Having returned to their homeland after a long, hard exile in Babylon, the people of Judah wondered if the Lord really did love them. In response, God sent them the final prophet writer in the Old Testament, Malachi. He assured them that, yes, God loved them as much as He always had, but still had a few concerns about them to bring up. The prophet begins his message in Malachi chapter 1:
1 This is the message that the Lord gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi.
2 “I have always loved you,” says the Lord.
But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”
And the Lord replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, 3 but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.” Malachi 1:1-3 (NLT)
God chose to initiate the loving relationship with His chosen people through the call of Abram, later renamed Abraham. Though God promised to make Abraham a great nation through his descendants, he still had to wait twenty-five years before his and Sarah’s promised son, Isaac, would be born. After Isaac was grown, he married Rebekah and had twin sons of his own, Esau and Jacob. God chose the younger of the twins, Jacob, to be father of the twelve tribes of Israel. These included his fourth son, Judah, in whose line the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would be born. It was through this line that God would extend and expand His loving gift of salvation to all the world, through faith in Christ.
Taking a closer look at Jacob and Esau, the subjects of Malachi’s message, leads to a bit of a surprise. Young Jacob would be one of the last people one might select for such an important position as patriarch of the twelve tribes. Often crafty, manipulative, or outright deceptive in his youth, Jacob was a person we normally might want to shy away from. But God saw the great spiritual potential for faith in his heart. And faith and love are what God is all about.
Jacob’s hard edges would ultimately be whittled down by life’s difficult circumstances, many placed before him by another, more cunning and deceitful person than he, his uncle, and future father-in-law, Laban. Jacob’s relationship with Laban would prove to be one long challenge, and in desperation, would bring Jacob to the point of humble surrender before His loving God, and bring him relief and deliverance, through faith.
God also revealed through Moses the great love that He has always had for Israel, the lineage of Jacob.
14 “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. 15 Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today. Deuteronomy 10:15 (NLT)
Despite their mutual bloodline, Malachi states that God rejected Esau while extending tremendous grace and favor to his brother Jacob. Why is that? I believe it is because Jacob would ultimately open his heart to God, while Esau apparently rejected faith all the days of his life, and his lineage did the same.
The relationship between these twin brothers had always been contentious. While Esau was often out hunting and bringing back delicious meals for his approving father, Isaac, Jacob stayed home and was the favorite of their mother. Over time, Esau came to hate Jacob. He believed that Jacob “stole” two things from him, 1) his birthright as the first born and 2) their father Isaac’s spiritual blessing. This blessing was a big event, and all the family members believed its importance and power. God honored Isaac’s blessing, even though Jacob acquired through deceit, and Esau would then turn his back on God and his family.
In the end, God’s love for Jacob and his line was because of their faith. This message was true in Malachi’s time and it is true for us today. The Lord does loves us all. If at some point in our life, we have even a kernel of faith, His love and protection will flow over us like a river, and cause this seed of faith to grow. This is not because of any great thing we have done, but simply because of the loving character and nature of God, our Creator and Sustainer.
What about the “Esau’s” of the world who reject the Lord? There are many. God is biding His time before His final judgment, making sure that every accommodation is made to draw as many people as possible to Himself for a saving faith relationship. As the apostle Peter wrote:
9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT)
The apostle Paul prayed that the new believers in Ephesus would comprehend the love that God has for each one of us, accessible through faith in Him.
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, 17 and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19 (HCSB)
Despite the perception that one has to be perfect to be called a saint, ALL believers are considered to be saints in the eyes of God. He extends His pure righteousness upon us, through Christ. This is a great section of scripture to pray over our loved ones, or for anyone that God has placed on our hearts.
May you experience all of the blessing and love offered through faith in the Lord today.
Reflection
Who is the Lord placing on your heart to pray for?
Father God, we pray for the individuals that You have placed on our heart. May they be strengthened in their inner being through Your Spirit, and may the Messiah dwell in their hearts through faith. May they experience and know the length, height, and depth of the great love Jesus has for them, love so great that He went to the cross in our place. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Have a blessed and beautiful day in the love of the Lord today.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 