You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
3 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. 5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
There are seven violations of the covenant law…all of which will bring the covenant curses down upon Israel if she does not repent and return to the Lord in faithfulness. Seven sins, the number of fullness…indicates well enough that the covenant was being broken.
Sorcery…and before you think this is not applicable, remember sorcery is simply the practice by which people sought to manipulate God into giving them the news of the future before it came. To know the will of God, that is, what He is going to do, before He does it. Christian people today are always trying to know what they call the will of God, meaning, what tomorrow will bring, and this, God forbids. He doesn’t want His people searching for the events of tomorrow, He wants His people searching to be faithful REGARDLESS of what He brings tomorrow.
Second, Adultery. I don’t even need to comment on that one.
Third, Perjury, overturning justice in court, and violating what is true for your own good…formally and willingly lying for advantage. Wow.
Fourth, defrauding laborers of their wages was done by paying less than the agreed amount to those who couldn’t seek redress, or paying them later than agreed upon, or taking undue advantage of a buyer’s market for labor. Again, this too is everywhere in our culture, and in the practice of many Christian business men.
Fifth, Widows and the fatherless were particularly vulnerable members of the society and easily exploited. But, in Deuteronomy, we are reminded that the Lord “defends the cause of the orphan and widow” [10:18] and expects his people to do the same. This amounts to a failure to care for the poor.
Sixth, mistreating aliens, another instance of taking advantage of the vulnerable in society or for refusing to love, “the other”, those who are different…this is not just racism, the bible never says racism…this is hatred.
Seventh, “they did not fear God”. This is probably a summary of all of the above.
In all these ways, and, no doubt, many others, the people are showing contempt for God and for the covenant he made with them. They don’t fear God and they don’t really believe or trust Him…not really.
Folks such as this, do not deserve God’s blessing, but rather, God’s judgment and “the day of the Lord” would bring that two-edged sword into play.
And then, verses 6-12.
Some people think that the folks listening to Malachi really don’t know what they have done wrong…they really don’t know why the Lord says, “return to me…” or accuses them of robbing Him. They are baffled by such accusations and their question, “How have we done this” is sincere.
Others will argue that they are playing dumb…they know, but they, in their foolishness, think they can do some damage control and God will be none the wiser. Still others will say that the people do not know, but only because they don’t want to know…If they would be honest with themselves, they would know…but being honest with oneself is not as easy as it sounds.
It is of note that the issue of tithing, of giving to God what He has called us, commanded us to give…the first 10%, is tied so directly to the coming of the Covenant’s messenger, and the refining work that He intends to do. Or, I could say, that THE passage used the most to speak to the obedience of our giving to the Lord, a giving which begins with a tithe, 10%, that is not what we are to work up to…it is rather, the beginning point…
…So THE passage that speaks to tithing most clearly, just so happens to be a passage about Advent…in the context it is about the coming of the messenger of the Covenant. So, in the Bible, tithing and Christmas come to us in the same context. Hmm.
I can tell you that I do not know if a given individual tithes or not. I don’t care to know about your giving other than to say to you…If you are not faithful in this…what do you expect is going to happen?
I remember some time ago, a fella who was upset about something the elders had decided, not a theological issue, just a disagreement about what should and shouldn’t be done in a given situation and he thought to show them by not giving to the church any more.
Now: Who is this man really hurting? Even if his giving was substantial, which in this case it really wasn’t, is he really showing the elders a thing or two, or…is he shooting himself in the foot?
The Lord says to these exiles, return to Him and whereas I am sure there are many illustrations of wandering that He could have used, he chose this one…You are robbing Me, because you are not giving to the Church in faith, as I have told you to. This is evidence of a problem…a spiritual problem that is bigger than you might think.
He, not that He needed to, even gives promises for us if we will but obey him by giving our tithe with joy: He says in verse 10, do this and watch me provide for you…in fact I will give you more than you need. Then in verse 11, He says, do this, give as I have said and I will make sure that he who seeks to destroy the work of your hands will himself be destroyed. And then in verse 12, that your faithfulness in this will see the Lord giving you a reputation as one who loves and fears the Lord.
We don’t speak often about tithing, and/or money in our church…perhaps that is a mistake. But I will say that in a day like ours, where our faith costs us so very little, although I am becoming more and more convinced that the winds are blowing in a different direction…faithfulness to the Lord in this is paradigmatic, illustrative of where one’s faith, trust and hope lies.
I plead with all who desire to be faithful, to discipline your life so as to give to the Lord as He has said…why? Because the Lord needs you to give? No. Because the church needs you to give? No. YOU need you to give…The Lord says, and it’s the only time in all the Bible that he says this…test me in this…Go ahead…do this…and see what I will do for you.
Prayer: Father, in humility I reach up to take hold of Him who has taken hold of me. I have barely begun to understand the deep humility that Jesus willingly took on and lived, but when I do, when I see it, even through the vale, darkly, I cannot help but stand in awe; I am in awe of Your love and the depths to which You would go so that I might know it. Thank you Father, in Jesus name, Amen.
Hymn: Let All Flesh Keep Silence
