Malachi 3:7-12
Malachi 3:7
(KJB)
Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from
mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto
you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
Then God begins to remind them that their present
apostasy is rooted in the apostasy which has been handed down from past
generations. They were out of Egypt
for only a few weeks and already they were going apostate.
They went so far as to make a golden calf of Apis the Egyptian Bull god
to lead them back to Egypt. In the
times of the Judges they had already begun to play the harlot with the pagan
nations which surrounded them. They
had forsaken the LORD and they had forsaken the worship of God as prescribed in
the Law of Moses. It was a miracle
of God that he did not annihilate them from off the planet.
Here God makes a statement that he wants Israel to turn back to him.
The words “Return unto me” carries with it the meaning of turn from your
evil ways and if they do that then God promises that he would return to them.
They would once again be in fellowship with the LORD and receive his
blessings and protection. Then in
their arrogance they ask the question “wherein shall we return?”
They had thought they were in full fellowship with God and wanted to know
from what sin were they committing and should they turn back from.
Malachi 3:8
(KJB)
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say,
Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Then God begins to lay out the sin they are guilty of.
Under the Mosaic Law they were to tithe all the increase which the LORD
gave them, whether financial or agricultural.
Deuteronomy 14:22 (KJV) Thou shalt truly
tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
Just like under the prophet Haggai, they became lazy and neglected the
building of the temple and here they neglected their responsibility in giving.
Here God is asking them, will a man rob God?
Then God tells them plainly that they robbed him.
Exodus 19:5 (KJV) Now therefore,
if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a
peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Then their response to the question was how were they robbing God?
Then God tells them plainly that they were neglecting their
responsibility under the law of bringing tithes and offerings.
It was not that God needed anything because the whole world and universe
belongs to him but this was set up as a program of thanksgiving unto the LORD
for the bounty that he gave to the people.
Many may have brought substance to the temple but not in the full tithe
they were supposed to. They also
neglected the program of offerings unto the LORD which would include oblations,
first fruits or other gifts.
Malachi 3:9
(KJB)
Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even
this whole nation.
It seems that the neglect of bringing the full tithe to
God’s house was wide spread throughout the whole nation and that means that the
entire nation would be cursed. They
would remain under the curse until such a time they reverse their neglect of
giving. Since they were robbing God
of tithes and offerings, the curse would have pinpointed the parsimony of the
people and placed them in a position of want, not blessing their fields or their
financial transactions. They may
have known they were under some type of curse which they should have
investigated but did not. This
curse would have even affected their food supply making food scarce because of
bad crops. This principle is
carried over into the New Testament.
2 Corinthians 9:6 (KJV) But this I
say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth
bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
If a person gives sparingly, that is, being cheap with God’s money in
hoarding it rather than giving to get the gospel out, they will experience
minimal blessings or maybe much adversity to get the attention of the person.
How many refuse to give to God’s work and then experience such things as
car repairs or home situations like water heater breaks down or something else
which costs several hundred dollars to replace or repair.
As Christians, we must have a different view of money than the world.
Wealth is not the goal but we are to use the money the Lord gives us for the
purpose of sending forth the gospel to the world.
Malachi 3:10
(KJB)
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there
may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts,
if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Then God lays out the plan which each Israelite should
follow and that is to bring all the tithes to the storehouse which at this time
was the temple because it was the center of worship.
It was probably a large room where the tithes of the people were kept and
used for holy purposes and for the food of the priests and other workers in the
temple which would be the meaning of “meat in mine house.”
Then God gives a challenge and this is the only place in the Bible where
God asks us to test him. I did this
back in 1981 when I first became saved and was deep in debt.
God proved himself mightily because within a few weeks I received a check
for $750 from somewhere and I was on my way to becoming debt free.
Since then, I did have some financial setbacks but none caused me
financial distress. In recent days,
I have been able to buy 2 cars and a house and paid them all out cash.
By God’s mercy I have not paid any interest for at least 20 years.
When the Lord says that he will open the windows of Heaven, he is not
kidding.
Let me share a blessing I had back in the 1980s which
showed God’s faithfulness. I had
received a letter from a local ministry I was involved in and they were $30,000
in arrears at that time. So the
Lord laid it on my heart to give $1,000 but at that time I only had $2,000 in
the bank but I sent the $1,000 anyway.
In a few weeks my aunt Helen calls me and asked me to come over.
I went and she gave me a gift of $2200 in face value Savings Bonds she
was saving for me since 1954. She
wanted to distribute them before she died which happened April 21, 1990.
I had taken the bonds to the bank and the interest had accrued making the
total value of the bonds to over $5000.
So for a $1,000 gift to a legitimate ministry, the Lord blessed me with
over $5,000. Now this is not name
it and claim it like we hear from the frauds on TV but this was a legitimate
blessing in response to an obedient gift.
God opened the windows of Heaven and poured out a major blessing on me.
God had made that promise to Israel that if they tithed everything, then
God would give them a blessing that there would not be room enough to receive
it. This means the bounty on their
crops would be so much, the storehouse in the temple would be filled to capacity
and maybe the tithes would have to be stored in another room.
God is not cheap with us, so why should we be cheap with him?
Malachi 3:11
(KJB)
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he
shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her
fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
Then God not only promises to deliver great blessings
because of obedient tithing but he promises to rebuke the devourer, that is, he
will restrain or put a prohibition upon Satan so he does not do any damage to
the increase of the fields. God
will restrain him for their sakes so they could fulfill their obligation of
tithing. Satan could send a swarm
of locusts to devour the fruit of the ground but God will not permit it.
Neither will he allow the vine to cast their fruit before the time, that
is, there will be no events like a sirocco, frost, wind or anything that would
cause tender fruit to fall from the vines and die on the ground.
If the people return to him, then he will grant all these blessings.
Malachi 3:12
(KJB)
And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be
a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.