Malachi 1:2-3 I have loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, How and in what way have You loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? says the Lord; yet I loved Jacob (Israel), ³But [in comparison with the degree of love I have for Jacob] I have hated Esau [Edom] and have laid waste his mountains, and his heritage I have given to the jackals of the wilderness.

If you are reading this for the first time it is really offensive. God teaches us to love Him, others, and even our enemies. Who gave Him a pass on hating others? Or is there another way to interpret this passage? Yes! We see the same teaching device used by Jesus in Luke 14:26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters—[yes] and even his own life also—he cannot be My disciple. In this passage, what is known as a hyperbole is being used to teach the high cost of following Jesus. What’s a hyperbole? “Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.” They are exaggerated to make the point: the cost for following Jesus is costly. But what is God saying about Jacob and Esau? He is saying that His love for Jacob was greater than it was for Esau. In other words, His preference for Israel versus Jacob made His comparative love for Esau look like hatred.

But what was it about Jacob – the deceiver; one who seeks to take the place of through any means necessary; the manipulator, and liar – that God loved or valued? Surely, it wasn’t his character traits. The Bible makes no bones about it: He hates sin! If you have ever been repelled by how offensive the crucifixion of Christ was portrayed in the Passion movie then you get a small glimpse of how much God, the Father hates sin. It is offensive to some because it took an offensive act to take care of the offensiveness of our many sins. But what was God seeing in Jacob that clearly his brother Esau did not have? Jacob valued above all things the birthright of his older brother Esau. What was the big deal? The birthright was a gift of spiritual and material inheritance. Esau valued immediate, physical needs more than the long-term spiritual and legal blessings of the birthright, Jacob sought it for its spiritual, and covenant promise value. The birthright included a double portion of inheritance, leadership of the family, and the role of the spiritual head of the household.

Not only did Jacob value the birthright he also valued the patriarchal blessing due to the first born at the father’s passing. What was the significance of the blessing? The patriarchal blessing represented prophetic promises, blessings, and a significant inheritance from God. Jacob was willing to do whatever it took to secure those blessings. You see the same thing happening when Jacob wrestles with the “Angel of the Lord” (an OT manifestation of Jesus). He wrestled through the night til sunup to secure the blessing from this visitor in the night. Now do you see what God saw in Jacob? Do you see what He loved?

What do you value in life and what have you done to secure it? Are you more like Esau or Jacob? Mt. 6:19-21 states, “Do not gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal.²⁰ But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal;²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” What gift can you give to an individual who owns everything? There is absolutely nothing you can purchase for them so what can you give them? The short answer? Yourself. Guess who God’s treasure is? You and I. How can you lay up treasures in Heaven? How can you lay before God that which is truly valuable to Him? We look for the treasures in others seeking to secure them for Jesus’ Kingdom. As the Moravians used to say, “For the reward of the Lamb and for His suffering.” Every person you have led to Christ; every person you have baptized or discipled; every person you have loved closer to Jesus – are the treasures you are laying before Jesus’ feet. One more crazy question, How many of these “treasures” will greet you when you enter through Heaven’s Gates?

Revelation 7:9 gives us a glimpse of that day: After this I looked and a vast host appeared which no one could count, [gathered out] of every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. These stood before the throne and before the Lamb; they were attired in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. How many people from the nations, tribes, peoples, and languages are there because you partnered with the Godhead in leading them there? I know I’ve got some there. Hallelujah! Do you? Imagine Billy Graham’s treasures. Whew! that will blow your mind. But guess what? In an interview on national TV, as Billy was getting older, he wept, confessing, “My life has been a failure.” If Billy Graham’s life is a failure we are all going to Hell.