Theological term
Post-Exilic Prophets
2 sermons · All terms
The Eighth Commandment (Part 1)
The Eighth Commandment — 'You shall not steal' (Deuteronomy 5:19) — forbids far more than simple theft. This study works through the range of sins prohibited by the command, including burglary, robbery, kidnapping, fraud in its several forms, extortion, destruction of property, and religious theft. The internal dispositions that generate these external acts — covetousness, discontentment, and the idolatry of wealth — are examined through texts in Proverbs, 1 Timothy 6, and Matthew 6. The study closes by grounding the positive duty of honest labor and cheerful giving in the grace of the gospel, through which believers are freed from the dominion of covetousness and equipped to honor God with what He has entrusted to them.
God's Love for Israel
Malachi opens not with rebuke but with the declaration 'I have loved you, says the Lord' — a foundation the prophet lays before addressing Israel's covenant failures. This sermon introduces the book of Malachi in its post-exilic historical setting and expounds the first oracle (1:1–5), in which God answers Israel's skeptical question 'In what way have you loved us?' with three lines of evidence: sovereign election (Jacob loved, Esau hated), mercy displayed in the judgment of Edom, and the expansive reach of his love beyond Israel's borders. The application presses believers to resist the temptation to condition God's love on felt blessing, and to find assurance in divine election, the cross, and the new covenant mediated by Christ.