The first mystery is that God would choose us to begin with.  (1:2-3).  Many people have a problem with “I hated Esau.”  The real problem is not with “I hated Esau,” but with “I loved Jacob.”  Both Jacob and Esau were sinners.  They were wicked men who deserved the condemnation of God for their deeds.  It is no mystery to me that God hated Esau.  The mystery is that He loved Jacob.

    The Israelites have never understood the grace of God.  They said, “How have you loved us?” when they should have said, “How could you love us?”  They have always felt that somehow they deserved God’s love.  But nothing can make us worthy of God’s love.  Not even suffering.  Love is an expression of God’s grace extended to those who do not deserve it.

    God chose Jacob (Israel) to begin with, not because Jacob was lovable, but because God is love and desired to work through that particular man and nation.  And God chose you and me to be His own, not because we are superior people, worthy of His love, but in spite of the fact that we are neither.

    The second mystery is that God would call us to come back.  (3:7).  Even after God chose them and gave them so many evidences of His love, Israel turned away from Him repeatedly.  In fact, as one scholar has observed, “The only covenant Israel ever knew was a broken covenant.”  While Moses was on the mount receiving the commandments in a permanent form, they broke their covenant with God by making and worshiping the golden calf.  Since they began that way and continued that way, why would God continue to call them back to His love?  I don’t know why, but I know He did.  The last book of the Old Testament is the record of God sending one more messenger to call His people back.

    We are no different from those Israelites to whom Malachi spoke.  We have made so many noble promises which we have not kept.  We have gone back from Him repeatedly.  But He continues to call us to Himself in Love.

    The third mystery is that God would cherish us as His own.  (3:16-17).  An oriental king owned everything.  When you own everything, nothing is very special.  So kings had treasure chests where they kept their most precious possessions.  God is like that.  He owns all things, but some things are His special treasures.  Malachi tells us we are Gods treasured possession:

    “A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning  those who feared the Lord and honored his name.  ‘They will be mine,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘my treasured possession.’”  (NIV margin).

    Three mysteries of God’s love:  He chose us, He calls us back, and He cherishes us.  We can never understand them.  They are true mysteries.  But we can rejoice in them and walk in the light of His love.