How Have You Loved Us?

Chosen and Still Chosen

What do you say to someone who has taken advantage of you, rejected you, and treated your love with contempt? How do you respond to a person who has drained you emotionally and pushed aside every attempt at reconciliation? How do you even begin a conversation with someone who seems closed, distant, and uninterested in restoring the relationship?

Most of us might say, “Better to walk away. It’s over.” But what if that person is someone you deeply love, someone you cannot simply erase from your heart? What if that person is your own child? Would you turn away forever, or would you try one more time, even after being wounded so many times?

This is precisely the scene we enter as we open the book of Malachi. Here we encounter two wounded parties: God and Israel. In this book, Israel represents you and me. Israel’s history is marked by rebellion, deep persecution, and suffering. Yet in a remarkable and tender way, God Himself shares in that pain.

This book brings the Eternal God down to our level, revealing Him not as distant but as deeply caring and personally involved in His people’s suffering. At one point, the prophet tells us, “You have wearied the Lord with words, but how can one weary the divine?” The word יָגֵַע (yāgēaʿ) means to toil, to labor, even to be fatigued. What we will learn in this great book is that God is not indifferent to our words or our wounds. He listens, He feels, and He invites us to speak to Him honestly yet reverently, because our relationship with Him is as important as it is real.

Let us consider the first part of vs. 2, whose message is so rich. “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” These powerful words could almost sound like a conclusion, a kind of farewell statement at the end of a long and painful history spanning nearly 1,500 years, from Abraham to Malachi.

The Lord begins His address to Israel with a simple yet profound declaration, “I have loved you.” Here, both the Lord and Israel stand at the close of a difficult chapter in history. With these words, God invites His people to look back and recognize how present He has been throughout their journey, through their trials, failures, and sufferings. His footprints were always there, even when they went unnoticed.

In effect, God says, “I was always with you. I carried you the whole way. Remember the cloud that guided you through the wilderness. Remember the manna and the water from the rock. Remember how I delivered you from the Canaanites. Remember Samuel, Samson, Gideon, Ruth, and Hannah. Remember that I remained faithful, even when you did not see it.”

Yet Israel’s response to God is, “How have You loved us?” At first glance, this may sound arrogant or even disrespectful. But when we consider God’s answer, it becomes clear that Israel’s question was sincere, born of a history of deep and prolonged suffering. Yes, Israel remembered God’s hand upon them, both in restoration and in punishment. This continues today as we read Jewish prayer liturgy, which reflects these laments. It echoes the existential question that Tevyeh, from Fiddler on the Roof, asked of God. He said, “We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t You choose someone else?” pointing to the heavy burden and suffering they faced in their daily lives. Yet Tevyeh asks this with humility, respecting God’s goodness in all His plans for these people. The Jews at the time of Malachi also remembered God’s interventions, but they asked, at what cost?

They remembered centuries of pain, exile, and loss. From their perspective, they had suffered greatly; in the Holy Spirit’s assessment of their history, they have paid double for their sins, as we read in Isaiah 40. So beneath their question lies a deeper struggle: Is this what it means to be the chosen people?

That tension between divine love and human suffering lies at the very heart of Israel’s response to God’s expression of love. That same question still rings true today, after another 2,000 years. After the suffering in the Diaspora following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., after the Holocaust, in which six million Jews perished, and after more recent tragedies, such as the events of October 7, 2023, and the latest murders at Bondi Beach, they ask, “How have You loved us?” This question has not faded over time; it has grown even louder. Was it worth it for Israel to be the chosen people?

God’s response to Israel’s words is among the most touching of all; we will consider it in our next study. To answer the question, was it worth it for Israel to be the chosen people, the answer is a resounding yes, absolutely yes!

Let us see how some Bible heroes have faced this dilemma. David could have echoed Israel’s question. After being anointed king by Samuel, he spent more than ten years fleeing Saul, who sought to kill him. David, too, could have asked, “Lord, how have You loved me?” In many of the Psalms, we hear him wrestle honestly with that very tension. The same could be said of Paul. After tirelessly proclaiming the gospel, suffering illness, facing relentless opposition, and enduring multiple shipwrecks, he too might have asked that same question.

Others, such as Abraham, whose faith was tested again and again, even to the end of his life, or Daniel, Job, and many others, fall into this category. Perhaps even you, though you know Yeshua and have received Him as your Savior, still face rejection, opposition, or persecution because of your faith. The question is universal. So is the answer.

God’s love is not negated by suffering, and His calling is never in vain. This is at the core of His mighty response, which we will consider in our next study.

Imagine hiking through unfamiliar terrain with a folded map in your hands. The path is steep, the turns are confusing, and several times you are sure you must be going the wrong way. You pause often, frustrated, wondering why the route seems so unnecessarily complicated. Only after the journey is over do you unfold the map.

Suddenly, everything makes sense. The sharp turns kept you from dangerous cliffs. The long detours avoided impassable ground. The steep climbs brought you to places you could never have reached otherwise. What felt random was intentional. What felt like a long delay was protective. What felt confusing guided you safely forward. So, it is with our lives. When we live under the protection of the Savior and have received Yeshua as our personal Redeemer, we can be confident that nothing in our lives happens by chance. Every step is measured, every season permitted, and every trial given according to the strength and faith God is cultivating within us.

And one day, when we look back, we will realize that the path itself was proof of His presence. He was not absent; He was guiding us toward our future. Only then do we see that He never left the trail. He led the journey all the way.

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