The unmerited Love of God

Introduction to the Book of Malachi

Malachi was the last of the OT prophets. He received his burden from the LORD sometime around 420 BC. The people had been back in the land for about 100 years or so at the time of his writing.

Hopes had been running high with many of the people at the beginning of the return. The Babylonian captivity was over and the people were back in the land. Many were thinking their national fortunes were set to rise as they regained their status as a Power. There was an impending sense that the Messiah was soon to arrive and the Millennial Age was to begin.

The hopes were dimmed with the passing of the years. The Temple had been rebuilt and the wall had been restored, but the nation was still subject to the ruling power of the Persians. Israel had not been restored as a Power, Messiah had not come, the Temple worship was in shambles due to neglect and apathy, and living conditions were hard.

In such conditions did Malachi receive his burden from the LORD to share with the people. Only a faithful remnant were left as most of the people had decayed into scoffers and skeptics. Unbelief and apathy had set in, worship was in outward appearance, and a general lack of care had set in for the things of God.

Malachi’s mission was to rekindle the flame of faith and to restore proper heart-felt worship. Malachi was sent to turn the hearts of the people back to their God and to uphold God as worthy of honor and worship. His call was to turn the attention of the people from their dire and uncertain circumstances to the Living God of their circumstances. Malachi was the bringer of hope through reminding them that the unchanging God had set His Divine Favor upon them.

Malachi used a conversational approach for giving his message. Through a series of questions and answers the Prophet interacts with the people. The pattern is that Malachi first makes a statement or question that is actually a charge about their sinful behavior; the people respond with a statement or question of denial; the prophet then gives proof of the correctness of the charge. This type of back and forth dialogue can be very effective, and Malachi does it very well.

The book opens with Malachi framing the entire discussion around the theme of God’s unfailing love for His people. Of course, most of the people do not believe this is true, based on their outward circumstances. God is going to remind the people of His love and also show them how they have misunderstood their circumstances. The issue of God’s Love is foundational for all the other issues that are in the book. Without a correct assessment of God’s Love, all of the rest will remain contradictory and unsatisfactory.

God Sovereignly chooses to set His Love on undeserving persons (Malachi 1:1a)

Explanation: The Israelites were not deserving of God’s love. There was nothing in and of themselves that caused God to choose them in the beginning (). God freely chose to bestow His gracious love on them as a people, beginning with Abraham. Abraham was a pagan living in a land of pagans when God chose to pull him out of idolatry and start a nation. There was nothing good in Abram that caused God to choose him. God’s choice of Abram was an example of His unconditional election.

Illustrate: Parents who adopt a baby. Some parents even choose to adopt a particular baby before it is born (Dave & Susan with Jed). The one being adopted has no part in the selection

Argument: God is a choosing God. He makes choices throughout the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament. The biblical term for this is the Doctrine of Election. Just as their was nothing to merit God’s choice of the Israelites other than His covenant love, there is nothing in us that merit’s His choice of us for salvation.

When faced with the Doctrine of Election many Christians become uneasy. Many of us want to believe that there is something good in us, that we in some way deserve to be part of God’s family. The truth is that there is nothing good within ourselves. Without exception, we are sinners who rebel against the holiness of God () and what we deserve is Hell. But God, in His grace extends His unconditional love to us and pulls us up from the cesspool of sin. In his natural condition as a fallen sinner, man is spiritually dead and without hope. The amazing thing is that that God, “being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together in Christ.” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Application: Understanding the nature of God’s love for us as sinful rebels should humble us. We can never be arrogant as Christians because we actually know that we don’t deserve His love. Being loved by the Savior of the World, and realizing the unchanging nature of that love should infuse us with hope and courage. We CAN love God supremely because He loved us first!

At the time of Malachi’s writing there was still nothing in the Israelites that was deserving of God’s love for them. In spite of His covenant faithfulness, the people had by and large turned their backs on Yahweh.

Application: Loving God supremely is a

The response by the recipients of God’s love is often disappointing ()

Explanation: When faced with a declaration of God’s love for them, the people respond with indifference and disbelief. Their question of “How” is not so much a question as actually saying something like, “well, we aren’t so sure of your love for us. Judging by how difficult our lives are, we actually don’t think you really do love us.” In spite of all that God had done for them as a nation, these folks were denying their own history. The Babylonian captivity had been the result of their sin and disobedience, and their current distress was the result of their apathy towards God and their shallow worship. Instead of worshiping God with grateful hearts based on awe of His continued love, they grumbled and complained.

Illustrate: If you are a parent you have faced this type of response from your child or children. As a parent, you chose to have children. You have loved them, provided for them, protected them, and encouraged them. You pour into them because you love them. And then they respond with ingratitude and silly statements like, “if you really loved me you would let me spend the weekend at my friends house,” (even though their parents are out of town.)

Argument: Shakespeare wrote in his play King Lear the phrase “how sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.” It may very well be that part of being a parent is having to deal with ingratitude, but that doesn’t make it any less painful. When those we love reject us or slight us, it hurts, and we are disappointed. We are disappointed because we know all the things we have done for them; all the money, and the time, and the money, and the energy, and did I mention the money that we have invested in them.

Argument: Shakespeare wrote in his play King Lear the phrase “how sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.” It may very well be that part of being a parent is having to deal with ingratitude, but that doesn’t make it any less painful. When those we love reject us or slight us, it hurts, and we are disappointed. We are disappointed because we know all the things we have done for them; all the money, and the time, and the money, and the energy, and did I mention the money that we have invested in them.

Application: As a parent, I am not looking for a literal payback from my kids. Many of you know Luke moved to LA and the transition was expensive. It took him longer than he expected to get a job, and life in the big city is expensive. Even though we had told him not to make the move without being more prepared, we still helped him. We did it because we love him. That’s what made one of his calls so special. He called one afternoon just to talk, and not because he needed money.

Magnify that by 10,000 times and we start to approach how God is blessed by our love and worship for Him. He has done so much for us. God loved us by sending Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners (); He “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (); He has promised us glorified bodies (); He is preparing us a home in heaven (); and He has promised that in the meantime, that nothing this world throws at us "will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39)

In spite of apathy and indifference, God will be glorified and honored ()

Explanation: The prophet responds to the people’s questioning of God’s love by reminding them of their own history. He digs down on the issue of God’s unconditional election by reminding them of God’s choice of Jacob over Esau. God simply declares “I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated” (v. 3).

In essence, God is proving His love for them. They were claiming that God really did not love them, so God is defending His love for them through their history. Jacob and Esau were twin brothers who were born to Isaac and Rebecca. Isaac was the son of the Promise and either of the two boys could have been chosen by God to carry the line of blessing. Esau was the oldest and in many ways a better choice than the trickster Jacob.

God, however, made the choice to set His love on Jacob before the twins were born (). By choosing Jacob, God rejected Esau. This is made clear in our text where God states that while He set His love on Jacob, He also opposes and rejects Esau in that He states “Esau I have hated.” God bears this out by reminding His people that He was the One responsible for having “laid waste his country.” God also declares that even though Esau’s descendents may try to rebuild, He will tear down and bring their efforts to nothing. God shares this negative opposition to the Edomites as evidence for His love of Israel. God will sovereignly act in history to fulfill His covenant love for His chosen people.

Argument: