As Malachi began his
prophecy concerning “the burden of the word of the Lord”,
he wrote God's first words toward Israel - “I have loved you”,
and though Israel questioned God's love, God assured them that his
choice was “Jacob” over “Esau”. In chapter one and verse
three of Malachi's prophecy we see just how emphatically against
“Esau” God was where we read:
And I hated Esau, and
laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the
wilderness.
The
verse begins, “And I hated Esau,...” The
Lord God had Malachi write that He “hated”
which means “to hate, be hateful toward” “Esau”
which means “Hairy”. Notice too that this is a continuation of
the last verse and is connected by the word “and”.
God is determined to let “Israel” know that He loves them, and by
having them recall His selection of them over “Esau” they should
remember that He loves them dearly.
The
verse continues, “and laid his mountains and his heritage
waste for the dragons of the wilderness.” To
further His dedication toward the people of Israel, God relays to
them two things He did to “Esau”
whom He hated. First, He “laid his mountains”
which refers to God “setting aside or making for a sign for” the
mountains in which Esau dwelt. Secondly, God made Esau's “heritage”
or “possession, property, inheritance, or portion” “waste
for the dragons of the wilderness” which means “devastation
or desolation” for the “habitations of jackals” which lived in
the “wilderness” or “uninhabited plain country”. Not
only was Esau's land made for waste in the wilderness, but so was any
hope for future generations to inherit their substances.
Upon consideration of this
verse we may be inclined to wonder why God would choose one person
over another to love. In other words, why would God love Israel and
hate Esau? The answer is that God is Sovereign and All-Knowing, and
He knew that Esau would despise Him. Israel, though they would go
away from the Lord in their relationship at times, would return to
the Lord. Because of Esau's rejection of the Lord, the Lord rejected
them and made an example of them through their desolation. As we
relate this to our lives we can ask ourselves this question, have we
so rejected the Lord that He would reject us like He did Esau? Let
the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God be with us as we consider
our position with God once again, and remember there is no love like
God's love, and if we reject Him there is not a hate in the world
that compares to when He is against us.
Next
time we will see Esau's reaction to God's promise against them,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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