May 13, 2012
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.
