The Way Back to a Generous God

Last week I said that this passage was not about money. What this passage is about is the spiritual health of those who say they worship God. When we read through Malachi, what we discover is that between the relationship that God and Israel shared with each other, there was one in the party who was consistently faithless. Israel demonstrated time and time again that as a people and nation that she was guilty of breaking her covenant with God. After God demonstrated his power over Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods, which not even Pharaoh could ignore, Israel complained when they saw Pharaoh and his army pursue Israel one last time: Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt (Exod. 14:11)? For forty years Israel would be known for her complaining over Gods ways verses their own ways; it did not matter how much manna came down from heaven, how much water came out of a rock in the desert, the way God stopped time one day to deliver the Amorites into the hands of Joshua and the Hebrew army and the many other ways He protected Israel in the wilderness. Israel still complained against her leaders and her God. After Israel crossed through the Red Sea and saw the great power of God deliver them from Pharaoh and his army, on the other side of the sea, God promised: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel (Exod. 19:4-6). What was Israels verbal response? It was this: All that the Lord has spoken we will do (v. 8). Yet, because the people thought Moses was taking too long up on Mount Sinai to receive the covenant Israel agreed to honor and obey they decided to make the Golden Calf, to worship it in place of Yahweh. When Israel finally came to the threshold of Canaan, the land God promised to Israel and heard the report that there were giants in the land (Numbers 13-14), they believed that the giants in Canaan were bigger than God. They believed that the One of whom Scripture testifies: sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; whom brings princes to nothing, and makes the ruler of the earth as emptiness (Isa. 40:22-23) was too weak to honor His own Word! In response, God said of the Hebrews: How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them (Num. 14:11)? When we read Israels story, it is not that hard to see our own story in theirs is it? We have something better than 10 plagues, manna from heaven, water from a rock, and a land flowing with milk and honey. We have the Christ who came as the Lamb of God to atone for our sin and liberate us from a greater tyrant than Pharoah and Egypt (John 1:29)! We have the Christ who is the Bread of Life who satisfies a deeper hunger (John 6:35). We have Jesus, who is the living water, who alone is able to satisfy the thirsty soul (John 4:14; 7:37-39). We have Jesus Christ, who not only died for our sins, but after being dead for three days, He conquered death by rising from the grave (John 19:38-20:29).Concerning Jesus and His power to redeem lost sinners, we have this promise: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you (Eph. 5:14). How many times have you chosen to sin knowing that it would only lead to shame and disappointment? How many times have you sinned only to promise God that you will not do it again? Is your experience really all that different than Israels? What does set us apart from Malachis contemporaries is that they looked to the promise of the refiners fire who would purify Levi (Mal. 3:1-4), but we are able to look to Jesus as the fulfillment of that promise. If you are a Christian, you have the refiners fire who is Jesus! What was true of those in Malachis day is true for our own day: We have a God who is faithful: For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed (3:6). Against the backdrop of Israels unfaithfulness and the heaviness and shame you may be feeling over your sin right now, I want you to see that the news of Malachi 3:1-6 is good news for you. Return to God and He will Return to You (vv. 6-7) The history of the Hebrews, according to verse 7, is a turning aside from Gods commandments. Because Yahweh does not change, those who have sinned against Him, can turn to Him. How does one return to Yahweh? The answer to verse 7 is in verse 8-10, Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, How have we robbed you? In your tithes and contributions. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. The story of Israel is mankinds story. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve trusted the lie of the serpent over the goodness of a God who wanted life and thriving for the first couple. They were free to choose the lie of the deceiver over the truth of the Life-giver, and the lie is what they chose. To sin is to choose to act upon the lie that the thing God forbids is the thing that will ultimately satisfy; this is what is at the heart of idolatry. Listen, idols make promises that they not only are unable to keep, but they will rob you of the life God intends for you. Think about what it was that the people were guilty of doing. They doubted the love of God, but at the same time did not pursue Him (1:2-5). Their worship was not accepted by God because they really had no interest in attributing worth to Him (vv. 6-14). They did not value the covenant of marriage because they did not enjoy the covenant with God as the people of God (2:13-16). Everything that we have learned from Malachi so far is that the disconnect between the people and God was due to a heart problem the people had. The Hebrew contemporaries of Malachi had religion but what was missing was a genuine relationship with the God of their forefathers. Why do you think the people offered cheap sacrifices instead of the best that they had? Why were the men divorcing the wives of their youth so that they could have the pagan women from other nations? The answer to these questions is the same answer for why they doubted the love of God and questioned His character as a just and holy God. Their problem was that they had the religion of their forefathers, but they did not have a relationship with Yahweh who was a Father to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, David, and every other man and woman who walked with God. The problem of Malachis contemporaries was the same as the rich man who asked Jesus the following question: Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? The way Jesus answered the mans question is brilliant and will help you see that Malachi 3:6-15 is addressing something much more significant than giving ten percent of your income to church! Turn to Luke 18:18-30; Here is what we read of Jesus conversation with the rich man: And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother. And he said, All these I have kept from my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:1925) There are two questions you need to answer from Jesus dialogue with the rich ruler: First, why did Jesus initially respond to the mans question with the question, Why do you call me good when no one is good except God alone? The second question you need to answer is why did the man walk away sad? The answer to the first question is that Jesus is no mere man, for He is God in the flesh! Since He is God in the flesh, Jesus is good! The reason why the man walked away sad was because he loved his wealth more than he loved God, but that is not all. The man walked away because although he was very religious, he never experienced God as a Good Father! Knowing this makes sense for what we read in the verses that follow: Those who heard it said, Then who can be saved? But he said, What is impossible with man is possible with God. And Peter said, See, we have left our homes and followed you. And he said to them, Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come, eternal life. (Luke 18:2630) Do you see how Jesus interaction with the rich religious man helps us understand the point of Malachi 3:6-15? You can really see it in Peters response: See, we have left our homes and followed you. You are correct Peter, and the reason why you have chosen to do so is because I am the treasure you seek, therefore as the One who is truly good: I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come, eternal life. The same thing that was missing in the rich mans life was the same thing missing in the religious Hebrew men and women of Malachis day! What was missing was their hearts; what was missing was joy because they did not have love!In Malachis day, the people had a temple and they had religious programs, but they did not treasure God; they did not know the treasure Jesus spoke of: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matt. 13:44). Give God Your Heart and He will Give you Infinitely More Lets turn our attention back to Malachi. Remember what Gods response was to the way the Priests and the people treated God in their worship: Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand (1:10). The point in Gods command was to offer the best of what you have, not that He needed it. You may be familiar with Psalm 50:10-11, which states: For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. However, consider the point Psalm 50 is making about God: The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. (Psalm 50:1, 715) Another passage to consider is one we already looked at during this series in Malachi: Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:12) The answer God provides for Israels question, How shall we return to God? is given in verse 10, Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. The point is not that God needs anything, but that we were made for Him! He is the treasure worth having, not the best of your flock that you think belongs to you. The great danger we face as humans is that we make the good things God has given us into ultimate things. We take good things and make them ultimate in our lives and put them in the place of the God who is ultimate. We have the propensity of worshiping the gift over the Giver. The only thing that will satisfy is a Person, and He is the Giver of life! The way back to God is to surrender the things you have made ultimate in your life, to Him. The way back to God is to find in Him your greatest treasure, and the only way you can do that is to trust Him to be that treasure that is worth having above all other things! This is what the priests and people of Malachis day failed to do. They thought by being religious, by having the best of their crops and flocks, by using their time to gain more stuff, or by pursuing another person to experience a better joy or more pleasure would ultimately satisfy, but all that they found were idols of the heart that could not give them what they needed. The reason why the tithe is singled out in verse 10 is because the way we treat money and stuff is an indicator of what we really value. Gods promise in these verses is that the people test Him by trusting Him. How do you test God by trusting God? If you really believe that He is infinitely good, then let go of the idols of your heart by surrendering or giving them to Him. How do you do that? If your idol is money, then begin by deciding a certain percent of your gross income that you will give back to Him regardless of your circumstances. If it something or someone you are holding onto that you know God has told you to let go of, then trust Him as wanting what is good for you by giving whatever it is back to Him. If you are afraid to step out in faith and trust God for knowing what is best for you, decide to finally step out in faith and obey Him. The point of Malachi 3:6-15 is not that God needs anything from you, but it is really about what He wants for you. The way to receive what it is that He wants for you is to give Him your heart. What God wants for you is a treasure worth having more than anything else in this world, because only God is good! What God wants for you is the only relationship that will satisfy; it is the relationship Jesus promised: All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:2730) Oh, dear friend, find the rest you were made for. Find your treasure and rest through a relationship with Jesus Christ.