Tithing from the book of Malachi
Tithing from the book of Malachi is probably what most Christians will be accustomed to as it seems to be the preferred book for most tithe and offering sermons.
Everyone loves that thought of God opening the windows of heaven and pouring out blessings so large that there’s no room to contain it. But first, we are told that someone has robbed God, this is where the scripture gets twisted by some preachers.
A lot of Christians are walking around feeling condemned because they haven’t been able to faithfully pay their “tithes”. They believe that they have been “cursed with a curse” as Malachi puts it in chapter 3:9.
I recently spoke to one Christian Brother who was feeling condemnation for not paying tithes; feeling like certain events that happened to him was a result of not tithing.
I think that if you are using Malachi to compel people to give ten percent of their earnings then this is a horrible misuse of scripture.
As I’ve already addressed the true meaning of tithing in a previous blog I won’t go into it again but to read that blog click here, but I will say that tithes were never meant to be money.
So what was Malachi talking about when he used the word “robbed”, and to whom was he referring? One thing is for sure, he wasn’t talking to anyone not bound by sacrificial laws.
The book of Malachi is quite short and I would recommend that you take time to read and study it because the answer to those question is addressed very plainly from chapter one.
Mal 1:6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
Here clearly we read that it was the Priests that were being addressed for not honouring and fearing God, he goes as far as to say that they have despised His name. They then ask how have we despised your name? this was the answer;
Mal 1:7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
Polluted bread! That sounds like bread that’s gone off and unfit for human consumption to me, I don’t think they were taking this thing seriously.
Mal 1:8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
So they were picking the worst of the worst to offer to God which was contrary to the law, shameful!
Mal 1:13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.
“What a weariness it is”, so for the priests it was just too much work and they really couldn’t be bothered to do it no more. Having to take the tithe which consisted of grain, corn, oil, fruit, herd and flocks to the where the Lord had placed His name, or every third year to gather it and keep it at home and eat it with the Levite, the fatherless, the widow and the stranger was just too hard.
Mal 1:14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
Here God says to them the person that has a worthy sacrifice but gives Him a corrupt one instead is a deceiver and will be cursed. In over words if that person robbed God by giving him an unworthy sacrifice he would be cursed, now where have I heard that before?
Mal 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Mal 3:9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
So this is what Malachi was talking about in Chapter 3, the priests were robbing God by not giving him the best when it came to offerings and for not tithing because it seemed that they found it to be too much trouble.
Some people would like you to believe that the tithe is now money because we don’t grow our own crops or keep herds of cows, or flocks of sheep and goats. But even if that was the case you would have to find a Levite to share it with.
Your tithe was for you, your household and the Levite to eat in the place where the Lord chose to bear His name. Or every third year you would keep it within your gates (at home) and invite the Levite, the widow, the fatherless and the stranger that were within your gates to share it with you.
If it was meant to be money then why when it was converted into money because the place the tither had to travel to was too far, why did the tither not just give the money to the Levite?
When they got to the place that the Lord had commanded, they then converted the money back into food and drink and all shared it with the Levite.
Deu 14:24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
Deu 14:25 Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:
Deu 14:26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
God was not interested in money, this was something that the Lord commanded and He was specific at what should be done and man has no right to add or take away from God’s word. Nowhere in the bible does the meaning of tithing change so don’t let anyone make you feel condemned if you are not able to give ten percent.
Also, you may feel that you want to give more sometimes, and sometimes less or you may decide to give a different amount as you have determined in your heart. You shouldn’t feel bound by a law that wasn’t meant for you in the first place.
Look out for future blogs on what the New Testament says about giving offerings.
Written By
Donovan Benjamin
PS This is the fourth blog in my series on Tithing, to read previous blogs click here.