Malachi 3:8–10
Opening Illustrations: A country pastor was talking to his farmer friend, and he asked the farmer, “If you had one hundred horses, would you give me fifty?” The farmer said, “Certainly.” The pastor asked, “If you had one hundred cows, would you give me fifty?” The farmer said, “I absolutely would” Then the pastor asked, “If you had two pigs, would you give me one?” The farmer said, “Now cut that out, pastor, you know that I have two pigs!”
So many of us would be generous with what we don’t have or might have, but are stingy with what we do have. It is easy to look to the future with what we do not yet have and make promises. But what about that we do have today?
A little girl was given two dollars by her father. He told her that she could do anything she wanted with one and that the other was to be given to God on Sunday at church. The girl nodded in agreement and asked if she could go to the candy store. With visions of all that she could buy with her dollar, she happily skipped toward the store, holding tightly to the two dollars in her hand. As she was skipping along, she tripped and fell and the wind blew one of the dollars into a storm drain at the curb. Picking herself up, the little girl looked at the dollar still in her hand and then at the storm drain and said, “Well, Lord, there goes your dollar.”
Sadly, many of us Christians have the same attitude toward giving. First me, then God. (1)
Today’s passage deals with the Tithe. In the Old Testament the Tithe was part of the covenant God had with His people. The people brought in the tithe and God would bless them. The tithe went to the Levites to maintain the temple and a tenth of that went to Priests (also Levites) who ministered in the temple. To neglect the Levites was regarded as neglecting God. But like everything else in human history, the tithe was being neglected and the Levites needed to find other employment to support their families resulting in the neglect of the temple, and ministries of the temple.
Israel’s attitude toward and use of the their wealth was one big indicator of the health of their relationship to God. In the NT, Jesus never refutes the tithe, but He did emphasized the weightier things of the law like:
Matthew 23:23 (NKJV) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
The tithe is an acknowledgment that all we have belongs to God. What we give is part of the bigger picture of our Christian life, yet it is often the more neglected.
For that matter, if we acknowledge that all belongs to God, then even after tithe is paid we cannot do as we please with the remainder. We are stewards of what God had entrusted us with.
Malachi 3:8a (NKJV) “Will a man rob God?
Of course we do not overtly rob God, to take what is His. So the question is asked:
Malachi 3:8a (NKJV)
“Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
Other Translations (NIV, HCSB, NASB) have “How have we robbed You?” God’s answer is clear:
Malachi 3:8 (NKJV) In tithes and offerings.
We are not giving to God what belongs to God. The NT concept of giving has been grossly understated. The argument has been made that tithing is not required in the NT. But looking at the early church and looking had what is said in the NT, The Tithe is not the end of giving, but rather the starting point.
Putting this passage in Malachi in context, the robbery of the tithe and offerings from God was both in terms of quantity and quality. Not only was the quantity not given, but what was given lacked in quality.
Malachi 1:6b–8 (NKJV)
Where is My reverence?
Says the LORD of hosts
To you priests who despise My name.
Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’
7 “You offer defiled food on My altar,
But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’
By saying, ‘The table of the LORD is contemptible.’
8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil?
And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil?
Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you?
Would he accept you favorably?”
Says the LORD of hosts.
Would the governor, or the government, accept less?
Our government will not except what is left over, in fact they take what is theirs right off the top before we even see our pay.
What if you did shoddy work for your employer? What would happen, you would get fired.
What is God’s response?
Malachi 3:9 (NKJV) 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
Yet what is brought to church is often our leftovers, when what is brought should be our very best. We do not bring lambs or grain as offerings, but the principle of first fruits is applicable here. Is our offering the first of our earnings? or is it what is left over at the end of the month.
Is the check we write church the first check written after entering in our income, or only after all the bills are paid?
Now for a hard question. Is our tithe on our net or gross income? Do we figure on our total pay before taxes, Social Security, Medicare, 401K, and insurance are taken out? or what is based on the take-home pay?
God does not want our leftovers. He wants the first and the best. Why? First of all, God does not need our money.
Acts 17:25 (NKJV) Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
God does desire your love and affection, and trust. It does please God for us to bring our tithes and offerings as an act of genuine worship with grateful hearts. So God commands us:
Malachi 3:10a (NKJV) Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house,
We give because we need to give, not because God needs our money. He commands us to bring it in. So what is the problem? True Biblical giving, is an act of faith. Do we believe God will see to our needs? Do we trust that God will provide? What did Jesus tell us:
Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Though-out the Bible, among God’s people, obedience is rewarded with blessings. Disobedience with curses. Jesus reaffirms that fact numerous times:
Luke 6:38 (NKJV) Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Paul outlines this principle:
2 Corinthians 9:6 (NKJV) But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
God calls for us to test this with Him:
Malachi 3:10 (NKJV) And try 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 such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
That word “try” is "test" in other translations. The Hebrew word is "bahan" and it means “to put to the test” as in testing medals by melting.
The Bible tells us not to test or to temp God. Jesus tells the devil this when he was tested in the wilderness, quoting from Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 6:16 (NKJV) “You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah.
Yet here in verse 10, God is commanding we test Him.
Malachi 3:10 And try (test) Me now in this,”
Our giving is an act of faith. It is an indicator of our relation and trust in Almighty God.
This morning, we, as a congregation,are to vote on our church budget. This is not an aggressive budget, but if God is in it, He will bless it and God will underwrite and provide for all he has called us to do, whether or not we all give or not. The fact is, God does not need your money, but God does however want and calls you to trust Him, in all things. Just like the farmer, we easily trust God with all those things we do not have our hands on. We trust Him with our eternity, we just Jesus with our very salvation. Why is it we won’t trust Him with our wallets, pocketbooks, and bank accounts?
Think about it. How many times did Jesus say to his disciples: “O you of little faith” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught how God will provide.
Matthew 6:30 (NKJV) Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Jesus has power over the wind and the waves, How much more does he have power over our finances?
Matthew 8:26 (NKJV) But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
There were other times as well.
“But my debt, my house payments, my bills, etc. What is it that God does not understand? What is it that is beyond God control? Lack of giving is nothing more than a lack of trust that God will provide.
When we give as the Lord commands, God has ways of making our 90% go much further than our 100% would ever do. How does that work, I do not know, but I have experience God’s provision over and over again in my life. But, when we don’t give as we know in our hearts that we should, there is way that 10% flys away with unexpected bills, emergency car repairs, a doctors bill for an unexpected illness.
You see it is all about trusting Jesus. Are you trusting Jesus today. It begins with trusting Jesus with your life and your salvation.
(1) Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 159-161
