FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Malachi 1:2-5

III. God’s Love Defined

Malachi, in the situation he addresses, the words he uses and the illustration he gives, paints a beautiful picture of what it means to be truly loved by God. We doubt the love of God because we have the wrong ideas about love. Remember Adam and Eve. God in His love gave them the garden for a home. God, also in love, gave them restrictions regarding the tree of knowledge (Genesis 2:17). But what did Satan do? He literally called God a liar and said they would not die if they ate from it (Genesis 3:4). Then he further stated, “God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). In other words, God is holding out on you. He does not want you to reach your full potential. He does not love you or He wouldn’t have made that restriction. Thus believing this lie they plunged into sin and suffering. They misunderstood the love of God. However, let me share with you some of God’s love . . .

1. A Providential Love

Malachi’s basic answer to their doubts is strange and perplexing. He gives them a history lesson. He tells them they are looking the wrong way when they compare themselves unfavorably with other mighty nations. He says they should compare themselves with the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, their next-door neighbors to the South.

“I have loved you,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.” Even though Edom has said, “We have been impoverished, But we will return and build the desolate places,” Thus says the LORD of hosts: “They may build, but I will throw down; They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, And the people against whom the LORD will have indignation forever. Your eyes shall see, And you shall say, ‘The LORD is magnified beyond the border of Israel’ (Malachi 1:2–5).

Malachi personifies the two nations Edom and Israel, by calling them Esau and Jacob, the two sons of Abraham, from whom they came. The two nations were radically different and their relationship was one of constant hostility. When Israel was at its height it made Edom pay tribute (2 Samuel 8:14). But when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, the Edomites rejoiced at her fall (Lamentations 4:21). Their perpetual attitude toward Israel was that of anger, warfare and cruelty (Amos 1:11). In their downfall we see three things.

1) God’s Strange Attitude (verses 2c–3a). The first thing mentioned is God’s strange attitude. He says He loved Jacob (and Israel) and He hated Esau (and Edom). These apparently cruel and contradictory attitudes can only be understood in the light of the way the word “hate” is used in scripture. Jesus said to would-be disciples, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). The same idea is can be found in Proverbs 13:24.

Jesus does not mean we are to hate our loved ones in the normal sense of the word, for to hate our parents would mean to break the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12), and to hate our wives would mean to disobey Paul’s command to love our wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). The obvious and literal meaning is to love less those than we are to love Christ.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Malachi 1:2-5

Henry Ward Beecher began his ministry in a small church. Week by week he preached those noble Christian virtues that he felt would lead his people into responsible Christlike living. But nothing seemed to happen. The people continued on in their low level Christianity laced with apathy. Discouraged and defeated he shared his frustration with an older minister. The wise old pastor said, “Son, you are starting at the wrong end. Telling them what they should do will get you nowhere. Start with God. Tell them of the love of God in Christ for each of them. If that doesn’t lift them up, nothing will.” Beecher went back and lifted up the Lord. He pointed them to Calvary and they were drawn upward by the pull of God’s love. Remember that the Lord Jesus had told others that if He was lifted up, He would draw all men to Him (John 12:32). Malachi took this approach as we shall see as we continue to study these verses.

I. God’s Love Declared

“I have loved you,” says the LORD.

Malachi, wisely, began in the right place. He, too, wanted to lift his people out of their apathy and rebellion. And he began with the love of God. His first words were the words of God, “I have loved you, says the Lord.” God’s love as the motive for service is found throughout the Bible. Paul told the Corinthians about his beatings, troubles, hardships, distresses, etc. (2 Corinthians 6:3–5). And he also told them why he did it, “The love of Christ compels us . . . [for] One died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:14). John said, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). In essence Malachi is saying, “I make all my appeals from a God who loves you.”

II. God’s Love Doubted

“Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ “

So . . . the people had their doubts. They essentially asked God for proof. The all-important thing about a question like this is how it is asked. It can rise from the anguish of a suffering person who wants to believe. Or it can rise from the anarchy of a selfish person who wants to justify their wrongdoing. The real culprit may not be our circumstances but our carnal nature. Like Adam, who said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me” (Genesis 3:12), we want to blame God for our evil.

Whatever the reason, the basic problem with Malachi’s people, the reason they disobeyed, dishonored, and even disliked the Lord (Malachi 1:6–2:9) was that Satan had convinced them that God did not love them. He put their eyes on their burdens and blinded them to their blessings. The promises of the prophets about a glorious future had not yet been realized. They saw themselves as a puny people, in a puny land, worshipping in a puny temple, and so they offered their “puny” God their puny service. Their repeated disappointments gave birth to doubt and even to anger. In essence, their reply to Malachi was, “If God loves us we’d sure like to see the evidence of it.”

To answer their prideful denial, God points to the evidence, His love activated, working, blessing, making a difference in their lives. God’s love is well defined as “active good will.” I’ve saved a little poem from the past that is so right:

A song is not a song until we sing it
A bell is not a bell until we ring it
Love wasn’t put in our hearts to stay
Love is not love until we give it away

And God did give. He gave and gave and gave again until that day on the cross He gave His Son. The Bible does not say, “God so loved the world that He sent a committee or a messenger with a note saying ‘I love you.’ ” It says very straight-forward, He gave His only-begotten Son.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.