Malachi 1:2-5

²“I have loved you,” says the Lord.

“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, ³but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

⁴Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.”

But this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. ⁵You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’

The people of God are suffering from a serious problem. They no longer believe in the promises of God and any religious duties they fulfill are done so as a sort of “fire insurance”, that is, if they do X then God won’t rain down fire and brimstone on them. So when God says to them, “I have loved you,” they don’t understand because they don’t truly know Him.

So God recites His love by using the example of Jacob, their ancestor, and Esau, Jacob’s twin brother and the founder of the Edomite people. Esau was the elder, he was born first. Traditionally, the oldest brother received the greater inheritance, and the younger brothers received a lesser inheritance. But in this instance, and many others for that matter, God refuses to go with a human invention of how inheritance should work. He chooses Jacob, later renamed Israel, to receive His blessing. Esau is not chosen, and his envy and hatred of his brother consumes him so that the Israelites and Edomites were enemies.

So we come back to the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 12:

           

            “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;

            I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.

            I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;

            And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Edom didn’t just dislike Israel, they cursed her and wished for her demise. As they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan, they had to go around Edom. Why? Because the Edomites refused them passage through their land and even threatened to kill them all if they tried (Numbers 20:14-21). When Saul became King over Israel, Scripture says that he fought all Israel’s enemies around them, and Edom is included in the list (1 Samuel 14:47). David continues this fight and successfully subdues Edom (2 Samuel 8: 11-14, 1 Kings 11:15-16). Edom is also used as an adversary for King Solomon, to get him to return to the Lord, and stop sacrificing at the high places with his many wives. During the time of the Divided Monarchy, Edom still plagued Judah and Israel and often attacked them (2 Kings 8:20-22, 14:7-10). King Ahaz (not a good king), had to seek help from Assyria because of Edom’s attacks (2 Chronicles 28: 16-21). In Judah’s final days, Edom actually helped bring about Jerusalem’s downfall by joining their forces with Babylon, looting the city, and handing over fugitives (Obadiah verse 11).

So in Malachi, when God says He has hated Esau and turned his land into a waste land only fit for wild animals, He has good reason. Esau let his anger and hatred consume him to the point where the people cursed Israel, and so in turn, God has cursed them. Furthermore, God states that his glory and love for Israel is demonstrated by the fact that Edom has met their down fall, and will always be known as a wicked place that is under His wrath. Edom’s destruction will stand as a witness of her wickedness and judgment by God, who is the Lord of Hosts.

Jacob, on the other hand, has received the blessing of God, even though it is unmerited. It would not take much for Jacob to be like Esau, be God affirms that He will not let that happen. God is faithful even when His people are not. God is faithful even when His people are disillusioned, and no longer believe in His promises. Therefore, God is worthy of all praise, honor, and glory in Israel and all other lands because He is not constrained to any one place.

God loves His people, and has demonstrated this throughout all of history. If we shrug off his love, and do not make the appropriate response of worship and love in return to God, then we run the risk of being punished by God. God has not saved us just so we can life halfhearted, lukewarm Christian lives that just go through the motions to keep his anger off our backs. He gives us life in full abundance (John 10:10), so why are we settling for less?