Key Scripture: Malachi 3:6-12
There is nothing more despicable than a thief. There isn’t anything hated more than a man who breaks into a house and takes things which do not belong to him. If someone called you a thief you would become angry. You would respond quickly “I am not a thief”; yet we often steal from God. Some Christians rob God and take things which are not theirs.
Robbing God
In the book of Malachi 3: 8 God says “Will man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say where have we robbed you? In tithes and offering “(Mal. 3:8). Christians may be asking God the same question “where have we robbed you?” And God is answering the same answer “In tithes and offerings”.
All things we possess belong to God and we are just stewards. He has also allowed us to become partners in his business; he allows us to keep 90% of the shares and he asks for only 10% as his share and yet we still go ahead and rob his ten percent.
The people in Malachi’s day treated God badly by robbing from Him. They became bored with God. Their worship turned from relational to ritual. As a result they offered blemish sacrifices (Mal.1:6-14). The Priests had become unfaithful (Mal.2:1-9). Businessmen were defrauding their workers, cheating their customers and taking advantage of widows, orphans and aliens (3:1-5).
The worst thing they did was that they were robbing God by holding His tithe and offering (Mal. 3:6-12). They gave the worst instead of the best, the least instead of the most. Their attitude was “How little can I give God and still keep him happy? “The people proclaimed their innocence but Malachi a prosecuting Attorney presented the evidence to back up his argument (Mal. 3:8).
God’s Command
God commands us to give him a part of all the things that we possess including our time. He has promised that if we do that he will bless us and return to us exceedingly more than we give to him. He promised to bless us in all aspect of our life. If we obey him and remain obedient he will bless us in the city and in the countryside (Deut. 28). How many of us do just that? We must be honest before God.
If we are honest we must admit that at one point we have robbed God. Often when we receive an income from salary or business or sale of our crop however small, we fail to give or give less to God his share of ten percent. This is what God calls robbery. In every country in the world the citizens pay taxes. The country does not ask a person if he wants to pay taxes. He is told that he must pay. If he refuses or cheats he is put to jail or fined heavily for failing to pay the taxes. Yet too often Christians fail to pay God what is rightfully belongs to him. They feel that he is long suffering that he will not punish them for their sin of disobedience and robbery.
Malachi chapter three shows that God punishes us when we fail to pay our tithes by bringing the devourer. Instead of waiting God to send a devourer in our midst, we should do what 2 Corinthians 9:7 says “….give cheerfully to God, for he loves a cheerful giver.”
Tithes and Offering
Tithe comes from Hebrew word that means one tenth (10%). In the Old Testament people brought their tithe of grain, olive oil, wine, and meat to the temple. There were three types of tithe. The first one was ten percent of the goods to support the Priests and Levites every year because they did not have of their own land or any other jobs. The second one was ten percent of goods to help celebrations the annual sacred feasts in honor of God; and the third one of ten percent was give after every three years to support the poor in the community. A household was therefore required to pay tithe which would be about 23% of their income.
Tithe and offering were always given to God’s work. It was the place to start worshiping and serving God, in support of God’s kingdom. Offering was given in worship as the heart purposed but tithe of not less than 10% was a command which was to be obeyed. It was one part of your every ten parts of your possessions, eg: one out of ten, ten out of hundred and twenty out of two hundred, etc. Not five out of hundred. This would be cheating or according to Malachi would be robbing God.
God challenges us to test Him
God challenges us to test Him “….Test me in this way” says the Lord of Hosts “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for such blessing that there will not be room to receive it” (Mal.3:10). When we hold on to that which is God’s we miss the blessings.
We are very ready to trust God for our salvation, eternity in heaven, but won’t trust him with our carriers, finances and our giving. When we give to God he opens the floodgates of heaven and we receive more than we can store. You cannot out-give God because his giving is not from this earth. It comes from the open windows and flood-gates of heaven.
Nevertheless, if we do the opposite, God will send a devourer to take all that we have withheld and we shall not benefit from it. The Holy Spirit tells us “Do not be deceived my brothers, every good and every perfect gift comes from God in heaven. It comes from God the creator of the heavenly lights” (James 1:16-17). Let us remember, therefore that out of our thankfulness for what God has done in our lives, we should return a portion of what we have to him with thanksgiving because He gave it to us.