LOVE WE CAN TRUST
We hope today’s message was encouraging and helpful. These notes are meant to help you remember and reflect on the message, help you go deeper into study on the subject, or to be used for a Bible/sermon group study. Enjoy!
Main Scripture: MALACHI 1:1-5 NLT
If you’re going through this discussion with a community group this week consider taking the time to read or paraphrase through some of the provided scripture to catch everyone up!
Notes:
The setting is important to understand the whole book. Malachi is a prophetic book that sits like a bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Malachi's is no doubt the author and his name means, “my messenger,” meaning God’s messenger. Malachi addresses all the Jewish tribes as “Israel” but this book is specifically addressing Judah in Jerusalem. Most scholars agree that the Book of Malachi was written around 450–430 B.C.
This letter addresses God’s people around 100 years after the Babylonian exile. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians but after 70 years Persia defeated Babylon. Directed by God, Persian kings permitted the Jews to return home to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Everything was rebuilt during the time of Nehemiah and Ezra, but the glory and presence of God remained absent from the temple because their sinful ways which got them in this situation remained. Their walls and temple were rebuilt but their relationship with God still needed repair. The priesthood was sinful and corrupt (1:6–2:9; Ne. 13:4–9, 29–30). There was marriage with foreigners who worshiped idols (2:10–12; Ezr. 9–10; Ne. 10:30; 13:1–3, 23–27). People were treated unjustly in the community (3:5; Ne. 5:1–13); and they kept tithes from God, for themselves (3:8–10; Ne. 10:32–39; 13:10–13). Additionally, the people were discouraged because the messianic prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah were still unfulfilled. All these factors became fractures in their relationship with God. The people neither served him wholeheartedly nor turned entirely away in blatant disobedience, they were lukewarm. The people had become complacent and indifferent, needing to be reminded of God's faithful love and called to repentance. God is holy and worthy of our complete devotion so Malachi’s message is God's effective remedy for such a situation. I implore us to approach this series with great humility so we can be refined and purified for our good and God’s glory.
Malachi 1:1-5 NLT
V. 1 “Message” or Word or Oracle from the Lord
The original language of verse one uses the word maśśāʾ which is where we get our word “burden” and suggests that God’s prophetic word in Malachi is a weighty message. When we read and learn from this book we are reading a message directly from the heart of God. God’s burden will prompt us to examine our hearts.
V. 2 “I have always loved you.”
The book does not start with a summary of what the people have done or not done, but what God has done. It does not start with what the people have done to God, but what God has done to the people. He has loved them. Adam, P. (2013). The Message of Malachi: “I Have Loved You,” Says the Lord (A. Motyer & D. Tidball, Eds.; p. 35). Inter-Varsity Press.
V. 2 “Really? How have you loved us?”
A unique feature in this book is the way every word of God is contradicted or questioned by his people.
People who read these verses today may feel a little uncomfortable and yet somewhat fascinated, like one who is in the presence of an intensely personal conversation between two parties who have long known each other. Blaising, C. A. (1985). Malachi. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1575). Victor Books.
We see examples of honest questioning directed towards God in the book of Psalms. In fairness, this could be because they had not seen the fulfillment of previous prophecies. But as we go through the whole book you’ll see this questioning wasn’t justified. This was a deflection from their lack of faith, half-hearted worship, and sinful practices. One theologian said there is a tone of sulking and putting God on trial…God shows mercy by even answering them.
V. 2b-3 “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, 3 but I rejected his brother, Esau
God answers by looking back at their ancestor Jacob. Rebecca, pregnant with twins had felt Jacob and Esau wrestling in her womb. Both were destined to become great nations of people and at conflict with each other and that they were. God chose or elected Jacob’s lineage to carry on the promise made to Abraham, that he would be the father of many and from him a blessing to all nations, the king on the throne forever (Jesus).
The Old Testament nowhere teaches that Jacob was more lovable than Esau, or more pleasing to God than Esau, though it was a fact that Esau had so lightly valued his birthright as to sell it to his scheming brother (Gen. 25:29–34). No fuller explanation of God’s choice of Jacob can be found than that God delighted to love him (Deut. 10:15) Baldwin, J. G. (1972). Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 28, p. 240). InterVarsity Press.
V. 3 But I have rejected (hated) Esau. The verb ‘hate’ is to be understood in the light of God’s electing love. The very fact that Jacob was chosen, ‘loved’, meant that Esau was rejected, ‘hated’, rejection being implicit in the exercise of choice. Personal animosity towards Esau is not implied. Esau and his descendants, however, by nursing resentment and showing hostility towards Jacob, did bring God’s judgment on themselves. Baldwin, J. G. (1972). Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 28, p. 240). InterVarsity Press.
Malachi’s audience may have thought it was a blunder to appeal to the contrasting fates of Israel and Edom as proof of God’s faithful love and favor. While Esau or Edom thrived, Jacob/Israel experienced total devastation and 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Not only did Esau’s descendants the Edomites gloat over the ruin of Israel but they also helped the Babylonians by being informants and cutting off escape routes (Ps. 137:7; Ezk. 25:12–14; 35:15; Ob. 8–16). If God had chosen them why all this suffering?
If they had carefully read the covenant in Deuteronomy they would have known that such misfortunes were the result—not the cause—of their disobedience. While Malachi later indicated that a righteous remnant, which feared God, did exist at that time (3:16–18), the nation as a whole needed to repent from the sin of unbelief and fall in love wholeheartedly with the Lord. Blaising, C. A. (1985). Malachi. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1576). Victor Books.
God could have appealed to more but didn't. (The people had forgotten God’s faithfulness and love when He preserved them through the Babylonian exile and delivered them back home to Jerusalem.) Without God’s covenantal promise to make them a great nation and His mercy on them, they wouldn’t even be alive to reply like this. If God wasn’t merciful this letter would be over and this series would be done today. But we know God is merciful and patient with us because the prophecy continues for the next four chapters.
V.4-5 God reminds them of the fate of Edom
God reassures the people that Edom will not escape judgment.
It seems likely that Edom experienced this judgment through the agency of Nabatean Arabs who gradually forced the Edomites from their homeland in the period between 550 and 400 bc, causing them to resettle in southern Palestine in an area later called Idumea. Hugenberger, G. P. (1994). Malachi. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 885). Inter-Varsity Press.
Israel needed the reminder that they were called blessed, a special possession, a treasure to God (Deuteronomy 7:6-8; Psalm 144:15; Psalm 33:12). Meanwhile the Edomites would be known as…“The Land of Wickedness,’” and their people will be called “The People with Whom the Lord Is Forever Angry.” Better to know you are a treasure to God than an enemy of God.
How have you loved us? God loved them with eternal love and now we are experiencing the results of God's loving promise fulfilled in Christ.
Application Points:
God is merciful to us
God's persistence in speaking to them is a clear picture of sin and grace in close proximity. -Peter Adam
Psalm 103:8-10 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. 10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
The cross of Christ proves God’s love for us
1 John 4:9-10 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Romans 5:8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Circumstances and feelings change but God’s love for you remains the same
When the righteous suffer and the wicked seem to prosper, or circumstances seem challenging we are apt to question God’s love.
Romans 8:35-39 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We can Trust God’s love. No matter what you have or don’t have, no matter how you feel or don’t feel. We are loved. God is love and His love does not treat us as our sins deserve. That is all we will ever need to remember and know.
Discussion:
What is one thing from the message that resonated with you?
What path could we go down if we don’t trust God’s faithful love for us?
Is there a hardship that you’ve had to endure where it was evident that God’s love remained the same?
In what ways has God been merciful to you?
What additional notes did you make during the sermon?
What can we pray for regarding the sermon? Do you have any prayer needs?
The most important decision you will ever make!
If you’re ready to trust in Jesus for salvation and eternal life we encourage you to process this decision with a strong believer and when you’re ready say a simple prayer like this from your heart: Dear God, I acknowledge and admit I have sinned. I see my need for Jesus Christ. I believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I believe I am forgiven and cleansed of my sin by His death. I also believe I have eternal life because of His resurrection from the dead. I repent, I turn away from my old ways and I choose to live my life to worship you and follow Jesus, Amen!
We would love to know if you decided to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Let us know here.
Pray Together
We hope you found this AFTER THE SERMON discussion helpful for your walk with Jesus. We pray you can find ways to apply it this week!