The Despicables
My previous post looked at how Esau despised his relationship with his father when he sold his birthright. While researching the Hebrew word "bazah" (Strong's # H959), translated as "despise" in Genesis 25:34, I found that it was disproportionately represented in the book of Malachi which is just 52 verses long. On average every 10 verses there is a reference to despising something and the opening verses are all about Esau. I felt this was no coincidence and on rereading Malachi it was obvious that people of Israel were despising their birthright. They had been miraculously returned to the land of Israel after 70 years of captivity in Babylon and yet the nation, especially the priests, were far from God and their society was in spiritual decline. At this point the prophet Malachi is sent by God to call the nation back to Him. Eight questions Malachi is written as a dialogue between God and Israel about their relationship with Him. God starts the conversation w...