If you have grown forgetful of God’s love for you, never forget that we deserve the same hell that will be experienced by those who reject God. Contrast their existence without God with the grace you have received, and continue doing this until your heart wells up with gratitude.  He truly loves his children.

If you were questioning God’s love for you and the Lord was going to respond, what kind of answer would you expect him to give? If you are like me, you probably would not expect God to tell you about people he hates. However, this is precisely how God answers Israel in the book of Malachi (Mal. 1:1-5).

The people of Israel are back in the promised land after 70 years of captivity. The temple has been rebuilt, and the wall around Jerusalem has either been repaired or is in the process of being restored, but the people’s hearts are far from God.

God gives Malachi a burdensome message to deliver to Israel. The book of Malachi carries several heavy discourses dealing with topics such as Israel’s polluted worship, their unfaithfulness to the covenant, and even robbing God. Still, God starts by telling them that he loves them (Mal. 1:2).

The problem with this message of love is that Israel does not believe it. They are blind to spiritual realities. They question God by asking, “How have you loved us?” God responds to their question with another question. “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother (Mal. 1:2)?” Why does God do this? He does it because understanding the contrast between Jacob and Esau is the key to understanding God’s love for them.

Esau was Jacob’s twin brother. Not only was he Jacob’s brother, he was the older brother. If one of the two were worthy of greater honor, it would be Esau, but God chose the younger. Both are offspring of Abraham, but the covenant of grace flows through Jacob (Israel) and not Esau (Edom).

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