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!’
6 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty.
“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.
“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’
7 “By offering defiled food on my altar.
“But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’
“By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.
9 “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty.
10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.
12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty.
“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.
The nation of Israel doubted God's Love...It is actually a good question, "Why does God Love us...Are we that deserving?"...God asserts His Love for His people in saying “I have loved you,” says the Lord...Throughout the history of man, we become indifferent and complacent in our relationship with God, while He remains the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow...Even Malachi writes I am the Lord, I do not change (Malachi 3:6)...The LORD is forever steadfast in His Love...
I was troubled when I first read the verses that God hated Esau, but Loved Jacob...Some theists say that Malachi uses both brothers and the word love to contrast God's Love for Jacob, versus His Love for Esau...Some compare this verse to Jacob's love for Leah and Rachel...In the King James's Version (Genesis 29:30-31), it says that the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren....The verses mean that Leah is loved less by Jacob, is comparison to his love for Rachel...
In love, and the way we love -we can become complacent and take our spouses, and even God for granted...The kind of Love that God has is like an energy that is always strong...The strength of His Love remains intense...Our love seems to have days of intensity and strength, and days when it seems the intensity dwindles...Daily routines or just the things of this world seem to make us indifferent and apathetic...Malachi tries to fire us up, tell us about our complacencies while reminding us that God is Love, and does Love us...Malachi shows a concern for his neighbors and the people of Israel...The people of the day were to show honor to God with their sacrifices...Many were bringing blemished sacrifices to Him...This showed an issue of lack of trust, some disrespect, and incompleteness in their relationship with the LORD...We as mankind get off track...I think this still happens today, in a different context -as our priorities get juggled and we change from material things, and as we look for the different desires of the day... We look for things to satisfy our daily desires, instead of looking to Him for our basic needs and His Love, and in helping our neighbors...