Thieves In God’s House
Malachi 3.7-15
Sermon Series for Malachi (8 of 12)
July 28, 2013 Chester FBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A Malachi 3:7-15 (NASB)
7 "From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?' 8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. 9 "You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! 10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. 11 "Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes," says the LORD of hosts. 12 "All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land," says the LORD of hosts. 13 "Your words have been arrogant against Me," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against You?' 14 "You have said, 'It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the LORD of hosts? 15 ~'So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and escape.'"
1 It is unthinkable that a person would rob God but there is an even greater disaster in the text.
a The people were disobeying the Lord, and God’s blessing in their lives had been shut off.
b If you ever had your power, water, cable, internet, or gas shut off you know it isn’t fun.
c Yet, many people live with the source of blessing shut off in their lives because they are not tithing.
aa Disobedience shuts off the source of blessing.
bb Faithfulness keeps the source of blessing open.
2 The text we’ve read holds the secret to revival & prosperity.
a God called His people to return to Him (3.7) and He would reciprocate by returning to them.
Malachi 3:7 (NASB) 7 "From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'
aa They had to return because they’re the once that left in the first place. (He didn’t move away, they did.)
bb They ask, “In what way shall we return?”
b God reminds how they have departed from His Law, ordinances.
aa They had fallen under a curse (3.9) that had manifested in their finances. (Agrarian culture so their finances were crops.)
Malachi 3:9 (NASB) 9 "You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!
bb 3.11, Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes," says the Lord of hosts.
cc Crops will be ripen, vines keep their grapes on them until they are ready to harvest. (No crops, grapes. . . no money.)
c God is calling the nation to revival and it revival always starts with repentance.
aa Repentance is two things: 1) Stop doing what is wrong; 2) Start doing what is right.
bb Clearly, for revival to come & the curse to be lifted, the people had to return to the ordinance of tithes & offerings.
B Malachi tells us the proper proportion of the giving (10%), the proper place to give (“the storehouse” or the Church), and the proper purpose of tithing (“that there may be food in My House.)
I The Proper Proportion of the Giving (10%.) (V. 8)
Malachi 3:8 (NASB) 8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings.
A Malachi charged the people with robbing from God.
1 Robbing/Stealing is not only taking what is now yours but keeping for yourself what belongs to someone else.
a In this case, the people were keeping for themselves what actually belonged to God.
b God had asked them to give a “tithe,” which means “tenth.”
2 Tithing was/is a tenth of a person income.
a Tithing pre-dates the Law of Moses.
aa According to Genesis & Hebrews, Abraham was the first pay tithes in the Old Testament (Gen. 14.17-23.)
Gen. 14.17-23 (NASB) 17 Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." He gave him a tenth of all. 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself." 22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, 'I have made Abram rich.'
bb Abraham refuses the reward from the King of Sodom & receives communion from the King-Priest of Salem, Melchizedeck (type/shadow of Jesus Christ.)
cc After Abraham gets his blessing from the Priestly King, he gives his tithe of all he has.
b Tithing was later under the Law (Lev. 27.30-34)
30 'Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord'S; it is holy to the Lord. 31 ~'If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. 32 ~'For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. 33 ~' He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.'"34 These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai. Lev 27:30-34 (NASB)
B Many Christians want to believe that because they’re under grace & not the Law, then they are no longer obligated to tithe.
1 If the blood of bulls, goats, lambs, doves were worthy of 10% from worshipers under the Law, what do you think the blood of Jesus is worth?
a You’re not under the Law for Salvation, but how do we know if we’re living like we’re saved?
aa Do you love God with all your heart, mind, strength (Law.)
bb Love your neighbor as yourself? (Law.)
cc Keep Sabbath day holy (Law.)
b We are not under the Law for Salvation, we’re under the Law for Sanctification.
aa Who gave the Law? God.
bb Who is living in your heart? The giver & keeper of the Law!
2 Does God still advocate tithing? Grace giving? Sacrificial giving?
a What is the proper proportion? 10%.
b We give not because God needs anything we can bring Him.
aa He made/owns everything.
bb We bring our tithe as an act of grateful worship, it pleases Him.
cc We give because we love God and want to obey Him.
dd We give because God has been very generous to us.
C Illustration
II The Proper Place to Give (v.10)
Malachi 3:10 (NASB) 10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.
A The remedy for Israel to start doing what was right—first thing was to bring the tithe (proper proportion) to the storehouse (proper place.)
1 The tithes brought to the storehouse were used to do several things.
a Tithes were used to pay priests, maintain the house of worship, feed people during the feasts (Deut. 26.12,13), to take care of whatever emergencies that arose.
Deuteronomy 26:12-13 (NASB) 12 "When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. 13 "You shall say before the LORD your God, 'I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.
b 4 Now prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, 5 had prepared a large room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. Neh 13:4-5 (NASB)
2 The Temple served as a warehouse for the produce the Israelites brought, the Priests/Levites distributed it to do the ministry of the Temple.
a When the people failed to bring the proper proportion to the proper place, they were met with pitiful problems.
aa By robbing God, they were actually robbing themselves!
bb ' If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, 4 then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. 5 ~' Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land. 6 ~' I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. 7 ~'But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; 8 five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. 9 ~'So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. 10 ~' You will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new. 11 ~' Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. 12 ~' I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 13 ~' I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. Lev 26:3-13 (NASB)
cc God couldn’t bless them because they were not fulfilling the covenant they had made with Him.
b The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Deut 28:8 (NKJV)
aa Instead of the blessing, insects ate their crops & grapes were not maturing.
bb God’s house had work to do, and if the people didn’t tithe, the people suffered (& ministry didn’t get done.)
B Christian, your “storehouse” is your local church, where you get your spiritual food from.
1 There are lots of good charities, Christian friends, godly institutions you can give to.
a And you are welcome to give to any & all of them, but understand, before you give to any of them, your basic 10 % demanded by God should go to the “storehouse.”
b If you worshiping, hearing the preaching, taking part in the ministry, this is your storehouse!
aa It floors me when people try to tell the church how it should operate, minister, conduct itself and the people trying to get their way don’t give enough to buy a broom!
bb The robbers have taken over the Temple!
c Robbers are not the only thieves in the House of God; Terrorists Tithers (Keep their money hostage from the rest of the work of the church)
aa Mad at preacher, deacon, leader so they “designate” their giving to some fund so they determine how it is used.
bb I’m all for designated giving as long as you designate the first 10% to the storehouse (no string attached) then designate all you want to whatever you want!
2 Tithing is being financially responsible before God; failure to pay the tithe was called “robbery” in Malachi’s day; today we call it not making budget!
a I do know this, what rightfully belongs to God that we keep for ourselves never stays with us.
aa Doctor, IRS, auto body shop.
Haggai 1:6 (NKJV) 6 "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes."
bb If you don’t put it in His hands He sure won’t let you keep it!
b People who do bring their tithe to the storehouse find that whatever is left over goes much farther and bring much greater blessing.
III The Proper Purpose (“so that there may be food in My house. . .”
A The Tithe was given so ministry could happen at the Temple or that local synagogue.
1 God’s house was to be fully provided for through His people.
a God’s house was to be a testimony (v. 12) to be a witness to the other nations that their God was the true and living God.
Malachi 3:12 (NASB) 12 "All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land," says the LORD of hosts.
aa Had the Jews trusted the Lord, He would have done great things for them and they would have been a testimony to others.
bb Part of giving the tithe was to be a witness to how YHWH blesses obedience so others who are w/o Him can come to know Him & be blessed too.
b They weren’t only robbing God, they were robbing themselves & others as well.
2 Their lack of tithing was a symptom of their unfaithfulness (v.13-15)
Malachi 3:13-15 (NASB) 13 "Your words have been arrogant against Me," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against You?' 14 "You have said, 'It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the LORD of hosts? 15 ~'So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and escape.'"
a They said, “it is vain to serve God? What good does it do us?”
aa Why go to Temple? Why give? Why serve? Why minister?
bb We don’t get anything out of it.
b They were missing their blessing of being servants of the One True God by being unfaithful, disobedient to Him.
B Ministry is not free! (It cost’s a lot to give something away for free!)
1 When you fail to tithe, ministry that should get done, doesn’t get done.
a When we rob God, He’s not the only one we’re robbing: We rob ourselves!
aa We shut off the source of our blessings!
bb When we lovingly give tithes and offerings to God, He will reward that faith in every way (Spiritual, material, personal, or national.)
cc When we act out of obedience to God, we enable Him to lift the curse and to provide for us according to all our needs.
b I believe many churches are dying/dead because they are under a curse brought on by thieves being in the House of God.
2 If we want to protect what we have (your church, your personal life) you’ll be obedient in tithing.
a v.11, “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you.”
aa In Malachi’s day vandals would destroy crops/vineyards.
bb Satan is the devourer we have to contend with: He destroys people, property, peace and power, protection.
cc Obedience to God brings His authoritative rebuke against this devourer.
b If we give because it pays, it won’t pay.
aa WE give because we love God & want to obey Him.
bb We have a great privilege to serve, obey Him.
cc Psalm 100:2 (NASB) 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.
dd We don’t have to tithe, we get to tithe.
C IL
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