Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the LORD of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts;
Malachi 3:7-11 (NKJV)
The statements of God and the questions of the people continue. In this section, God accuses them of going away from His ordinances because they had failed to keep them. Some people think of ordinances as a way of putting the people into bondage, but if the ordinances are righteous, then they are for the protection and benefit of the nation. Proverbs 29:2 says,
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked bears rule, the (righteous) people mourn.”
Why were they suffering?
God said that their suffering was due to their disobedience. Then He said, “Return to Me, and I will return to you.” That is such a simple statement but the people of that day did not receive it and they wanted to know how to return. So, God said, “You have robbed me.” Whoa, how can one rob God? That was their question. So God answered, “in tithe and offerings.”
Apparently, the people had gone so far from God that they did not worship by the keeping of the ordinances of God. Also, it was not just a few of them, for He said “this whole nation” had done so. The results of their “robbing God” was a curse was upon them and that Satan was loosed upon them. However, if they would return to the Lord and bring the tithes into “storehouse” (church), the curse would be removed. The blessings of God would come again, the “devourer” would be rebuked, their crops would yield abundantly and they would live in the favor of the Lord. God said in verse 12,
“And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightsome land.”
In this day…
What would we have done if that had been us? Would we choose to live under a curse or in the favor and blessings of the Lord? Would we have brought the tithe and offerings to the Lord? Do we? Just asking. Think about it. Amen?
