MALACHI 3: WILL A MAN ROB GOD?

Malachi 3 is a famous, tithes and offerings passage. However, the implication of the prophet’s question is a little ridiculous if we do not study the context of it. Is it even possible to rob God? How can a person rob the Lord when this person cannot really run anywhere to steal from the Lord? Even the ground a person is running on belongs to God, he won’t really get far to successfully steal from Him. On the surface, it seems impossible. How can a person rob God of anything? Does it mean we storm the ramparts of heaven and break into the divine treasury, and steal things God alone possesses?

The strongest and most cunning thief cannot accomplish such a theft, especially with an omnipotent and omniscient God. Nevertheless, the prophet says you are robbing God. The Israelites asked, “How have we robbed you?” To which God replied, “In your tithes and offering” (Malachi 3:8).

Through the prophet, God talked about how the people are guilty of robbing God Himself. He pronounces a curse upon the whole nation, and commands them anew to bring Him all the tithe. The people already sinned. The merciful God is giving them another chance.

In the Old Testament, God already declared that prosperity required one to give the first fruits.

In the Old Testament, God already declared that prosperity required one to give the first fruits. We are required to give 10% of our gross annual income or gain. If a shepherd’s flock was able to produce 10 new lambs, the requirement was for one of those lambs to be offered to God — and in essence, the offered lamb would belong to the temple and to the priests. All the 10 lambs came from God, but God demands the tenth as an acknowledgement of such bounty. It is not an offering that is given after other expenses are met or after other taxes have been paid. It is the first and best of the flock.

In 2009, R.C. Sproul read a survey of how only 4% of evangelical Christians returned the tithe to God in America, while the other 96% withheld it.82 It is an astonishing fact that most people do not believe in the tithe, and we see it in the hardships and moral decay the nation is experiencing. Whether this statistic is accurate, it seems like an overwhelming majority of professing evangelical Christians do not tithe.

Despite having Malachi 3 to study and to warn them, why do Christians still withhold their tithes and offering? How is it possible for someone who has been given new life in Christ Jesus, withhold financial gifts from Him? The most common reason is because they believe the tithe is part of Old Testament law, and that it has passed away with the coming of the New Testament. However, there is nowhere in the New Testament that teaches us that the tithe has been rescinded. The New Testament teaches us however that the new covenant is superior to the old covenant.

Check out: CAST THE SALT OFFERING

Your weekly dose of prophetic wisdom and anointing awaits you. Join our LIVE Conference Call!

1) Call 515-604-9266

2) Go to startmeeting.com, and use the login: BishopJordan