“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals. ”
The LORD contrasts Jacob, whom He loved, with Esau, whose inheritance He laid waste.
This verse begins God's answer by appealing to sovereign distinction and historical judgment.
1This is the burden of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi: 2“I have loved you,” says the LORD. 3“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals. ” 4Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the LORD is indignant forever. 5You will see this with your own eyes, and you yourselves will say, ‘The LORD is great — even beyond the borders of Israel.’”