Malachi 1 explained: Love Doubted, Worship Cut Short

"I have loved you" (vv. 1-3)

The people are back from exile in Babylon but still poor, and when God says he has loved them, they ask how. God points to the twin brothers Jacob and Esau, whose descendants became Israel and Edom, and "loved" and "hated" are usually read as an old way of saying "chose" and "did not choose," not as personal feelings.

Edom's ruins stay ruined (vv. 4-5)

Edom, Israel's neighbor and old rival, had been overrun, and God says its attempts to rebuild will fail while Israel will see God's greatness reach beyond its own borders. The chapter gives no reason for the harsh tone, though many interpreters connect it to memories of Edom cheering when Jerusalem fell (Psalm 137:7), and historians are not certain who conquered Edom.

Priests offering leftovers (vv. 6-9)

God asks the priests, who led worship, why they show him less respect than a son shows his father. The law required healthy animals for sacrifice, yet they accepted blind, lame and sick ones they would never dare give to the governor ruling over them.

Better to lock the doors (vv. 10-11)

God says it would be better for someone to shut the temple than to keep burning worthless offerings. Verse 11 pictures people of every nation honoring God with pure offerings, and scholars debate whether it describes the future or something already happening, while Christians have read it as pointing to worldwide worship after Jesus.

Worship as a chore (vv. 12-14)

The priests treat the altar, here called "the LORD's table," as a tiresome burden and sniff at it. The sharpest word is for the person who promises a healthy male animal but quietly swaps in a damaged one, looking generous while cheating.

Key verse: Malachi 1:6

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether God's words about loving Jacob and hating Esau, which Paul quotes in Romans 9, are about God choosing individuals for salvation or about God choosing nations for a role in history.

Something to think about

When you give time, money or attention to something you say matters most to you, is it usually your best or what's left over, and what do you make of that?