Malachi 3:7-15

““From the days of your ancestors you have ignored my commandments and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord who rules over all. “But you say, ‘How should we return?’ Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty. “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all. Then I will stop the plague from ruining your crops, and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the Lord who rules over all. “All nations will call you happy, for you indeed will live in a delightful land,” says the Lord who rules over all. “You have criticized me sharply,” says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’ You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!’””

— ‭‭Malachi‬ ‭3‬:‭7‬-‭15‬‬

This may be one of my favorite minor prophets, but this may be one of my least favorite passages. V 10 is simply a classic “out of context” text that preachers/teachers either love to abuse or avoid like the plague. If we taught through the entire book of Malachi, including the historical and socio-economic/religious context of the Jews at this time, all of this would make a bit more sense. I don’t have time for that here, but let’s just say “Exile” will always play a huge role in passages like this. Sometime go back and reread the opening verses of the book. People are even asking YHWH, “When did you love us?” This relationship is scarred.

The book contains multiple examples of the Jews practicing fake religion, whether the priests or the people. It’s all just motions in hopes of avoiding another exile or worse, but hearts are far from YHWH. Again, lack of trust. The current passage begins with God’s defending His character and the covenant. “I was always faithful to My Word.” Obedience = blessing, disobedience = exile/curse. It’s been that way for thousands of years to this point. They may never learn. It’s almost time for a new covenant written on their hearts.

God wants them to return to Him, and one example of their heart condition is in their giving. Enter v. 10. 

Do I believe in “storehouse tithing” as in what I give should be given to the church? Somewhat, yes, because depending on circumstances, there are bills to pay, we can debate salaries, and ministries can often be more effective when funds are gathered together. As an associate pastor, we had people bicker about how money was being used, even though they were not giving to the church financially (they served and supported ministries in other ways). Still seemed counterintuitive.

Do I believe the church is the storehouse in Malachi 3? No. Historically, Solomon had rooms built into the temple for storing extra gifts (1 King 6:5), and later Hezekiah had the “storehouse” built (2 Chron 31:11) after his great revival and there was an influx of gifts from the people. Nehemiah also records a time (10:37-39) when the people gave wine, grain, and money to the Levites to fill the temple storerooms once they returned from exile. These always seem to be extra gifts. They are in the temple. And since I always make a clear distinction between temple and church building, it’s difficult to make this parallel so literal.

Entire tithe? First question is, “Which tithe is this?” Never learned until about college of the three tithes commanded in the OT law. We generally only hear about the first or “the Lord’s tithe.” This consisted of the 10% of the harvest that went to support the priests and Levites since they were given no inheritance of land (Numbers 18:21).

But Israel was required to travel to Jerusalem multiple times each year for three festivals. They stored up a “tithe” from their remaining 90% to be able to travel and celebrate God’s provision (Deut. 14:22-27).

The third tithe was taken for the poor every third year (Deut 14:28-29). Some debate if this is distinct from the second tithe, but their purposes do seem to distinguish this money (and time of collection). Anyone discussing tithing at least needs to be honest about how much Israel was giving and how often. 10% to priests and Levites because they had no income or housing. 10% for festivals and travel. 10% every 3 years (so 3% annually to poor). Would we be willing to adopt that approach? Can’t just focus on one. Goes back to the other post on 10 commandments…have to remember this is a covenant. We can’t accept the parts we like and assume the other parts wouldn’t apply.

I would assume the “tithe” in Malachi is focused on the first tithe, but we see the phrase “tithes and offerings” throughout the OT. 

I know this is the only place God says to test Him. I still wouldn’t try it. Seems rather specific to this situation. As in, that’s not my motivation to give to the ministries of a local church or to those in need. How do I know it’s specific? Rest of the passage. Windows of heaven goes back to the flood. They still see windows in the sky where rain is. This is ancient cosmology (or maybe they are just talking about the sky as the further ancients did). Either way, God is promising rain to come after the drought. 

Nations will see God’s blessing, and Israel will be called blessed by others. This could be seen as another prosperity theology text, but not if we remember the covenant. 

So what do we say about giving from this chapter? I don’t see anything wrong with a tithe. I think it’s a good start. But it’s not part of our covenant. We’re called to generous giving (2 Corinthians 8-9). We should support the local church for various reasons given above, but there are many ministries in need, people we meet with real hurts who lack resources. We should have a heart of generosity, and I desperately need to work on this

There’s no shame in giving less than 10%. There’s no double honor for giving more. But when we recognize how much we have received, we will give. How much and to whom is still a wisdom question. It’s true I’ve never heard anyone complain about giving more.

In vv. 13-15, Israel is still complaining, saying, “It is vain to serve God. Those who do evil are the blessed ones. They prosper.” And God just got done promising blessing to Israel. Why? Because they don’t believe God. They don’t trust Him. They don’t believe that He is good, and that the discipline they endured was out of love. They don’t believe that He loves them. And as a result, they give half-hearted worship. Their priests are terrible at leading, and the people are terrible at serving. They are not faithful to their wives. They lie, and they oppress the poor. And now, they look at their possessions and don’t consider God worth His tithe and offering.

The issue here is not tithing but apostasy. They have abandoned God and considered themselves more important than keeping His law, yet it stems from forgetting His love for them.

The same is generally true for us, in that our generosity depends on what we have internalized about God’s love. Do you believe God loves you and that He’s blessed you? Then you will give back. Do you question His faithfulness and think, Eh, this is kind of a harsh requirement for being a Christian, but I guess I can spare some change this week. Then you won’t give. And you won’t see how God uses generosity to work in the lives of believers. 

It all depends on what you believe about Him and how He sees you.