Gloriographs by Rick Reynolds

1 The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. 2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; 3 but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” 4 Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever.” 5 Your eyes will see this and you will say, “The Lord be magnified beyond the border of Israel!” Malachi 1:1–5

Those trying to wipe Israel off the face of the map should understand a little history. While Esau was the firstborn of twins, God elected to favor Jacob, also known as Israel. Malachi uses the terms “loved” and “hated.” Israel he has loved. Esau he has hated.

Everyone knows where Jerusalem is, but the mountains where Esau settled to the southeast in Jordan, known as Edom, or Mount Seir, have been desolate for hundreds of years. Edom is notorious in that Moses was denied passage through the country to reach the promised land, a fateful decision from which the region never recovered.

16 “But when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. 17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s highway, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.” 18 Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” Numbers 20:16–18

In 300 BC, the Nabataeans conquered Edom and built the magnificent city of Petra there (one of the modern “seven wonders of the world,” inhabited by up to 30,000 people at one time) but true to Malachi’s prophecy, it too, was gradually abandoned to nomads after occupation by the Romans ended after 100 AD. Aiding the process were two devastating earthquakes in 363 and 551 AD. Now it is only seen by purposeful travelers, and as a “set” in the movie “Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail.”

 ⁷ I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns. ⁸ I will fill its mountains with its slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain by the sword will fall. ⁹ I will make you an everlasting desolation and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 35:7-8

Interestingly, Petra was known as a funerary city where royal funerals were held. Over 1,000 tombs have been counted there. Thus, the reference to “jackals” in Malachi’s prediction. In the ancient world, this smallish wolf-like dog-like creature was renowned for devouring the dead and dying that lay strewn on the battlefield after dark. “They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals.” (Psalm 63:10) There’s more on the jackal below.

The jackal was therefore connected to death or the underworld. Seeing a jackal was considered a warning that the person, or someone close to them, was in danger. In the Bible the jackal is mentioned over a dozen times as a symbol of abandonment, loneliness, and desolation. http://www.study.com

Malachi’s prophecy remains fulfilled today. If you look at the area using Google Earth you will see only ruins, while to the northwest a flyover of Israel shows dense cities, greenery, and plotted agricultural land, and the densely populated city of Jerusalem.

But if you know Israel’s history, you’ll be interested to find that it, too, was practically abandoned for hundreds of years but was amazingly richly repopulated beginning in the late 1940s. Mark Twain (Samuel Clements), who traveled there in 1867, said this about the barren country. It “sits in sackcloth and ashes.” As to Jerusalem, once the “stateliest name in history,” he described it as “rags, wretchedness, poverty, and dirt…mournful, and dreary, and lifeless.”

But now Jerusalem is fully revived and the epicenter of current world events, and will be so for all time. Its presence and role prove the sovereign power of God to elect and the veracity of His prophetic word. There is much to be said about Israel’s future in the Bible, much of which has yet to occur. It would be best to conduct your own “flyover” of God’s word to see for yourself the Lord’s favor on Israel throughout scripture. It has in no way been “replaced!”

God loves and has a plan and purpose for Israel. Nobody will be successful in eliminating Israel. Her story has already been written. Hear the words of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon.

⁷ How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” 2 Chronicles 9:7-8