Today I read Malachi 1, which talks about God’s treatment of Esau and God disliking the priests’ offerings and attitude. Today I considered that God can limit our adversaries, God wants us to sincerely honor Him, and waiting a little bit is sometimes the better choice.
Fall of Edom
God shows his love for Jacob in his treatment of Esau (Malachi 1:1-5). God hated Esau. God destroyed Esau’s legacy including Edom. Even if Edom is rebuilt God will destroy it again. God can limit our adversaries for us just as he limited Esau’s Edom.
Sins of the Priesthood
God expects the priests to honor him and knows the Gentiles will (Malachi 1:6-14). God dislikes the priests’ unclean bread and lame and sick animal offerings. God prefers the pure incense offering from the Gentiles. God also prefers the Gentiles attitude of seeing God as great over the priests’ tiredness in doing offerings to God. God wants us to honor him in both our gift and our attitude.
Questions and Thoughts for Today
When I think about God hating Esau, loving Jacob is only part of the reason. Esau rejected the responsibility of taking care of his family as the firstborn for a bowl of soup. I know he was hungry at that moment but if he cared at all he could have waited. It would not have taken Esau that long to get more food and not make that promise. We also need to sometimes wait a second, think about what we are doing before making promises. Other solutions may be closer than we think.
When have you ever been glad that you waited even a few hours or a day before making a final decision?