Malachi 1:2

"“I have loved you,” says the LORD. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says the LORD, “Yet I loved Jacob;"

Key Reflection

This verse challenges Israel's understanding of God's love, emphasizing that just as God loves both Esau and Jacob but shows preferential treatment to Jacob, so too does He extend His special favor to the covenant people despite their flaws. It underscores the mystery and sovereignty of God’s grace, highlighting that His chosen ones receive more of His lovingkindness, even when undeserving.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

I have loved you, saith the Lord -What a volume of God’s relations to us in two simple words, “I-have-loved you” . So would not God speak, unless He still loved. “I have loved and do love you,” is the force of the words. When? And since when? In all eternity God loved; in all our past, God loved. Tokens of His love, past or present, in good or seeming ill, are but an effluence of that everlasting love.

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