Malachi Sermon - 2

Malachi: God’s Love for his People

Malachi 1:1-5

1. Introduction – Last week we started a new series through the book of Malachi.

a. By way of introduction, we asked and answered some very basic questions in order to familiarize ourselves with the book. We looked at the big picture. Themes, structure and purpose.

b. We saw last week that Malachi is structured around a question/answer format.

i. It’s kinda like a courtroom drama – there are statements of fact, questions, objections, and evidence and answers.

1. And Malachi repeats this structure 6 times – statement, objection, evidence and answer.

a. Today we’ll look at the first such section. So, let’s hear the words of the Lord…this message of divine judgment. Malachi 1:1-5.

2. God’s Love – Did you hear it? Did you hear the words of judgment?

a. No, of course you didn’t, because that’s not where God starts.

i. God’s first message to his people is not, “Buckle you!” It’s not, “You’ve not this coming…”

1. His first message to his people is not a message of doom and gloom, shape up or ship out.

a. No, God’s first word is a reminder…I have loved you.

i. Not words of judgment, but words of affirmation and commitment.

b. Before you move on to the fact of this statement…let’s pause and think about the wisdom of this approach.

i. When people come to you for help…people who’s lives are in a mess…sometimes we can be quick to judge.

1. Sometimes we can be quick to point out all the things that are wrong with them.

a. But look at God’s approach…he doesn’t start off by berating or chastising his people…sure that happens later, but first…first…God reminds Israel of his deep and abiding love for them.

ii. And when people come to us for help, chances are they know they’re a mess, they don’t need anyone to tell them that.

1. The first truth that people need to grasp is God’s love for them.

a. Only when people know that God’s loves them will they be truly drawn to repent of their sins.

i. Only when know God’s love for them will they be drawn to trust him…even when life doesn’t make sense.

1. Our first move is not judgment, but following the approach here – remind people of the fundamental truth of God’s love.

iii. This is what God does here. Later in the book, in the very next section, god confronts their apathy and complacency in worship…

1. But right off the bat he reminds them of his love…a lesson we should learn.

3. But – And right away we see the spiritual condition of the people of Israel.

a. It is evident from the rebuttal that the relationship between God and his people was in deep trouble.

i. Upon hearing the statement and affirmation of God’s love…the people object… “How?”

1. They respond with doubt, skepticism and cynicism.

ii. Now, with this question they aren’t questing the truth of God’s love…but rather the actual experience of that love in their lives.

1. In other words, they are saying, “Prove it God! Show us the evidence.”

b. The question shows that their reality didn’t meet their expectations.

i. Their expectations of renewal and a return to past glory were not met. The promised Messiah had not yet come – Israel was not delivered and glorified, they were still under Persian rule.

1. The people of Malachi’s day lived in a time where it was difficult to experience the reality of God’s love.

a. It was a time in the valley for them. After the mountain top experience of religious and social reform during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah… the people of Malachi’s day slipped down low.

ii. It was a time when both the priests and the people were tired of bringing sacrifices to God.

1. It was a time when they deemed it irrelevant to do good or evil in the eyes of God.

a. It was a time when the people thought it was futile to serve God.

c. But if we can get past the brazen, irreligious and irresponsible nature of the question…it’s actually a question we ask today.

i. We may not voice these exact words out loud…but the same feelings may creep in.

1. Maybe we don’t find God’s love exciting anymore. The Good News of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus no longer thrills us the way it once did.

a. Maybe those realities feel so distant to us amid the grind of everyday life.

ii. You love me God? Have you seen my finances? My family? My marriage? My kids? My diagnosis? My life?

1. How have you loved? Show me the evidence.

a. Even today, 2500 years after this book was written, even today, when our reality doesn’t meet our expectations – we ask the very same question of God that Israel did…how?

4. Comparisons – And here’s a beautiful picture. God doesn’t meet Israel’s cynicism – our cynicism – with a rebuke and lightning from heaven.

a. They…we…ask for evidence – and he gives them and us the evidence…but here in Malachi, God gives the evidence in an unusual way.

i. You might expect that when questioned about the evidence and reality of his love, God would list a litany of historical events.

1. The exodus event, the conquest of the Promised land, deliverance from enemies, a return from exile…

a. But the glory and majesty of those events aren’t the present reality of the people of Malachi’s day.

b. God doesn’t list a litany of historical events. Instead, God tells the Israelites to compare their correction situation to that of somebody else.

i. Hear me on this…this is not a recommended habit. Generally speaking, it is not a good idea to go around comparing yourself to other people…

1. When we do this is usually flow out of or leads in to envy, arrogance, bitterness, jealousy or pride.

a. But here, since God knows what he’s doing and his ways are not our ways nor his thoughts our thoughts…God shows his love for his people by laying out a series of comparisons.

c. God compares Jacob and Esau, love and hate, and Israel and Edom.

i. For the rest of our time this morning we are going to look at these comparisons. We’ll try to figure out what Israel was supposed to learn fro this, and we’ll learn how this can help us today.

5. Jacob & Esau – So who are Jacob and Esau? Well, technically its Esau and Jacob.

a. They are the twin the sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Each are the founding father of a nation.

i. Esau and Jacob’s story is found in the book of Genesis – chapters 25-33.

1. Theirs is not a happy story. The Bible says the two wrestled in the womb to the great discomfort of their mother…and things didn’t get much better after their birth.

b. Esau was born first – had the natural birthright and was in line to receive the inheritance from Isaac.

i. But Jacob came out grasping Esau’s heel. The name Jacob means “heel grabber’ which was Hebrew slang for ‘cheater’ or ‘swindler.’ A name that Jacob would live up to.

c. Esau was a hunter, builder, explorer…a man’s man. Brawny. The Bible said he had red hair – and lived up to the typical stereotypes placed on red heads…he was fiery and impulsive.

i. He sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup.

1. He married to Hittite women…most likely at the same time. Then later married a third woman.

d. Jacob, on the other hand, was more of a mama’s boy. He was good around the house, liked to cook, fair skinned.

i. He was an intellectual, and he used his intellect to his advantage.

1. If Esau was the brawn, Jacob was the brain, and Jacob used his brain to outwit his brother and to get what he wanted from him.

a. And what he wanted became increasingly more selfish.

ii. In fact, Jacob has to be sent away from home in order to protect him from Esau, who wanted to kill him.

1. It was during this time in exile that Jacob got married, started a family, became prosperous, and received a blessing from God.

a. It was during this time in exile that God brought him in line with the promise that he made to Abraham and Isaac.

6. Love & Hate – So, we’ve established who Jacob and Esau are, so why did God say, “Jacob I have loved by Esau I have hated?’

a. As we try to figure this out, we need to first define love and hate. Love, as it most often does in the Bible, doesn’t refer to some emotional high.

i. God’s love isn’t based on emotions or fleeting feelings – God’s love has to do with his faithfulness, his covenant fidelity.

1. God will never break up with his people and say, “I just don’t love you anymore.”

ii. No, love, God’s love – is a settled attitude of being ‘for’ someone – whatever the circumstances; it is not merely an expression of an emotional high.

b. As a pastor, I have the privilege of officiating at weddings – and what I love about weddings is two people make a covenant together.

i. The covenant is not based on physical attraction. I have yet to have someone repeat after me, “I take you because you’re pretty!”

1. No, a marriage vow – a covenantal marriage vow is based on a settle attitude of being for the other person.

a. I take you; I choose to do life you through any and every real-life circumstance.

i. I am for you…for your development as a person, as a Christian, I am for your betterment, I am for your causes…

1. Yes, because you’re pretty, but much deeper than that!

c. Well, God’s covenant with his people is not based on physical attraction…it is based on his nature.

i. God is for his people.

1. Here states here, I have loved you – and also, Jacob I have loved.

a. Why Jacob? Because God prefers the stay at home type to the brawny type?

i. Because Jacob was more loveable?

ii. No, because at Bethel, God chose Jacob – God brought Jacob in line with the promise to made the Abraham and Isaac…that through Jacob all the world would be blessed.

1. It was through Jacob that the nation of Israel was formed and eventually Jesus was born in to. God loved Jacob because he chose Jacob.

iii. The word ‘loved’ here is not a past tense, but it states a completed action that continues in the present.

1. I have always loved you, is what some translations say.

a. God says, “Jacob I have loved…God is for Jacob. He loved Israel…he is for them

i. God loves you…he is for you…and he will always be faithful to his people.

d. But Esau I have hated. Yikes. We get really uncomfortable whenever we used “God” and ‘hate’ in the same sentence.

i. But the truth is, there are things that God hates. He hates sin, he hates improper worship, he hates those to seek to stir up trouble among his people.

1. So what does this mean…Esau I have hated. Well look and understand it context.

a. If love has to do with God’s covenant faithfulness…if it doesn’t have to do with mushy gushy feelings…

i. Then hate here doesn’t mean an out of control rage…but has to do with a lack of covenant faithfulness.

e. God brought Jacob, not Esau, in line with Abraham’s promise. Esau was in line, being the first born, but Esau basically ignored his position, hastily traded his birthright, and pretty much ignored God his whole life.

i. However, Esau, like Jacob, was the founding father of a nation…the nation of Edom.

1. Which is why Edom is mentioned in our passage this morning.

7. Israel & Edom – This is the third comparison in the passage. Jacob and Esau, love and hate…now Israel and Edom.

a. The nation of Israel was born out of Jacob’s line, and the nation of Edom came from Esau’s line…the two nations were cousins…

i. But they lived at odds with each other. Read through the OT, and you see Israel and Edom constantly doing battle with each other.

1. The book of Obadiah is an oracle about the destruction of Edom.

b. What’s going on here? In order to understand the comparison God is making here, we have to understand the history of the two nations.

i. God is telling his people that the 2 nations, Israel and Edom, followed the same trajectory as their founding fathers.

c. Jacob was exiled to Laban’s…and during that time, Esau enjoyed a life of relative ease.

i. The nation of Israel was exiled…and during that time, Edom lived in relative security.

1. So why the difference? Why exile for Jacob and Israel and ease for Esau and Edom?

a. Well there’s a verse in Proverbs, repeated in the book of Hebrews…Those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines.

i. And it was during the respective times in exile that God refined his people.

ii. But what’s of importance here is what happened after exile. After Jacob’s time in exile he was restored. After Israel’s time in exile, they were restored to their land, even rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and the temple.

1. After exile was restoration…something that Esau and Edom did not enjoy

d. You see, while Judah was being attached by Babylon, Edom cheered the Babylonians on…they even helped the Babylonians…and they went and lived in the land after the people were exiled.

i. But eventually Edom was punished for their sins. Eventually there were overthrow, run out of their home land…never to return.

1. Like Esau, who after a reunion and mutual parting of ways with Jacob in Genesis 33…we never hear of Esau ever again…but the story of Jacob continues…

a. Like Esau who is never heard of again…the Edomites are overthrown…wiped off the face of the earth, never to reestablish their kingdom again.

e. So, how is all of this evidence of God’s love? God says to his people, “Look at it this way. You may be small, insignificant. Your reality may not meet your expectations…but you’re still around – which more than can be said for Edom.”

i. Israel and Edom come from the same gene pool – but because the Israelites were God’s chosen people…he was covenantally faithful to them by preserving them and restoring them after exile.

1. And because Esau and Edom lived outside of God’s covenant, because God didn’t factor in to their daily lives, Edom will never be restored…they will never be able to rebuild.

a. The fact that Israel was still in existence was the evidence God point to as evidence of his love for his people.

i. God says in v.5 – when you look at the evidence, you will see with your own eyes. And when they look to the evidence…notice the change in attitude.

1. No longer questioning, but praising… “Great is the Lord!”

f. Why the comparison? How does this help? Well, Israel was stuck. Their eyes were only focused on their own plight and circumstances.

i. When they failed to see God’s love for them, there was little hope of them being a witness to the nations – which was their purpose as a nation.

1. And for us today, we need to be reminded of God’s love for us. For all that the subject is preached…we easily forget this.

g. We need to reminds ourselves of this…not by comparing ourselves to people…but by looking back over our history. See how God moved and worked in mysterious ways.

i. Look back to the ultimate expression of God’s love – look back to Calvary. See the lengths God went to in order to display his love for you.

1. He sent his only Son into the world, because he loved the world. Because he is for us – and because he is for us, he provided a way out of a life of sin that leads to death.

h. For us today, if we ever feel like questioning God’s love for us…and there will most likely be times…just look to the evidence…Look to Calvary, look to the empty tomb…look to Jesus, where God demonstrated his unquestionable love for us.

i. Malachi expected some sort of conversion away from apathy to a new conviction and passion… and having reminded ourselves once again of God’s love…having examined the evidence…let us move in the same direction.