Sharpening the Vision
Tithing? Part II The Malachi Prophecy
Before I continue lets review this blog. Today we believe tithing is the act of giving 10% of our income to a local church. Tithing was actually an Old Testament law that the Israelites had to follow. It had nothing to do with money. It was all about food. They either ate the tithe themselves or gave it to the poor and the Levites to eat. Jesus fulfilled the law, so we are not required to tithe. Here's what the New Testament says about giving. 2 Cor 9:7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." The Bible says that WE are to decide how much to give. Not our pastor or our deacon or the preacher on TV. We are also to decide WHERE our money should go when we do give. God wants us to give cheerfully. We can't do that if we feel like we are being forced to give. It could very well be that some churches are after your money, but Jesus isn't. You don't have to pay anything to be accepted by Jesus. As a matter of fact, Jesus paid something that we could never pay. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. We are under a death sentence because of our sin. Jesus gave His life to pay that debt that we all owe. He did all the work; He paid the price in full, period. Don't let the greed of some people keep you from a relationship with Christ. He loves you right now, regardless of how much or how little you have, regardless of the condition of your heart. Even if you are a liar and a cheat, a blasphemer, an adulterer or a murderer. Jesus loves you. He will forgive you. It's not about church and it's not about money. It's about putting your faith in Jesus and what He did for you on the cross.
It is the book of Malachi that today’s clergy uses as their main authority for teaching the doctrine of "Christian tithing." It will be well worth your time to read the real meaning of Malachi’s prophecy. This Prophecy will be covered in great detail as well as Matt. 23:23 and Luke 11:42 in this blog. First, I will give just one more Scripture to help us understand how the priests of Malachi’s prophecy may have been living so as to bring upon them the condemnation of God’s judgments: "And the priest’s custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the PRIEST’S servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a flesh hook of three teeth in the hand; And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot; all that the flesh hook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the PRIEST; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desires; then he would answer him, Nay, but thou shall give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for MEN ABHORRED the offering of the Lord." (I Sam. 2:13:17).
Malachi 3:8-10, "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings…" What then is the church of today application of this Malachi Prophecy? Are we now to tithe money? What is the Truth? Mostly one will hear only three verses of Malachi quoted by those attempting to wrest a doctrine of Christian tithing from this prophecy. Here are the "cursing" verses: "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation" (Malachi 3:8-9). Here is the "blessing" verse: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat [bread] in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that thee shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10). Their interpretation of these proof texts are as follows: Rob God of His ten percent of your salary and be CURSED, or pay God ten percent of your salary and be BLESSED. Before we go any further, just who is cursing whom in this Malachi prophecy? Does God, indeed, say, "You are CURSED with a curse" (Mal. 3:9)? This definitely sounds as if it is GOD Who is doing the cursing, doesn’t it? But say, did you notice that the word "are" in your Bible is in italics? That means that the word was supplied by the translators and was not in the original manuscripts. Remove it, and the verse says: "You cursed…" rather than "You are cursed…" Is it God, or Israel, who is doing the cursing in this verse? The Sopherim (Jewish Scribes) understood this verse to say that it was Israel "cursing God" rather than "God cursing Israel." I have a few translations that make this correction: "With the curse YOU are cursing [me], and me YOU are robbing—the nation in its entirety." And: "With a curse you curse Me, and Me you are defrauding—the nation, all of it" (Mal. 3:9, Concordant Version of The Old Testament).
Now, lets read Malachi 3:10 very carefully: WHAT were they robbing God of? "tithes AND offerings." Tithes of what? Products from the land—grains and cattle. WHERE were they to bring the tithes? To the "storehouse" [Hebrew: ‘garner’-- a granary for grain]. WHY did God want these tithes of the land brought to the "storehouse" (the granary)? "That there may be meat [bread] in Mine house [God’s house, Not the granary]." If there is no spiritual application of these statements and we rather take them literally, there appears to be a contradiction here. Why should the people bring the tithes to the "storehouse" (a granary for storing grain) when what God wanted was "bread in His house," (the tabernacle/Temple, and not the "storehouse")? The only food in God’s house—the tabernacle, was a dozen loaves of bread. And that bread was for the Priests only, not for the tribe of Levi. Since there were only twelve loaves of bread in the Tabernacle/Temple of God, are we to believe that the whole nation of Israel did not bring enough grain to the storehouse to make even twelve loaves of bread? God does not contradict Himself, there needs to be something other than a need for enough grain from the whole nation of Israel to make twelve loaves of bread! Just what does God mean, "that there may be meat [bread] in Mine house?" Is God really reprimanding Christians today through Malachi’s prophecy to bring our checkbooks to church, "that there may be money in Mine house?" Yet this is the teaching of the Church regarding Malachi’s message.
Does God ask Israel to bring all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse, or treasury, or granary, so that there will be "tithes and offerings in Mine house?" No. God says so, "that there may be meat in Mine house?" We know that they did not bring the tithes and offerings into the holy place of the tabernacle. Only bread was kept in the holy place. The "bread" in the holy place was a type of something future, just as everything that happened to Israel and all of their offerings and ceremonies were a type of something future (I Cor. 10:11). We must indeed be spiritually blind to not see that the "bread" in the holy place foreshadows "The True Bread of Life—Jesus Christ." If God wanted more money in His house, why did Jesus do what He did in the House of God? "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the MONEY changers… and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves" (Matt. 21:12-13).
The Christian interpretation of Malachi 3:10 is this: "Bring ye all the tithe MONEY and extra offerings of money to the church bank, that there may be money in the Church." Granted, they might not enunciate it that crudely, but that is what they teach. Ask virtually any pastor of any church, "How do I, starting today, actually obey this prophecy of Malachi to stop "robbing God of His tithes and offerings?" and he will tell you to write out a check in the name of his church, for 10% of your salary (plus an offering), and that check will then be deposited into the church bank account. Then ask these same pastors what kind of blessings you will receive for obeying this procedure, and they will probably tell you stories where people received huge amounts of material goods and even huge amounts of more money. This is their interpretation of God "opening the windows of heaven and pouring out a blessing." And there are ministers by the tens of thousands at this very moment preparing more stories and more yarns on how blessed one will become in every imaginable physical, earthly, and material things for giving them (they would say, giving God) your money. Is this really how God wants us today to apply Malachi’s prophecy to our lives? I speak as a fool. This prophecy has absolutely nothing to do with tithing money to the Church. Does God suggest somewhere in this prophecy that there isn’t enough "money in His house?" Is Jesus Christ coming back to this earth to judge these "priests" because the "people" failed to bring enough money to the storehouse so that there would be money in God’s house? Is it a lack of money that concerns God in this prophecy? No, it is both the people and the priests who have corrupted themselves according to this prophecy. But like always, God holds the priests to a much higher standard and therefore they receive the greater condemnation. There are two groups of judgments in this prophecy: [1] "Behold I will send My Messenger… But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall PURIFY the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness" (Mal. 3:1-3). [2] "And I will come near to you to judgment [not just the priests, but many of the people as well]; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, says the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 3:5).
It is amazing how the clergy make most people think that the only thing of value in the book of Malachi are these three verses on "robbing God" and "receiving a blessing." There are four whole chapters in this book, and maybe it should behoove us to see what the rest of this book has to say. Here are just a few more things contained in Malachi: "You offer polluted bread upon My altar… if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil…" (1:7-8). "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you… I will curse your blessings… Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your face…" (2:1-3). "But you have departed out of the way… ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi… therefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people…" (2:8-9). "Behold, I will send my Messenger… But who may abide the day of His coming… He is like a refiner’s fire [like the lake of fire] …And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi… that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness" (3:13—See Isa. 6:29). "Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them… And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I made up my jewels; and I will spare them… Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves Him not [‘Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world?’ I Cor. 6:2)]" (3:16-18). "And He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (4:6)
Malachi contains a prophecy and information "for OUR admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come" (I Cor. 10:11). There is no tabernacle/temple administered by the priests of Levi today, nor for two thousand years. Malachi is not speaking to Christians about tithing money to the church. The literal physical circumstances extent in the Church in Malachi’s day is but a type, a shadow, of a spiritual reality for our day and for all those called since the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was from the tithes that the Priests of Levi selected the "sacrifices." There lies the problem for ancient Israel and the problem for the Church today. Let me explain the problem with Israel and her priests in a nutshell: God says: "I have LOVED you…" Israel asks: "wherein have you loved us?" (Mal. 1:2). God said: "If then I be a Father, where is mine honour? My fear? O priests, that despise My name." The priests ask: "Wherein have we despised Thy name? (1:6). God says: "Ye offer polluted bread upon Mine alter…" The priests ask: "Wherein have we polluted Thee?" (1:7). God says: "And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? ,..the sick and the lame… is it not evil?" (1:8). God says: "I have no pleasure in you… NEITHER WILL I ACCEPT AN OFFERING AT YOUR HAND" (1:10).
Let’s stop here a minute and consider what we have read. The Priests despise God’s name, and their sacrifices are, blind, sick and lame. And so God says He will not even accept their offering. So really, the people were tithing. But the quality of their tithes (from which they selected the sacrifices) was of an unacceptable quality. But was it this poor quality of sacrifices that really angered God? Not really. The sick and lame sacrifices were but a symptom of a much larger problem. God used their polluted sacrifices only as a physical, visual illustration to show them their sins and polluted hearts. For much of the remainder of this book, God unfolds to them their many sins and weaknesses. God says: "Ye are gone away from Mine ordinance, and have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you…" (3:7). The priests ask: "Wherein shall we return?" (3:7). God says: "In tithes and offering" (3:8). God uses "tithes and offerings" to illustrate their attitude of mind and heart behind their giving. Tithes and offerings were all that God asked of the people to give Him. Everything else they could keep for themselves. But how much did they love God. How much did they appreciate God and all His goodness to them? What was their attitude of heart and mind toward God? Their "tithes and offerings" say it all: "You offer POLLUTED BREAD UPON MINE ALTAR" (1:7). All that was included in their "tithes and offerings"—firstfruits, tithes of the land, tithes of the herds, and altar offerings of every sort, were to God: "polluted bread upon Mine altar." They gave offerings (they WERE TITHING), but they were totally unacceptable. "…NEITHER will I accept an offering at your hand" (1:10).
Malachi was a "prophet." Moses was also a prophet, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses" (Deut. 34:10). And Jesus Christ did not come to destroy the "prophets," but rather to "fulfill [the prophets]" (Matt. 5:17). Under the Prophet Moses, God fed the nation of Israel bread in the wilderness. "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat" (John 6:31). Under the Prophet Malachi God said they should bring the tithes into the storehouse so that there would be "…meat in My house, and prove me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of HEAVEN, and pour you out A [keep in mind that this blessing is singular—a blessing] blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive IT [again, singular]" (Mal. 3:10). This may well be one of the most misunderstood and wrongly preached verses in the Bible. The word "meat" in this verse comes from a Hebrew word taraph, and means "to pluck off or pull to pieces; to supply with food (as in morsels)" (Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary, p. 105, #2963). From this pulling to pieces, plucking off, and morsels, comes the phrase "breaking bread." There undoubtedly was, more grains in the storehouse (to bake bread), than any other food commodity. Now then, listen and learn what I have to show you next, and you will know and understand more about the Old Testament Prophets than do most theologians. What did Jesus have to say to the Jews about the "bread from heaven" which they said their fathers ate in the desert? "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you NOT THAT BREAD FROM HEAVEN; but My Father gives you the TRUE BREAD from heaven. For the bread of God is HE which comes down from heaven and gives life unto the world" (John 6:32-33)! What? How can Jesus say that? The Jews said that their fathers ate "bread from heaven." Moses said that, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." But Jesus said, "Moses gave you NOT that bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the TRUE bread from heaven. Is Jesus contradicting the very Word of God? No, a thousand times No: He is fulfilling the words of the prophets just as He said in Matt. 5:17. The bread in the desert was only the type of bread from heaven, which in reality, and in fulfillment, pointed to Jesus Christ, the "TRUE bread from heaven." The same is true for Malachi. The "polluted bread" of Malachi is but the type of the unpolluted, pure, "TRUE bread from heaven,’ which is Jesus Christ. But to receive this "blessing from heaven," we must bring all our tithes, all that we have to offer God, into the storehouse so that there will be "meat [unpolluted bread] in Mine house." Now then, does God want unpolluted animals? No. Does God want unpolluted produce from the land? No. Does God want unpolluted money? No. Well what kind of sacrifice does He want then? God wants you! All of you! You, yourself, are the sacrifice that God wants. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy [not polluted], acceptable [not like in Malachi where God says, ‘neither will I accept an offering at your hand’], unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1). As it is our ‘bodies’ that house our mind, heart, and spirit, we will also cover those attributes which are necessary in order for our "living sacrifice" to be acceptable unto the Lord. But seriously, brothers and sisters, of what value are physical material offerings to God, if the ones making the offerings are themselves, "polluted bread?" Does God really desire physical things? God has already created BILLIONS OF GALAXIES full of "physical things." Billions of galaxies do not fulfill God’s desire for the love, obedience, and admiration of children. God wants children. Sons and Daughters in His Own image. But God will not accept children whose character is likened to "polluted bread."
Now, we will cover the quality traits of spiritual character that God desires of all His sacrifices. "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is SPIRITUAL" (I Cor. 15:46). Now then, was that bread that the fathers ate in the desert the "TRUE bread from heaven?" No, it clearly was not, Jesus said it was not! And so, can we not see, can we not believe, can we not understand, that Jesus Christ IS "…the TRUE bread from heaven. For the bread of God IS HE which comes down FROM HEAVEN and gives life unto the world" (John 6:32b-33). Hold this thought ……And now back to Malachi again: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat [bread] in Mine house, and prove me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi, 3:10). This is vital to understand: God does not berate the people or the priests for the lack of quantity in their tithes and offerings and sacrifices, but rather a lack of quality. Here is absolute Scriptural proof of what I say. They brought offerings, but why would God not accept their offerings? Because they offered "blind, lame and sick sacrifices." And why did they do that? Because they themselves were spiritually blind, lame and sick. There was quantity to their offerings, but not quality. "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 your governor; will he be pleased with you, or accept your person? Says the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 1:8).
And how is it that God views these evil sacrifices: "Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar…" (Ver. 7). There is the whole ball of wax! And so it is in today’s Church. The problem is not a lack of money, but offering polluted bread upon the altar of God. God wants "Pure and Fine Bread": "And you shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes… And you shall put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread… And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; [the priests] and they shall eat it in the holy place…" (Lev. 24:5-9). Remember: first is the natural, the physical, and then comes the spiritual. And so the children of Israel ate the "bread from heaven" in the wilderness. There was sufficient quantity, but it lacked quality. It did not possess the quality of True LIFE—they all DIED in the desert except for Caleb and Joshua in that generation. The spiritual fulfillment of this type of physical bread in the desert is that Jesus Christ is "The True Bread of LIFE." Likewise, the quantity of bread being offered by the priests on the altar of God was not the problem, but rather the quality of those offerings. The spiritual bread (the spiritual food for the people) being offered in the Church today is not lacking in quantity, but rather quality. There is "bread," yes, but it is "polluted bread." The opposite of "polluted" is "pure." God’s religion is PURE: "PURE religion and UNDEFILED before God the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows IN THEIR AFFLICTION, and to keep himself UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD" (James 1:27) This verse does not say: "Take ten percent of the Social Security checks and welfare checks of the "fatherless and widows IN THEIR AFFLICTION," and then take that money and spend it for all the "spotted materialism of this world." Yet that is exactly what all to many of today’s priests and ministers are doing. And furthermore, they shamelessly boast about their material possessions! They "love the world and the things that are in the world." And, therefore, is it little wonder that, "the love of the Father is not in them" (I John 2:15)? Neither do they have a "love of the Truth" (II Thes. 2:10). God used a physical, outward, visible, type, of sick, lame, and blind sacrifices, which He then calls polluted bread to show Israel and their priests what He was really angry with, namely, their "polluted" hearts, minds, and spirits! Malachi’s prophecy is about the sin WITHIN, not sacrifices WITHOUT!
Everything that happened in the Old Testament was a TYPE of future, spiritual things. "Now ALL these things happened unto THEM for examples: and they were written for OUR admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (I Cor. 10:11). And Malachi is no different. The people of Israel tithed sick, lame, and diseased animals to Levi. The Priests took those evil beasts and offered them as sacrifices to God. The reason that the people and the priests offered sick (polluted) sacrifices is because they themselves were sick and polluted with sins. Isaiah describes them well: "Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more, THE WHOLE HEAD IS SICK and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head THERE IS NO SOUNDNESS IN IT…" (Isa. 1:4-5).
Much of what the clergy disseminates from the pulpit as "wholesome spiritual food," God calls "polluted bread." And just WHY do they offer polluted bread? Because: "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART, the MOUTH SPEAKS" (Matt. 12:34). There it is! There is the message of Malachi! That is why Israel brought sick and blind sacrifices and that is why the priests did not correct them, but went ahead and offered them to God. Both the people and the priests were polluted in their hearts, and it is of the abundance of the heart that determines men’s actions. Today’s "polluted bread" is served up in such doctrines as exact ten per cent of the congregation’s salaries in the form of a church tax called, tithing. And the threat of eternal torture in fire if one does not follow the dictates of a specific denomination or religious teaching that is deemed necessary to avoid this eternal hellhole of terrorism. The type and shadow of Jesus Christ, the True Bread of life, was the physical bread that Israel ate in the desert. The desert doesn’t produce enough food to sustain an army of people—it had to be supernaturally supplied by God. The desert and wilderness of our carnal nature does not produce enough spiritual food to sustain us either. Only the True Bread of LIFE from Heaven in the person of Jesus Christ can supply our spiritual needs. We must eat this spiritual bread in order to have spiritual life. The sacrifices spoken of in Malachi were not suitable for God’s house. They offered "POLLUTED BREAD" and we saw some of the many sins that constituted this polluted bread. Here are the only sacrifices that are fit for God’s storehouse: "The sacrifices of God are A BROKEN SPIRIT: a broken and CONTRITE HEART…" (Psalm 51:17). And in Psalm 34:18 David reverses the order: "The lord is nigh unto them that are of a BROKEN HEART; and saves such as be of a CONTRITE SPIRIT." It is all about attitude: REPENT, HUMBLE YOURSELF, and OBEY! Then follows the Blessing: People always want to do physical things to prove their spirituality. But God doesn’t want your physical things. God wants a broken heart and a contrite spirit and a willingness to OBEY: "Behold, to OBEY is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (I Sam. 15:22). The sacrifices of a broken heart, a contrite spirit, and a willingness to always obey are always acceptable to God.
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat [bread—pure and fine bread—not polluted bread of a carnal mind filled with evil deeds and doctrines], and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of HEAVEN [‘For the bread of God is He which come down from heaven… For I came down from heaven… I am the bread which came down from heaven… John 6:33, 38, 41] and pour you out a blessing [Jesus Christ, The Bread of Life is this blessing], that there shall not be room [‘Now unto Him that is able to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY {Gk: SUPEREXCESSIVELY—superabundantly, superexceedingly, superaboundingly} ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK’ Eph. 3:20] to receive it" (Mal. 3:10). God is saying to us: "Give Me your pure bread offerings of a "broken heart, contrite spirit, and attitude of obedience," and I will give you, "The TRUE BREAD OF LIFE from HEAVEN." Now there, dear brothers and sisters, is a blessing beyond our ability to make "room to receive it." Jesus Christ is the True Bread in God’s house. Jesus Christ is the personification of LOVE, LIGHT AND LIFE. Jesus is the ultimate, the apex, the primer, the zenith, the HIGHEST OF EVERYTHING! Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life, The Hope of Glory, The Saviour of the World—all that we and the entirety of the universe will ever need for all eternity is found in Him! But God demands purity. All the polluted bread has got to go: "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the SONS OF GOD: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the SONS of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that has this hope in him PURIFIES HIMSELF, even as He [Jesus] IS PURE" (I John 3:1-3). And the priests of Christ would have us believe that God’s message through Malachi is a quest for MORE MONEY! Unbelievable!
Conclusion and the lesson of Malachi for the followers of Christ today? Obedience to the Law of Moses, the Sacrifices and the many Ordinances was to bring physical prosperity, safety from enemies, healthy children, and a long life in the land, followed by DEATH. Malachi brings us from obedience to physical laws in the land, all the way down to the return of Messiah in fiery judgment upon mankind. God never really did want animal sacrifices, but the sacrifices of a "broken and contrite heart and spirit." God tells us through Malachi that we should bring all our tithes (spiritual tithes and offerings) to Him and He will bless us with a blessing that cannot be contained. The physical tithes that were brought to the storehouse from which portions were sacrificed to God, brought temporary, physical blessings on Earth. For all those who will bring all their spiritual tithes and offering to God’s house, God promises One permanent, SPIRITUAL Blessing from heaven. Jesus Christ is that One and only True Bread of never-ending life.
As Christians we obey a spiritual law and our sacrifices are spiritual. We are not under the Law of Moses in this New Testament dispensation, accordingly, the end-time fulfillment of Malachi does not pertain to the Law of Moses, which is the oldness of the letter rather the newness of the spirit. Just as there is no more sacrificing of animals at the Temple, likewise there is no tithing of animals at the Temple—nor is there tithing of any kind. Christians are not under the Law of Moses, nor a twisted, modified version of it. "For the law of the SPIRIT of LIFE in Christ Jesus [this is not the Law of Moses] has made me FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH" (Rom. 8:2). The law of the letter "engraven in stone tablets" assuredly was a "dispensation of death and condemnation" (II Cor. 3:4-11). Here are but a few more sacrifices of the spirit which are always acceptable in God’s presence: "…therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of JOY…" (Ps. 26:6). "Offer the sacrifices of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and put your trust in the Lord" (Ps. 4:5). "And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of THANKSGIVING, and declare His works with REJOICING" (Ps. 107:22). Yes, these are the sacrifices, these are the offerings, these are the tithes of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. O what a clever piece of legislation the Church enacted when they changed a law regarding the tithing of farm products for the Levites only to a law that exacts ten per cent of EVERYTHING FROM EVERYBODY.
But the Church today doesn’t want the New Covenant to replace the Old. They want to put the New Wine (of the New Covenant), in the Old Bottles (of the Old Covenant). And they want to put the New Cloth (of the New Covenant), on the Old Cloth (of the Old Covenant). And what did Jesus tell us would be the result of such an unharmonious and unequal yoking? "And no man puts new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled and the bottles shall perish." However, in two thousand years, the church is still trying put the Old and the New together as One, and the results are always disastrous. Just why is it that they like the Old covenant better than the New? Here’s the answer from the lips of our Master Himself: "No man also having drunk old wine [lived by the Old Covenant] straightway desires new [the spiritual New Covenant]: for he says, The old is better" (Luke 5:39). But not only is the Church blinded by the new wine, they are also intoxicated from the old wine to the point that they have no idea what it’s purpose was in the first place. Jesus said, "You blind guides, which STRAIN OUT A GNAT [are attentive to TINY insignificant things like paying tithes on mint and pepper pods], and SWALLOW A CAMEL [totally neglect the weightier matters of the law which are of HUGE consequence, like judgment, faith, mercy, and the love of God]" (Matt. 23:24). How many millions of sermons are geared toward "straining out gnats" on Sunday morning, so that the Pastors can "swallow camels" all week long?
Peter describes the church in the latter days: "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily [secretly] shall bring in damnable [destructive, fatal, disastrous, ruinous] heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And MANY shall follow their pernicious [lascivious, licentious, wanton] ways; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness [greed, lust] shall they with feigned words MAKE MERCHANDISE OF YOU" (II Pet. 2:1-3). Other renderings: "Motivated by greed, they will exploit you with their counterfeit arguments" (Berkely Version). "…in their lust they will exploit you with cunning arguments" (Moffatt Translation). "In their greed for MONEY they will trade on your credulity with sheer fabrications"`(The New English Bible).
It is the book of Malachi that today’s clergy uses as their main authority for teaching the doctrine of "Christian tithing." It will be well worth your time to read the real meaning of Malachi’s prophecy. This Prophecy will be covered in great detail as well as Matt. 23:23 and Luke 11:42 in this blog. First, I will give just one more Scripture to help us understand how the priests of Malachi’s prophecy may have been living so as to bring upon them the condemnation of God’s judgments: "And the priest’s custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the PRIEST’S servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a flesh hook of three teeth in the hand; And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot; all that the flesh hook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the PRIEST; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desires; then he would answer him, Nay, but thou shall give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for MEN ABHORRED the offering of the Lord." (I Sam. 2:13:17).
Malachi 3:8-10, "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings…" What then is the church of today application of this Malachi Prophecy? Are we now to tithe money? What is the Truth? Mostly one will hear only three verses of Malachi quoted by those attempting to wrest a doctrine of Christian tithing from this prophecy. Here are the "cursing" verses: "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation" (Malachi 3:8-9). Here is the "blessing" verse: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat [bread] in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that thee shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10). Their interpretation of these proof texts are as follows: Rob God of His ten percent of your salary and be CURSED, or pay God ten percent of your salary and be BLESSED. Before we go any further, just who is cursing whom in this Malachi prophecy? Does God, indeed, say, "You are CURSED with a curse" (Mal. 3:9)? This definitely sounds as if it is GOD Who is doing the cursing, doesn’t it? But say, did you notice that the word "are" in your Bible is in italics? That means that the word was supplied by the translators and was not in the original manuscripts. Remove it, and the verse says: "You cursed…" rather than "You are cursed…" Is it God, or Israel, who is doing the cursing in this verse? The Sopherim (Jewish Scribes) understood this verse to say that it was Israel "cursing God" rather than "God cursing Israel." I have a few translations that make this correction: "With the curse YOU are cursing [me], and me YOU are robbing—the nation in its entirety." And: "With a curse you curse Me, and Me you are defrauding—the nation, all of it" (Mal. 3:9, Concordant Version of The Old Testament).
Now, lets read Malachi 3:10 very carefully: WHAT were they robbing God of? "tithes AND offerings." Tithes of what? Products from the land—grains and cattle. WHERE were they to bring the tithes? To the "storehouse" [Hebrew: ‘garner’-- a granary for grain]. WHY did God want these tithes of the land brought to the "storehouse" (the granary)? "That there may be meat [bread] in Mine house [God’s house, Not the granary]." If there is no spiritual application of these statements and we rather take them literally, there appears to be a contradiction here. Why should the people bring the tithes to the "storehouse" (a granary for storing grain) when what God wanted was "bread in His house," (the tabernacle/Temple, and not the "storehouse")? The only food in God’s house—the tabernacle, was a dozen loaves of bread. And that bread was for the Priests only, not for the tribe of Levi. Since there were only twelve loaves of bread in the Tabernacle/Temple of God, are we to believe that the whole nation of Israel did not bring enough grain to the storehouse to make even twelve loaves of bread? God does not contradict Himself, there needs to be something other than a need for enough grain from the whole nation of Israel to make twelve loaves of bread! Just what does God mean, "that there may be meat [bread] in Mine house?" Is God really reprimanding Christians today through Malachi’s prophecy to bring our checkbooks to church, "that there may be money in Mine house?" Yet this is the teaching of the Church regarding Malachi’s message.
Does God ask Israel to bring all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse, or treasury, or granary, so that there will be "tithes and offerings in Mine house?" No. God says so, "that there may be meat in Mine house?" We know that they did not bring the tithes and offerings into the holy place of the tabernacle. Only bread was kept in the holy place. The "bread" in the holy place was a type of something future, just as everything that happened to Israel and all of their offerings and ceremonies were a type of something future (I Cor. 10:11). We must indeed be spiritually blind to not see that the "bread" in the holy place foreshadows "The True Bread of Life—Jesus Christ." If God wanted more money in His house, why did Jesus do what He did in the House of God? "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the MONEY changers… and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves" (Matt. 21:12-13).
The Christian interpretation of Malachi 3:10 is this: "Bring ye all the tithe MONEY and extra offerings of money to the church bank, that there may be money in the Church." Granted, they might not enunciate it that crudely, but that is what they teach. Ask virtually any pastor of any church, "How do I, starting today, actually obey this prophecy of Malachi to stop "robbing God of His tithes and offerings?" and he will tell you to write out a check in the name of his church, for 10% of your salary (plus an offering), and that check will then be deposited into the church bank account. Then ask these same pastors what kind of blessings you will receive for obeying this procedure, and they will probably tell you stories where people received huge amounts of material goods and even huge amounts of more money. This is their interpretation of God "opening the windows of heaven and pouring out a blessing." And there are ministers by the tens of thousands at this very moment preparing more stories and more yarns on how blessed one will become in every imaginable physical, earthly, and material things for giving them (they would say, giving God) your money. Is this really how God wants us today to apply Malachi’s prophecy to our lives? I speak as a fool. This prophecy has absolutely nothing to do with tithing money to the Church. Does God suggest somewhere in this prophecy that there isn’t enough "money in His house?" Is Jesus Christ coming back to this earth to judge these "priests" because the "people" failed to bring enough money to the storehouse so that there would be money in God’s house? Is it a lack of money that concerns God in this prophecy? No, it is both the people and the priests who have corrupted themselves according to this prophecy. But like always, God holds the priests to a much higher standard and therefore they receive the greater condemnation. There are two groups of judgments in this prophecy: [1] "Behold I will send My Messenger… But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall PURIFY the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness" (Mal. 3:1-3). [2] "And I will come near to you to judgment [not just the priests, but many of the people as well]; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, says the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 3:5).
It is amazing how the clergy make most people think that the only thing of value in the book of Malachi are these three verses on "robbing God" and "receiving a blessing." There are four whole chapters in this book, and maybe it should behoove us to see what the rest of this book has to say. Here are just a few more things contained in Malachi: "You offer polluted bread upon My altar… if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil…" (1:7-8). "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you… I will curse your blessings… Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your face…" (2:1-3). "But you have departed out of the way… ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi… therefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people…" (2:8-9). "Behold, I will send my Messenger… But who may abide the day of His coming… He is like a refiner’s fire [like the lake of fire] …And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi… that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness" (3:13—See Isa. 6:29). "Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them… And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I made up my jewels; and I will spare them… Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves Him not [‘Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world?’ I Cor. 6:2)]" (3:16-18). "And He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (4:6)
Malachi contains a prophecy and information "for OUR admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come" (I Cor. 10:11). There is no tabernacle/temple administered by the priests of Levi today, nor for two thousand years. Malachi is not speaking to Christians about tithing money to the church. The literal physical circumstances extent in the Church in Malachi’s day is but a type, a shadow, of a spiritual reality for our day and for all those called since the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was from the tithes that the Priests of Levi selected the "sacrifices." There lies the problem for ancient Israel and the problem for the Church today. Let me explain the problem with Israel and her priests in a nutshell: God says: "I have LOVED you…" Israel asks: "wherein have you loved us?" (Mal. 1:2). God said: "If then I be a Father, where is mine honour? My fear? O priests, that despise My name." The priests ask: "Wherein have we despised Thy name? (1:6). God says: "Ye offer polluted bread upon Mine alter…" The priests ask: "Wherein have we polluted Thee?" (1:7). God says: "And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? ,..the sick and the lame… is it not evil?" (1:8). God says: "I have no pleasure in you… NEITHER WILL I ACCEPT AN OFFERING AT YOUR HAND" (1:10).
Let’s stop here a minute and consider what we have read. The Priests despise God’s name, and their sacrifices are, blind, sick and lame. And so God says He will not even accept their offering. So really, the people were tithing. But the quality of their tithes (from which they selected the sacrifices) was of an unacceptable quality. But was it this poor quality of sacrifices that really angered God? Not really. The sick and lame sacrifices were but a symptom of a much larger problem. God used their polluted sacrifices only as a physical, visual illustration to show them their sins and polluted hearts. For much of the remainder of this book, God unfolds to them their many sins and weaknesses. God says: "Ye are gone away from Mine ordinance, and have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto you…" (3:7). The priests ask: "Wherein shall we return?" (3:7). God says: "In tithes and offering" (3:8). God uses "tithes and offerings" to illustrate their attitude of mind and heart behind their giving. Tithes and offerings were all that God asked of the people to give Him. Everything else they could keep for themselves. But how much did they love God. How much did they appreciate God and all His goodness to them? What was their attitude of heart and mind toward God? Their "tithes and offerings" say it all: "You offer POLLUTED BREAD UPON MINE ALTAR" (1:7). All that was included in their "tithes and offerings"—firstfruits, tithes of the land, tithes of the herds, and altar offerings of every sort, were to God: "polluted bread upon Mine altar." They gave offerings (they WERE TITHING), but they were totally unacceptable. "…NEITHER will I accept an offering at your hand" (1:10).
Malachi was a "prophet." Moses was also a prophet, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses" (Deut. 34:10). And Jesus Christ did not come to destroy the "prophets," but rather to "fulfill [the prophets]" (Matt. 5:17). Under the Prophet Moses, God fed the nation of Israel bread in the wilderness. "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat" (John 6:31). Under the Prophet Malachi God said they should bring the tithes into the storehouse so that there would be "…meat in My house, and prove me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of HEAVEN, and pour you out A [keep in mind that this blessing is singular—a blessing] blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive IT [again, singular]" (Mal. 3:10). This may well be one of the most misunderstood and wrongly preached verses in the Bible. The word "meat" in this verse comes from a Hebrew word taraph, and means "to pluck off or pull to pieces; to supply with food (as in morsels)" (Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary, p. 105, #2963). From this pulling to pieces, plucking off, and morsels, comes the phrase "breaking bread." There undoubtedly was, more grains in the storehouse (to bake bread), than any other food commodity. Now then, listen and learn what I have to show you next, and you will know and understand more about the Old Testament Prophets than do most theologians. What did Jesus have to say to the Jews about the "bread from heaven" which they said their fathers ate in the desert? "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you NOT THAT BREAD FROM HEAVEN; but My Father gives you the TRUE BREAD from heaven. For the bread of God is HE which comes down from heaven and gives life unto the world" (John 6:32-33)! What? How can Jesus say that? The Jews said that their fathers ate "bread from heaven." Moses said that, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." But Jesus said, "Moses gave you NOT that bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the TRUE bread from heaven. Is Jesus contradicting the very Word of God? No, a thousand times No: He is fulfilling the words of the prophets just as He said in Matt. 5:17. The bread in the desert was only the type of bread from heaven, which in reality, and in fulfillment, pointed to Jesus Christ, the "TRUE bread from heaven." The same is true for Malachi. The "polluted bread" of Malachi is but the type of the unpolluted, pure, "TRUE bread from heaven,’ which is Jesus Christ. But to receive this "blessing from heaven," we must bring all our tithes, all that we have to offer God, into the storehouse so that there will be "meat [unpolluted bread] in Mine house." Now then, does God want unpolluted animals? No. Does God want unpolluted produce from the land? No. Does God want unpolluted money? No. Well what kind of sacrifice does He want then? God wants you! All of you! You, yourself, are the sacrifice that God wants. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy [not polluted], acceptable [not like in Malachi where God says, ‘neither will I accept an offering at your hand’], unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1). As it is our ‘bodies’ that house our mind, heart, and spirit, we will also cover those attributes which are necessary in order for our "living sacrifice" to be acceptable unto the Lord. But seriously, brothers and sisters, of what value are physical material offerings to God, if the ones making the offerings are themselves, "polluted bread?" Does God really desire physical things? God has already created BILLIONS OF GALAXIES full of "physical things." Billions of galaxies do not fulfill God’s desire for the love, obedience, and admiration of children. God wants children. Sons and Daughters in His Own image. But God will not accept children whose character is likened to "polluted bread."
Now, we will cover the quality traits of spiritual character that God desires of all His sacrifices. "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is SPIRITUAL" (I Cor. 15:46). Now then, was that bread that the fathers ate in the desert the "TRUE bread from heaven?" No, it clearly was not, Jesus said it was not! And so, can we not see, can we not believe, can we not understand, that Jesus Christ IS "…the TRUE bread from heaven. For the bread of God IS HE which comes down FROM HEAVEN and gives life unto the world" (John 6:32b-33). Hold this thought ……And now back to Malachi again: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat [bread] in Mine house, and prove me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi, 3:10). This is vital to understand: God does not berate the people or the priests for the lack of quantity in their tithes and offerings and sacrifices, but rather a lack of quality. Here is absolute Scriptural proof of what I say. They brought offerings, but why would God not accept their offerings? Because they offered "blind, lame and sick sacrifices." And why did they do that? Because they themselves were spiritually blind, lame and sick. There was quantity to their offerings, but not quality. "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 your governor; will he be pleased with you, or accept your person? Says the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 1:8).
And how is it that God views these evil sacrifices: "Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar…" (Ver. 7). There is the whole ball of wax! And so it is in today’s Church. The problem is not a lack of money, but offering polluted bread upon the altar of God. God wants "Pure and Fine Bread": "And you shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes… And you shall put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread… And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; [the priests] and they shall eat it in the holy place…" (Lev. 24:5-9). Remember: first is the natural, the physical, and then comes the spiritual. And so the children of Israel ate the "bread from heaven" in the wilderness. There was sufficient quantity, but it lacked quality. It did not possess the quality of True LIFE—they all DIED in the desert except for Caleb and Joshua in that generation. The spiritual fulfillment of this type of physical bread in the desert is that Jesus Christ is "The True Bread of LIFE." Likewise, the quantity of bread being offered by the priests on the altar of God was not the problem, but rather the quality of those offerings. The spiritual bread (the spiritual food for the people) being offered in the Church today is not lacking in quantity, but rather quality. There is "bread," yes, but it is "polluted bread." The opposite of "polluted" is "pure." God’s religion is PURE: "PURE religion and UNDEFILED before God the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows IN THEIR AFFLICTION, and to keep himself UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD" (James 1:27) This verse does not say: "Take ten percent of the Social Security checks and welfare checks of the "fatherless and widows IN THEIR AFFLICTION," and then take that money and spend it for all the "spotted materialism of this world." Yet that is exactly what all to many of today’s priests and ministers are doing. And furthermore, they shamelessly boast about their material possessions! They "love the world and the things that are in the world." And, therefore, is it little wonder that, "the love of the Father is not in them" (I John 2:15)? Neither do they have a "love of the Truth" (II Thes. 2:10). God used a physical, outward, visible, type, of sick, lame, and blind sacrifices, which He then calls polluted bread to show Israel and their priests what He was really angry with, namely, their "polluted" hearts, minds, and spirits! Malachi’s prophecy is about the sin WITHIN, not sacrifices WITHOUT!
Everything that happened in the Old Testament was a TYPE of future, spiritual things. "Now ALL these things happened unto THEM for examples: and they were written for OUR admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (I Cor. 10:11). And Malachi is no different. The people of Israel tithed sick, lame, and diseased animals to Levi. The Priests took those evil beasts and offered them as sacrifices to God. The reason that the people and the priests offered sick (polluted) sacrifices is because they themselves were sick and polluted with sins. Isaiah describes them well: "Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more, THE WHOLE HEAD IS SICK and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head THERE IS NO SOUNDNESS IN IT…" (Isa. 1:4-5).
Much of what the clergy disseminates from the pulpit as "wholesome spiritual food," God calls "polluted bread." And just WHY do they offer polluted bread? Because: "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART, the MOUTH SPEAKS" (Matt. 12:34). There it is! There is the message of Malachi! That is why Israel brought sick and blind sacrifices and that is why the priests did not correct them, but went ahead and offered them to God. Both the people and the priests were polluted in their hearts, and it is of the abundance of the heart that determines men’s actions. Today’s "polluted bread" is served up in such doctrines as exact ten per cent of the congregation’s salaries in the form of a church tax called, tithing. And the threat of eternal torture in fire if one does not follow the dictates of a specific denomination or religious teaching that is deemed necessary to avoid this eternal hellhole of terrorism. The type and shadow of Jesus Christ, the True Bread of life, was the physical bread that Israel ate in the desert. The desert doesn’t produce enough food to sustain an army of people—it had to be supernaturally supplied by God. The desert and wilderness of our carnal nature does not produce enough spiritual food to sustain us either. Only the True Bread of LIFE from Heaven in the person of Jesus Christ can supply our spiritual needs. We must eat this spiritual bread in order to have spiritual life. The sacrifices spoken of in Malachi were not suitable for God’s house. They offered "POLLUTED BREAD" and we saw some of the many sins that constituted this polluted bread. Here are the only sacrifices that are fit for God’s storehouse: "The sacrifices of God are A BROKEN SPIRIT: a broken and CONTRITE HEART…" (Psalm 51:17). And in Psalm 34:18 David reverses the order: "The lord is nigh unto them that are of a BROKEN HEART; and saves such as be of a CONTRITE SPIRIT." It is all about attitude: REPENT, HUMBLE YOURSELF, and OBEY! Then follows the Blessing: People always want to do physical things to prove their spirituality. But God doesn’t want your physical things. God wants a broken heart and a contrite spirit and a willingness to OBEY: "Behold, to OBEY is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (I Sam. 15:22). The sacrifices of a broken heart, a contrite spirit, and a willingness to always obey are always acceptable to God.
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat [bread—pure and fine bread—not polluted bread of a carnal mind filled with evil deeds and doctrines], and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of HEAVEN [‘For the bread of God is He which come down from heaven… For I came down from heaven… I am the bread which came down from heaven… John 6:33, 38, 41] and pour you out a blessing [Jesus Christ, The Bread of Life is this blessing], that there shall not be room [‘Now unto Him that is able to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY {Gk: SUPEREXCESSIVELY—superabundantly, superexceedingly, superaboundingly} ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK’ Eph. 3:20] to receive it" (Mal. 3:10). God is saying to us: "Give Me your pure bread offerings of a "broken heart, contrite spirit, and attitude of obedience," and I will give you, "The TRUE BREAD OF LIFE from HEAVEN." Now there, dear brothers and sisters, is a blessing beyond our ability to make "room to receive it." Jesus Christ is the True Bread in God’s house. Jesus Christ is the personification of LOVE, LIGHT AND LIFE. Jesus is the ultimate, the apex, the primer, the zenith, the HIGHEST OF EVERYTHING! Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life, The Hope of Glory, The Saviour of the World—all that we and the entirety of the universe will ever need for all eternity is found in Him! But God demands purity. All the polluted bread has got to go: "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the SONS OF GOD: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the SONS of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that has this hope in him PURIFIES HIMSELF, even as He [Jesus] IS PURE" (I John 3:1-3). And the priests of Christ would have us believe that God’s message through Malachi is a quest for MORE MONEY! Unbelievable!
Conclusion and the lesson of Malachi for the followers of Christ today? Obedience to the Law of Moses, the Sacrifices and the many Ordinances was to bring physical prosperity, safety from enemies, healthy children, and a long life in the land, followed by DEATH. Malachi brings us from obedience to physical laws in the land, all the way down to the return of Messiah in fiery judgment upon mankind. God never really did want animal sacrifices, but the sacrifices of a "broken and contrite heart and spirit." God tells us through Malachi that we should bring all our tithes (spiritual tithes and offerings) to Him and He will bless us with a blessing that cannot be contained. The physical tithes that were brought to the storehouse from which portions were sacrificed to God, brought temporary, physical blessings on Earth. For all those who will bring all their spiritual tithes and offering to God’s house, God promises One permanent, SPIRITUAL Blessing from heaven. Jesus Christ is that One and only True Bread of never-ending life.
As Christians we obey a spiritual law and our sacrifices are spiritual. We are not under the Law of Moses in this New Testament dispensation, accordingly, the end-time fulfillment of Malachi does not pertain to the Law of Moses, which is the oldness of the letter rather the newness of the spirit. Just as there is no more sacrificing of animals at the Temple, likewise there is no tithing of animals at the Temple—nor is there tithing of any kind. Christians are not under the Law of Moses, nor a twisted, modified version of it. "For the law of the SPIRIT of LIFE in Christ Jesus [this is not the Law of Moses] has made me FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH" (Rom. 8:2). The law of the letter "engraven in stone tablets" assuredly was a "dispensation of death and condemnation" (II Cor. 3:4-11). Here are but a few more sacrifices of the spirit which are always acceptable in God’s presence: "…therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of JOY…" (Ps. 26:6). "Offer the sacrifices of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and put your trust in the Lord" (Ps. 4:5). "And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of THANKSGIVING, and declare His works with REJOICING" (Ps. 107:22). Yes, these are the sacrifices, these are the offerings, these are the tithes of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. O what a clever piece of legislation the Church enacted when they changed a law regarding the tithing of farm products for the Levites only to a law that exacts ten per cent of EVERYTHING FROM EVERYBODY.
But the Church today doesn’t want the New Covenant to replace the Old. They want to put the New Wine (of the New Covenant), in the Old Bottles (of the Old Covenant). And they want to put the New Cloth (of the New Covenant), on the Old Cloth (of the Old Covenant). And what did Jesus tell us would be the result of such an unharmonious and unequal yoking? "And no man puts new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled and the bottles shall perish." However, in two thousand years, the church is still trying put the Old and the New together as One, and the results are always disastrous. Just why is it that they like the Old covenant better than the New? Here’s the answer from the lips of our Master Himself: "No man also having drunk old wine [lived by the Old Covenant] straightway desires new [the spiritual New Covenant]: for he says, The old is better" (Luke 5:39). But not only is the Church blinded by the new wine, they are also intoxicated from the old wine to the point that they have no idea what it’s purpose was in the first place. Jesus said, "You blind guides, which STRAIN OUT A GNAT [are attentive to TINY insignificant things like paying tithes on mint and pepper pods], and SWALLOW A CAMEL [totally neglect the weightier matters of the law which are of HUGE consequence, like judgment, faith, mercy, and the love of God]" (Matt. 23:24). How many millions of sermons are geared toward "straining out gnats" on Sunday morning, so that the Pastors can "swallow camels" all week long?
Peter describes the church in the latter days: "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily [secretly] shall bring in damnable [destructive, fatal, disastrous, ruinous] heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And MANY shall follow their pernicious [lascivious, licentious, wanton] ways; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness [greed, lust] shall they with feigned words MAKE MERCHANDISE OF YOU" (II Pet. 2:1-3). Other renderings: "Motivated by greed, they will exploit you with their counterfeit arguments" (Berkely Version). "…in their lust they will exploit you with cunning arguments" (Moffatt Translation). "In their greed for MONEY they will trade on your credulity with sheer fabrications"`(The New English Bible).
Comment
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Comment by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen on July 15, 2008 at 4:39pm
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Oh my, m, my. This question: "How many millions of sermons are geared toward 'straining out gnats' on Sunday morning, so that the Pastors can 'swallow camels' all week long?" is nicely phrased.
Well done.
Nadine
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