God’s Blessings and Our Hope

 

God’s Blessings and Our Hope 

Mal 1:3-5

SUBJECT: CHOSEN BY GOD

THEME: Be thankful for the blessings of love, privilege, and hope from God upon our personal lives, our homes, our churches, and our county.

RELEVANCE:  the Sovereign Choices of God (in the past) Concerning Israel’s General Conditions and Quality of Life Should be Viewed as an Act of His Love. 

INTRODUCTION: 

1. We have seen God’s blessings in the form of love, privileges, and now hope. Where would we be without the hope that God gives? He certainly has given us a prospering HOPE! In truth, we are inundated with a multitude of blessings from God’s generous hands and heart if we would only stop to reflect on this fact.

2. Malachi the prophet delivers God’s Word, the priests and people respond by arguing. It is a dangerous thing when people argue with God and try to defend their sinful ways.

The following insights may be seen.

MESSAGE:

I. We Enjoy Great Love from God, but Some People Ignore It (Mal. 1:1-2).

II.  We Enjoy Great Privileges from God, but Some People are Irresponsible (Mal. 1:2-3).

III. We Enjoy Great Hope in God, but Some People Still Complain (Mal. 1:3-5).

He judged the Edomites (Esau’s descendants) and gave to Israel the best of the lands. He promised Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, but, alas, their sins polluted the land. Even then, he graciously restored them to their land and delivered them from captivity.^[a]

Those, like Edom, without the sovereign blessings of God, are left in a much worse condition. Israel needed to consider what her lot would have been if she, like Edom, had not been chosen to a covenant relationship with Yahweh.

A. INSTEAD OF HOPE, GOD STOOD AGAINST THEIR PROSPERITY.  Mal. 1:3, I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

These men, the men of Edom, struggled hard to build up their kingdom and to give it wealth and power, but the product of all their labors was utterly destroyed. Their great things, their “mountains,” their wealthy things, their “heritage,” the scenes of their power, gave place to the “dragons of the wilderness.” Where is Edom now? If God has determined that the fortune you have built up after years of earnest and hard work shall be swept away, it will depart like a dream of the night. Things would be a lot worse without the blessings of God!

Israel would see the desolation of Edom, and they would acknowledge the greatness of God.^[b]

Israel, seeing God’s sovereign dealings with Edom, would have a better understanding not only of God’s love for her, but also of His greatness over all the earth^[c]

B. INSTEAD OF HOPE, GOD FRUSTRATED THEIR EFFORTS.

Malachi 1:4, Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith 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 hath indignation for ever.

Even Edom’s greatest efforts to rebuild its ruins would be frustrated by the Lord Almighty^[d]

Edom’s future prospects were as bleak as its present condition. The dispossessed Edomites boasted that they would reclaim the land and rebuild their country. Yahweh declared that they would never be able to make good on their boasts. Every time the Edomites attempted to rebuild, Yahweh would “throw them down.” The Edomites were successively beaten down by the Nabataeans, the Macedonians, the Maccabees, the Romans and the Mohammedans (1:4a).^[e]

   1.  They struggle to restore their position, labor hard to build the desolate places, but in every effort they are thwarted.  It is in vain to strive against God.

   2.  Remember that all this refers to the position or conditions of life–the material prosperity of people. God’s sovereignty is always in favor of spiritual prosperity, progress in intelligence, purity, and happiness. In all these matters men cannot labor in vain.

The Edomites shall be made the monuments of God’s justice, and he will be glorified in their utter destruction^[f]

The Israelites shall be made the monuments of his mercy, and he will be glorified in their salvation^[g]

C. INSTEAD OF HOPE, GOD ENSURED THEIR ENEMY’S PROSPERITY.

Malachi 1:5, And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel.

    1.  Edom hated Israel from the beginning, fought hard against it for centuries, struggled continually to destroy it, but all in vain. The time came when it found itself in ruins and its enemy in prosperity.

    2.  QUOTE: “The argument of these verses is this,  if you would see the difference between hatred and love, look at the different condition and prospects of Edom and Israel. The desolation with which their territory is visited is irremediable: they have no glorious future beyond: whereas the wretched condition of which you complain is but the bleakness of seed time that precedes the richest harvest.” — Dr. Dods

    3.  In Contrast, Israel was enjoying God’s blessings again with the promises of a brighter future!

Application: Being defensive and argumentative complaining is typical of feeling ashamed, hurt, guilty, or attacked by God and the prophet Malachi. When facing such convictions by the Holy Spirit a person tries to defend themselves from feeling angry, hurt, or ashamed! They perceive the truth or think that God is too harsh and critical for confronting them.

Application: Complaining is how these Jewish individuals expressed their dissatisfaction and discontentment with God. They were crying, bellyaching, and whining about how unfairly God had treated them which seem to be a part of their habitual grumbling. For them it was normal to criticize, bemoan, disagree with, and gripe about their apparent lack of hope. They saw no hope in the love of God; they didn’t even notice or counted God’s love at all.  

CONCLUSION.

Aren’t we as individuals, homes, churches, and Americans among the peoples whom God has especially blessed and smiled upon? Are these words not especially applicable to us, “I have loved you, saith the Lord”? What should we think of our country, civilization, our freedoms, our fruitful lands, our prospering hopes?

Above all, what about our Lord Jesus Christ? 1 John 4:10, Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God’s goodness being his glory, when he does us good we must proclaim him great, for that is magnifying him. It is an instance of his goodness that he has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants, and for this those that love his salvation say, The Lord be magnified, Ps. 35:27.^[h]

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you have bestowed on my life. You have provided me with more than I could ever have imagined. You have surrounded me with people who always look out for me. You have given me family and friends who bless me every day with kind words and actions. There are many more blessings to thank You for, and they are as countless as the stars in the night sky. Your grace never fails to amaze me, O God.

---

^[a] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Mal 1:1–5.

^[b] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1175.

^[c] Craig A. Blaising, “Malachi,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1576.

^[d] Craig A. Blaising, “Malachi,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1576.

^[e] James E. Smith, The Minor Prophets, Old Testament Survey Series (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1994), 623.

^[f] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1596.

^[g] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1596.

^[h] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1596.