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.
Malachi's last chapters find the people back in their land but careless with God. His charge against them is blunt. They have robbed Him in tithes and offerings. Then comes an invitation to put God to the test, with a promise of blessing so large there is no room for it.
The Charge Behind the Offer
The people could not dispute the charge behind this invitation. God had spelled out the rules about tithes in detail long before.
Edward DennettThey could not escape the truth of such a charge. Through Moses the Lord had given the most detailed directions about tithes and offerings. They knew exactly what God asked of them, and they had no excuse for their disobedience. They might have told themselves it did not matter. But their thoughts were not God's thoughts. He tells them, "You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you."
God could have started with their hearts. He starts with their money.
William KellyIn taking up the question of money and tithes, the Lord takes them on the lowest possible ground.
Why the Storehouse Needed Filling
The command names a purpose, and the purpose points to people.
Walter LickleyTheir part was to "bring the full tithe into the storehouse." God's part was to "open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." Why should they do this? "That there may be food in My house." God did not need this food for Himself. It was for the priests and the Levites — those who did His service.
Obedience, Not Just Prayer
God invites them to put Him to the test. But notice what He asks them to test Him with — an action, not a prayer.
Edward DennettThe Lord stoops to say, "Put me to the test in this, and I for My part will pour out abundant blessing on you." Notice, He does not say, "PRAY, and I will open the windows of heaven." He says, "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse." It would be good to read and explain this passage at prayer meetings sometimes. It could remind us what really blocks blessing. Prayer is always good. But prayer while we hold back from God, with no honest look at ourselves, is useless.
The Windows of Heaven
The picture of heaven's windows opening appears earlier in the Bible. The two scenes could hardly be further apart.
F. A. HughesIn Genesis 7:11 we read, "the windows of the heavens were opened." There heaven poured out its wrath on a world of violence and corruption. In Malachi 3:10 we read of God's desire and promise to "open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." One flood was judgment, called for by the holy character of God. The other is a flood of blessing, expressing the love of God's heart.
Blessing Tied to Obedience
Commentators handle the promise on two levels. First, it belongs to Israel. Under that arrangement, blessing followed obedience. The full answer is still ahead.
Edward DennettThese promises follow a principle that runs through the whole Old Testament: blessing on the condition of obedience. That was in fact the very essence of the arrangement given through Moses. Keeping the land, freedom from disease, every kind of earthly blessing — all of it depended on their walking by the rules and laws God had given them.
Kelly reads the closing words of the passage the same way. He points out that Israel will be "a land of delight," which they have never been since this was written. The nations will call Israel blessed when the people humble themselves and trust Him.
The Present Application
Second, the principle underneath the tithe reaches beyond Israel. It is about who owns what we hold.
F. W. GrantThe tithe was the owning of the sovereign rights of God over all their possessions. … Let us remember that even now there is an application of this, which is not confined to Israel.
That application is not a fixed percentage.
Edward DennettWe are not under law, but under grace, and so we have no such prescriptions about what we are to give to the Lord. But may there not be some very valuable instruction for us in these solemn words? Is it not true that everything we are and have belongs to Him who has redeemed us through His precious blood?
Walter LickleyNo one ever loses by giving to the Lord! How important it is to see this. God largely gives to His own in the proportion in which they give to Him. Note, it is not the actual amount that is taken into account, but the proportion which He notes.
Summary
- Robbery — Withholding the tithe was not a small oversight. God calls it robbery. The people had clear instructions, so they had no excuse.
- Provision — The tithe fed God's house — the priests and Levites who served Him. God did not need the food Himself.
- Test — God invites His people to test Him, but the test is bringing, not asking. Prayer offered while we withhold does not open heaven.
- Flood — The same windows once poured judgment on a violent world. Here God opens them to pour out blessing from His heart.
- Proportion — Under grace there is no fixed rule. All we have already belongs to our Redeemer. God measures the share, not the sum, and no one loses by giving to Him.