BRING THE WHOLE TITHE

Malachi 3:6-18

Key verse: 10

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

Introduction:

Malachi means “my messenger.”  God’s love never fails. God knows when his people, the Israelites, do need help from his messenger. So he never fails to send his messenger at the right time. After successful works through the help of God’s servants like Ezra and Nehemiah, still they fell into statistics in terms of ignoring the tithes, breaking the Sabbath, and intermarrying with foreigners. This passage shows God’s intervention in correcting his children with a strong word such as “rob”. It also shows God’s unchanging love to call them as “mine” and “my treasured possession.” May the Lord help each of us to resume God’s hope and vision newly and love him wholeheartedly especially at this Thanksgiving day. 

Read verses 6 - 9.  Why are the descendants of Jacob not destroyed? (1:2, 6) What did the Lord tell them to do? (7a)  What would happen if they listen to God? (7a) What did they ask the Lord, and what was the Lord’s answer? (7b-8) What happens to those who steal from God? (9) 

1-1)  Read verses 6 - 9. 

6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.

1-2)  Why are the descendants of Jacob not destroyed? (1:2, 6) 

      

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. (1:2a)

God’s love is not hinged upon our condition. 

It is rather absolute! Often times we are asking God, saying “How have you loved us?” (1:2b)

I, the Lord do not change(3:6)

This is what we learn from God. 

Sometimes God’s heart changes (relent, lenient, forgiving) due to our repentance   

But our God do not change according to our situation.

The Israelites changes their attitude and devotion to the Lord very colorfully throughout history. 

For instance when God disciplined their unfaithfulness after completing 70 years of Babylonian captivity, God moved the Persian King’s hearts to have them return to the promised land. 

God prepared his servants such as Ezra, Nehemiah, and now his faithful messenger Malachi. 

God’s love never fails and continues to encourage them to remember his faithful love and good intention. 

This is the bottom line for each of us to remind of our Lord always. And then our relationship with him is strengthened more.

           

1-3) What did the Lord tell them to do? (7a)  

 “Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have    not kept them.  Return to me, and I will return to you.”
 

 Here God made a diagnosis about their basic and fundamental problem that was to turn away from God’s decrees and have not kept them as much as they were supposed to do. 

This is God’s diagnosis and there is no better diagnosis. 

Often times we want to improve our financial condition or job situation and something else that we considered them to be urgent and important. 

But whenever we meditate the word of God, we are surprised to find the fact that our real and core problem was our lack of commitment toward God’s decrees (words). 

Returning to God means that we can turn from our desires to God’s decrees. 

1-4)  What would happen if they listen to God? (7a) 

God will return to them. God told them to return to him first and God promised to return to them. 

Returning to God is the powerful remedy rather than mere repair or improvement of their situation. 

Although the situation may the same, true repentance and coming back to God’s words is the right beginning to make our relationship straight with the Lord. 

And then God will take care of the rest and in favor of his beloved children.   

1-5)  What did they ask the Lord, and what was the Lord’s answer? (7b-8) 

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 

God used a strong verb, “rob.”  3 times repeated the word, “rob.”

According to the dictionary, it means “ to take something away by force or without the consent of the owner.”

Here it indicates that the whole tithe belongs to God. The true owner is God himself for our life, our ability to produce fruit, and our wealth (all resources). 

Without God’s allowance, nobody is able to live and do anything. 

So the real issue here is that we need to understand that the whole tithe is God’s possession although it may be within our control.  

There are many references regarding tithes in the Bible: Genesis 14, 28. Numbers 18:21-29, Deuteronomy 21:22-29. Also offerings in Leviticus 1-7.

The purpose of offerings and tithes was to make them into a kingdom of priests and a holy nation after the Lord who is holy among all nations. (Exodus 19:5)

But their present spiritual condition was not to live according to God’s absolute standard. Rather they conveniently served the Lord. 

God pointed out that they ended up robbing God’s tithes and His offerings. 

It was not a mere money issue, but an issue about where their hearts are.

God wants their hearts and love and devotion to the Lord again and have a right relationship again. 

Often we are very spiritually dull and need a word of stimulation like AM 680 radio. 

1-6)  What happens to those who steal from God? (9) 

They are cursed. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. The word ‘cursed’ is a strong word. Before God’s eyes we are cursed if we rob God’s whole tithe and use it for us. 

Read verse 10 - 12.  What does God tell the Israelites to do? (10a) What does God tell us to test Him in? (10b) How much does God promise to bless the Israelites if they obey (10c-12)

2-1)  Read verse 10 - 12.  

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

2-2)  What does God tell the Israelites to do? (10a) 

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. The key word is ‘whole’. They might have tithed some. But it was not the whole tithe. One Jewish scholar calculated that the whole tithe ends up 47% of his whole income when he calculated the whole tithe in every area of his life according to God’s command about tithe in the bible.

One tenth of tithe, therefore, should be regarded as minimum amount of offering rather than maximum.

2-3)  What does God tell us to test Him in? (10b) 

Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, 

Man cannot text God. But the Lord was so sure of the blessing that comes from whole tithing that he even challenged his people to test him. 

God is very personal enough to help us to experience his blessing in a tangible way of bringing the whole tithe. 

Jesus helped Thomas to experience Jesus’ resurrected body by having him to touch his wounded body. 

God is very personal and compassionate and stooped down his eye level to help us to have faith. 

2-4)  How much does God promise to bless the Israelites if they obey (10c-12)

“and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

Please note the expression, “throw open” (It is not just open the gates, but throw open), “floodgates of heaven” (It is not just gates but ‘floodgates’ of heaven), “pour out” (It is not just give some blessing but ‘pour out’), and “so much” (It is not just much but ‘so much’). So the Lord emphasized how much he will be willing to pour out his blessings upon those who bring the whole tithe. The Lord wants to demonstrate his truth about blessing those who bring the whole tithe to all peoples on earth. 

He promised his protection of crops and vines. If the Lord does not want to protect our harvest noting will remain. We think we are strong and we can be rich. But see how much we are powerless before the Lord. See how limited we are before the “Sandy”, the powerful storm on the east coast! If the Lord wants to bless our fruits we will be rich. If he does not protect us and even curse us we are doomed to die.

Read verses 13 - 15. What did  the people say against God? (13) What did they say about serving God? (14)  What did they observe occurring in the world? (15)

3-1)  Read verses 13 - 15. 

13 “You have said harsh things against me,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ 14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’”

3-2)  What did  the people say against God? (13) 

13 “You have said harsh things against me,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’

3-3)  What did they say about serving God? (14)  

14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty?” 

3-4)  What did they observe occurring in the world? (15)

15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.” Basically they doubted God’s justice. That is the reason why they did not bring the whole tithe. They saw that those who did not bring the whole tithe were blessed more and they thought it was useless to be faithful to the Lord. But they were blind to the Lord’s justice and power.

Read verses 16 - 18. Who does God listen to and hear? (16a) Who is written a scroll of remembrance? (16b) Whose will they be? (17a) What else will God do to those who fear Him? (17b, Ex 19:5-6) What are the two groups and what will we see? (18)

4-1)  Read verses 16 - 18. 

16 Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. 17 “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

4-2)  Who does God listen to and hear? (16a)

16 Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. 

those who feared the Lord talked with each other

It is encouraging to know that there are always people who speak believing words in this unbelieving environment. 

We need to encourage each other to utter believing words to render glory to God because God is listening and every word is heard from our living God(Spirit). 

4-3)  Who is written a scroll of remembrance? (16b)

A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. 

God did not only listen or hear but he also writes the names of those who fear the Lord and honor his name. 

4-4)  Whose will they be? (17a) 

17 “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, 

4-5)  What else will God do to those who fear Him? (17b, Ex 19:5-6) 

“In the day when I make up my treasured possession” 

“I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him.” 

Ex 19:5-6, 

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

4-6)  What are the two groups and what will we see? (18)

18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

The Lord will uphold justice. Those who bring the whole tithe will be blessed and those who do not will be cursed.

In conclusion: 

Our Lord is like an excellent physician who knows both accurate diagnosis and right remedy. Sometimes it is necessary to ask patients to take medication or to take a radical surgery because medication only is not strong enough to cure the disease properly. So this passage shows God’s love to pick up a surgeon knife to cure his children by using his harsh word such as “rob”. But at the right balance he made sure to convince them that they are his and his treasured possession. May the Lord help us to look up to Jesus always so that we may love him first and give our hearts and resources for his disposal without any reservation. May the Lord help us to grow as qualified priests and God’s messengers in this confusing generation. 

One word: Bring the whole tithe

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