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"I have been loving you (the Israelites) said Yahveh, but I hated Esau, and I made his
mountains a desolation, and his heritage for the desert serpents... O Priests! Who scorn my name, you bring abominable bread
to my altar! And you bring a blind (defective) animal to my altar. Would you bring such a thing as a present to your (Persian)
governor?" Malachi 1:2-8
The prophesies of Malachi conclude the entire order of the Prophets within the Tanach. Like
Haggai and Zechariah before him, he lived after Israel's return from Babylon. After reminding the people
that Yahveh loves them and hates Esau, Malachi proceeded to severely rebuke them. What does
Esau have to do with his rebuke to Jacob?
The connection with Esau refers to Esau's conduct at the end of the First Temple Period. In the last
Babylonian invasion of Judah in 586 BC, 'brother' Edom (identified with Esau in Genesis 36:1) took advantage of Judah's weaknesses
to raid their territory and ravage the land. Isaiah refers to this event with the words: "Who is this comming from Edom,
in blood-red garments." (Isaiah 63:1) Obadiah also prophesied against Esau - very likely for this reason. This cowardly
act on the part of a neighboring 'brother' rankled with the Jews for hundreds of years. Retribution finally came to 'Esau'
under the Maccabees when the king, John Hyrcanus conquered Edom in 120 BC and forcibly converted the population from paganism
to Judaism. That 'victory' only lasted for a short time: unseemly squabbles between rival Hasmonean families and their supporters
for the succession to the throne enabled the son of one such convert (according to Josephus) - Herod the Great - to take
advantage and, with the backing of Rome, usurp the throne (37 BC), massacre the Hasmoneans, and firmly lock Judea into the
Roman Empire, with all its disastrous consequences.
Isaac said when he blessed Esau: "By the sword you shall live, and
your brother you shall serve. Yet it will be that when you are aggrieved, you may cast off his yoke from upon your neck."
Genesis 27:40
This prophecy is saying that if Israel transgresses the Torah and is undeserving of dominion, Esau
will have the right to take their blessings - then you may cast the (Israelite) yoke from upon your neck.
This principle underlies the connection between Esau and Yahveh's severe warnings through Malachi to the
descendants of Jacob. He implied that Israel would only be able to continue to enjoy Yahveh's protection and guidance
if they behaved as their forefather did. Jacob was a 'simple man who lived in tents'. (Genesis 25:27) The word 'simple'
means that he was an honest, straightforward personality. That contrasted with Esau who 'hunted with his mouth' through deceptions.
(Genesis 28)
This verse links with Malachi's expression of Yahveh's wrath against the Temple offerings. He rebuked the
people for bringing "the blind, the lame, the sick" (cheaper offerings) for sacrifice, but such offerings could
not deceive God, who knows the difference! And those responsible for allowing such deceptions were in effect worse
than Esau, for though Esau deceived his father as to the nature of his personality - Israel attempted to deceive
the Creator Himself! Such deceit prepared the ground for another rise of Esau's descendants.
Whenever Israel behaved like Esau, Edom was permitted to rise against them.
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