Malachi 1:1-5 - The Covenant Love of God

Summary

The people of God listened to God’s prophets Haggai and Zechariah; they rebuilt God’s temple. But it still seemed like God was not with them. Religion turned to ritual, corruption was rife, justice was absent, God’s people were still ruled by outsiders, and the promised blessings did not seem to eventuate.

God sent a prophet, Malachi (whose name means “My Messenger”) to encourage God’s people to renewed trust, repentance of their sins, and promising the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah. God’s first message through Malachi was a reminder of the love of God for his covenant people, his grace in electing his people, and contrasts this with the fate of those outside the covenant.

Our passage explained

v1-2

Firstly, God reminds his people of his covenant love. God sends an oracle to Israel by the prophet Malachi (v.1). He begins this oracle with the message “‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD” (v.2). The God who declares his love is Yahweh (“the LORD”), the same God who spoke to Moses and the people’s ancestors (Exodus 3 & Devotional).

The reminder of God’s love brings to mind similar statements God has made. For instance, God told his people “it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:8).

Likewise God said “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jeremiah 31:3). God’s love expressed is his love for those he has a covenant relationship with, where he promises to save, bless, and deliver.

Secondly, we see in this passage a reminder of God’s grace in electing his people. The people question how God has loved them, in spite of their situation (v.2). God responds with an example of how he has chosen them, saying “‘Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ declares the LORD. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated’” (vv.2-3).

God chose Jacob over Esau, the older brother, to show his blessings and bring forth a people from whom the Messiah would come. This was not based on anything special about Jacob or his deeds, but an act of God’s mercy based in his sovereign choice (see Romans 9). The same applied to those of his covenant people who responded to Malachi’s message in faith, and also us.

v3-5

Having reminded of his love and his grace, God contrasts this with the fate of those who are not part of his covenant community. In verses 3 through 5, God contrasts Israel (Gen 32:28) with Edom, Esau’s descendants. Where God has brought his people back from exile and enabled them to rebuild his temple, “I have laid waste his [Edom’s] hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert” (v.3).

The Edomites “may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country’” (v.4). The Edomites do not know God’s covenant love, but only his righteous judgment and anger, as “the people with whom the LORD is angry forever” (v.4) because of their sins.

God promises they will see God’s contrasting anger with those outside his covenant, represented by Edom. “Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, ‘Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!’” (v.5). As they see Edom’s destruction unfold, they will see God is sovereign over all things and all people, and brings both judgment (on Edom) and mercy (on his people).

Our passage applied

We also can wonder if God truly loves us when we go through trials and troubles in life. We are too easily sold on the lie that if you become a Christian, everything will be fine. But the Bible does not teach that. Even though we have not yet arrived at that blessed day when God will finally banish sin from this world, God still is faithful to his promise to bless, save, and deliver us because of his goodness and covenant love.

We are also reminded that God’s love is not because of us, but because of God’s mercy and choice. Once we were far off, aliens to the covenant of promise, destined for destruction like the Edomites. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). We no longer fear God’s final judgment because we have been freed from the guilt and power of sin by Jesus Christ.

These words are an encouragement to us to persevere in trusting God, even through the hard times. God’s love for us, his covenant people, is unchanging. He will save and deliver us, those whom he has chosen, and we will see with our very eyes the final defeat of all those who oppose God and remain aliens to his covenant.