The issue in Malachi 3:7–12 is not tithing but apostasy.

Judah is charged here with abandoning the God who had chosen and blessed them and turning away from the statutes he had given them to test their loyalty and to mark the path of life he would bless. By retaining for themselves the tithes and other offerings they owed to God, the people showed their idolatrous hearts in placing themselves before God, and they showed their callous hearts in leaving the Levites and landless poor to fend for themselves.

These verses do not light the way to health and wealth and immediate prosperity. They point the way to a national repentance that will precede the earthly kingdom of Christ (Rom 11:26) and will be characterized by the Lord’s protection, provision, prosperity, and his very presence (Joel 2:18–32).

God has not changed, neither has Man, he is still rebellious.

v7From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from mine ordinances, and have not kept them

When he says your forefathers, that covers considerable time, about a thousand years.

They had abandoned Yahweh for the Canaanite gods (1 Sam 12:15). Then the prophet Isaiah announced God’s judgment for “your sins and the sins of your fathers.… Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains and defied me on the hills, I will measure into their laps the full payment for their former deeds” (Isa 65:7). The Lord condemned Israel through the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 7:25–26) in terms similar to those of Malachi:

From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.

A life of faithfulness and success is described as a path marked by God’s laws and statutes on the one hand, and by his own footsteps on the other. The path is the same in either case, and failing to follow either sign means abandonment of God’s path. By turning from the Lord’s “decrees” the people have turned from the Lord himself. We cannot follow God without the guidance of his Word.

God Said Return to Me

Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return? 8Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

We could turn but we will not, that is the curse, we refuse, Zechariah 1;3, return to me,
3 So tell the people, ‘This is what the LORD of Armies says: Return to me—this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies—and I will return to you, says the LORD of Armies. 4 Do not be like your ancestors; the earlier prophets proclaimed to them: This is what the LORD of Armies says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they did not listen or pay attention to me—this is the LORD’s declaration.

James 4:8 draw to me, I will return to you

They said, we have not left you, how can we return.

The Lord could have responded to Israel’s question by pointing again to their insulting so-called worship; their treachery against one another, especially their wives; their profaning the Lord’s sanctuary by intermarriage with pagan idolators; or their toleration or practice of sorcery, adultery, perjury, and economic exploitation of the defenseless. Instead, he brought to their attention another area in which their rebellion against God was manifesting itself, the withholding of tithes.

Israel’s attitude toward and use of their possessions was one indication of the health of their relationship with God.

The habit of their life, personally, you rob ME, not the temple or priest, God is robed, not the temple.

The land of Canaan was the land that God promised the fathers, the land he gave Israel, the land where he would bless his people. How Israel regarded and treated the land and its produce was a central feature of their responsibilities under God’s covenant.

Ownership of land came to represent participation in the covenant community to whom God had given the land. But that ownership had to be legitimized by an attitude of faith and gratitude toward God shown by one’s proper use of the land.

The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants” (Lev 25:23).

How they regarded and treated the land would demonstrate whether they acknowledged his lordship over them, their dependence on him, and their gratitude toward him. This acknowledgment was to be expressed in Israel’s festivals, especially First fruits, Weeks, etc.

The tithe means “tenth part.” Moses had instructed Israel that “a tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD” (Lev 27:30).

Every third year, the tithe was to be dispensed in the person’s hometown to be consumed by the local landless inhabitants, Levites, foreign residents, the fatherless, and widows (Deut 14:28–29; 26:12). The tithe, like the Sabbath year, was to benefit the poor and the landless, thereby showing love to both God and neighbor.

Num 18:8–24. The offerings the Lord had reserved for the priests, since he was giving them no land, are specified. If the land and its produce belonged to God as Lev 25:23 declares, then all the more so did the tithe. Therefore to withhold it amounted to robbing not only the poor but also God; Matt 25:45).

The priests in 1:6–7 had not considered their carelessness with the sacrifices to be a personal insult to God, so the people here claim unawareness that in withholding from the temple and its priesthood they were robbing God.

Judah was robbing God by pointing out two additional facts. The first is that they were doing this even though, like the Levites in 2:2, God had already begun to discipline them with the curses he had warned them about a thousand years before.

The accusation is the entire nation was guilty.

The whole tithe” is almost identical to that which occurs in Lev 27:30, “Every tenth of the land’s produce, grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD, “the whole tithe” suggests that many were either withholding part of the tithe or were bringing nothing.

Revival in OT always came with a show of money being giving back to God,
(2 Chr 31:4–10). Neh 10:9

Israel was to be holy and dedicated to the Lord (Num 6:1–21), the Levites were to be a constant reminder that Israel was to be dependent on the Lord. Israel’s spiritual appropriation of the inheritance can come only when she sees the landless Levite, with only the Lord himself to enjoy, and models her life on him.

The function of Levi in the land is to remind Israel that her ultimate calling is not merely to enjoy its produce, but relationship with him. So if the Levites are neglected, it is not simply a sign of disobedience, but of a falling away from the relationship which the Levites themselves model.

God said, Return and Test Me

V10 Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts
11And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts.

Not only did that mean God would “pour out” abundant blessings (v. 10b); it also meant that he would “rebuke” the infestation of their crops. Although “devourer” is a general term for something that eats, it is often found in idioms of destruction. He will deal with what holds us back, we will be more productive,

The Promise to Abraham, you will be a delightful land,

v12And all nations shall call you happy; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts.

Jerusalem’s destruction and degradation at the hands of the Babylonians had caused it to become the opposite of what is described here. Lam 2:15: says, “All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: ‘Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?

But Malachi assures that repentance would restore their beauty and joy and would turn their shame to glory and the scorn of the nations to praise (cf. Isa 61:3; Ezek 36:15; cf. Ezek 36:26–27).61 The

Tithing in the Church

How do these verses apply to the Christian today?

That the Old Testament law continues to instruct the church is indicated by the apostles’ continued delight in it and use of it to reveal sin (Rom 7:7, 22; 1 Tim 1:5–11; 2 Tim 3:16–17).

A continuity between new covenant and old covenant instructions is shown both explicitly (Rom 13:8–10; Gal 5:14) and implicitly in citing old covenant law to confirm instructions under the new covenant (1 Cor 9:8–10; Eph 6:1–3; 1 Tim 5:18; 1 Pet 1:15–16).

The New Testament writers taught, however, that the believer’s relationship to the old covenant law is different since the coming of Christ. For example, by the instruction Peter received from God to “kill and eat” and not to “call anything impure that God has made clean”.

The evidence is clear enough, however, that one cannot simply apply directly to new covenant believers the laws, directives, warnings, and incentives given to Israel under the old covenant. The collection of 613 regulations honored by the Pharisees, comprising God’s covenant with ancient Israel is not intended to legally govern the Church.

The Sinaitic law code was very specifically designed by God to regulate the lives of the West Semitic inhabitants of the southern Levant. Nearly all the regulations of the law, over 95%, are so culturally specific, geographically limited, and so forth that they would be completely inapplicable, and in fact unfulfillable, to Christians living throughout the world today.

One example is that under the old covenant adultery was not only wrong but was punishable by execution (Lev 20:10). Under the new covenant the absolute prohibition remains, but the penalty apparently does not (Heb 13:4). What can be learned from the Old Testament prohibition is the seriousness and destructiveness of the sin.

And similar to the Old Testament law of the tithe, one’s gifts are to be in accordance with his financial resources. Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians as well as others was that “each of you is to set something aside and save to the extent that he prospers” (1 Cor 16:1–2; also “according to your means” in 2 Cor 8:11–12).

In Romans 15 Paul described these collections as spiritual obligations, he spoke of them in 1 Cor 16:3 as gifts, and in the major New Testament passage on giving, in 2 Cor 8:2, he described it in terms of “generosity”. He praised the Macedonians for giving “even beyond their ability” (8:3; Mark 12:44).

Paul offers a clue in 2 Cor 8:8 that giving under the new covenant follows different principles than under the old covenant when he says, “I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.” Paul had said that the Macedonians’ giving was the result of the grace that God had given them (also 2 Cor 9:14–15). So the acceptability of one’s offering was determined by it being proportional to one’s means and the product of a willing and even “cheerful” heart (2 Cor 8:12; 9:7).

Paul is not advocating giving that will result in blessing but rather blessing that will result in giving.

The abundance of God’s supply of seed and bread, Isa 55:10 that makes “rich in every way” is for the purpose of being “generous on every occasion.” What then is the harvest one reaps from the generosity that is sown, “the harvest of your righteousness”? It is not material blessings one may enjoy as the reward for righteousness and obedience. The harvest of generosity is rather “thanksgiving to God”

Since the giving requirement is no longer an external obligation required as “dues” from every member of the covenant community but rather is to be the expression of love from a regenerated and redeemed heart, the amount is also not specified.

How much should the Christian give?

Since the New Testament lacks specific instruction on the amount one should give, though on the other hand continuing the principle of giving as one has prospered and according to one’s means, and since the giving of a tenth is the pattern used in the Old Testament, even before the founding of the Mosaic covenant (Gen 14:20), the use of the tenth should be considered an initial guideline for New Testament giving.

Does it pay to serve God

One group says yes, one says no,

v14Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked mournfully before Jehovah of hosts? 15and now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are built up; yea, they tempt God, and escape. 16Then they that feared Jehovah spake one with another; and Jehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name

Some said, not only is God not punishing the wicked, but he is also not rewarding the righteous.
Therefore, since in their minds, life is about prosperity, it is better to be wicked than righteous.
Serving God as these people were doing, with external ritual carelessly and faithlessly followed while selfishly committing acts of treachery, sorcery, adultery, perjury, and neglect or exploitation of the defenseless and needy, was pointless.

These people were right; their “service” to God was futile. So-called good works that do not arise from genuine faith and gratitude to God are simply “hot checks” drawn on an empty bank account. They may provide a temporary sense of self-satisfaction, but God recognizes their true value, zero, and he will eventually bring to justice anyone who tries to live on them.

These people were not interested in righteousness or in a relationship with God, only in “gain,” that is, profit, the bottom line, material prosperity. The Lord is speaking to those who consider material prosperity their right.

God Hears our Words

As God had heard the “harsh” words of the arrogant (v. 13), he also listened and heard the words of the faithful

The speakers of “harsh” words spoke to “each other” (a man with his neighbor) as well, and God took notice and listened, but only in the case of “those who feared the LORD” is God’s attention made explicit.

God has been listening to what they have been saying to each other about him. It doesn’t say they spoke these stout things to God. It says they spoke them about God. They were talking to each other.

A Warning to Us All

All of our life is a theater and we are the actors. Every kitchen, every car, every den, every office, every bedroom, every bar is on stage! And God is in the front row of the theater and doesn’t miss a single line in the drama of our life, not one! No matter where or when or with whom we speak, God hears our conversations, and he interprets perfectly what they imply about him.

In fact that is all that really matters about our conversations, what they imply about God.

When God listened in on these people in verses 13–15, he heard two things: He heard them say that it is pointless to serve God and it is profitable not to.

There are two problems with what they are saying here. One is that these are the words of lifeless formalism. They were indeed going about in black, fasting and mourning. They were coming to the temple often with their sacrifices. They had some of the forms of worship down pat. But God was displeased. His ear was closed. His blessing was withdrawn.

The forms of worship on Sunday contradicted by faithlessness on Monday is unacceptable to God. It is lifeless formalism, that is what they were doing in Malachi’s day, and it goes on still here in Byron. God will not accept it, even when it is full of emotion. They were really weeping at the altar, and God was not moved to pity! Because the form of worship on Sunday was replaced by gross sin on Monday.

That means that the test of the authenticity of our Sunday morning worship is whether we leave the service and walk into a life of sinning.

God also heard the faithful words

The point in Malachi is that God has instructed that a record be made of the righteous speech of “those who feared the LORD and honored his name.” This memorandum will insure that on the future day described in the following verses they will be rewarded.

God not only knows but also remembers and acts to reward the past actions of those who fear and honor him.

The Righteous and Unrighteous Will Be Distinguished

God promises that all ambiguity between the righteous and the wicked will one day be cleared up. The future judgment holds the key. V18: “Then once more you shall distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.”

The scroll of the LORD” in Isa 34:16 contains God’s decreed judgments on a rebellious world. Rev 20:12, John saw a scene of universal judgment and alluded to both Dan 7:10 and 12:1–2 in his description:109 “The dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”

God apparently keeps two sets of books.

The book of divine decrees and the book of human deeds—divine sovereignty and human responsibility—meet in this verse. Both books establish the same verdict based on different data, it is a mystery (Rev 20:12–15).

Not only will judgment be meted out to the wicked according to their deeds, but the deeds of the righteous will also be rewarded ( 2 Cor 5:10). Although God will not remember our sins (Isa 43:25), he will remember our righteous acts (including our speech) as well as our tears (Ps 56:8).

On that final coming day God will make these righteous ones his own personal treasure.

As a king who owns everything in his kingdom would choose and treasure certain things above all else (1 Chr 29:3; Eccl 2:8), so God chose Israel out of all the peoples of the earth (Deut 7:6;

When they see how God treats those who are truly his servants, they will learn the difference between the righteous and the wicked.

Second Peter 3:10 declares that on the day of the Lord, “The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Return to the Lord while there is still time.