With the completion of Revelation last week, I was praying about what book to go through for the next devotional series. Why not explore the last book in the Old Testament since we covered the last book in the New Testament? The book of Malachi shows how God was and will continue to be faithful to His covenant promises, even when His children are and continue to be unfaithful.
God starts out
his message with a declaration of love. However, the Israelites question God’s
love, despite seeing God’s faithful, patient, and gracious love for them throughout
the Bible.
Malachi 1:1-5 A prophecy: The word of
the Lord to Israel through Malachi.
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, 3 but
Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a
wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
4 Edom may say, “Though we have been
crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.”
But this is
what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will
demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the
wrath of the Lord. 5 You will see it with your
own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord—even beyond the borders of
Israel!’
Malachi used the question-and-answer
format, which was different from other prophets. He first declares God’s love
for Israel, but they doubted His love. God pointed out that He chose to love Jacob
(Israel) and bring about His salvation plan through Jacob’s descendants. God
wouldn’t fall out of love for Israel and He won’t fall out of love for the rest
of His followers either.
God would fulfill His
promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would send Jesus to live a perfect
life, die for sinners and rise again, granting eternal life to all who believe.
They were to be amazed at God’s faithfulness then, and we are today too. We can
declare “Great is the Lord” as we witness God’s amazing work in and through
those around us and ourselves.
God and His love are always
great, but we don’t always recognize it or feel it. Like the Israelites, have
you ever questioned God’s love for you? Will you journal or write down ways you
know God loves you? On a day when you might doubt God’s love, you can go back
to your list and be encouraged. Our promise-keeping God never stops loving His
children!
