Malachi, Part 5

The passage for this session is Malachi 3:6-15.

Let’s review the three Worlds of Context.

There is the World of the Text.

There is the World Behind the Text.

There is the World in Front of the Text.

What is the first context we deal with?

The first context we deal with is the World of the Text.

Read Malachi 3:6-15 and make observations about the World of the Text.

Malachi 3:6–15 ESV

6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 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 man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts. 13 “Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15 And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’ ”

What are the subjects of this passage?

What do we learn about humanity or about us from this passage?

What do we learn about Yahweh from this text?

After briefly examining the World of the Text, let's examine the World Behind the Text. Does anyone have footnotes in their Study Bible that address the World Behind the Text?

The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament), Volume 5 Malachi’s Fifth Disputation: Call to Repentance (3:6–12)

Tithes and offerings (3:8). The offering of tithes or a tenth of the produce of the land (including grain, fruit, and flocks and herds) was required by the Mosaic law (

The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament), Volume 5 Malachi’s Fifth Disputation: Call to Repentance (3:6–12)

List of names of Jewish settlers used for taxation in 419 B.C. The list contains Jewish first names of men and women who had to pay two pounds of silver for “the god Yahweh.”

What do we learn about tithes and offerings?

Do we have an NT equivelant? Let's look at 2 Corinthians 9:6-15.

2 Corinthians 9:6–15 ESV

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament), Volume 5 Malachi’s Fifth Disputation: Call to Repentance (3:6–12)

The prophet’s promise of rainfall yielding an abundance of food (see 3:10 below) is contingent not on the ritual of tithing but the posture of repentance that motivates the act of giving (3:7). Distinctions between tithes and taxes were blurred in the biblical world since the collection and redistribution of resources for the maintenance of the administrative structures of society (whether civil or religious) was commonplace.31 The shift in Persian royal policy may have had some impact on the tithing practices of postexilic Judah, since reforms of temple funding under Xerxes meant a loss of revenue for temple cults across the empire.

Floodgates of heaven (3:10). This phrase is a poetic expression for drenching rainfall (

What do we learn about God’s blessings?

The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament), Volume 5 Malachi’s Sixth Disputation: Judgment and Vindication (3:13–4:3)

Scroll of remembrance (3:16). The metaphor of God as “the divine bookkeeper” is attested elsewhere in the OT (e.g.,

What do we learn about the scroll of remembrance?

It's time now to turn to the World in Front of the Text.

How should we respond to the text?

What should our attitude toward giving to the Lord be?

How does one get into the Book of Remembrance?

Why is it comforting to know that God does not change?

Do you think of yourself as a treasured possession of Yahweh?