Malachi 3:6-12
Thesis: As Christ become the Supreme Lord of my life, stewardship becomes the rule of His Lordship.
A Nation of Backsliders
A. The Complainer
- Israel complains: “the reason for all our trouble is that God is unpredictable!”
- Israel reasons: “We are not to blame since we can’t understand God’s ways or meet His demands!”
B. God’s Response: “I the Lord do not change,” v. 6
- This is the reason that Israel was not completely destroyed: God does not change; He keeps His promises.
- Israel deserved punishment because of their backsliding into spiritual adultery, v. 7a.
- But God is merciful. Neither He nor His Word has changed! We know God through His Word!
An Invitation to Repentance, v. 7b
A. “Return / repent to Me and I will return to you.”
B. Israel’s denial: “How are we to return? We just returned to the land?”
- Hebrew word translated “how” can also mean “why”: “Why should we return / repent?”
- The Israelites denied wrongdoing.
- They were unwilling to accept responsibility for their predicament.
A Nation of Robbers, vv. 8-9
A. “Rob”: this verb appears twice in OT, here and Proverbs 22:23.
- to defraud another person
- to take forcibly from another
B. “How do we rob God?” We demand proof!
“God responds that Israel has become a nation of robbers by withholding their tithes and offerings from the Lord. The Greek translation reads: ‘in that the tithes and first-fruits are with you still.’ This implies that the worshipers were taking the offerings that should have been given to God and using them for their own benefit. Perhaps they justified their action with the excuse that times were hard and they needed all that their land could produce. In other words, they could not afford to be faithful stewards in a time like that.” –Page Kelley, Malachi: Rekindling the Fires of Faith, p. 95.
C. Tithes, our model for giving and obedience.
- A voluntary gift–a gift of ten percent of all that God has given us–our expression of gratitude for God’s bountiful goodness to us, 2 Corinthians 9:7.
- A reverent gift: it acknowledges God as the Lord of all the earth and the One Who gives us the power to gather money, Deuteronomy 8:18.
- A regular gift: it spares us constantly having to decide whether to give and how much to givve.
- A proportionate gift: enables us to give as God has prospered us, 1 Corinthians 16:2.
God’s Gracious Offer, vv. 10-12
A. Tithing is evidence of repentance, v. 10.
- We cannot buy God’s favor. It all belongs to God anyway.
- True repentance is making Jesus Christ Lord of our whole life, which includes our pocketbooks.
On one occasion in David’s career as King, he wanted to build an altar to the Lord on the site of a threshing floor that belonged to a man named Araunah. He negotiated with Araunah to buy the threshing floor. In an outburst of generosity, Araunah offered to give the threshing floor to the king and also to provide the oxen and the wood for the king’s burnt offering (2 Samuel 24:18-25). The king resolutely refused to accept the gift. David said: “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” What a difference would be made in our lives if all of us would come to the place where we could say, “I will not offer to the Lord my God that which costs me nothing.”
B. The Lord’s Challenge: Either you believe Me or not.
- Objection: If you’re rich, you can afford to tithe. But I have too many bills. I can’t afford to tithe.
- Counter: Either you believe and obey God or you don’t.
A. A. Hyde, a millionaire manufacturer, said he began tithing when he was $100,000 in debt. At one time, he thought it dishonest to give God a tenth of his income while he was in debt. Then it occurred to him that if Jesus was Lord of his life, God was his first creditor. He began giving to God first, and all the other creditors were eventually paid in full.
C. The Lord’s Blessings follow our Repentance and Obedience.
Warning: Giving that is truly Christian is motivated by love–love for God and love for other people. Love gives without calculating costs and without expecting rewards. The moment it starts “keeping books,” it ceases to be love.
You Rob Yourself When You Do Not Tithe!