Download Malachi 1:1-5 - Bethany Community Church

Bill Akright
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(309) 243-9639
www.bethanycentral.org
"GOD'S ELECTING LOVE"
1 The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. 2 ""I have loved you,'' says the LORD. But you say, ""How have You
loved us?'' ""Was not Esau Jacob's brother?'' declares the LORD. ""Yet I have loved Jacob; 3 but I have hated Esau, and I have made his
mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.'' 4 Though Edom says, ""We have been beaten
down, but we will return and build up the ruins''; thus says the LORD of hosts, ""They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call
them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the LORD is indignant forever.'' 5 Your eyes will see this and you will say, "" The
LORD be magnified beyond the border of Israel!'' Malachi 1:1-5
Background & Introduction:
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Malachi prophesied around 450 BC in Israel.
His name means “messenger”
He was one of the last inspired prophets between the Old Testament and Jesus Christ (400 years-why?).
The Israelites had returned from the Babylonian exile.
Jerusalem had been rebuilt, and the temple restored.
But the people had not learned their lesson from the exile.
i. They had grown skeptical of God's love (1:2)
ii. Careless in worship (1:7)
iii. Indifferent to the truth (2:6-7)
iv. Disobedient to the covenant (2:10)
v. Faithless in their marriages (2:15; 3:5)
vi. Stingy in their offerings (3:8).
Question 1: Why do you think the Word of the Lord is referred to here as a “burden”?
1. The word of God is never light and passé…it is thick and rich with truth.
a. Jeremiah 11:2-4
b. John 1:1
c. Hebrews 4:12
2. Even when good news, it will be rejected by many…it meets with much opposition.
a. Isaiah 6:10-11, 28:16 & 53:1
b. 1 Corinthians 1:17-19
i. Words designed for life become the aroma of death for those who are perishing.
Question 2: What was his first message?
1. “I have loved you…” – Malachi 1:2
a. Deut 7:6-9
2. Does that make you tremble?
a. Isaiah 66:2
3. Or have we become so shallow that we never tremble but instead become careless, casual and even
presumptuous in His presence?
a. I Corinthians 14:20
b. Isaiah 29:13-14
4. Malachi's burden in this book is to show us a God whose goodness makes us tremble with reverent fear.
a. Malachi 1:6
b. Malachi 1:14b
c. Malachi 2:5
d. Malachi 3:5
5. By beginning with the words “I have loved you…” he unfolds the love of God for us in a way that makes
us tremble before the majesty of God.
Question 3: The Israelite’s responded, “How hast thou loved us?” How would you answer that
question in your own life?
1. God’s answer:
a. "Is not Esau Jacob's brother? says the Lord. Yet I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau."
2. What did god mean by this?
a. The descendants of Jacob have asked, “How has thou loved us?”
b. How is it an answer to say, “Jacob I loved, Esau I hated?”
“…taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5
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Bill Akright
[email protected]
www.bethanycentral.org
(309) 243-9639
c. Isn't that just a repetition of what he already said in the first part of verse 2, "I have loved you says the
Lord"?
3. No, because of the little question, "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?"
a. What does that mean?
b. Why did God ask that?
i. To reveal the basis of His love.
1. Esau was Jacob’s brother.
2. Esau was the elder, which means that by all customary rights and privileges he would
be the main heir of the father's blessings.
3. Based on who Jacob and Esau were, He could just as easily have chosen Esau as
Jacob.
c. But God chose Jacob and passed Esau by.
Question 4: How does this answer their (our?) question "How hast thou loved us?"
1. God has loved Jacob (you) with free, sovereign, unconditional, electing love. Eph 1:4
2. His love for Jacob (you) is electing love because He chose Jacob (you) for Himself above Esau (others).
Eph 1:11
3. His love for you is unconditional love because He chose you before you had done anything good or evil,
before you had met any conditions, while you were still in your mother's womb. Eph 1:4.
4. His love for you is sovereign love because He was under no constraint to love you:
a. He was not forced or coerced. Romans 5:6
b. He was totally in charge when He set His love upon you. Romans 8:33
5. Lastly, His love for you is free because it's the overflow of His infinite grace that can never be bought. Eph
2:8-9
Question 5: But what about Esau? What does God mean in verses 3 & 4?
1. God highlights His love for Jacob by contrasting it with His hatred for Edom (Esau’s Descendants).
a. God opposes their prosperity and brings their land under judgment.
b. It means that God will continue to oppose them when they resist his judgment.
c. God's hate for Esau means that they will be given up to wickedness.
i. God’s decree was to pass Esau by, withholding his electing love, and giving him up to
wickedness.
d. The Lord is angry, or indignant with them forever.
Question 6: So why did God write this about Edom?
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To humble Israel (us).
To take away their (our) presumption.
To remove every ground of boasting in them (our) selves.
To cut the nerve of pride that boasts over Esau (the lost) as though their (our) salvation were owing to
anything in them (our) selves.
5. To make them (us) realize that they (we) are not an equal partner in this affair.
6. To make them (us) tremble with tears of joy because they (we) belong to God.
a. "There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared!" Psalm 130:4
Conclusion:
1. Do you look at your sister or brother living in sin and tremble that you have been chosen?
a. And that your election is not because of anything in you?
b. And that your faith and hope owe wholly to God?
c. Do you look at that childhood friend or college roommate who took a turn away from God when you
stayed on the path, and tremble at the awesome thought that God chose you?
“Ultimately, the reason God has saved you and me is for the honor and glory of His Son, "That He
might be the firstborn." The goal in creation is that God would give as a gift to His Son many who
are reborn into Christ's likeness.” R.C. Sproul, Tabletalk, 1989.
“…taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5
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