The Malachi Blessing - Unpacking chapter 3

Ok, here it is! Now it gets good! Here’s the meat of the book and the main points God wants to make. Let’s pay real close attention.

Here we go . . . .

Malachi 3

The Coming Messenger and Refiner

1 “Behold, I will send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, He will suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in. Watch, He is coming,” says the Lord. – There are actually two introduced here, the first messenger speaks of John the Baptist coming in the spirit of Elijah. The message, “repent and prepare the way of the Lord”, appropriate huh? “The way of the Lord” speaks to His path and your heart, also to “how” He does things. The second messenger is the Lord Himself! Yeah! Note: people can still come in the spirit of Elijah and John the Baptist bringing a message of correction and repentance to set things right and once again “prepare the way of the Lord”.

Verses 2-4 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and launderers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify and purge the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. 4 “Then, the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, just as in the days of old, as in former years. – Translation – Who could possibly withstand the day of His purification? (Ps 76:7, Nahum 1:6, Rev 6:17) His fire is hot enough to melt gold and silver, and He will purify (Lev 22:9), cleanse and correct the priests and leaders with His fire so that He will be able to accept offerings from them again; offerings that will again be right and pleasing to Him as they once were back in the day.

5 And I will get close to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, and against all who oppress wage earners, widows, the fatherless, and against those who turn away the stranger, because they do not fear Me,” says the Lord. – He will get up close and personal to judge, just like a military inspection. He will be quick and eager to testify against all those that do evil, because they do not fear Him (Deut 14:22). To oppress or afflict the wage earner, widows, fatherless,and stranger is to exploit and/or not help them, specifically with the tithe. This is also talking about those among them, within their gates, or in their land (Ex 22:21-24, Deut 14:28-29, 26:12-13).

6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. – The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). HE DOES NOT CHANGE! And because He doesn’t change, His LOVE, grace, and compassion protect us from His judgment and wrath. God has also made the connection that dishonoring the statutes and ordinances is the same as dishonoring Him. In that light, because He does not change, neither do His ordinances, they are forever (Num 18:8-19, Deut 12:28)

7 Even from the days of your fathers You have turned away from My statutes and ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord. “But you say, ‘In what way shall we return?’ – For a long time they have not kept and forsaken God’s ordinances and statutes (Ex 24:3, Lev 19:37, 22:9). Not kept and forsaken in that the ordinances were not being carried out correctly, as opposed to not doing them at all. Then He says “return to Me, and I will return to you”, not “return to the statutes” or “start performing the offerings correctly” or “start doing and saying the right things, and I will return to you”. It was “RETURN TO ME”! He wants the relationship restored! Then, the ordinances will follow. Then they ask, “in what way shall we return?” This is the first time they could actually be sincere. It seems God’s message could be getting through. Or, with a snicker, it is still sarcastic, continuing to believe their offerings are righteous.

You Are Robbing God

8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘In what way are we robbing You?’ In tithes and offerings. – Ok, we need to realize it’s possible to rob God. If not, what would be His purpose for saying this? (more on this verse below)

9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! – Cursed for robbing God by not keeping His statues (Deut 11:26-28, 28:15). Notice it’s the “whole nation” as a group. This is not directed at individuals as it is most commonly taught, it is a corporate address.

10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, test Me now in this,” says the Lord, “and see If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so great that there will not be enough room to store it. – Remember, this is to a group, so the whole tithe means everybody must bring their tithe. Even if one person fails to do so, the whole group suffers (more on this later). Next, it’s for food “IN MY HOUSE”. Not outside the house, not the neighbor’s house, not down the street, the next town, city, state, country, but IN His house. This is key! Who is in His house? The word "food” in this passage will be addressed below, too much to do here. Finally, this is the only place in scripture where God says to test Him. The rest of the time we’re not to. Why is that? If God tells us or even asks us to do something, should we do it? And what would it mean to not do it? Why would He choose this passage and subject matter to say this? Because it’s extremely important and close to His heart, that’s why.

Verses 11-12 “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, and he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, neither will the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the Lord; 12 “And all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord. – Blessings! Then, when our relationship is reestablished and we are in love again, I will protect and defend you, bless the work of your hands, and the whole world will see that you are blessed by Me, and that I delight in you. (Deut 12:28, 14:29, 15:5-6, 6:14-19, 28:1-14)

The People (once again) Complain Harshly

Verses 13-15 “Your words have been harsh against Me,” Says the Lord, “Yet you say, ‘What have we said against You?’ 14 You said, ‘It is pointless to serve God; what profit is there for us to keep His ordinance, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord? 15 So now we call the arrogant blessed, those who commit evil are blessed; for they even tempt God and go free.’” – Regardless whether they knew it or not, their service, ordinances, and attitudes toward God were tainted, twisted, polluted, corrupt, evil, defiled, and profane. They didn’t even know Him anymore.

The Book of Remembrance

Verses 16-18 Then those who reverence and fear the Lord spoke to each other, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that fear the Lord and meditate on His name. 17 “They are Mine,” says the Lord, “And on that day when I make them My jewels, I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” 18 Then you will once again be able to discern between the righteous and the evil, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him. – Can you see God leaning in to listen to these conversations? After which, He says “They are Mine”, and writes a book about it, doesn’t that sound good!? “Those who reverence and fear the Lord” are those that keep His statutes and ordinances. We also have the opportunity to be His crown jewels! That’s crazy! Then He says that after all this the difference between good and evil will be so great that you will easily be able to tell them apart.

Continued break down –

Verses 3 & 4 are very straight forward about what God is doing. He wants to purify the Levites in order to purify the ordinances so that He can bless His people. Behind all of this is a profound love God has for His own. What God really wants is a loving relationship with His people. But He doesn’t have that. He doesn’t have that because the leadership and people have left Him. The proof they have left Him is the failure to keep His ordinances. Keeping His ordinances is an act of love. And God wants this back. To do this He has to begin with leadership who have ceased teaching and conducting the ordinances correctly. The first thing He must do is tell them what’s happening. This gives them an opportunity to change their ways. God is looking for an open and tender heart willing to hear and receive instruction. Sadly, He doesn’t find that. Instead He finds cold hardened hearts, hardened toward Him and each other. You see, by correctly conducting the statutes and ordinances, we not only demonstrate our love for God but for each other as well. Love for God because we are doing what He’s asked us to do, love for each other because imbedded within the statutes are instructions to do so. Taking care of each other pleases God (John 13:35). Verse 5 gives examples of how they were treating each other badly.

Verse 6 boldly declares that God does not change. He remains the same, “if anyone has changed it’s you” God says. In all this He’s also trying to say that His statutes and ordinances haven’t and don’t change either, and He wants us to get it. He isn’t just speaking to Israel then, He is speaking to us now.

Verse 7 reinforces the connection between God and His ordinances; “you have turned away from My statutes and ordinances . . . return to Me” He says.

Here we go! Verse 8, robbing God. How? In tithes and offerings. In what way is God really being robbed? Does He really need the tithes and offerings for Himself? No, of course not, that’s ridiculous! Then how is He being robbed? God is being robbed of the opportunity of taking care of His family; tithes and offerings were intended to be, and in fact are, God’s provision to take care of and bless His own in a very practical way (Num 18). Some may be thinking that God doesn’t need the tithes and offerings to take care of His family. And technically, they would be correct; God can do anything He wants, and if He wants to conjure up provision out of thin air, then so be it. But this is how He wants it. He gets to love us through us. He enjoys partnering with us and loves seeing us take care of each other just as a good parent would! And He loves contributing to this! Consider 1 Timothy 5:8 If anyone fails to provide for his own, especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. The tithes and offerings are God’s way of fulfilling this passage for Himself. He would be a hypocrite if He didn’t. And He’s not! Conversely, we make God out to be “worse than an unbeliever” by 1 – withholding the tithes and offerings and 2 – misusing them. It displeases God greatly when His provision meant for His family is misused. God uses the terms “defiled” or “profaned” when tithes and offerings are mishandled or abused. Imagine a father coming home from work on payday and instead of feeding his family he feeds the neighbors. That’s not a good father. Yet this is how God looks to the world and church when we misuse tithes and offerings, worse than an unbeliever. Misrepresenting God like this is not good. Fortunately, God is a good father, and He chooses to partner with us to show it. Tithes and offerings were intended to show us how to take care of each other and, more importantly, how God wants to take care of us. It pleases and blesses God to do this for us. We should be the most provided for family in history.   

Verse 9 - Cursed with a curse for robbing God of His opportunity to bless His family. Again, God does not like or appreciate being portrayed like this, it’s not like Him to neglect His family. - The phrase “the whole nation of you” is key in this study because it is so often missed. This is a corporate address, not an individual one as it is most commonly taught. Usually we hear that these passages are directed at the individual to tithe, that if you, as an individual, would tithe, that God would open up the windows of heaven for you; but clearly this is not the case. Of course it is individuals that tithe, but an individual cannot fulfill the rest of the ordinance on their own. We need each other to do that. And of course there is a blessing for the individual for tithing. But that’s not what God is trying to say here. The Malachi Blessing is a corporate blessing based on both directives being fulfilled, 1 - the whole tithe coming in and 2 - it being used correctly. So what is this phrase actually saying if it’s not for the individual? It’s saying that the group is to act as one. The whole group is responsible for the tithe. How does this look? Let’s say in a church of 400 there are 100 gainfully employed, mature, functioning Christians. And (for the sake of ease) each earns exactly $50,000 per year. Each person would tithe $5,000 per year for a potential tithe of $500,000 per year. If one person decides to tithe $4,995 has the whole tithe come in? No it hasn’t. Let’s take it a step further, one of the others decides to tithe $5,005 to make up the difference, now has the whole tithe come in? No it hasn’t. You see the word tithe means 1/10^th or 10%. 

A person cannot “tithe” less than 10%. That’s like saying, here’s my 10%, but it’s really 9%. Likewise, a person cannot tithe more than 10% either. That’s like saying, here’s my 10%, but it’s actually 12%. It’s not the truth. It’s called the tithe for a reason, because it’s supposed to be 10%. So this passage is calling for everyone to do their part, if not the tithe is compromised from the very beginning; and the blessing described here in Malachi forfeited. If everyone does do their part, the next step is to distribute the tithe correctly. This means to leadership, to widows, to the fatherless, and anyone else in the family in need. It’s primarily misused by NOT distributing them correctly, again resulting in the Malachi Blessing being forfeited.

Verse 10 “bring the whole tithe into the storehouse”, again, everybody must do their part. To expand on this a little, should we tithe from our gross or net? The government gets theirs from our gross, God should get no less. Another issue is the “cheerful giver” passage (2 Cor 9:7) is often quoted when teaching about the tithe to encourage giving. This is a problem because this passage is not about the tithe at all. It is a separate collection Paul is taking up to deliver to another church that needs help. We cannot “cheerfully” decide on our own what the tithe should be, God has already done that. But when it comes to our personal giving, God most certainly loves a cheerful giver. - “that there may be food in My house” is a source of controversy. There are those out there that get fixated on the word food in this passage; that the tithe was food and never money, rendering today’s tithe unscriptural even evil. And technically they would be correct, the tithe guidelines given was food and not money. (One exception may be when Abraham gave a tenth OF ALL the spoils to Melchizedek) However, have you ever heard of the letter of the law verses the spirit of the law? Here is a perfect case in point! While it’s true that the tithe was food and not money (letter of the law), the tithe also has meaning and purpose (spirit of the law). The meaning and purpose of the tithe was/is God’s way of taking care of His own. Whether it’s food or money, the purpose stays the same. And to call all tithing today evil is, in-and-of-itself, evil. If God calls shorting the tithe (giving less) and misappropriation of the tithe defiling and profane, what do you think He thinks of calling it evil and/or stopping it? Or those that promote this teaching? - “In My house” is also very telling and a clue we cannot afford to miss. Who is in His house? His family, His own, His kids, His friends, that’s who. And as we have learned, it is not to be removed for any unclean use (Deut 26:14). Taking the tithe outside the house renders it defiled. “test Me in this”. The only place in scripture God wants to be tested. When and how would you ever say test me? Hmmm? Could it be because you’re extremely confident you’ll pass? Could it be because you want to issue a challenge to demonstrate what you know or who you are? Could it be because you know the outcome? Could it be because you’ll get tremendous joy out of it? The answer is yes. For the Almighty to say “test Me”, He really wants something to happen. We could even add please at the end. He knows that to test Him in this brings relationship to Him, relationship to each other, and blessing . . . a lot of blessing . . . so much so we can’t even fathom it! What do you say we accept His challenge?

Whew!

That wraps up chapter 3. Isn’t it good?

One of the definitions of love is to care enough about someone to tell them the truth, even at the risk of losing the relationship. This is exactly what God has done in the book of Malachi. Caring enough for His people to warn them of the dangers of their actions and inaction, both of which resulting in separation from Him and ultimately death. Their attitude got so bad they questioned whether or not it was worth serving God, and He lovingly goes on to explain that it is by telling them what He’ll do in return. And when you know what the ordinances actually say the picture really becomes clear. And as we’ve learned here today it’s a blessing so great and so big that containing it is impossible; this is God’s end of the deal. Ours is to give Him what is rightfully His (the tithe), and use it as He has prescribed. The result, a fully connected relationship with God, and it’s glorious! 

Even with the beautiful abundant blessing that await us, why does the church still resist? Here are some other questions to ponder -

Can you see how the tithes and offerings have been altered today?

Can you see how we have redefined not only what the tithe is (how much), but how it is to be utilized?

Can you see how far off we are from God’s definition and intent?

Can you see how closely related we are to the people of Malachi?

Can you see how this book could have been written directly to us?

Can you see how God looks to the world when we don’t take care of our own?

Can you see how we look to the world when we don’t take care of our own?

Can you see how not fulfilling these directives crushes God’s heart?

Can you see how not fulfilling these statutes hurts people?

Can you see how not fulfilling these ordinances hurts us?

Lord, please open our eyes, hearts, and spirit to see exactly where we are and what we’re doing or not doing.

The Malachi Blessing, Operation: Restore the Tithe, 

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