“A Shining Glimmer of Hope at the End of The Age Series”
Malachi Expository 12-Part Series
“Forgotten Love” Malachi 1.2-5
2 of 12
June 30, 2013 Chester FBC Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction
A Malachi 1:2-5 (NASB)
2 "I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have You loved us?" "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob; 3 but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness." 4 Though Edom says, "We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins"; thus says the LORD of hosts, "They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the LORD is indignant forever." 5 Your eyes will see this and you will say, "The LORD be magnified beyond the border of Israel!"
1 50 years have passed since Israel had returned from Babylonian exile.
a Walls repaired, Temple rebuilt, nation restored.
b Nation was hurting and needing a fresh word from God.
aa God sent Malachi with a final word before a 400 year silence.
bb 400 years from the writing of Malachi’s prophetic word the world would hear John the Baptist & see Jesus the Nazarene.
2 We need a fresh word today!
B Israel had forgotten that God loved them and in turn had stopped loving God.
1 Is there anything more heartbreaking than unrequited love (love not returned?)
a The nation had no king, her priests were corrupt.
b What was God’s last word to the nation before a 400 year silence? “I love you.”
2 Let’s look at how Israel’s lack of love towards God can help us double down/ go all in with our love towards Him.
I Show Your Love While You Can.
A For centuries the Jewish people had recited “Shema” (Deut. 6.4-5) as part of their daily prayers. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, The Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.”
1 Israel had got to the point that they questioned God’s love for them and why should they love a God whose love they doubted?
2 Malachi exposes the nakedness of Israel’s forgotten love for God in the text, “How hast Thou loved us?” (1.2)
a Maybe they were ignorant of His love: (They just didn’t know God loved them.)
aa Their economy, families, priesthood, nation were all in the toilet - - - if God loves us He sure has a weird way of showing it!
bb It’s not uncommon to hear people say, “If God loved us there wouldn’t be tornados, 9/11, financial crisis, starving kids, divorce, custody, heart attack, lost my spouse.”
cc Problems/adversity/tragedy/loss are not signs that God doesn’t love us!
b Maybe it was ingratitude to His love: (They knew of God’s goodness but failed to be thankful.)
aa Israel, in spite of their sins, was still operating in God’s favor.
bb When compared to Edom, whose lands had been ravaged/lost, Israel was doing pretty good.
cc They could still be captivity, wall stills down, Temple unbuilt . . . God had been blessing them, yet they questioned God’s love with ungrateful hearts.
dd In spite of all of our problems (health, finances, relationally) we all have something to be thankful to God for!
c Perhaps they were indifferent to His love: (I don’t care if God loves me or not.)
aa Their love for YHWH had waxed cold.
bb In Rev. 2.4, Jesus mentions the sins of seven churches in Asia Minor with the Church of Ephesus being first at bat.
Revelation 2:4 (NASB)
4 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
cc He didn’t address bad theology, bad giving, bad attitude, bad behavior first . . . Jesus address “love” first!
dd Why love first? Lack of love for God is the source for all other sin!
B Thomas Carlyle & his wife had been married for decades but he never fully appreciated, reciprocated, or appreciated his wife’s love for him until she passed away.
1 He wrote, “Oh, that I had but five minutes to tell you all . . .”
a He didn’t awaken to how much his wife loved him until it was too late to respond to it.
b We won’t always have the ones we love around to tell them how much we love, appreciate, respect, grateful we are to them! Do it now while we can.
2 It’s sadly easy for us to grow ungrateful, indifferent to the love our God & Savior, Jesus Christ.
a What have you done for me lately? Blessed me today?
b We forget about the blessings, mercies, & faithless of the past.
T.S.: It’s important to remember to show our love to God now as it is also important that experience His love right now.
II Get Your Love While You Can.
A Jacob & Esau were the fraternal twins of Isaac & Rebekah.
1 (v.2b-3a) “yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau.”
a Jacob & Esau were fraternal twins (Dizygotic as opposed to monozygotic)
aa The boys shared the same womb but were two separate eggs and seeds.
bb Genesis 25:23 (NASB)
23 The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger."
b Why God chose Jacob to bless over Esau is hidden in the eternal counsels of eternity. (We don’t know.)
aa There was nothing Jacob had that made him better than Esau, but didn’t chose Esau (the oldest), but the youngest.
bb Jacob was known as a supplanter (one who cheats to get what he wants that rightfully belongs to another. ie.; claim jumper.)
2 These twins (Jacob & Esau) represented the two nations spoken of by Malachi in our text, Israel & Edom.
a The nation of Edom (Edomites) have faded from the pages of eternity: there land was destroyed, became the playground for desert jackals. (v.3-4)
b Jacob’s people, Israel, has been blessed, prevailed, & exists today not because of Churchill, Truman, United Nations but because God loved them and loves them still!
c If God loves you He will not ever stop loving you.
aa The reason why the world/Satan hates Israel so much is that are proof, evidence, witnesses to the existence of the God of the Bible!!!!
bb Also proof that if God loves you, even if you fall down or fall away, you get to make a comeback!
B The Bible is clear when it speaks that not everybody enjoys the favor/blessing/honor/joy/peace of being like Jacob.
1 Matt. 25.31-34, "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
(Sheep/Goats)
a Matt. 13.30, “'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'" (Wheat/Tares)
b Rom. 9.10-15 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, " THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER." 13 Just as it is written, " JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED."14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, " I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION."
2 Some people will say, “I have trouble with God hating Esau. That’s messed up, isn’t it?”
a My concern is that He’d love either one of them?
b Both were obviously flawed, damaged, imperfect: Why would the Lord be willing to be called the “God of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob?”
aa “Jacob I loved, Esau I hated.”
bb God can chose to love anybody He wants . . . or deny anybody He wants.
C The Bible doesn’t stop with Jacob/Esau, sheep/goats & wheat/tares.
1 There are the saved/lost, Chosen/not chosen, Born of the Spirit/Born of the Flesh . . . loved/hated.
a How do I know if I’m a sheep/wheat/saved/Chosen/Born of the Spirit? Saved? Loved/Hated
b 11 [ For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]
Matt 18:11 (NASB)
aa How?
bb Rom. 10.9-13; 9 That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, " WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for " WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE Lord WILL BE SAVED."
2 God grace was not just for Israel but also for all who trust Jesus Christ for salvation. (Is Christ your Savior? If He is then you are chosen, saved, etc.)
a If you have never called out to Jesus Christ to save you, then at this moment, you are not chosen/sheep/etc.
b I can’t tell you why He loves us, wants us . . . but I’m glad He does!
3 Over the years I’ve heard people tell me God doesn’t love them/incapable of being loved by God because they don’t deserve it.
a God’s love isn’t based on what you’ve done, human merit.
aa Rom 5.8, “8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
bb If we had to be worthy of God’s love, there isn’t one of us in the room that would be loved by God.
b Paul says, “For by grace are you saved through faith . . .” Eph.2.8
aa John says, (1 John 4.10,19);
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
bb 19 We love, because He first loved us.
c How can He love us like that?
aa We don’t have to explain it to experience it.
bb We don’t have to understand it to accept it
cc You can experience it by accepting it!
III See Your Love While You Can
A “ . . . your eyes will see this . . .”v.5
1 “See” means to see w/ understanding, perceive, discern what you’re looking at, in this case, “How Great God is over all the earth!”
a God had given them an opportunity to give Him glory.
aa Brought from Babylon, rebuilt Temple, restored nation.
bb They had a fresh start, poised for national revival.
b They blew it because they didn’t “see” it!
aa In fact, Malachi’s letter is an expose of how Israel messed up/missed out God’s opportunity for them.
bb Tithes, offerings, marriages, church, sacrifices, etc.
2 It was so close but they didn’t see it while they had the opportunity.
B Are you seeing His glory today?
1 The Bible says, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him.” (Rev. 1.7)
a You have an opportunity today to “see” Him, understand that He loves you (undeservedly & unconditionally.)
b A time is coming when the whole earth will confess His greatness.
aa You and I have the responsibility to tell the world now about what we’ve already seen! What we already know!
bb We should only see what He has down for us, but we are also obligated to tell it to others.
2 If you know Him in your life, show Him in your life.
Conclusion:
A Israel had forgotten God’s love for them. (Missed tremendous opportunity)
1 God went silent for 400 years but His last words to Israel were “I have loved you . . . and love you still.”
a We have an opportunity today. . .
aa Show your love while you can.
bb Get your love while you can.
cc See your love while you can.
b Don’t be like Malachi’s Israel and miss your opportunity to glorify God!
2 It’s easy to forget God loves us as we experience tough times as individuals, families, congregation . . . but He does.
a Difficulties are not indicators that God doesn’t love us!
b Our struggles are opportunities to declare the glory of God before a watching world.
aa I’m hurting, sick, wounded, broken . . . but my God loves me still!
bb Every difficulty is a change to demonstrate to others what the Lord can do for those who put their trust in Him.
cc In fact, when life hits the fan see it as an opportunity to “double down” and say I’m all in.
B The big sin of Israel was the sin of complaining.
1 Instead of declaring the greatness of God, they questioned His grace/greatness/love.
a Doesn’t the world have enough witnesses to how bad things are? Bleak our nation is?
b We need witnesses for God who will demonstrate/declare that they have experienced God’s grace & power.
2 He loves you and He won’t stop.
a Don’t spurn His love through ignorance, ingratitude, and indifference.
b Experience the love the God through the work of Christ on the Cross.
3 Pray (Invitation for salvation & double down)
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