Good things occur when we give gifts to others. Often the person we give to will share a verbal “thank you” or a personal thank you note sent by email. Sometimes the person will give us a gift in return as a thank you. In Malachi 3 God is urging the nation of Israel to give to Him like they were supposed to give.
If Israel was to give a gift to God He says He will“’open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 3:10b–12).[1]
Israel was struggling because their crops were not growing. They were withholding their tithes and offerings from God, and God was withholding the rain that sustained and grew their crops. But if they tithe to God it says so much rain will come that it will “overflow.” That overflow of rain will lead to abundant fruits of the ground (v. 11a), flourishing grapes (v. 11b), and a blessing from other lands (v. 12). When we give to God, God blesses us.
God not only blesses us when we give to Him, but God also gives us peace. While you might be kind to others, pray, read your Bible, and attend church, if you are not giving to God my guess is that you have spiritual uneasiness. I know this from all the people that have told me as their pastor, “I just can’t tithe” or “I know I need to tithe to God but it hasn’t happened yet” or “I know that I’m committed to start tithing this year.”As a pastor I never bring it up but they do because they feel guilty.
Giving to God blesses us, gives us peace, and also gives us protection.Something was eating and devouring Israel’s crops. God says if they give, “I will rebuke the devourer for you” (Malachi 3:11a). The word “rebuke” here means to “stop” or to “prevent.” The word “devourer” here is the Hebrew participle, בָּֽאֹכֵ֔ל which means “the eater.” This was a term for any kind of threat to crops and livelihood. The NIV calls them “pests” and NLT calls it “insects and disease.” If Israel gives to God, then God promises to protect the Israelite’s crops growing.
Giving to God blesses us, gives us peace, gives us protection, and gives us recognition. “All the nations will call you blessed for you shall be a delightful land” (Malachi 3:12a).This was God’s original plan for Israel in Exodus 19:3-6. God wanted to bless His people and as a result of blessing His people, all the neighboring nations around Israel could look at Israel and say, “God is doing something there. God is blessing them and protecting them. There’s no way that they could accomplish all of that on their own.” And this too, should be our goal as Christians living today in our world. People should see us and think, “She’s got something I don’t have, and it’s not related to the number of digits in her bank account, the size of her house, or the logo on her car. It relates to the inner peace and tranquility she has in spite of the circumstance she’s in or the state of the economy that we live in.”
Tithing is a blessing. God was hoping that Israel would learn about that blessing here in Malachi 3:10b-12, and I hope that we can learn about and experience that blessing too.
[1] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.