God over this issue. They hear about God’s love, but they can’t reconcile that message with the struggles in their lives: a spouse who leaves; or a child with a chronic disease; or constant financial struggles. They’re mad at God because He seems so unfair – blessing others, but not blessing them.

Do you feel the tension building? Let’s see how God responds to this challenge.

Malachi 1:2-5 – ²“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, ³but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.” ⁴Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. ⁵You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’”

Raise your hand if you saw that response coming! There is so much to unpack here! I think you can see now why we went so far back into the history of the Israelite people.

Jacob is the ancestor of the Israelites. His twin brother, Esau, is the ancestor of the Edomites. Remember, God foretold to their mother that the younger son, Jacob, would be served by the older. At various times in Israelite history that is exactly what happened. The Bible tells us that King David and his commander slaughtered tens of thousands of Edomites and made the rest slaves of Israel. When the Edomites rebelled, King Amaziah of the Israelites slaughtered another 10,0000 Edomites. Later the Edomites attacked Judah and carried off captives.

Clearly, Israel and Edom shared a lot of animosity. In fact, we are told in Psalm 137 that the Edomites rejoiced when Jerusalem was attacked and destroyed. This is ironic because several years later the Edomites suffered the very same fate: their towns were all destroyed, and they were carried off to captivity.

What Does It Mean for God to Hate Esau?

With all that background about these two nations, we come across God’s own words: “I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.”  What is God communicating with this passage?

Some people go to this passage to prove that God predetermines who He loves and who is going to Heaven, and who He hates and has destined to Hell. It’s almost as if God were pulling petals off a flower and saying, “I love them. I love them not. I love them. I love them not.” In theological circles that’s called double predestination because God destines some for Heaven and some for Hell – and it’s not true! The concept of God creating some people for the sole purpose of damning them doesn’t fit with our Bibles.

2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 

Instead, we see that God, in His infinite knowledge and living without constraints of time, has predestined people according to His foreknowledge.

Romans 8:29-30 – For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Some people have a massive problem with this doctrine of predestination. Let’s be clear, though: predestination is NOT predetermination. God is not making the choice of who will come to faith. We are not robots just living out the actions God coded us to live. He gave us free will. He gave us the ability to choose. . . .

AND He could see what choices we would make before we ever made them; before He even created this world. He knew we would sin. He knew He would have to send Jesus to redeem us. And yet, by His great love, He created this world anyway knowing some would come to faith (and which ones that would be) and some would rebel against Him just as the Edomites did.

Predestination is NOT Predetermination

When this passage tells us God loved Jacob but hated Esau, it is saying:

• God predestined Jacob to be the family God would work through, and God remained faithful to Jacob’s descendants (the people of Israel) in bringing them back to their Promised Land even after they were carried away. I’m sure you see how this applies in our modern world as well.
• By comparison, and as a result of their actions (which God foreknew), God rejects and stands against the family of Esau. Esau despised his birthright as the oldest son. He married Canaanite wives. The Edomites wouldn’t let the Israelites pass through their land as they traveled through the wilderness. In every way, Esau and the Edomites made themselves enemies to God and God’s people.

The point God is making with his answer here is that the Israelites are walking around thinking “Woe is me!” when He is telling them to look at the Edomites. He is saying, “That’s what it looks like when I don’t give my love to a people. They have been trampled down and defeated. Even if they decide to build it all back, I will tear it down all over again.”

This is how God shows His love for His own people – by fighting against their enemies. He wants them to see, by comparison, how much He has provided for the Israelites. Sometimes, however, you can’t see what you have without comparing it to others.

How Does God Show His Love to Us Today?

I understand that if we stop here I won’t leave you with much that impacts your life today. Knowing that God was the enemy of the Edomites is good information, but it doesn’t transform our lives today. Here is what does transform lives today: being able to recognize how God loves us today.

As I’ve said, some people now ask the same question the Israelites asked 2400 years ago; but today God’s answer is a bit different.

• Revelation through Jesus. Just as God showed Israel that He was faithful to rescue them from their captivity when they were conquered by the Babylonians, God rescues us from captivity to sin.
  • Ephesians 2:4-5 – Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

• Power from the Holy Spirit. The greatest sign of God’s love for us has to be our eternal salvation with Him through the sacrifice of Jesus. Our ongoing sign of God’s love is that He gives us His very own Holy Spirit, who dwells inside us and works in our lives in incredible ways that completely change us.
  • Empowerment for Christian Living (Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.)
  • Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control.
  • Power for Spiritual Battle (2 Corinthians 10:3-4 – For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.)

• Direct Access to God. This is something you might take for granted if you were raised in a Baptist church, but this concept of direct access is foreign to a lot of people. Several branches of Christian churches say the great priest must stand between God and the people. That IS how God operated in the Old Testament, with the Levites going  before God in the temple for all the people. With the sacrifice of Jesus, however, all that changed.
  • Hebrews 10:19-22 – Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings

That means you can go directly to God with prayer. You can dump all the burdens of your life on Him. You can sit quietly and wait to hear His voice. You are gifted with a living, breathing relationship with the God of the Universe.

Conclusion.

In the mess of this life, it’s very easy to stop seeing signs of God’s love for us. When everything stacks up, and all we see is the hurt and the struggle, we can become just like the Israelites who felt abandoned by the God who claimed to love them. We wonder: Do You actually love me?

During the time of Malachi, God answered this question by pointing to ways He dealt with the Israelites compared to how He dealt with their enemies. He brought Israel back to rebuild after their destruction; but when the same thing then happened to Edom, He promised to tear down anything Edom would try to build back.

Now, on this side of the Cross, living in the New Covenant that was established by the blood of Jesus, you have even more proof of God’s love for you. Like the Israelites, though, people in our day find the proof easy to miss if they don’t know what you’re looking for.

So – if you’ve been feeling abandoned, or if your faith has felt weak, focus on these incredible promises of God. Recognize all you have been given as you put your faith in Jesus. See how personal the Creator and Sustainer of life has made Himself even to you.