Malachi 1:1-5

Malachi chapter 1 verses 1 to 5 for our text and study this evening. The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord, yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother, saith the Lord, yet I loved Jacob. And I hated Esau and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Whereas Edom saith, we are impoverished, but we will re-return and build the desolate places. Thus sayeth the Lord of hosts, they shall build, but I will throw down. They shall call them the border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord hath indignation forever. And your eyes shall see, and He shall say the Lord will be magnified. from the border of Israel. God blessed to us is sacred and holy word this evening. When Helen Keller was two years of age, she contracted an illness that left her deaf, mute, and blind. And now as a result, she was totally unaware of her mother’s love during her formative years. our mother would stand over her crib crying, oh Helen, how your mother loves you, how she wants to tell you of her love that she cannot make you understand. Your eyes are closed and your ears are stopped. How sad that people would not be capable of realizing the love of others. God says to his people, I have loved you, and yet his people often seem totally unaware of it. They doubt the love of God. Israel has been in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. They wept when they remembered Zion in the worship that took place there and the songs of Zion and so forth. They had been scattered over the face of the earth. But God had heard their groanings and had restored them to their own land, and they were allowed to rebuild the temple and to reestablish worship. But they fell into self-interest, became spiritually indifferent, and worldly-minded. The ordinances of God’s house were neglected, or they were careless, or they were careless, observed by the people. God was certainly insulted by their lifeless worship, and he sends Malachi, the prophet, to call them to repentance. And God begins by addressing their base in gratitude here. He says, I have loved you. But they don’t seem to reciprocate that love at all. Let me begin. by saying that you as a Christian may at times question whether God loves you or not. We see here in this text of Scripture that when God said, I have loved you, saith the Lord, yet ye say, God says, wherein hast thou loved us. Man by nature is a lump of ingratitude, not thankful. for things, often ungrateful to friends, invariably ungrateful to God’s, for the good gifts that God gives. So this is a very cruel answer. I’m afraid it’s hard to really capture the response here, the, and in such a way to bring out the evil of it, that they would basically say in a huff, and just how have you loved us? here is where the difficulty lies. We find that things were not perfect when they returned to the land. Dark days filled with hardships troubled the people of God. They’re thinking we’re going to have a glorious new Israel established in the land. But after the return from exile, that wasn’t realized. Interestingly enough, Zachariah in chapter 1 when he speaks about Israel, and he speaks of it as a lowly mulberry tree in midst of all the cedars and all the oaks of the nations of this world. In a low state, not only they have mulberry tree, but in the valley, the lowly place. Israel was now under the thumb of Persian rule. They weren’t ruling themselves. Life in the promised land was difficult. They still had bitter enemies. who resented them coming back to the land, made things difficult for them. Now, the problem we often have is that we think that temporal benefits somehow give us an indication of the love of God for us. But only a carnal and covetous people would have a mindset and make that common mistake. that think only in terms of temporal matters when it comes to the love of God. We’re going to see here that God’s thinking about eternal matters. The Lord’s dealings with the Jews certainly were because of their own sinfulness. The worldling often questions God’s love because of his judgments in the world. How can you believe there is a God of love when you see the Hurricanes you see the earthquakes you see all these people destroyed by deadly diseases famine coming up drought and you tell me that you believe in a God of love Israel is looking at all the things that befell them and they decided God must have changed he doesn’t love them anymore look at all their present hardships and the danger would be to base God love solely on his providential dealings with you. That is a serious mistake. Look at Job for a minute. Did God’s love for Job fail or cease? Because God turned loose the shackles on Satan and allowed Satan to take away all his possessions, his children. his wealth, and even his health. Did God love Job any less when he did that? When he brought all these devastating providential events into his life, I guess his friends thought so. Maybe Job had some questions in his own mind. His thinking is why God? What have I done? It’s love to Job didn’t change one iota. Not one iota. Look with me at some. Psalm 73, we see the opposite, in a way, a situation here. Psalm 73, we have the account here of Asaph. And let me read a portion of the Psalm with you. Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. Now, you notice how he defines Israel here. He’s not talking about everybody. He’s talking about the true people of God. But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps have well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. But there are no bans in their deaths, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men. Neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride can passeth them about as a chain. violence coverth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness, and they have more than hard could wish. They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens. Their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore, his people return hither, and the waters of a full cop are wrung out to them. And they say, how doth God know? And is there knowledge in the most high? behold these are the ungodly who prosper in the world they increase in riches barely have cleansed my heart in vain and wash my hands in innocence for all day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning if I say I will speak thus behold I should offend against the generation of thy children when I thought to know this it was too painful for me until I went into a sanctuary of God then understood I their end. Surely thou did set them in slippery places. Thou casteth them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation as in a moment? They are utterly consumed with terrors as a dream when one waketh. So, O Lord, when thou wakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved and was pricked in my reign. So foolish was I. ignorant I was like a beast before the naïsaf here is indicating to us that he was judging matters from God’s providence with regard to who he loved and who he didn’t love evidently. Well he looked at it and said well God must favor the wicked. Look at all the benefits they get and look at me. Here I I am trying to worship God and do the right thing and follow his commandments. And I am plagued and struggled every morning. But what he had to realize, when he went to the house of God, we assumed that he heard the word of God, heard the message from God’s word, and therefore he was enlightened by God as to the fact that even though God gave good gifts to the wicked, he had sat there. feet in slippery places and it was for their destruction that he gave them these good gifts. It wasn’t for the purpose of showing his love and favor to them, but actually it was to bring about their downfall. How odd. He said, I was like an ignorant beast. I didn’t grasp this. I didn’t understand this. I think we could say a similar thing with Israel. They’re looking at God’s providential dealings and they’re saying, why isn’t God taking care of us. While the nations around us are doing much better than we are, look where we are, God doesn’t love us. Do you ever question God’s love on the same basis? Think about that a minute. It’s easy to do. We can all be ASAPs in this regard. It’s simple. It’s easy to be this way. And I’m afraid at times we are all guilty of asking God, where in has thou loved us. This is the danger that we face. perhaps you murmur and your affliction, how has God shown me love? You might be a Christian who’s poor. Perhaps you don’t have the finances that would give you a comfortable life and a better job that you would like to have. And you work like a dog, but you have so little to show for it, why doesn’t God provide better for me if he loved me? Another Christian might say in what respect has God loved me, I’m a cripple with painful arthritis. Or I have a heart condition. Or maybe you have an infirmity in the bowels or the gallbladder or the lungs or the lungs or whatever the case may be. Maybe you have cancer. You might think, well, don’t talk to me about God loving me or I wouldn’t be in this situation. I tell you, there are many in heaven if they weren’t put in this situation. that wouldn’t have been there. The poverty, the sickness, the pain, the hardship, God hedged their way up with thorns. God put them through all of this to stop them from going to destruction, to turn them from their evil ways. In your hour of suffering, in that moment of tribulation, your eyes, your eyes get turned. to God. And it’s through this means often that people are brought to salvation in Christ. If God had not afflicted you, he would never have taught you humility. He would never have made you submissive to him. He would not have, he had not taken away your ability to enjoy sin or deprived you of the means by which you can indulge yourself in sin. hindered such behavior, where would have you been? Even as a child of God, those trials that you have, those painful afflictions are the surgeon’s knife. But he cuts out sin from your life. Isn’t he working for your good even in what we would consider bad events? Isn’t it love that has him working for your good in these things? So we shouldn’t be questioned God. Our problem is we don’t see God. love. We’re not seeing it from a biblical perspective. We’re only looking at things from a temporal perspective and we lose the eternleness. So you as a Christian may at times question the fact that God really loves you. Now secondly, you should recognize God’s love in his election of you or others were rejected. The proof of God’s love. Jacob and he saw Israel and Eidom. verses 2 to 4 here. Jacob, of course, was the father of the nation of Israel. His 12 sons became the 12 tribes. Actually, Joseph was split. His two sons, those two grandsons actually became two tribes in the nation as well to get them to 12. Beesdaugh’s descendants established the nation of Edom, which was to the, East of the Jordan River, you recall. And what we have here are two groups of people. One of holy people? One of the cursed people. We’re dealing with the individuals associated with the nations here, as we’ll see in a moment. God has brought up the subject of election here, which means it is a vital doctrine and useful to us to understand God’s love for us. It’s an election under salvation. Sometimes we get so caught up in this world, we forget that our true treasure is in heaven and that’s the world the come that counts. You remember what was said of the rich man. You know, thou in thy lifetime has to have the good things. Lazarus the bat. Now things are reversed. Well, who is the believer? Lazarus. Did he have the good things in this life? No, he had the hardship in this life. But things got reversed. So who was better off? Who was the one that was really loved? Lazarus was loved. God hated Edom, and his kingdom, his mountains were laid waste. For the wild beast, the dragons of the wilderness to roam through. Word dragon there is an interesting term. It’s sometimes used to those. dinosaur-like creatures that are mentioned in the book of Job. That’s a study in itself. But he is talking about different wild beasts, you know, roaming through the area here. Edom was taken over by the Tibetan Arabs. They invaded the land and ransacked Edom. And we find that they established the nation of idumia, or the land of idumia. with its capital in Hebron, and they built the great city of Petra, up in the mountains. By the way, we just read about it Dumea this morning. And in the New Testament, it was still in existence, you’ll recall. I guess those Edomites never did get the thing built back up, right? Just like God said. He fulfilled, God fulfilled His Word. So here we have, those who are brought into a covenant relationship, relationship with the Lord. And here we have to realize that he is speaking in particular about the Israel God. And all those who are rejected by God are in Edom in a way. They are in the cursed nation. So this is what we find laid out for us. Now, God is saying, can’t you see the difference? Can’t you see the difference? Now, he would have us to pawns. under God’s electing love in our own lives. I want you to see how Paul interprets this passage of Scripture from Romans 9, if you would, in verses 10 through 16. And only this, but when Rebecca had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, either having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion, so that it is not of him that willeth nor of Him. that runeth but of God that show with mercy. Now God’s electing love here is personal. It talks about choosing Jacob. Some in order to take the sharp edge off of this passage. I would like to talk about nations. Esau and Jacob as nations only. And while there are nations, nations that are mentioned in Malachi, we have to understand that the focus is going to be on the individuals of those nations. Because there is a holy nation, which has the elect people in it, and there is the cursed nation that has the non-elect people in it. You’ll notice in verse 4, when he talks about Israel here, who are the Israelites, to whom pertaineth the Islam? adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises. Whose are the fathers of whom, as according to the flesh Christ, came, who is overall God blessed forever, amen. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham, or they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise, are counted for the seed. What’s the argument here? He is indicating to us that while Israel had all the promises and all the covenants and so forth, this did not relate to just the nation wholly as a nation, the physical national Israel. It related to the elect or the true Israel within the nation. That’s what he’s indicating to us. The rest are just children of the flesh. Isaac is the one that’s called, not Ishmael. And as we, he goes on to prove here, and I think the case is even stronger with Jacob and Esau, because they have one set of parents here. And you’ll notice from verse 15, he indicates through Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have mercy. I will have compassion. He’s speaking about the nation. Israel. If you look at that quotation, it’s not about Israel as a nation. It’s about the individuals within Israel that he will show mercy to some and he will not show mercy to others. So he’s showing how election is really the dividing point here when it comes to God’s dealings with people. And so this is important for us to see. Paul is discussing here, Abraham, Isaac, Ishma, Jacob, Esau, Moses, Pharaoh, and so forth. The individuals. Isn’t he proving that they are not all Israel, which are of Israel? It would be a mistake to say that when God says, I have loved you, to think, well, he loves everybody and then a whole nation of Israel. That’s not true. But he loves his elect within a nation who make up the true nation of Israel. The text here in speaking of Jacob and Esau talks about when they’re born. Talk about them as being children. Not talking about them as nations here, per se. Whether one likes it or not, one who studies the scriptures will find that gods sets his electing love on the person of Jacob, and he rejects Esau. This is plain as day to those who will look at the scriptures honestly. And of course, this means that every believer must have personally been elected by God, which is what he actually ends up saying. Look at verses 22 and 23. What if God willing to show his wrath and to make his power known endure with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath afore prepared on the glory, even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. He’s going to indicate to us here this promise that’s given to Israel is also for Gentiles who are called, like Isaac was. And we begin to realize that he’s telling us, something here, and he’ll later on explain that the Gentiles are grafted in, where unbelieving Jews are cut off of the olive tree. And in this manner, he says in Chapter 11, all Israel shall be saved. This is how all Israel is saved. This is how God’s election of Israel is actually demonstrated. By Jews and Gentiles, true Jews, and Elephants, and Elephants, Gentiles, all being included in the Israel of God. God here chooses specific individuals to salvation. It’s not that God says, you know, I’ve got X number of mansions built in heaven, and the first, you know, 50,000 or 500,000 that believe they get to get it. It’s not like a, you know, Kennywood ride where they have those little chains up, and you know you have to stand in line and get on the ride. whether it’s the rage and rabbits or the thunderbolt or whatever it is. And the operator opens the gate and the crowd surges forward and they all jump in their deceits until all the seats are filled. And then he puts the chain back up and say, well, that’s it. That’s all I can get in. The election isn’t like that. God’s election, there are designated seats. He is specifically chosen individuals. Now, you need to realize this if you’re truly one of the people of God. Blessed is the man. The individual whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee. Psalm 65, verse 4. We read in the New Testament, 2nd, Thessalonians 2.13, we are bound to give thanks all the way to God for you, brother, beloved of the Lord, because God had from the beginning chosen you to salvation. God’s electing love is personal here. God’s love is also sovereign. We read about the purpose of God according to elect. in chapter 9 verse 13, excuse me, chapter 9, verse 11. We should realize God is not under any obligation to love it. A single soul. That he does so is merely out of his good pleasure. It’s a sovereign choice, as verse 15 indicates, to us, and we mentioned previously. Did God see something in Jacob that he didn’t see any of Saul? Is that the reason that he made this decision? Well, the Bible seems to indicate to me that it was before they had done good or evil. God choose Jacob because he was more humble than Esau, more determined to seek the Lord in Esau, more predisposed to accept God’s word did He saw, more righteous than He saw. You know that’s not the case. This is what Romans 9-11 forbids. The election took place before their births. out regard to their human activity, whether it be good or bad. God does not look for for a foreseen quality that he can see in a person and say, wow, this person’s really going to be a good person, and I’m going to choose this person. We hear a lot of people say, you know, Pastor, I made a decision for Christ. I chose the Lord. I love God, and that’s why I’m saved. Well, you may have decided to follow the Lord. You may have indeed came to Christ. You may love the Lord. My only question to you is a question I often ask. But why? Why is it that that’s the case? And the answer to that is that God loved you and chose you. And because he loved you and chose you, you came to know the Lord. Isn’t this the point of verse 16? So then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runeth but of God that showeth mercy. Is it human will? Is it human effort? That makes the difference? No. God simply loves whom he chooses to love. And he has the sovereign right to do that. So God’s love is sovereign. God’s love is distinguishing. Jacob, if I loved Esau, I hated. You know, our whole, if you go to, I guess most churches, I think you would get the message. Smile, God loves you. We’re all God. children he loves us all and so forth that’s not what we read about here Jacob have I loved he saw I hated he distinguishes between people now there are those who have have some have tried to translate this well Jacob have I loved but he saw I love less it’s just a matter of degree they need to read Malachi one more carefully a people to whom the Lord has indignate has had that has indignation for forever. That doesn’t sound like he loved less. I often, when people have told me this, I often took him to the passage in Hebrews that talks about Christ and his loving righteousness and hating evil. And I said, do you think he loved less evil? You think you really hated evil? Try plugging that in. See if that works. God’s hatred against Esau proved his wrath against the descendants of Esau. Edom is called the people against whom the Lord have indignation. I once taught on John 316 at a Bible study. I raised the question, does God love everyone? I said, we’re going to answer this question, and I’m not going to say a word. I’m just going to have you look up some verses of Scripture, and you tell me what the answer to that is. So we looked up some verses of Scripture, such as Psalm 5-5, Thou hate is the workers of iniquity, all workers’ iniquity. Psalm 11.5, the wicked, and him that loveeth violence, God’s soul, hateeth, and so forth. Jacob have I loved, he saw if I ate it, and so forth. I said, how do you explain this text? How do we understand this text? They got it. Once they started reading these verses of Scripture, say, God doesn’t love everyone. And I’m talking about a person that really, I think, never sat under the gospel at all. Had a Catholic background only. He went to church at all. and he came to this Bible study when I could just see his eyes lighting up like, wow, I didn’t realize that. But there it is. John 316 is talking about the Gentiles. The world relates to the Gentiles. Not every single person in the world, but Jews and Gentiles alike are loved by God and brought into salvation of God. So the hatred of God exists. The church really ought to be teaching this truth, and it doesn’t. You should recognize God’s love in his election of you while others were rejected. If we don’t teach God’s rejection, if he don’t teach his hatred, then it diminishes the love that he has for us. If his love for us is the same as his love for everybody, what does that mean? Thirdly, you must acknowledge. is love. Now, we come back to Malachi here in chapter 1, verse 5. And your eyes shall see and you shall say the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel. Was Israel’s duty to acknowledge God’s love? Where are the elect to be found? Well, for the most part, at this point in time, it was in the nation of Israel. among the people there. God says here your eyes are going to see it. You will unquestionably become aware of this truth. And you will say that God is great as the Lord. And give praise to him for the salvation that he has granted you. And even gives us a hint here of a salvation that goes beyond the borders of Israel. From the border outward of the nation, the gospel is going to go forth. talked about this, that Gentiles are vessels of mercy too, and they are grafted in to the olive tree. And therefore, we have an idea here of the universal kingdom of the Messiah of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when we talk about this subject, I want to mention something that we often forget. You know, when God says in Deuteronomy chapter 7, that you know, that you know, he loves the people God. He didn’t choose them because of their greatness or their abilities and gifts they’re certain. He chose them because he loved them. He’s talking about his elect. Have you ever noticed this passage in the book of Amos? It’s quoted in the New Testament, but I think it’s important that we also include this passage in our study tonight to show us that we’re really dealing with more individualistic than most people would like to acknowledge. Amos chapter 9 verses 11, 12. And that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen, close up the branches or the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom. and all the heathen, which are called by my name, said, the Lord of hosts that doeth this. What does this mean? Well, in Acts 15, when James quotes this passage of Scripture, he includes the Gentiles in the kingdom. He substitutes the word Gentiles here for the Edomites, the remnant of Edomites, which indicates to us there may be some Edomites who become Israelites, who become Israelites, who become people. part of the Holy Nation. And isn’t this what the New Testament would indicate the proper interpretation of this passage is? They come into the church. And so we must see it. It really boils down to the individuals that God saves or rejects. Now, you as a believer, need to acknowledge God’s love. You are part of His true Israel. You are the true Israel. the people that he says, I have loved thee. He puts it in the past tense. Because he’s not talking about some love in time. He’s talking about love before time. He’s talking about his eternal election. Here, which he makes clear. Before one speck of dust, one drop of water, one ray of sunlight existed, God loves you. And purpose to save your soul. So, in your trials and in your suffer, in this life, God would say to you, look at my electing love. Have you not come to faith in Christ? Haven’t I shown you that I have chosen you unto salvation? And therefore, you must be loved in me. I haven’t changed my mind about you. Temporal circumstances do not, it doesn’t matter. You are one of my mind. You’re one of my people. You will enjoy eternal life. C.H. Spurgeon once recounted this episode in his life. He said, I once knew a good woman who was the subject of many doubts. And when I got to the bottom of her doubt, it was this. She knew she loved Christ, but she was afraid that he didn’t love her. Oh, I said, that’s a doubt that will never trouble me. Never by any possibility, because I’m sure of this, that the heart is so corrupt naturally, that love to God never did get there without God putting it there. You may rest quite certain that if you love God, it is a fruit and not a root. It is the fruit of God’s love to you, and did not get there by force of any goodness in you. You may conclude with absolute certainty that God loves you if you love God. God won’t allow you to be Helen Keller. you may think, well, things are really bad. He still loves you. He still loves his people. God says to you, I have loved you. My election of you proves it. Do you question God’s love because of God’s providence? We love the Lord because he first loved us. That was an electing love he loved us with and drew us to himself. That is what really counts. Look at the people around you. Do they have that advantage that you have? No, they don’t not. But you have it. You will be blessed forever in Christ. And so these are the things that would Malachi would remind us of when we come to this questioning of God’s love. God says, look at things from the eternal perspective, not just a temporal perspective. Let’s close what we’re going to do. Thank you.