Malachi 1:1–3a “The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. ‘I
have loved you,’ says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Is not
Esau Jacob’s brother?’ declares the Lord. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I
have hated’ ”.
Our church is going through
a Sunday sermon series on the book of Malachi. I found this short study that parallels
our series, one chapter at a time. The bask-story is important to understand
the prophet Malachi’s purpose and message. The first study states that by the
time we finish the Old Testament, we find that all was not well for the people
of God during the final period of history recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The exile of both Israel and Judah to foreign lands had come and gone, but the
people who had returned to the Promised Land continued to suffer. The great
restoration foreseen by Moses and the other prophets had not occurred. Moreover,
there was little indication, humanly speaking, that it would ever come to pass.
Although the rebuilding of the temple had been completed in 518 BC, the Jews
were not in control of their own destiny but remained servants of the Persian
Empire. Those who were in their own homeland faced opposition from their
neighbors who did not want the post-exilic community to be able to provide for
its own protection through the reconstruction of Jerusalem’s wall. High Persian
taxes sapped the economic productivity of the people, who worked hard and had
little to show for it.
In
this environment, it is easy to see why the old covenant people could become
discouraged and could come to believe that the Lord did not truly love them. It
is easy to see why so many Jews doubted that God would fulfill His Word. The
last prophetic book both chronologically and in canonical order reveals our
Creator’s response to this situation. In the middle of the fifth century BC,
God sent Malachi to remind His people of His love for them and His faithfulness
to His covenant as well as to call them to repentance and faith, for it was
their lack of repentance that was causing the conditions of exile to continue,
as Daniel 9 teaches us.
Malachi,
whose name means “my [Yahweh’s] messenger,” is the author of the last prophetic
book of the prophets. With Malachi we again have a man who appears nowhere else
in the Old Testament. Most scholars believe he ministered sometime around 460
BC, at roughly the same point that Ezra and Nehemiah were attempting to
re-implement the law of God as the covenant community’s standard for worship
and behavior. Malachi came to reveal the Lord’s support for this effort, and to
remind the people of Judah of God’s enduring love for them.
Malachi 1:1–3 reveals this love. When the
people ask for proof of God’s love, He reminds them of their election. Out of
all the nations of the world, the Lord chose the descendants of Jacob, not
Esau, to be His covenant people and treasured possession. In Romans 9,
Paul applies the election of the people of Israel to individual believers,
telling us that those who are saved have been chosen from the foundation of the
world. Divine election assures us of God’s love and that we belong to Him now
and always if we trust in Him alone. If you believe in Christ, you are elect.
And if you are elect, you have been elected and loved by God in Christ from all
eternity. Nothing could be more secure than that.
Blessing in God's love.
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