11 A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.[1] 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."
11 The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by
11 The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
11 A Message. God's Word to Israel through Malachi: 2 God said, "I love you." You replied, "Really? How have you loved us?" 3 and hated Esau. I reduced pretentious Esau to a molehill, turned his whole country into a ghost town."
11 The burden
11 This is the message that the Lord gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi. 2 "I have always loved you," says the Lord . But you retort, "Really? How have you loved us?" And the Lord replies, "This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, 3 but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau's inheritance into a desert for jackals."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Malachi 1:1-3
Commentary on Malachi 1:1-5
(Read Malachi 1:1-5)
All advantages, either as to outward circumstances, or spiritual privileges, come from the free love of God, who makes one to differ from another. All the evils sinners feel and fear, are the just recompence of their crimes, while all their hopes and comforts are from the unmerited mercy of the Lord. He chose his people that they might be holy. If we love him, it is because he has first loved us; yet we all are prone to undervalue the mercies of God, and to excuse our own offences.