20250529

robbing God

Malachi 3:1-12

Malachi 3:1 “Notice, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the road before me. Then Yahveh you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the Messenger of the covenant you delight in – see, he is coming,” says Yahveh of Armies.
Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will be able to stand when he appears? He will be like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s bleach.
Malachi 3:3 He will sit like a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then, they will present offerings to Yahveh in righteousness.
Malachi 3:4 And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please Yahveh as in days of old and years gone by.
Malachi 3:5 “I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the hired worker, the widow, and the fatherless; and against those who deny justice to the resident alien. They do not fear me,” says Yahveh of Armies.
Malachi 3:6 “Because I, Yahveh, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
Malachi 3:7 “Since the days of your fathers, you have turned from my statutes; you have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says Yahveh of Armies. Yet you ask, “How can we return?”
Malachi 3:8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me!” “How do we rob you?” you ask. “By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions.
Malachi 3:9 You are suffering under a curse, yet you– the whole nation– are still robbing me.
Malachi 3:10 Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so there may be food in my house. Test me in this way,” says Yahveh of Armies. “See if I will not open the floodgates of the sky and pour out a blessing for you without measure.
Malachi 3:11 I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not ruin the produce of your ground and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit” says Yahveh of Armies.
Malachi 3:12 “Then all the nations will consider you fortunate, for you will be a delightful land,” Says Yahveh of Armies.

robbing God

The arbitration continues between the LORD and his people, with Malachi as the go-between. It is now the LORD’s turn to voice his complaints and hear the people’s response. But before the Lord voices a complaint, he expresses his desire to see reconciliation. To that end, he plans to send his messenger, who will refine and purify – particularly the priesthood and the temple. The New Testament identifies this messenger as John the Baptist (Matt. 11:10-11).

The LORD’s complaint he voices in this formal dispute is that the people have turned aside from his statutes and have not kept them, thus nullifying the covenant. He pleads with them to return to the covenant, and to him. The people ask how they should return. God says that they have been robbing him. They ask “how have we robbed you?” The LORD’s reply: “in your tithes and contributions.” The LORD does not need the offerings, but the people need to give them because giving declares the relationship. Refusal to give declares that the relationship is unimportant or severed.

LORD, make us cheerful givers, because we have a relationship with you, and because the world is watching to see if we put our money where our mouth is.