“Whereas Edom says, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus says the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord has indignation forever.”
God’s anger is for those who build what He tears down. He comes saying, “Sinner”, yet rather than repent, the sinner says, “I will fix myself, and I will be praised”, “Whereas Edom says, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus says the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down” (vs4). He says “grace”, but the sinner says, “I will work, I will serve, I will do, and I will be the reason salvation comes”. And, by this, God proves they’re not chosen, hated, “and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord has indignation forever.”
The elect are LOVED – “I have loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, Wherein have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? Says the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness” (Mal 1:2). I destroyed him, God says. Yet, we are not stronger, worthy, or better in any regard. We are SAVED because He loved us, chose us, died for us in Christ. He gave us the Spirit FREELY without cause in us – “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24).
If you’ll be saved, then look to God’s love – that pure love in Christ - as the reason why, and you shall be saved from your sins – “But cursed be the deceiver, which has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen” (Mal 1:14). Christ preaches Himself to us freely, being willing to be taken by all, but don’t offer yourself, that corrupt thing upon the altar of God, mixing your obedience with the obedience of Christ, for in doing so, you bring God dung and deny the love that He has, the Perfect Offering of the Son. If you think, “I’ll add to what Christ did”, then you and I go the way of Esau, the Edomites, and those He hates. Malachi 1:7-8 says, “You offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and you say, Wherein have we polluted you? In that you say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and sick”, our best efforts at perfection, “is it not evil? Offer it now unto your governor; will he be pleased with you, or accept your person? Says the Lord of hosts.”
The choice is yours, and if you be willing, you may take as much of God’s love as you need for everything – “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, says the Lord of hosts” (Mal 1:11). God is showing mercy to SINNERS, even though people reject Him daily. But, He is making His people worship Him in purity by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and by faith in Him. This faith that Christ is why I shall be saved, and I shall be saved indeed, is the fragrance of love and good works, as we honor God by pointing sinners to Christ, worshipping Him purely before God and men, declaring God’s love in Christ and not the sinner, is the praise in salvation.
If your religion has been wearisome, it is because God has not blessed you, because you do not come His way. We think, “I will try harder”, but it won’t work. Then, we say, “What’s the point in trying?” Yet, mercy is not dead; if God is worshiped the right way, He will give the joy promised. He says, “But you have profaned it, in that you say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. You said also, Behold what a weariness is it! And you have snuffed at it, says the Lord of hosts; and you brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus you brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? Says the Lord.” They brought a powerless christ, and saw no fruit from God. Yet, pure incense and acceptable praise are the fruits of a pure offering. Deal with Him in the Christ who has pleased God and saves by His love alone, and you are loved of God. Any other way is hate from God, forever.
The elect are LOVED – “I have loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, Wherein have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? Says the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness” (Mal 1:2). I destroyed him, God says. Yet, we are not stronger, worthy, or better in any regard. We are SAVED because He loved us, chose us, died for us in Christ. He gave us the Spirit FREELY without cause in us – “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24).
If you’ll be saved, then look to God’s love – that pure love in Christ - as the reason why, and you shall be saved from your sins – “But cursed be the deceiver, which has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen” (Mal 1:14). Christ preaches Himself to us freely, being willing to be taken by all, but don’t offer yourself, that corrupt thing upon the altar of God, mixing your obedience with the obedience of Christ, for in doing so, you bring God dung and deny the love that He has, the Perfect Offering of the Son. If you think, “I’ll add to what Christ did”, then you and I go the way of Esau, the Edomites, and those He hates. Malachi 1:7-8 says, “You offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and you say, Wherein have we polluted you? In that you say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and sick”, our best efforts at perfection, “is it not evil? Offer it now unto your governor; will he be pleased with you, or accept your person? Says the Lord of hosts.”
The choice is yours, and if you be willing, you may take as much of God’s love as you need for everything – “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, says the Lord of hosts” (Mal 1:11). God is showing mercy to SINNERS, even though people reject Him daily. But, He is making His people worship Him in purity by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and by faith in Him. This faith that Christ is why I shall be saved, and I shall be saved indeed, is the fragrance of love and good works, as we honor God by pointing sinners to Christ, worshipping Him purely before God and men, declaring God’s love in Christ and not the sinner, is the praise in salvation.
If your religion has been wearisome, it is because God has not blessed you, because you do not come His way. We think, “I will try harder”, but it won’t work. Then, we say, “What’s the point in trying?” Yet, mercy is not dead; if God is worshiped the right way, He will give the joy promised. He says, “But you have profaned it, in that you say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. You said also, Behold what a weariness is it! And you have snuffed at it, says the Lord of hosts; and you brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus you brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? Says the Lord.” They brought a powerless christ, and saw no fruit from God. Yet, pure incense and acceptable praise are the fruits of a pure offering. Deal with Him in the Christ who has pleased God and saves by His love alone, and you are loved of God. Any other way is hate from God, forever.
