The
prophet Malachi addressed some issues with the people in Israel when it came to tithing. The word "tithe" means "ten percent."
“By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. When you
offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame
or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor!
Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty. Malachi 2:7-8
First of
all they did not put their heart into the tithe. It wasn’t a gift to God but their way of getting rid
of the broken, discarded animals. It’s
like paying your taxes with yard sale items.
Even the government would not accept it.
We should give God our best.
“But you
profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is
contemptible.’ And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it
contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty.
“When you
bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I
accept them from your hands?” says the Lord. Malachi
2:12-13
Second,
they robbed God by giving useless items to him.
They robbed the ability to minister to people and show them the love of
God. They defiled the whole process of
loving God through tithing. It would be
like giving your wife dead roses. If you
love, you give your best.
“Will a
mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you
ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your
whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into
the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will
not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that
there will not be room enough to store it.
Malachi 3:8-10
Tithing is
an expression of trust and it has rewards.
God told them to “test” him and see if God would bless them—by giving
what they were supposed to give (ten percent), in the way they were supposed to give it (their first and their best). Tithing can bring blessing.