Malachi | The Love In Discipline – Malachi 1:1-5
Many of us remember the times when our parents disciplined us as children. I personally remember sitting in my room afterwards angry and confused about what had happened. I wondered how my parents saw their actions as justified. I even doubted that my parents loved me at all. However, in the following years, I began to realize that such an interpretation of discipline is immature and inaccurate. Not only did this interpretation fail to recognize that discipline itself is an act of love, but it failed to acknowledge the countless times in the past that my parents demonstrated their love for me.
The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. “I have loved you,” says the Lord . But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord . “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’” Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!” (Malachi 1:1-5, ESV)
God’s Demonstrates His Love to Israel
The Book of Malachi opens with God responding to Israel’s accusations. “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” (Malachi 1:2 ESV). As many of us experience discipline from our parents, Israel experienced discipline from God. Because they began to worship other gods, the Lord put Israel into exile under Babylonian captivity. However, the Lord brought his people back. As He said He would, God ended the exile as it had served its purpose. God sent Israel into exile not to torment or destroy them, but to draw them closer to Himself. This is the heart of discipline. The exile was a correction in order to bring about growth, not a condemnation to bring about destruction. However, Israel did not see it this way, as they began to doubt God’s love.
As a response to this, God illustrates the love of his discipline through contrasting it with how he treats those whom he has not chosen. He describes His opposition toward the nation of Edom, which does not consist of God’s chosen people. He has shattered them and thwarts all of their efforts to rebuild. They are “the people with whom the Lord is angry forever,” (Malachi 1:4 ESV). All people constantly sin against God, but those outside God’s chosen people are met with condemnation and destruction, while His people are met with discipline. Ultimately, this is God’s display of His love to the people of Israel: that He spared them of the destruction they deserved. This is a love not based in the merit or character of the Israelites, but the merit and character of God. Such an unwarranted love’s only proper response is praise, and Israel will respond with “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!” (Malachi 1:5, ESV).
God Demonstrates His Love to Us
God’s grace extends to His own people, which currently encompasses all those in Christ. Like Israel, until the day we die we will continue to sin against the Lord, yet instead of receiving the eternal condemnation which our actions demand, Christ came and bore our punishment. He died on a cross and rose from the grave, conquering sin and death. Christ did this while we were yet sinners, so we have nothing to offer and no reason that we should be saved. God does not love us because we have earned it. He loves us because God is love.
Following Christ means confronting the reasons for which we deserve to be condemned, and encountering God’s discipline to bring us back to Him. These processes are never easy. It is during these times that understanding the basis of God’s love is crucial. Essentially, there is no basis other than His own character. Therefore, no matter the setbacks and the mistakes we make, God’s love and grace will always be extended to us. We cannot sin ourselves out of God’s love and no action we can do will make us unsavable. And like Israel, if we come to doubt God’s love, we need only to remember God’s grace and mercy demonstrated through the cross: the greatest act of love He could have done for us.
