Malachi 3:7-12

     The central idea of the text is that God calls His people, Israel, to obedience concerning the giving of tithes and offerings, and promises blessing for compliance. Israel had, like many times throughout their history, turned aside from following God and not obeying His commands (Mal 3:7a). However, if they would return to Him in obedience, He would return to them with blessing (Mal 3:7b). His people asked, “How shall we return?” (Mal 3:7c). God then charges them with thievery, saying, “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me!” (Mal 3:8a). To which His people replied, “How have we robbed You?” (Mal 3:8b). God said their theft came from withholding their “tithes and offerings” (Mal 3:8c). The tithes and offerings referred to the tenth of the produce of the land and herds that were given by the nation to support the priests in their service at the temple (Lev 27:30-32; Num 18:8, 11, 19, 21-24).

• "The so-called tithe (“a tenth”) added up to far more than a simple 10% annually, because there was a second tithe annually, and a third tithe in the third and fifth years…In the Old Testament economy all the giving covered the sanctuary offerings for God, the taxes for the nation, and charitable gifts all rolled together."[1]

     Because of Israel’s unfaithfulness to the covenant, God declared, “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!” (Mal 3:9).  However, God offered to turn their situation around if they would return to Him and “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house to eat” (Mal 3:10a). The storehouse (הָאוֹצָר בֵּית - bet ha otsar) referred a large room where “they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils and the tithes of grain, wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, the singers and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests” (Neh 13:5). God calls on His people to test Him concerning His promises (Mal 3:10b), and if they will be obedient concerning the tithes and offerings, He declares, He will “open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” (Mal 3:10b). Here God promises to send rain for their crops to grow, and in this way, He will honor His covenant promises (Deut 28:12). In addition, God states, “I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” (Mal 3:11). The devourer likely referred to locusts that were eating their crops. Not only would Israel enjoy the material blessings of God, but the surrounding nations would see it, and “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land” (Mal 3:12). Malachi 3:8-10 has nothing to do with the Church. To be clear, Israel and the Church are both God’s people, but Israel was under “the Law” of Moses (John 1:17), whereas the Church is under the “Law of Christ” (1 Cor 9:31; Gal 6:2). Israel was required to tithe from the produce of their land (Deut 14:22-23; 28-29; Num 18:21), but there is no tithe required from Christians, only a joyful attitude when giving, “for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7).

 

[1] Allen P. Ross, Malachi Then and Now: An Expository Commentary Based on Detailed Exegetical Analysis (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), 156.