Beware of Becoming A Robber

Introduction

the experience of stealing money. the commandment of “Do Not Steal”.

Story: The servant that run away from master, and ruan away with master’s goods. the greatest act of stealing is to steal from God.

Why give offering and tithe?

Israel’s history is the story of a lack of responsiveness to God and his commandments. Even after the exile they were slow to respond. They were satisfied with their lack of commitment. The prophetic countercharge is quick. Malachi singles out one example of infidelity to God: the tithe.

Israel’s failure in not giving the tithe exposes their failure to show loyalty to God in worship. The people have “robbed” God. The verb signifies a taking by force what belongs to someone else. The tithe was God’s divine right, specified in the Law (; ; )

VanGemeren, W. A. (1995). Malachi. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 710). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

VanGemeren, W. A. (1995). Malachi. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 710). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

After Jehovah had announced the coming judgment for the long-continued transgressions of the people, He adds a gracious promise, as in : “Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord, and I will return unto you.”

Offering is an act of repentance (v7)

Return to me, and I will return to you.

There is a close connection between these verses and what has gone before. They form a parenthesis between two sermons concerning God’s justice, the sequence of thought being that Israel has the opportunity to question his justice only because he is unchanging in his patient provision of opportunity for repentance. The prophet suggests a way by which the whole people can prove for themselves that this is so. The action he has in mind will so touch their pockets that their repentance will be costly and therefore genuine. The response of the Lord to this repentance will be measurable in material terms also when the next few harvests are reaped, and the man who puts his possessions at God’s disposal will find tangible evidence to prove that he accepts and blesses the giver.

In self-righteous delusion, supposing that they lack nothing, and need no repentance, they inquire, Wherein, in what particular, shall we return? The prophet thereupon shows them their sin. They do what no man should attempt. They try to defraud God in the tithe and heave-offering, either by not paying them at all, or not paying them as they should. The word קָבַע, which occurs besides only in , where it is translated, spoil, means here, as the connection shows, defraud, overreach, cheat.

They had run away from their Master, and quitted the work he gave them to do. in fact, they have robbed God in many ways.

They rob him of his honour, rob him of that which is devoted to him, to be employed in his service, rob him of themselves, rob him of sabbath-time, rob him of that which is given for the support of religion, and give him not his dues out of their estates; and yet they ask, Wherein have we robbed thee? 3. The plain proof of the charge, in answer to this challenge; it is in tithes and offerings.

Why is offering and giving tithes a way to return to God? because it means offering Him our entire selves, as money is always one of the things that we find it difficult to give to the Lord. We can’t claim to follow Jesus and not give toward God’s causes with our time and money.

Barry, J. D. (2014). Malachi: Easy Doesn’t Change the World (p. 36). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Out of these the priests and Levites had maintenance for themselves and their families; but they detained them, defrauded the priests of them, would not pay their tithes, or not in full, or not of the best; they brought not the offerings which God required, or brought the torn, and lame, and sick, which were not fit for use. They were all guilty of this sin, even the whole nation, as if they were in confederacy against God, and all combined to rob him of his dues and to stand by one another in it when they had done. For this they were cursed with a curse, v. 9. God punished them with famine and scarcity, through unseasonable weather, or insects that ate up the fruits of the earth. God had thus punished them for neglecting to build the temple (, ), and now for not maintaining the temple-service. Note, Those that deny God his part of their estates may justly expect a curse upon their own part of them: “You are cursed with a curse for robbing me, and yet you go on to do it.

Offering is an act to avoid becoming a robber (V8-9)

refrain from giving tithe and the offering is like robbing from the Lord. Differences between tithe and offering. the quality and the quantity are at issue.

The English word tithes means ‘tenths’. The practice of giving a tenth of one’s possessions to a superior is evidently an ancient one, for there is testimony to it in Genesis, when Abram gave a tenth of the spoil to Melchizedek (), and Jacob made his vow at Bethel (). The law decreed that a tenth of all produce was ‘holy to the Lord’ () and was intended for the Levites (), who themselves gave a tithe to the priests (). From the legislation in Deuteronomy it is clear that others benefited also, and that every three years a community feast was held at the time of offering the tithes, to which the needy were invited as well as the Levites (, ). When tithes went unpaid, the widow, the fatherless and the sojourner were amongst those who suffered (cf. verse 5).

Offerings were the portions of sacrifices set apart for the priests (, ; ; ) and the voluntary gifts for a special purpose (). One of Nehemiah’s tasks was to ensure that the supplies intended for support of the temple ministry did not fail as they had done during his absence (). When no gifts were brought the Levites had no option but to give up their ministry and earn their own living by farming.

From the tithes, Levites, priests, orphans, widows, and aliens were supported. The “offerings” were the portions of sacrifices which the priests were permitted to use for food (; ; ). Support for the temple personnel and social programs is failing.

VanGemeren, W. A. (1995). Malachi. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 710). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

we may be guilty of robbing God “in offerings.” (1) By grudging giving. If we do not “freely give,” we withhold from God the right spirit, without which gifts cannot be acceptable. We act as if, though God had a right to demand our money, he had no right to expect the cheerful acknowledgment, “Of thine own have we given thee” (; ; ). (2) By scanty giving. For there is an amount, some proportion of all we are entrusted with, which it is “meet” to give. To “withhold more than is meet” is to rob God. If a man gives not “according to that he hath,” but as though God had entrusted him with much less, his offerings are not accepted by God. A steward of God (as every one is) is bound conscientiously to consider what proportion of all he receives he should set apart for giving to religious and benevolent objects, so that he may honour the Lord “with the firstfruits of all his increase.” The Jewish laws of tithes and offerings may aid him in the estimate. No rule can be laid down for one another, but the Christian steward may fairly start with the presumption that the scale of liberality has not been lowered in the kingdom of Christ, with all its privileges and motives so far in advance of the Jewish theocracy. Lest we should be guilty of robbing God, we should purpose in our heart to devote so much and no less, as God may prosper us. The cheerful, systematic dedication of a liberal proportion of our property to the service of God will preserve us from robbing God. We shall give not as small a proportion as we dare to offer, but as large a proportion as love and conscience in council will justify. Special circumstances may call for special sacrifices; but we shall form, as a first charge on our income, a sacred fund set apart for offerings to God. The experience of those who act on these Divine principles of giving may assure all that they will thus realize, as probably they may never have done before, the truth of our Lord’s words, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). Malachi (p. 45). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.

Offering is an act to bless the house of the Lord (V10a)

it is not that God need our money or want our money. in fact, He does not need those things that are from him, through him and to him; neither he who is the origin, nor he who is the designer, nor he who embraces all things. He is outside of the things that are within; he is the Creator of those that have been made; and he himself is never in want of his own possessions. Nothing is before him, nothing is from anywhere else, nothing is outside of him. but he wants to extend blessing through us.

He does not need those things that are from him, through him and to him; neither he who is the origin, nor he who is the designer, nor he who embraces all things. He is outside of the things that are within; he is the Creator of those that have been made; and he himself is never in want of his own possessions. Nothing is before him, nothing is from anywhere else, nothing is outside of him

A tithe was to be given to the Levites who in turn were to give a tithe of the tithe to the priests (). The Israelites were also to bring a tithe of their produce and animals and eat it with the Levites before the Lord in Jerusalem as an act of festal worship (; ). Also every third year a tithe was to be stored up in the towns for Levites, strangers, widows, and orphans (). While the word “offerings” may refer to offerings in general, it seems to refer here () to those portions of the offerings (as well as those portions of the tithes) designated for the priests (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, s.v. “terûmâh,” 2:838). If the Levites and priests would not receive the tithes and offerings, they would have to turn to other means of supporting themselves. As a result, the temple ministry would suffer.

Blaising, C. A. (1985). Malachi. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1585). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse. They had brought some; but, like Ananias and Sapphira, had kept back part of the price, pretending they could not spare so much as was required, and necessity has no law; but even necessity must have this law, and it would redress the grievance of their necessity: “Bring in the full tithes to the utmost that the law requires, that there may be meat in God’s house for those that serve at the altar, whether there be meat in your houses or no.” Note, God must be served in the first place, and our quota must be contributed for the support of religion in the place where we live, that God’s name may be sanctified, and his kingdom may come, and his will be done, even before we provide our daily bread; for the interests of our souls ought to be preferred before those of our bodies.

The nature of the curse on the nation can be determined from verse 11: famine due to pests (locusts) eating the vegetation, and vines without grapes (cf. ).

ghb

Offering is an act to be blessed (v10b - 12)

Let them then trust God to provide for them and their comfort “Let God be first served, and then prove me herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, whether I will not open the windows of heaven.” They said, “Let God give us our plenty again, as formerly, and try us whether we will not then bring him his tithes and offerings, as we did formerly.” “No,” says God, “do you first bring in all your tithes as they become due, and all the arrears of what is past, and try me, whether I will not then restore you your plenty.”

Note, Those that will deal with God must deal upon trust; and we may all venture to do so, for, though many have been losers for him, never any were losers by him in the end. It is fit that we should venture first, for his reward is with him, but his work is before him; we must first do the work which is our part, and then try him and trust him for the reward. Elijah put the widow of Zarephath into this method when he said (), “Make me a little cake first, and then prove me whether there shall not be enough afterwards for thee and thy son.” That which discourages people from the expenses of charity is the weakness of their faith concerning the gains and advantages of charity; they cannot think that they shall get by it. But it is a reasonable demand that God here makes: “Prove me now; is any thing to be got by charity? Come and see;” Nothing venture, nothing win. Trust upon honour, “And you shall find,” [1.] “That, whereas the heavens have been shut up, and there has been no rain, now God will open to you the windows of heaven, for in his hand the key of the clouds is, and you shall have seasonable rain.”

every good gift coming from above, thence God will plentifully pour out upon them the bounties of his providence. Very sudden plenty is expressed by opening the windows of heaven, . We find the windows of heaven opened, to pour down a deluge of wrath, in Noah’s flood, . But here they are opened to pour down blessings, to such a degree that there should not be room enough to receive them. God has blessings ready to bestow upon us, but, through the weakness of our faith and narrowness of our desires, we have not room to receive them

Malachi has demonstrated that Yahweh is not the Father of the descendants of Abraham, but of those who have the Spirit of God. God is a good Father to responsive children. He promises to take care of their needs. The covenant King is concerned with extending his blessings to his people. For that reason, the prophet details how the Lord will grant his blessings (vv. 11–12) by taking care of all their needs, by protecting their possessions, by prospering their labor, and by keeping away the locusts. Since the people are reluctant, the prophet calls upon them to test the Lord. This challenge to the people must be related to his call for them to return. By their repentance they will express their faith and dependence upon him and will therefore be restored to covenant fellowship. The Lord promises that his blessing will rest upon his people so that they will be blessed in this life and in the life to come.

God has blessings ready to bestow upon us, but, through the weakness of our faith and narrowness of our desires, we have not room to receive them

When the Israelite withdraw the one-tenth from God, the lost their nine-tenth as well.

We often think: “I’ll give the church a tenth of what I make this week and see if God doubles my money.” That’s gambling; it’s not faith. God’s point is that He will be faithful to us—we have to trust Him. When Jesus is tempted by Satan (), He says that we shouldn’t put God to the test, expecting our desired result (). Instead, we should have faith in God’s faithfulness.

Conclusion

As it was for Haggai (see ), an issue for Malachi was the community’s provision for its worship life. The people were not bringing in the tithe of their grain for the support of the priesthood and the temple ceremonies. In response, Malachi declared the word of the Lord: “Bring the full 10 percent into the storehouse” (v. 10). Interpreters do not all agree on the status of the tithe in Christian practice. Some see it as part of the law of Moses that has been superseded as a mandatory requirement in the new covenant of Jesus Christ. Others see it as a fundamental principle of faithful Christian living in the kingdom of God, comparable to the moral requirements of the Ten Commandments.

Most would agree on several points, however. (1) The tithe of one’s increase does not represent all that belongs to the Lord; it is emblematic of the fact that “everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You” (), and whatever a person has should be applied, in some way, to God’s purposes. (2) The tithe supports the work of God through the church He has called to serve Him in the world. It is instrumental in making possible both the edification of believers and the outreach to unbelievers; without it, the church’s mission and the extension of the kingdom of God would be hampered. (3) The practice of tithing, and of giving in general, prepares the believer to receive blessing from the Lord. The grasping hand is not open to what He seeks to give. On this last point, Malachi specifically urged the Judeans to “test Me in this way” (v. 10).