Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Malachi 3:7
Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept [them]. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
Ch. Mal 3:7 to Mal 4:3. Renewed Rebukes, Threatenings and Promises
Ch. Mal 3:7-12. Rebuke in the matter of Tithes and Offerings
7. Even from the days of your fathers ] Omit even, with R.V. The connection with Mal 3:6 is well given by Pusey: “Back to those days and from them, ye are gone away from My ordinances. ‘I am not changed from good; ye are not changed from evil. I am unchangeable in holiness; ye are unchangeable in perversity.’ ”
gone away ] Rather, turned aside, R.V., as the same word is translated elsewhere, e.g. Deu 17:20; Deu 28:14; Jos 23:6; and with the metaphor completed, turned aside from the way, Exo 32:8; Deu 9:12.
Return unto me ] Comp. Zec 1:3, where the word ( turn, A.V.) is the same.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Even from the days of your fathers – Back to those days and from them ye are gone away from My ordinances. I am not changed from good; ye are not changed from evil. I am unchangeable in holiness; ye are unchangeable in perversity.
Return unto Me – The beginning of our return is from the preventing grace of God. Jer 31:18; Lam 5:21, turn Thou me, and I shall be turned, for Thou art the Lord my God, is the voice of the soul to God, preparing for His grace; Psa 85:4, turn us, O God of our salvation. For, not in its own strength, but by His grace can the soul turn to God. Turn thou to Me and I will return unto you, is the Voice of God, acknowledging our free-will, and promising His favor, if we accept His grace in return.
And ye say, Wherein shall we return? – Strange ignorance of the blinded soul, unconscious that God has aught against it! It is the Pharisaic spirit in the Gospel. It would own itself doubtless in general terms a sinner, but when called on, wholly to turn to God, as being wholly turned from Him, it asks, In what? What would God have of me? as if ready to do it.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mal 3:7
Ye are gone away from Mine ordinances.
Misused religious privileges
In proportion to the value and the importance of our privileges, is apt to be our negligence, our carelessness, in improving them. In religion, in morals, in everything concerning man, it is in the season of calm, and amid the quietude of apparent prosperity, that the foot is readiest to slip. It is melancholy to think how little value men in general set on the ordinances of a pure religion. The temporal benefits that are so profusely conferred on us by our Maker have each and all of them a measure of alloy mixed up with them, so as to modify and qualify their sweetness. Religion is the solitary one of His gifts that may be characterised as sweet unmixed; and yet it is the one to which, by a great majority of our race, the least value is attached. The text deals with a class of persons who, enjoying the privileges of religion, derived no advantage from them; and it intimates that the loss originated in a fault of their own.
I. Evils that are calculated to render the ministrations of the Gospel profitless.
1. Irregular attendance on those ministrations. In theory we admit that the worship of God is the most important business of life. Because it is a preparation for eternity; it is labour in the interest and for the well-being of an immortal soul, and our homage is a debt, a sacred, serious, solemn debt we owe to the Divinity. Then zeal, regularity, precise punctuality in that service, are of all things most important. Your services, it is true, have nothing of merit about them; but it is also true that if you refuse them you need not expect the blessing of God.
2. Love to the world, and a propensity to worldly thoughts. Who does not know that, even while apparently engaged in the most sacred services, the world, and the things of the world, occasionally pass over and darken our spiritual perceptions? Who is there who has never mourned this and deplored it? This tendency to carnal thoughts in the midst of religious-seeming services is one of the most serious obstacles that stand in the way of our improvement from a preached Gospel.
3. The pride of intellect, and a carping taste for literary criticism. It were passing strange, indeed, if the music of soft words, the grace of polished sentences, and all the blandishments of composition were excluded from the pulpit, while on any other stage they are deemed needful to success. But there is peril in it. It may lay a powerful temptation in the way of mens souls. It leads to a sacrificing of substance for shadow. Men nowadays must have the Gospel preached to them in their own particular fashion, or they will not listen to the preaching of the Gospel at all. Remember, I beseech you, that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and that the wisdom of God is stronger than men.
4. The want of solemnity and reverence in the sanctuary. How little we think, in general, of the society in which we are, or the nature of Divine service, when we come up to the temple of the Lord.
5. The want of a spirit of prayer. The effect to be produced is altogether dependent on Almighty power. Then how obvious it is that all our attendances on these ordinances should be preluded by prayer! We know that of ourselves we cannot profit. We know that God has told us how His blessing is to be obtained. Shall not, then, the footstool of His throne be approached by us? Shall we not ask that Divine strength may be perfected in our weakness? (W. Craig.)
Return unto Me, and I will return unto you.
Gods charge and call to a backsliding people
Three things contained in these words, which well suit our times.
1. A charge or accusation brought by God against His professing people. All sin is going away from Gods ordinances, or a breach of His law. To omit known duties, God construes as a commission of known sins.
2. A solemn exhortation backed by an alluring motive. God promises mercy when He might execute judgment. Repentance is that which sets a creature right again, with his face towards God, so that all his desires and expectations are from Him. The motive is, Gods return unto us. God is said to return when He shows His face and favour, which sin has hid.
3. The peoples reply. Wherein shall we return? This was either in words–We are not conscious of guilt, show us wherein we have offended. Or it is the language of their hearts and lives.
I. Show where in we have gone away from God as a professing people and land.
1. We have gone away from His truth. As to the generality of professors in the land, they scarce know what are the foundations of the Gospel, or what are the pillars of the reformation.
2. We are gone away from His worship. Now families professing godliness are prayerless, and there is a weariness of ordinances.
3. We are gone away from our trust and confidence in God. This is a complaint every one may bring against himself.
4. We are gone away from God in conversation. Faith is nothing without fruit, nor Gospel truth without Gospel holiness. Are thy thoughts spiritual, thy speech savoury, thy mind and disposition heavenly, and thy outward behaviour without offence?
II. How must our return to him be?
1. With deep humiliation. Sense of sin will beget sorrow and shame for it. When God touches the heart, sin will become the greatest burden we ever felt.
2. With real reformation. Gods anger is increased by mock returns. It is one thing to confess sin with our mouths, and another thing to cast it out of our hearts.
3. It should be with an eye to the blood of Christ. No mercy is to be expected but through the satisfaction and intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ.
III. The blessing which is in Gods return to us. When God comes to a land or people, good comes with Him.
1. He comes with grace and pardon.
2. He comes with grace to sanctify and renew.
3. He comes with power and strength to save and deliver.
4. He comes with love to delight in them.
IV. Why will God return to us only in the way of our return to him? It does not suppose anything meritorious in the obedience of the creature; nor yet that the blessings of grace are suspended upon the condition of duty.
1. It is to justify His dispensations before men. Though duty be not the ground of our claim, it is the warrant of our expectation and our hope.
2. He will slay presumption and self-confidence in His own people.
V. In whom this vile frame mentioned in the text is found. This may serve by way of caution, and by way of trial. We speak as in the text when–
1. We rest in generals, in confessing sin before God. Sin is a sort of packhorse upon which every burden is laid.
2. This frame prevails where there is a transferring sin upon others. It is easy confessing other mens sins, but evangelical repentance begins at home.
3. Men speak thus when they con fess some sins, but not the sin which God aims at. We are all too partial with respect to ourselves.
4. To confess sin with a secret liking of it in the heart is a way of saying, Wherein shall I return? It argues little to confess sin if thou dost not part with it. Uses–
(1) Are we thus gone away from God, and shall we not admire Divine patience, that we are yet spared, both our persons and our land?
(2) Adore grace.
(3) See what is the special duty of this day. Return unto the Lord.
(4) Beware of a double heart this day, and all your life after. Seek peace and truth, but Christ as the foundation of both. (John Hill.)
Necessity of our returning to God
Whenever, in any respect, we have wandered away from the strait and narrow way which leadeth unto life our Father in heaven does not at once leave us to ourselves, but in His tender love and forbearance has recourse to various means whereby to bring us back to Himself. This is plainly the case with individual Christians; perhaps it is the condition of mankind universally. Our merciful Father offers checks and warnings when He sees any generally prevailing tendency to depart from Him. If, in any Christian Church, people have become self-confident, neglectful of ancient rules, scorning attention to moral duties, yet all the while exulting in unreal feelings and fancies, as tokens of the Divine favour–when such symptoms of corruption show themselves, it is a great mercy if our good God, by any chastisements, warns us of our danger, and of the necessity of returning to Him whilst yet we may. Jehovah sent this message of affectionate compassion to His ancient people, Return unto Me, and I will return unto you. And it was to be expected that they would gladly embrace so gracious an offer; that their only inquiry would be in what way they could best prove the sincerity of their repentance. But no such temper showed itself. Quite otherwise. They had done nothing to be ashamed of. They said,–why may we not go on as we are; what need is there of repentance or amendment? Jesus Christ pressed on all who would follow Him the necessity of self-denial, that is, of doing and suffering what is painful and unpleasant to us, out of love to Him. This we promised to do in our baptism. If we have not led the rest of our lives according to that beginning, then we should hear the voice of God saying to us, Return unto Me, and I will return unto you. Return unto Me in all self-abasement and self-denial, and I will return to you in those special gifts and graces which eminently mark the presence of Gods good Spirit. Whatever our condition in life may be, self-denial in matters of disposition and temper is so essential to the Christian character that, if we have neglected it, we have indeed urgent need to return to the Lord in this respect without delay. Any tendency to self will is an evidence that the heart is not right with God. In regard to the duty, or privilege, of prayer, we should ascertain for ourselves whether we have at all wandered away from the Lord, and so need to return to Him in true substantial amendment. There must be a real and hearty obedience, otherwise a return is no return. It is not a matter of profession or of feeling or of know ledge, but of absolute practice, of humble temper and humble practice. (Sermons by Contrib. to Tracts for the Times.)
Coming to God by love or by fear
Our life in this world is, in substance, a returning to God. When we were new-born we were set in the path that leads to eternal life, and bidden to keep in it, and so return to God. Few, if any, go straight onward; most of us are like wayward children, following the road for a while, then straying; anon recovering it, and then, with repentance, proceeding. So, all the life through, we are returning to God; lapsing here and there; erring and straying like lost sheep; finding the way back, we often wonder how; and so, as for our general direction, working a slow course toward final safety, through the temptations and dangers of the track by which we go. Often have Christians to check themselves, to deplore errors, and to retrace heedless steps; they must do this when they see or feel that they are out of the straight path. The text asks, Wherein shall we return? The question suggests some thought on motives which may act to lead men back to God. How shall they that are astray be brought home? If we grow lax, cold, and hard, how shall we be recovered? There are two great motives that can keep men near to God, and keep Gods name in honour in the world. These two are love and fear: the love of God for His mercy, the fear of God for His justice. Either of these may save a man; either may keep a race alive and strong. With the heart we lay fast hold on God as the Father and the Saviour. God calls Himself our Father; the word includes His act in giving us our being, His providence which keeps, upholds, and blesses us day by day. God, as Creator, Ruler, and Governor, asks of us our love. He reveals Himself as God our Saviour. The symbol of the mighty all-constraining love is, and must ever be, the Cross. So first the Lord draws us by love. There are, however, those in the world on whom these considerations have no effect. In that case there remains one, and but one, other motive to bring them to God; it is the lower motive of fear. Not mere fear of punishment, nor the fear of suffering. It is the fear of irreparable disaster, of everlasting loss. That men cannot face. That is the dread of dreads. But there are those in whom there is no such dread; they do not feel the love of God, they cannot be shaken by the fear of God. What other motive can you name when both these fail? There is no answer. Destroy the belief in the Almighty God as a Creator; with that vanishes the belief in Almighty God as a providence. And when that is done the basis on which love rests is gone also. Destroy the belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of the world, and with it vanish also the sense of sin, gratitude for deliverance from its effects, and the love that has filled the hearts of men as they meditated on the mercy of the Saviour, and the sweetness of the precious blood of Christ. Thus all ground for loving God is taken away. Cast out the belief in eternal death, in perpetual penalty, in irreparable doom, and fear must vanish. If there is no just God to requite me, whom is there to fear? What will men do when fallen so low? Let us consider. Can love and fear die out of the heart? Never. The love and fear of God can die; but love and fear of something will remain. Toward what shall these direct themselves? When man will no longer love God, he must come to loving himself; and when it comes to loving himself, his main fear is lest, in that self-love, he should be interfered with or balked. What would become of a world which had lost its own love and its fear, which neither loved the Redeemer nor feared the pains of hell? One may be pardoned for doubting whether such a world would be worth saving; and for questioning whether it could be saved. We therefore teach, as most necessary for these times, the love of God and the fear of God. (Morgan Dix.)
Encouragement for the erring
God comes to His people. His purpose is to refine, purify, and save; and to judge and witness against wrong-doing. Gods blessings are given conditionally. Observe–
I. The duty. Return unto me.
1. the words imply distance from God. The cause is sin. Sin deepens and widens the difference between God and man. Sin put away, God and man are one.
2. Return to a recognisation of neglected duty.
3. Return with a fixed purpose in all things to conform to Gods will.
II. The promise. I will return unto you.
1. Gods promises are many.
2. Gods promises are great.
3. Gods promises are precious.
4. Gods promises are encouraging. To the weak, afflicted, troubled, unfortunate; yea, to the erring and sinful.
III. The confirmation. Saith the Lord.
1. The authority. The Lord.
2. The confidence it inspires.
3. The action it should prompt. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
The love-hunger in Gods heart
I. Jehovahs entreaty. Return unto Me. Sin is not only departure from righteousness, but from God. God is mans true sphere. Those who have lived in God may wander from Him. Their sad condition may furnish reasons for their return; but the most powerful is that God entreats them to do so. This should affect them deeply. For it manifests–
1. His condescending pity.
2. Forbearing grace.
3. Unchanging love.
4. Willingness to receive them again into His favour.
Mans departure from God grieves Him. In order that the wanderer may return he must–
(1) Reflect upon his waywardness, its folly and ingratitude.
(2) Yield to the Divine drawings which reach him through the Word and Spirit.
(3) Discover the cause of his wanderings, and put it away.
(4) Turn unto God with contrite confession and earnest prayer. The Divine Word to Him might have justly been Depart, not Return.
II. Jehovahs promise. I will return unto you. God delights to fill the consciousness of man with His presence. He reluctantly with draws Himself from the wanderer. In Gods return is all spiritual blessedness.
1. All wanderings are forgiven.
2. The soul is requickened into newness of life.
3. The evil effects of wandering are purged away.
4. The springs of a deep and immortal happiness are opened in the soul.
5. The spirit is conscious of possessing its true and eternal rest.
Gods return is dependent upon the wanderers return to Him. He cannot reveal Himself fully to those who depart from His ways. He may warn them, chastise them, and strive with them, but they cannot know what His presence is to the obedient heart. (W. Osborne Lilley.)
A last sermon
This text is an exhortation to repentance.
I. An accusation. Ye have gone away. They had gone off from Gods ordinances, and had not kept them. Law may be broken, either by omitting the good required or doing the evils for bidden. They had long continued in these sins; from the days of your fathers.
II. The exhortation. Return, etc. Notice the duty. Repentance toward God is necessary to set the creature right again, and put him in his proper place and posture.
III. The rejoinder of the people. Ye said, wherein shall we return? It is not a serious question, but a cavil. It suited the stout and stubborn genius of this people, who would not yield to anything that might infer their guilt. The exhortation was lost upon them, as if they needed no repentance or reformation. Doctrine–That a people who are apparently gone off from the ways of God are not easily brought to a sight and sense of the necessity of returning to Him. This point is true of mankind in general, of nations, and of particular persons. Men set up a false happiness in their carnal estate. There is something in us which is instead of Christ to us, when our affections take up with present things. The commonness and continuance of sin takes away the odiousness of it. Men many times return feignedly. A people professing repentance in the general, when it cometh to particulars, wince and start. That is but a notion of repentance, not a real exercise of it, when we profess to return to God, and know not wherein we should return. Exhort to two things–
(1) Take heed of the shifts wherewith men beguile themselves.
(2) Inquire wherein you should return. Find out the provoking sin. To do so you will need much searching and self-communing. Seek for information from God. And carefully observe your own ways. (T. Manton, D. D.)
A Divine complaint and a Divine invitation
I. A Divine complaint against sinners. Three charges. Apostasy. Dishonesty. Insensibility.
II. A Divine invitation to sinners. An invitation to return–
1. To Divine friendship.
2. To honest service.
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse. If they accede, God promises–
(1) To give them good in abundance.
(2) To give them good in connection with the produce of the earth.
(3) To give them good in the affections of men.
Learn–
1. A man is a bad man who withholds from God His due.
2. A bad man becomes good by surrendering his all to God.
3. The more good a man has in himself, the more good he has from the universe. (Homilist.)
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Will a man rob God?—
Robbery of God
The ordinance of God has been that men should have certain things, on certain conditions, belonging to them severally, as their own. But there has always been a mighty propensity to break through this great law. We do not at all wonder at the laws in respect to property among men. But here in the text is another kind of robbery, which does sound strangely; of which many may be guilty, and little think of it. Rob God,–who could ever think of a thing so monstrous? Yet it can be. In the next words the assertion is made, Ye have robbed Me. All here on earth belongs to God. It is in the midst of things belonging to Him that we are conversant, living and acting. If all belongs to God, then comes in the liability to commit robbery against Him. It may be, that there shall be no general habitual sense and acknowledgment of His sovereign claims; no feeling that all does so belong. This is the comprehensive spirit and principle of the wrong toward Him, and will go into many special forms; this state of mind is a general refusal to acknowledge His law. It is taking, as it were, the whole ground at once from God, and assuming a licence for every particular act and kind of robbery. Robbing God is also permitting anything to have stronger power over us than His will. There should be conscientious care to form a right honest judgment of what is due, of what belongs to God. This guilt is incurred by misapplying to other uses what is due to God. A few plain particulars may be specified of what we cannot withhold from God without this guilt. One is, a very considerable proportion of thought concerning Him. Fear, of the deepest, most solemn kind, is due to God. We have, naturally, an awe of power. There are other tributes due, corresponding to what we may call the more attractive and gracious attributes. Will a man refuse the gentler affection,–love, gratitude, humble reliance? But we have to look further, at the full breadth of the declared law of God: the comprehensive sum of His commands; a grand scheme of the dictates of the Divine will, placed peremptorily before us, and abiding there as permanently as our view of the purpose of the earth or the starry sky. Each and every precept tells of something we may refuse Him, namely, the obedience; and a temptation stands close by each. Some seem to rob God of nearly all. And with so determined a will, that there would seem but to need more precepts for them to extend their injustice. Others think they must render something, but that a partial tribute, and a small one, may suffice. Many appear to think that if they do not rob men, there needs not much care about what is specially and directly due to God. It is not for His own sake that God requires our homage, service, and obedience. It is for our sakes. Thus it will come to be found, that in robbing God, men iniquitously and fatally rob themselves. Name one thing specially as due to God–the duty of promoting the cause of God in the world. If each professed servant of God, and follower of Christ, could be supposed to be asked, Will you have your individual part set before you? he must be a bold man, who should instantly, and free from all apprehension, say, Yes, I am sure of what it will testify. (John Foster.)
Robbery of God
It is possible, and the sin has been perpetrated. God says to these Jews, Ye have robbed Me. In their case it referred to the withholding of the tithes and offerings for the support of the temple worship. This does not appertain to us; but it is not the only way in which the sin can be committed. Robbery means taking either by fraud or violence that which belongs to another, and appropriating it to our own use.
I. Apply this charge of robbing God to a large portion of mankind, generally considered. To a pious mind, it is an affecting and melancholy thing to consider what a conspiracy seems ever going on to shut God out of His own world, to deprive Him of His rights in the homage which is due to Him from His creatures. Atheism robs Him of the glory of His existence; Deism, of the glory of His revelation; Paganism, of the glory of His spirituality and perfections; Mohammedanism, of His exclusive manifestation of Himself through the person and work of His own Son, in regard to the purposes of His grace to our world; Judaism, of the glory of His relationship to His only-begotten and well-beloved Son. So that we see, on a very large scale, Gods rational creation continually robbing Him of His glory. If we come from systems to men, we shall see that the same felony is continually going on against Him, as the God of nature, providence, and redemption. Is not man-worship one of the most striking characteristics of the age in which we live? Looking abroad upon society, we see a felony continually going on, in robbing God of His glory, and not giving Him the honour that in all these things is due unto His name. In the sphere of religion, what robbery of God there is in taking from Him His Sabbaths–taking them from religion, and giving them to pleasure and business. Socinianism deprives Him of the glory of the Divinity of His Son. Popery corrupts every thing in religion–raising up a rival to God in the pope, a rival to the Bible in tradition, a rival to the Saviour in priests, a rival to the Cross in the crucifix.
II. Apply this charge of robbing god to particular classes.
1. It lies against the man who is living without personal, decided, spiritual religion, whose heart is not yet converted to God. The man who is living without religion, that man is committing a wholesale robbery upon God. He robs God of himself. He belongs to God. His body does, and he takes it from Him, for sensuality, for vice, or for worldliness. He is robbing God of the soul, with all its faculties. The intellect belongs to God; and yet, though thousands of thoughts are streaming off from that mans mind day after day, none of these go to God. He is robbing God of his will, of his affections, etc. An unconverted man robs God of his time. The same remark may be made as to influence; as to property. It is Gods world we live in, His ground we tread upon, His sun that shines upon us, His rain that falls upon us, His creatures that support us, His wool and cotton that clothe us; and we have no right to use any of His creatures but in a way that, while it does us good, shall at the same time glorify God.
III. Apply this subject to professing christians. Can they stand altogether exempt from the accusation? Ought not their life to be a whole burnt offering to God? A Christian ought to be a partaker of that religion which brings out a holy morality in all the stations, occupations, and circumstances in which he is placed. Are we then living for God or for ourselves? Are there no pulpit robbers of God? None who, ins:cad of seeking Gods glory, are seeking their own? From the very nature of the ministerial office, self is the idol that we are in danger of lifting up, if not in the place of God, yet side by side with Him. What duty arising out of this subject shall I prescribe? Restitution. Yield yourselves unto God. (John Angel James.)
Is it probable? Is it possible? Can he be so disingenuous? What! rob a Father, a Friend, a Benefactor! Can he be so daring? To rob a Being so high and sacred; and whose glory so enhances the offence! Can he be so irrational, so desperate? Yet, says God, Ye have robbed Me. And the charge falls on those who are to be found in the house of God. Who has not robbed God of property? Our wealth is not our own. We are only stewards. It always looks suspicious when a gentlemans steward becomes very rich, and dies affluent. Substance is entrusted to its occupiers, for certain purposes plainly laid down in the Scripture. Do you discharge those claims? How much do some unjustly expend; in table-luxuries, in costly dress, in magnificent furniture? Who has not robbed God of time? The Sabbath. Our youth-time, so often squandered away in vanity, folly, and vice. All our moments and opportunities are His: and He commands us to redeem the time. Who has not robbed God of the heart? The fear, the confidence, the gratitude, the attachment of the heart, we have transferred from the Creator, God over all, blessed for evermore. And may not the same be said of our talents–whether learning, or the powers of conversation, or the retentiveness of memory, or our influence over others? Let us not affect to deny the charge; but let us repair to the footstool of mercy, and cry, If Thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand? (William Jay.)
Robbers
There are many more robbers than the police know about. Men might be surprised to know that a robber, sometimes, is concealed in their own breast. How wicked to rob a man who has done us a kindness; but how much more so to rob a God who loves us with everlasting love! As robbers of God, consider–
I. Atheists. Such imagine there is no Creating-God; or if there be a God, that nobody can discover anything about Him; and that there is no God-revealed religion. In a picture gallery in London, I was shown a grand painting of a womans face, and asking the name of the artist, my friend replied, Though it is a valuable picture, the artists name is unknown. I show you a picture, the frame is made of earth, and the picture is called life. See the carving of Divine genius in the frame, and behold the lines of everlasting love in the picture! Can you say that no intelligent mind ever conceived and no skilful hand ever formed the leaf, the fruit, the rose of that picture? Some atheists admit there is a Mind above that which is human, yet they say that the God-mind has no personal sympathy with men. Many people live as if there were no God. Is it not fashionable to do so? Would you be glad if there were no God? Think, Gods happiness is to bless you, and yet you rob Him of that joy.
II. Deists. One who thinks there is a supreme God, but will not believe that He revealed Himself in Christ Jesus. Deist, I ask you to behold God through Jesus. Do not rob Jesus of His loving influence, which is meant to bless your own heart. Can you find any other man who ever taught the world a better truth, or one who loved men more than Jesus did? (William Birch.)
Robbing God
It is a fearful crime to rob God, and yet it is done every day, and done by His professed friends as well as by His open enemies. God is robbed whenever His requirements are disregarded, whenever His rights are resisted, whenever the demands and interests of His kingdom are neglected. Consider wherein God is robbed by His people.
1. In the matter of affection. My son, give Me thy heart. That is the supreme offering.
2. In the matter of consecration. God will have the whole heart, life, gifts, or none.
3. In the matter of service. Gods claim is absolute upon your time, influence, prayers, efforts, gifts, means, even in their potentiality.
4. In the matter of gratitude.
5. In tithes and offerings. (J. M. Sherwood.)
Living by theft
This is a kind of theft which is very common. It does not affect the credit of those who are guilty of it. It is practised by all unsaved persons, more or less. Indeed, this is one of the principal means by which Satan keeps Christless persons at their ease. It is most common amongst those of the unsaved who are respectable, moral, and, after their own fashion, religious people. Satan teaches them to live by theft. He gets them to appropriate to themselves promises and hopes which do not belong to them: and by means of this stolen property, he succeeds in keeping them at their ease until he has ruined them for ever. (A. J. Gordon.)
Robbing God
The story about old Stradivarius, the famous violin-maker, is suggestive. He said that if his hand slackened in its work of making violins he would rob God, and leave a blank instead of good violins. He said that even God would not make Antonios violins without Antonio. The truth has a wide application. It may be applied to every life, and to every piece of work that any of us do. One is engaged in a factory, one in a machine-shop, one in an office, one on a farm, one is at school. One man is a physician, another is a lawyer, another a merchant, another a mechanic, another a minister. Whatever our work is, we cannot be faithful to God unless we do it as well as we can. To slur is to do Gods work badly. To neglect is to rob God.
Robbing God
We do well to ask ourselves at this time how far the words of God by Malachi apply, to our case: Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed Me.. . . Wherein? In tithes and offerings. When we compare the millions upon millions lavished upon vain display, costly feasts, extravagant dress, palatial dwellings, frivolous or debasing amusements, and worse, on gambling, drinking, and unhallowed lusts, with the shabby pittance doled out for the Gospel at home and abroad, and then ask ourselves how this must look in Gods sight, is it any wonder that we are visited with hard times? I tremble for my country (said Thomas Jefferson) when I remember that God is just. Nine hundred million dollars spent in one year for intoxicating liquors; five and a half millions for missions (not church-support) at home and abroad–that is, one hundred and sixty-four to one. The nine hundred millions are not only squandered–they would better be cast into the sea than used as they now are to ruin the souls and bodies of men, to destroy families, and to plague the State. (F. H. Harling.)
The great robbery
Well, there can be no doubt that man will do some very daring deeds. What magnificent things he is capable of l He may not be much to look at, he may not fill a large space in the landscape; but out of his heart and soul what deeds of heroism may come! what feats of daring!–achievements that thrill the whole world and move the heart of heaven! It is a precious heritage that we have in human biography. Man, however, does not always employ his daring soul in the right way. What is the most daring thing ever done? Why, surely it is here–in that a man will rob God. And it is not true courage that leads him to do that; it is foolhardiness, with emphasis on the first syllable of the word. It is the coward who robs God, for he knows not what he is doing. But let us look at the question in a larger sense, and see how we may be guilty of this terrible crime. All robbery of God proceeds from our failure to acknowledge the one great fact of Gods sovereignty. The earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. It is He that hath made us: we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. In theory we acknowledge all this; but how about its practical bearing on our everyday life? Have we a reverent and beautiful sense of Gods ownership, leading to the hallowing of all our thoughts, deeds, and possessions? Do we ever talk about having money of our own, forgetting that every mite of it is Gods? We even go so far as to say that we will be master in our own house, forgetting that the house is not ours, and that One is our Master, even Christ. What we need, then, nowadays is a clearer sense of Gods sovereignty. We shall not tread so haughtily and boar ourselves so proudly, we shall not be so careless and irreverent in our lives, when we realise vividly the authority and presence of the Lord of all. What a terrible charge the psalmist brings against certain people!–God is not in all their thoughts. Unless we are to rob God of His right, He must be in all our thoughts, the great moral Force in all our work and duty, keeping us in fine integrity and honour. In pleasure He must be the spring of all our joys, the life of our delights, and then we shall take no harm whatever pleasure we engage in. And in sorrow He must be our first and only thought; then grief and fear and care shall fly as clouds before the midday sun. Will a man rob God? Yes, unless he have the fear of God continually before him. The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. That is the message of every transgression ever committed. If men had the fear of God before their eyes they would never sin against Him. An article in one of the papers a while ago spoke of the degeneracy of wills. In the olden time a man began, his will thus: In the name of God, Amen. But now we begin abruptly: This is the last will and testament. It is not simply that we are short of time, and cannot afford the roundabout phrases of a bygone day; it is that we have not the sense of reverence in the measure that we ought to have it–we do not live with the holy dread and mighty awe of the great old saints. Will a man rob God? Yes, if he withhold his love, gratitude, and obedience from Him. These great affections of the heart were bestowed upon us that they might be given to some worthy object. Are they just to be spent upon a few inferior objects around us, and to be denied to One in whom is all perfect excellence, goodness, and beauty? Does not the love of God to us call loudly for our love in return? Does not all the mercy of the past lay irresistible claim to our fervent gratitude? Does not every precept of Gods law require our obedience? If we do not give it, shall we not be robbing with the basest, boldest robbery Him to whom our more than all is due? The man who robs God steals from himself. God needs nothing of ours to make Him any richer; it is simply for our own sakes that He makes the great demand. Give your little all, and the return shall be in full measure, pressed down, and running over. Withhold, and you stand to gain nothing and to lose all. (W. A. L. Taylor, B. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. Gone away from mine ordinances] Never acting according to their spirit and design.
Return unto me] There is still space to repent.
Wherein shall we return?] Their consciences were seared, and they knew not that they were sinners.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Even from the days of your fathers: we need not fix a particular time or age wherein this apostacy began; it is an old apostacy that is here charged on them, and they were notoriously guilty of it.
Ye are gone away; are turned away by the examples and by the corrupt doctrines of your fathers and false teachers; yea, you have voluntarily and of choice gone away.
From mine ordinances; which either directed my worship, or your dealings one with another; so that you have sinned greatly by polluting my temple with your own additions or diminutions, with idolatry, or corrupt manner of performing my service; and you have sinned against one another by injustice, unfaithfulness, and cruelty, since you have gone away from my laws, which direct the way of righteousness and equity.
And have not kept them: it is a further asseveration, confirming the truth of the charge, and added to make them more sensible of their sin. Some tell us that this chargeth on them their sins against negative precepts, as the other charged them with sins against positive precepts; so the whole law was now, and had long been, broken by their fathers and themselves.
Return unto me; it is the only course you can take, repent ere it is too late, return whilst there is hope.
And I will return unto you; I will yet pardon, accept you, establish, and bless you; amend your ways and doings, and I will soon amend the state of your affairs.
But ye said, Wherein shall we return? as to other, so now to this advice, they return a proud, shameless, and self-justifying question; Wherein, or what is the evil from which we should return to thee? what is our sin?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7-12. Reproof for thenon-payment of tithes and offerings, which is the cause of theirnational calamities, and promise of prosperity on their paying them.
from . . . days of yourfathersYe live as your fathers did when they brought onthemselves the Babylonian captivity, and ye wish to follow in theirsteps. This shows that nothing but God’s unchanging long-sufferinghad prevented their being long ago “consumed” (Mal3:6).
Return unto meinpenitence.
I will return unto youinblessings.
Wherein, &c. (Mal3:16). The same insensibility to their guilt continues: theyspeak in the tone of injured innocence, as if God calumniated them.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances,…. Here begins an enumeration of the sins of the Jews, which were the cause of their ruin; and here is first a general charge of apostasy from the statutes and ordinances of the law, which they made void by the traditions of the fathers; and therefore this word is used as referring to this evil, as well as to express their early, long, and continued departure from the ways of God; which as it was an aggravation of their sin, that they should have so long ago forsook the ordinances of God,
and have not kept [them], but transgressed them by observing the traditions of men, Mt 15:3 so it is an instance of the patience and forbearance of God, that they were not as yet consumed; and of his grace and goodness, that he should address them as follows:
Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts; this message was carried to them by John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, and by Christ himself, who both preached the doctrine of repentance to this people, Mt 3:2. The Targum is,
“return to my worship, and I will look in my word to do well unto you, saith the Lord of hosts;”
and such who returned, and believed in Christ, and submitted to his ordinances, it was well with them.
But ye said, Wherein shall we return? what have we to turn from, or repent of? what evils have we done, or can be charged on us? what need have we of repentance or conversion, or of such an exhortation to it? do not we keep the law, and all the rituals of it? this is the true language of the Pharisees in Christ’s time, who, touching the righteousness of the law, were blameless in their own esteem, and were the ninety and nine just persons that needed not repentance,
Lu 15:7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After the Lord has announced to the murmuring people that He will suddenly draw near to judgment upon the wicked, He proceeds to explain the reason why He has hitherto withheld His blessing and His salvation. Mal 3:7. “From the days of your fathers ye have departed from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, saith Jehovah of hosts; and ye say, Wherein shall we return? Mal 3:8. Dare a man indeed defraud God, that ye have defrauded me? and ye say, In what have we defrauded Thee? In the tithes and the heave-offering. Mal 3:9. Ye are cursed with the curse, and yet ye defraud me, even the whole nation.” The reason why Israel waits in vain for the judgment and the salvation dawning with it, is not to be found in God, but in the people, in the fact, that from time immemorial they have transgressed the commandments of God (see Isa 43:27; Eze 2:3; Hos 10:9). And yet they regard themselves as righteous. They reply to the call to repentance by saying, , wherein, i.e., in what particular, shall we turn? The prophet thereupon shows them their sin: they do what no man should presume to attempt – they try to defraud God in the tithe and heave-offering, namely, by either not paying them at all, or not paying them as they should into the house of God. , which only occurs here and at Pro 22:23, signifies to defraud, to overreach. is either an accusative of free subordination, or else we must supply the preposition from the question itself. On the tithe see Lev 27:30., Num 18:20., and Deu 14:22. (see also my Bibl. Ant. i. p. 337ff.); and on the heave-offering ( t e rumah ), the portion of his income lifted off from the rest, for the purposes of divine worship, see my Bibl. Ant. i. p. 245. And this they do, notwithstanding the fact that God has already visited them with severe punishment, viz., with the curse of barrenness and of the failure of the harvest. We may see from Mal 3:10-12, that the curse with which they were smitten consisted in this. is adversative: yet ye defraud me, and indeed the whole nation, and not merely certain individuals.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Sins of the People; Encouragements to Repentance. | B. C. 400. |
7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith 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. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
We have here God’s controversy with the men of that generation, for deserting his service and robbing him–wicked servants indeed, that not only run away from their Master, but run away with their Master’s goods.
I. They had run away from their Master, and quitted the work he gave them to do (v. 7): You have gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them. The ordinances of God’s worship were the business which as servants they must mind, the talents which they must trade with, and the trust which was committed to them to keep; but they went away from them, grew weary of them, and withdrew their neck from that yoke; they deviated from the rule that God had prescribed to them, and betrayed the trust lodged with them. They had revolted from God, not only in worship, but in conversation; they had not kept his ordinances. This disobedience they were chargeable with, and had been guilty of, even from the days of their fathers; either as in the days of their fathers of old, who were sent into captivity for their disobedience, or, “Now, for some generations past, you have fallen off from what you were, when first you came back out of captivity.” Ezra owns it in one particular instance: Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day, Ezra ix. 7. Now observe, 1. What a gracious invitation God gives them to return and repent: “Return unto me, and to your duty, return to your service, return to your allegiance, return as a traveller that has missed his way, as a soldier that has run his colours, as a treacherous wife that has gone away from her husband; return, thou backsliding Israel, return to me; and then I will return unto you and be reconciled, will remove the judgments you are under and prevent those you fear.” This had been of old the burden of the song (Zech. i. 3), and is still. 2. What a peevish answer they return to this gracious invitation: “But you said with disdain, said it to the prophets that called you, said it to one another, said it to your own hearts, to stifle the convictions you were under; you said, Wherein shall we return?” Note, God takes notice what returns our hearts make to the calls of his word, what we say and what we think when we have heard a sermon, what answer we give to the message sent us. When God calls us to return, we should answer as those did Jer. iii. 22, Behold, we come. But not as these here, Wherein shall we return? (1.) They take it as an affront to be told of their faults, and called upon to amend them; they are ready to say, “What ado do these prophets make about returning and repenting; why are we disgraced and disturbed thus, our own consciences and our neighbours stirred up against us?” It is ill with those who thus count reproofs reproaches, and kick against the pricks. (2.) They are so ignorant of themselves, and of the strictness, extent, and spiritual nature, of the divine law, that they see nothing in themselves to be repented of, or reformed; they are pure in their own eyes, and think they need no repentance. (3.) They are so firmly resolved to go on in sin that they will find a thousand foolish frivolous excuses to shift off their repentance, and turn away the calls that are given them to repent. They seem to speak only as those that wanted something to say; it is a mere evasion, a banter upon the prophet, and a challenge to him to descend to particulars. Note, Many ruin their own souls by baffling the calls that are given them to repent of their sins.
II. They had robbed their Master, and embezzled his goods. They had asked, “Wherein shall we return? What have we done amiss?” And he soon tells them. Observe, 1. The prophet’s high charge exhibited, in God’s name, against the people. They stand indicted for robbery, for sacrilege, the worst of robberies: You have robbed me. He expostulates with them upon it: Will a man be so daringly impudent as to rob God? Man, who is a weak creature, and cannot contend with God’s power, will he think to rob him vi et armis–forcibly? Man, who lies open to God’s knowledge, and cannot conceal himself from that, will he think to rob him clam et secreto—privily? Man, who depends upon God, and derives his all from him, will he rob him that is his benefactor? This is ungrateful, unjust, and unkind, indeed; and it is very unwise thus to provoke him from whom our judgment proceeds. Will a man do violence to God? so some read it. Will a man do violence to God? so some read it. Will a man stint or straiten him? so others read it. Robbing God is a heinous crime. 2. The people’s high challenge in answer to that charge: But you say, Wherein have we robbed thee? They plead Not guilty, and put God upon the proof of it. Note, Robbing God is such a heinous crime that those who are guilty of it are not willing to own themselves guilty. They rob God, and know not what they do. They rob him of his honour, rob him of that which is devoted to him, to be employed in his service, rob him of themselves, rob him of sabbath-time, rob him of that which is given for the support of religion, and give him not his dues out of their estates; and yet they ask, Wherein have we robbed thee? 3. The plain proof of the charge, in answer to this challenge; it is in tithes and offerings. Out of these the priests and Levites had maintenance for themselves and their families; but they detained them, defrauded the priests of them, would not pay their tithes, or not in full, or not of the best; they brought not the offerings which God required, or brought the torn, and lame, and sick, which were not fit for use. They were all guilty of this sin, even the whole nation, as if they were in confederacy against God, and all combined to rob him of his dues and to stand by one another in it when they had done. For this they were cursed with a curse, v. 9. God punished them with famine and scarcity, through unseasonable weather, or insects that ate up the fruits of the earth. God had thus punished them for neglecting to build the temple (Hag 1:10; Hag 1:11), and now for not maintaining the temple-service. Note, Those that deny God his part of their estates may justly expect a curse upon their own part of them: “You are cursed with a curse for robbing me, and yet you go on to do it.” Note, It is a great aggravation of sin when men persist in it notwithstanding the rebukes of Providence which they are under for it. Nay, it should seem, because God had punished them with scarcity of bread, they made that a pretence for robbing him-that now, being impoverished, they could not afford to bring their tithes and offerings, but must save them, that they might have bread for their families. Note, It argues great perverseness in sin when men make those afflictions excuses for sin which are sent to part between them and their sins. When they had but little they should have done the more good with that little, and that would have been the way to make it more; but it is ill with the patient when that which should cure the disease serves only to palliate it, and prevent its being searched into. 4. An earnest exhortation to reform in this matter, with a promise that if they did the judgments they were under should be quickly removed. (1.) Let them take care to do their duty (v. 10): Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse. They had brought some; but, like Ananias and Sapphira, had kept back part of the price, pretending they could not spare so much as was required, and necessity has no law; but even necessity must have this law, and it would redress the grievance of their necessity: “Bring in the full tithes to the utmost that the law requires, that there may be meat in God’s house for those that serve at the altar, whether there be meat in your houses or no.” Note, God must be served in the first place, and our quota must be contributed for the support of religion in the place where we live, that God’s name may be sanctified, and his kingdom may come, and his will be done, even before we provide our daily bread; for the interests of our souls ought to be preferred before those of our bodies. (2.) Let them then trust God to provide for them and their comfort “Let God be first served, and then prove me herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, whether I will not open the windows of heaven.” They said, “Let God give us our plenty again, as formerly, and try us whether we will not then bring him his tithes and offerings, as we did formerly.” “No,” says God, “do you first bring in all your tithes as they become due, and all the arrears of what is past, and try me, whether I will not then restore you your plenty.” Note, Those that will deal with God must deal upon trust; and we may all venture to do so, for, though many have been losers for him, never any were losers by him in the end. It is fit that we should venture first, for his reward is with him, but his work is before him; we must first do the work which is our part, and then try him and trust him for the reward. Elijah put the widow of Zarephath into this method when he said (1 Kings xvii. 13), “Make me a little cake first, and then prove me whether there shall not be enough afterwards for thee and thy son.” That which discourages people from the expenses of charity is the weakness of their faith concerning the gains and advantages of charity; they cannot think that they shall get by it. But it is a reasonable demand that God here makes: “Prove me now; is any thing to be got by charity? Come and see;” Nothing venture, nothing win. Trust upon honour, “And you shall find,” [1.] “That, whereas the heavens have been shut up, and there has been no rain, now God will open to you the windows of heaven, for in his hand the key of the clouds is, and you shall have seasonable rain.” Or the expression is figurative; every good gift coming from above, thence God will plentifully pour out upon them the bounties of his providence. Very sudden plenty is expressed by opening the windows of heaven, 2 Kings vii. 2. We find the windows of heaven opened, to pour down a deluge of wrath, in Noah’s flood, Gen. vii. 11. But here they are opened to pour down blessings, to such a degree that there should not be room enough to receive them. So plentifully shall their ground bring forth that they shall be tempted to pull down their barns and build greater, for want of room, Luke xii. 18. Or, as Dr. Pocock explains it, “I will pour out on you such a blessing as shall be not enough only, and such as shall be sufficient, but more and more than enough;” that is, a great addition. The oil that is multiplied shall not be stayed as long as there are vessels to receive it, 2 Kings iv. 6. Note, God will not only be reconciled to sinners that repent and reform, but he will be a benefactor, a bountiful benefactor, to them. We are never straitened in him, but often straitened in our own bosoms. God has blessings ready to bestow upon us, but, through the weakness of our faith and narrowness of our desires, we have not room to receive them. [2.] That, whereas the fruits of their ground had been eaten up by locusts and caterpillars God would now remove that judgment (v. 11): “I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and will check the progress of those destroying animals, that they shall no more destroy the products of the earth and the fruits of the trees.” God has all creatures at his beck, can command them and remand them at his pleasure. Neither shall the vine cast her fruit before the time; it shall not be blasted or blown off. Or, as some read it, Neither shall the devourer make your vine barren, as the locusts did, Joel i. 7. [3.] That, whereas their neighbours had upbraided them with their scarcity, and they had lain under the reproach of famine, which was the more grievous because their country used to be boasted of for its plenty, now all nations shall call them blessed, shall speak honourably of them, and own them to be a happy people. [4.] That whereas their sin had made their land unpleasing to God (even their temple, and altars, and offerings were so, ch. ii. 13), and whereas his judgments had made their land unpleasant to them, and very melancholy, “Now you shall be a delightsome land, your country shall be acceptable to God and comfortable to yourselves.” Note, The reviving of religion in a land will make it indeed a delightsome land both to God and to all good people; he will say, It is my rest for ever; here will I dwell; and they will say the same, Isa 62:4; Deu 11:12. It should seem that this charge to bring in the tithes had its good effect, for we find (Neh. xiii. 12) that all Judah did bring in their tithe into the treasuries, and, no doubt, they had the benefit of these promises, in the return of their plenty, immediately upon their return to their duty, that they might plainly discern for what cause the evil had been upon them (for when the cause was removed the evil was removed), and that they might see how perfectly reconciled God was to them upon their repentance, and how their transgression was remembered no more, for the curse was not only taken away, but turned into an abundant blessing.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Sins Of The People Resumed
Verses 7-15:
Robbing God In Matters Of Tithes And Worship
Verse 7 both indicts the people for sins and calls them to repentance, and a return to Him. He scolds them for asking wherein they should return, as in Mal 1:7; Mal 2:17; Mal 3:8-9. They could not cover up their sins by pretending that they had none, even as some do today, 1Jn 1:8; See also Act 7:51; Lev 26:40-42; Deu 30:1-4; Jer 3:12-14; Zec 1:3. Non-payment of tithes brought national calamity on Israel.
Verse 8 rhetorically asks, a man will not rob God, will he? and get by with it? The Lord then directly charges that they had robbed Him. Yet, they persisted asking, wherein? Or in what way? He replied, “in tithes and offerings,” Ne 13:10.
Verse 7 called upon them to return from that sin. They were, by law, to tithe as follows:
1) Of the first fruits, offering one sixtieth of corn, wine, and oil, Deu 18:4.
2) The tithe of one tenth for the Levites, Lev 27:30-33.
3) A tenth paid by Levites to the priests, Num 18:26-28.
4) Another tenth paid by the people for entertainment of the Levites and their own families at the tabernacle, Deu 12:18.
5) Another tithe, every third year, for the poor.
The priests had misused the tithe that was paid so badly, that caused the people to withhold them, to which the priests then covetously reacted by permitting the use of torn, crippled, and diseased animals in sacrifices, Mal 1:7; Mal 1:10; Mal 1:13-14: Such was the first grievous sin Nehemiah corrected, on his return to Jerusalem, in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes, Neh 13:6-13.
Verse 9 declares “you all are cursed with a curse,” because “yo4 all (the whole nation of Israel) have robbed, or defrauded me,” of my due honor and holy worship. God had withheld His blessings from the whole nation of Israel because of her abuse and misuse of what He had so graciously given them. Men and families only rob themselves when they withhold from paying or giving back to God tithes and offerings, to carry on His order of worship and service, Luk 6:38; 1Co 9:13-14; 1Co 16:1-2; 2Co 9:6-7; 2Co 9:15; Heb 7:8. Ananias and Sapphira did not profit by trying to hide, cover up, or deceive in pretending to give more of their income to the Lord than what they actually did. For their lying they were killed, Act 5:1-11.
Verse 10 calls upon the people of Israel to bring forth their tithes into the storehouse, supervised by the Levites, that there might be food in the house of the Lord, Neh 13:12. To do so was to prove or test the Lord and witness that He would then open up the windows of heaven and observe His pouring or doling out blessings like falling rain upon them, beyond which they were actually able to receive, Pro 3:9-10; 2Ki 7:2; 1Ch 26:20; 2Ch 31:4; 2Ch 31:11-12; Neh 10:38; Neh 12:44; Neh 12:47; Neh 13:12. See also Mat 6:33; Luk 6:38; Eph 3:20; Psa 72:7.
Verse 11 pledges that the Lord of hosts will rebuke the devourer, locusts and noxious creatures, for the sake of those who conscientiously paid tithes and gave offerings obediently to the Lord. He specifically promised to prevent destruction of their crops by plagues of insects and diseases, so that their vines would not cast off corrupt fruit or shed their fruit before it matured or ripened in the fields. He is the omnipotent (all powerful) God who controls the elements and seasons, Amo 4:9; Amo 7:1-3; Joe 2:20; Hag 2:17.
Verse 12 foretells that all nations, races, or people shall recognize and call Israel “blessed,” when she obeyed God’s law of the tithe and offerings. She is assured that in such obedience she would be a land of delight, of joy to herself and praise to her Lord: Such would confirm God’s ancient pledge to bless her, Deu 33:29; Zec 8:13; Dan 8:9.
Verse 13 states that their words had been “stout” or “hard” against the Lord, while they with feigned (pretended) innocence asked, “what have we spoken so much against thee?” It was much as that of false prophets described Jud 1:15. They had developed an habit of denying that they were living in open disobedience against God in so many ways, Eze 33:30-31; Jas 1:22.
Verse 14 charges them with three particular sins: 1) First, they questioned that to serve God was of any profit to them, but was a service rendered in vain; 2) Second, they questioned that there was any material or spiritual profit in keeping the ordinances of the Lord; and 3) Third, they denied that repentance of walking with mourning before the Lord of hosts brought any good response from him. They simply charged that God had no more seen, heard, or helped them than the idol gods they had taken to them with their “strange” or “heathen” wives, matters of blasphemous nature. They had simply murmured against, found fault with God, Job 21:14-15; Job 22:17; Psa 73:1-14; Isa 58:3-8.
Verse 15 acknowledged through Malachi that the Israelites were calling the “proud” happy, the heathen who flourished in prosperity, Psa 73:12. They “set up” on a pedestal, those who seemed to prosper in wickedness, Pro 24:3. They charged that those heathen who tempted God got by with it; Why then should they believe God was a God of judgment? Psa 95:9; Num 21:5-6; Jer 12:16-17; Exo 1:21; Exo 17:2; 1Co 10:9-10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Prophet expands more fully what he had referred to — that it was a wonder that the Jews had not perished, because they had never ceased to provoke God against themselves. He then sets this fact before them more clearly, From the days (252) of your fathers, he says, ye have turned aside from my statutes. He increases their condemnation by this circumstance — that they had not lately begun to depart from the right way, but had continued their contumacy for many ages, according to what the apostles, as well as the Prophets in various places, have testified:
“
Ye uncircumcised in heart, ye have ceased not to resist the Holy Spirit like your fathers.” (Act 7:51.)
“
Harden not your hearts as your fathers did; in the righteousness of your fathers walk not.” (Psa 95:8.)
But I will not multiply proofs, which very often are to be met with, and must be well known.
We now understand the Prophet’s intention — that the Jews for many ages had been notorious for their impiety and wickedness, and that they had not been dealt with by God as they had deserved, because he had according to his ineffable goodness and forbearance suspended his rigour, so as not to visit them according to their demerits. It hence appears how unreasonable they were, not only in being morose and proud, but especially in being furious against God, when they accused him of tardiness, while yet he had proved himself to be really a God towards them by his continued forbearance.
The words, And ye have not kept them, are added for amplification; for he expresses more fully their contempt of his law, as though he had said, that they were not only transgressors, but had also with gross wilfulness so departed from the law as to regard it as nothing to tread God’s precepts under their feet.
He then exhorts then to repentance, and kindly addresses them, and declares that he would be propitious and reconcilable to them, if they repented. He has hitherto sharply reproved them, because their necks being hard they had need of such correction; for had the Prophet gently and kindly exhorted them, they would either have kicked or have set on him with their horns; be now mitigates his sharpness, not indeed with respect to all, but if there were any healable among the people he meant to try them; and hence he offers them reconciliation with God, as though he had said, “Though God has been in various ways wantonly offended by you, and though you have repudiated his favor, and have become wholly unworthy of being regarded by him, yet return, and he will meet you.”
We have said elsewhere that all exhortations would be in vain without a hope of pardon; for when God commands us to return to the right way, our hearts would never be touched, nay, they would on the contrary turn away, had we no hope that he would be reconciled to us. This course the Prophet now pursues, when in the person of God himself he promises pardon, provided the Jews repented.
God is said to return to us, when he ceases to demand the punishment of our sins, and when he lays aside the character of a judge, and makes himself known to us as a Father. We indeed know that God neither returns nor departs; for he who fills all places never moves here and there; and we also know that we exist and live in him, but he shows by outward evidences that he is alienated from us, and by the same he shows that he is propitious to us; for when he favors us with fruitful seasons, with peace and with other blessings, he is said to be near us; but when he lets loose the reins of his wrath, or exposes us to the assaults of Satan and to the wanton power of men, he is said to be far removed from us. But this is so well known that I need not dwell longer on the point.
The promise which the Prophet states serves to show, that God would manifest tokens of his paternal favor to the Jews, provided only they were submissive; but that it would be their own fault, if they did not find through his blessings that he was their Father. It would be on account of their sins, which, as Isaiah says, hinder the course of that beneficence to which he is of his own self inclined, (Isa 59:2.) And he bids them to return. Hence the Papists very foolishly conclude, that repentance is in the power of man’s free-will. But God requires what is above our strength; and yet there is no reason why we should complain that there is a too heavy burden laid on us; for he regards not what we can, or what our ability admits, but what we owe to him and what our duty requires. Though then no one can of his own self turn to God, he is not on this account excusable, because we must consider whence comes the defect; and how much soever, as I have already said, a man may pretend his own impotency, he cannot yet escape from being bound to God, though more is required of him than he of himself can perform. But this subject has often been discussed elsewhere. The import of what is said here is, — that men are not miserable through the unjust rigour of God, but always through their own sins.
It follows, Ye have said, In what shall we return? It is an evidence of perverseness, when men answer that they see not that they have erred, and that hence conversion is to no purpose required of them; for this is the meaning of these words, Whereby shall we return? that is, “What dost thou require from us? for we are not conscious of any defection; we worship God as we ought: now if our duties are repudiated by him, we see not why he should so expressly blame us; let him show in what we have offended; for conversion to him is superfluous, until we be proved guilty of apostasy, or of those sins which God determines to punish in us.” To this the Prophet answers —
(252) The words are singular, “days,” being preceded by two prepositions, ל and מ, למימי, “to — from the days,” etc., which seems to mean, “To this time from the days of your fathers;” or it may mean, “To and from the days of your fathers, your immediate predecessors.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
IF THE PEOPLE WILL RETURN IN DEVOTION TO GOD HE
WILL YET BLESS THEM . . . Mal. 3:7-12
RV . . . From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with the curse; for ye rob me, even this whole nation. Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah 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. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts. And all nations shall call you happy; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts.
LXX . . . but ye, the sons of Jacob, have not refrained from the iniquities of your fathers: ye have perverted my statutes, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord Almighty. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man insult God? for ye insult me. But ye say, Wherein have we insulted thee? In that the tithes and first-fruits are with you still. And ye do surely look off from me, and ye insult me. The year is completed, and ye have brought all the produce into the store-houses; but there shall be the plunder thereof in its house: return now on this behalf, saith the Lord Almighty, see if I will not open to you the torrents of heaven, and pour out my blessings upon you, until ye are satisfied. And I will appoint food for you, and I will not destroy the fruit of your land; and your vine in the field shall not fail, saith the Lord Almighty. And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a desirable land, saith the Lord Almighty.
COMMENTS
FROM THE DAYS OF YOUR FATHERS . . . Mal. 3:7
When Stephen stood before the council and accused them with, Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears . . . as your fathers did, so do ye, (Act. 7:51) he was in good company. Malachi here levels the same charge against his readers.
Just as their ancestors had turned aside from Gods ordinances to worship Baal, these were turning aside in making a mockery of the same ordinances. The withholding of tithes, the offering of blemished animals, the indulging in sorcery and adultery and false swearing while showing unconcern for human need by oppressing wage-earners, widows, orphans and non-Jews indicated theirs was a religion of form rather than sincerity. The prophet sees no advantage in this over the false religion which had brought on the Babylonian captivity.
There is an eternal principle presented here which the modern church member cannot afford to ignore. The observance of outward form and the passive abstention from false religion are a sham if done as these did them. The cheapening of the ordinances of God as they did in offering unacceptable sacrifices, or as is often done in present day churches by penny-wise and niggardly church budgets are no more advantageous than false doctrine. The lack of any real concern for the poor, the abandoned, the downtrodden, that is frequently hidden under an annual Christmas basket, does not deceive Him Who knows the hearts of His people.
The entreaty of God to such people to return to Him is frequently met today as in Malachis time (v. 7) with a blank faced and feigned innocence expressed in wherein shall we return?
(Mal. 3:8-13) Malachis answer to this sham is will a man rob God? When their response was again an assumed innocence expressed in, wherein have we robbed thee, the prophet goes directly to the heart of the matter . . . in tithes and offerings.
That they could answer in such false righteousness after what the prophet has written in the preceding chapters about their unholy sacrifices, is amazing. It is no more so than the assumed correctness of the New Testament Christian today whose sacrifices of himself is an hour or two on Sunday and whose giving of tithes and offerings consists of less than he spends for soft drinks and tobacco.
Ye are cursed with a curse because ye rob me declares Malachi (Mal. 3:9). Our own consciences may accept a cut-rate allegiance to God, but He will not. The country parson who said, Salvation is free but it aint cheap, spoke the truth!
There is a significant distinction drawn here between tithes and offerings. The law defined the first tithe as a tenth of all that was left after the first fruits were paid. This tenth went directly to the Levites for their support. (Lev. 27:30-33) A tenth was to be paid in turn to the priests. (Num. 18:26-28)
A second tithe was to be paid for the entertainment of the Levites and their own families at the temple. (Deu. 12:18)
A third tithe was to be paid every third year for the welfare of the poor, etc. (Deu. 14:28) It has been estimated that the total tithes amounted annually to approximately 27% of ones gross income.
The offerings were in addition to the tithes. These consisted of not less than 1/60 of ones corn, wine, and oil (Deu. 18:4, Neh. 13:10-12).
So the Israelite under the Old Covenant gave in three categories. (1) He sacrificed the first fruits of his fields and flocks (2) he tithed three times, first of all remaining after the sacrifices, second for the entertainment (expenses) of the Levites and thirdly for the sake of supporting the poor, and (3) he then gave an offering of at least 1/60 of all his grain, wine and oil.
It was common, during the lean years, such as those which prevailed at the time of this writing, to neglect the tithes and offerings. Malachi, as we have seen, accuses his readers of also bringing much less than the first fruits for sacrifice.
Jehovahs challenge (Mal. 3:10) is to bring all the tithes (he whole tithe) into the storehouse and see if times do not change. Jesus would say, seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. (cp. Mat. 6:19-34)
Here is the eternal principle of giving which continues from covenant to covenant. The support of the Lords work must come first in the economic lives of His covenant people. He who gives only what he can afford has not given at all!
This passage, especially verses nine and ten, are frequently used to prove that one who does not give ten per cent of his income to the church is robbing God. Conversely, on the basis of these same verses, promises are frequently extended that God will open the windows of Heaven to those who practice store-house tithing.
Before one makes such accusations or promises from these verses it would be wise to keep in mind several pertinent points concerning Mosaic tithing; (1) The tithes spoken of here had to do with the tithes of the fruit of the land, not wages per se. (2) These words are directed specifically to Judah because of the neglect of the ordinances of the law. (3) No money was involved. The tithe was a portion of the produce of an agrarian society. (4) The promise to open the windows of heaven has to do with rain which would end a drought and cause the land to again become productive when the people met the requirements of giving.
The principle taught, which must be learned by Christians, is stated by Jesus, not as a command to count one dollar of every ten into the offering, but to put the kingdom of God before the material necessities of life. (cf. Mat. 6:33) When this principle is applied to the giving of money, ten per cent seems a frightfully immature and inadequate amount, especially when those who had witness borne to them through their faith. (even though they) received not the promise . . . (Heb. 11:39) were required to give 27% of all they produced on the land.
(Mal. 3:11-12) Upon their return to faithfulness in tithes and offerings, God promised to remove the blight from the land. Whatever was organically wrong with the crops would be corrected. They had robbed God (Mal. 3:8) from the very first (Mal. 3:7). They were now cursed (Mal. 3:9) with drought (Mal. 3:10). The curse brought about by their dishonesty had taken two forms, drought and locusts (Mal. 3:11). Their repentance would be the occasion of unmeasured blessing, blessing so great they would be the envy of surrounding nations. (Mal. 3:12)
Gods provisions are always more than adequate to those who are honest in their dealings with Him.
WHEN THE DAY COMES, TRUE WORSHIPPERS WILL BE SPARED . . . Mal. 3:13 to Mal. 4:3
RV . . . Your words have been stout against me, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, What have we spoken against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked mournfully before Jehovah of hosts? and now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are built up; yea, they tempt God, and escape. Then they that feared Jehovah spake one with another; and Jehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, even mine own possession, in the day that I make; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the sun or righteousness arise with healing in its wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make, saith Jehovah of hosts.
LXX . . . Ye have spoken grievous words against me, saith the Lord. Yet he said, Wherein have we spoken against thee? Ye said, He that serves God labours in vain: and what have we gained in that we have kept his ordinances, and in that we have walked as suppliants before the face of the Lord Almighty? And now we pronounce strangers blessed; and all they who act unlawfully are built up; and they have resisted God, and yet have been delivered. Thus spoke they that feared the Lord, every one to his neighbour; and the Lord gave heed, and hearkened, and he wrote a book of remembrance before him for them that feared the Lord and reverenced his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord Almighty, in the day which I appoint for a peculiar possession; and I will make choice of them, as a man makes choice of his son that serves him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, and between him that serves God, and him that serves him not. For, behold, a day comes burning as an oven, and it shall consume them; and all the aliens, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that is coming shall set them on fire, saith the Lord Almighty, and there shall not be left of them root or branch. But to you that fear my name shall the Sun, of righteousness arise, and healing shall be in his wings: and ye shall go forth, and bound as young calves let loose from bonds. And ye shall trample the wicked; for they shall be ashes underneath your feet in the day which I appoint, saith the Lord Almighty.
COMMENTS
(Mal. 3:13-15) Malachi continues to list Jehovahs grievances against the people. They needed to return and they feigned unawareness of any such need (Mal. 3:7). They robbed God, yet pretended not to be aware of the robbing (Mal. 3:8). They have spoken against God, and again pretended innocence (Mal. 3:13 cp. Mal. 2:17)
The prophet continues to speak frankly, as he answers this latest question, Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we keep his charge?
Such complaining is not uncommon among those who cannot understand the spiritual nature of Gods covenant. Those who see the covenant as a mercenary bargain, attend to outward observance in the hope of receiving material blessings. When such are not forthcoming, because they are at most incidental to Gods purpose in His people, such worshippers are always disappointed and prone to despair.
God has never promised wealth to the faithful or poverty to the unjust. We manifest a gross ignorance of His nature and His love when we judge the worth of service to Him on such basis.
The evidence of this misunderstanding on the part of Malachis readers is seen in the last part of verses fourteen and fifteen. They equate their sacrifice of blemished animals and the withholding of tithes and offerings out of concern for material necessities with keeping His charge. They equate pietly with walking mournfully. They mistake pride for real happiness and complain that the wicked are better off than the rest. They accuse God, very subtly, of injustice because the wicked tempt God and escape.
(Mal. 3:16-18) Rather than continuing to rebuke their lack of perception, Malachi turns to words of comfort. He assures them the faithful will not be forgotten. They will be spared who are Godfearers, and ultimately made to understand the real difference between the righteous and the wicked.
A book of remembrance is being written he assures them, in which the names of the faithful were being recorded (cp. Esther 6). In the day when Jehovah acts, they will be spared His judgment and beyond this, they will be revealed as Jehovahs peculiar treasure. (cp. Joh. 3:18, 1Pe. 2:9)
Even in dark times there are those few who fear Him and so speak, i.e. converse with one another about Him,
THEY THAT FEARED JEHOVAH . . . Mal. 3:16
Malachi foresees the repentance of some, though not all the people. They would speak with one another, No doubt their speaking would concern the need for repentance, for genuine worship. As always, the fear of Jehovah would prove the beginning of wisdom for Jehovah would hear and remember.
THEY SHALL BE MINE . . . Mal. 3:17-18
Malachis covenant consciousness is evident here. It is those who fear Jehovah and think on His name who are His people. No reference is made to religious ritual or racial origin.
Peter voiced this same conviction. Following the thrice repeated vision which convinced him to go to a non-Jewish home with the gospel, and the resultant demonstration of Gods overwhelming approval of his action in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter exclaimed, of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to Him. (Act. 10:34-35) Paul confirms this same truth in Rom. 2:13, For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Malachi would have his readers understand this truth. In the days of Jehovah His people will be those who really serve.
BEHOLD, THE DAY COMETH . . . Mal. 4:1
The association of fire with the final judgement is a theme which runs throughout much of the Scriptures. Daniel describes it vividly. (Dan. 7:9-10) The Psalmist sang of it. (Psa. 1:3) Peter affirms it at some length. (2Pe. 3:7-10)
Malachi promises that those who feel this final fire will be without hope of springing again to life. They will be without branch or root. (See Amo. 2:9))
(Mal. 4:2) The prophet does not, however, limit his vision of the coming day to that of doom. In contrast, he presents the effects of its coming on Gods people. On those who fear His name the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its (His) wings.
Here is one of the most picturesque descriptions of the Messiah to be found in the Old Testament. To dissect it is to destroy it. Suffice it to say, that as the sun is the light and source of life to all the earth, so the Christ is the light and giver of life to the true worshipper.
In the warmth of this sun of righteousness, Gods people shall be as carefree as calves playing in the sunlight.
(Mal. 4:3) When this day comes, and the wicked are punished by fire while Gods people are freed from all care, the question of Mal. 3:15 will finally be answered.
Jesus rehearsal of the fate of the rich man and Lazarus is a fine illustration of this truth. (cf. Luk. 16:19 -ff) The unrighteous rich who lord it over the righteous poor will, in that day, find their situations completely reversed . . . eternally and completely.
In our present day, when churches have become pre-occupied with alleviating the temporal needs of men, regardless of their spiritual condition, and when making a profit in business has become, to some, immoral regardless of the good that may be done with such wealth, the idea that the iniquities of this life will be rectified in the next is passe to some. In the presence of this spiritual blindness, Gods people dare not lose sight of our obligation to be concerned for mens temporal needs in Jesus name. (cf. Mat. 25:31-46, 1Jn. 3:16-18) But this concern can, by no form of loge, negate the coming day of judgement
Nor can such concern negate the fact that the injustices of wicked men who prey upon the righteous and deprive the weak obviously go unpunished here and now. Honesty, in business, is not always the best policy for those whose chief purpose is personal gain.
Just as surely as this is so, so does the justice of God demand a day of reckoning. For those who come to Christ, the day of reckoning was held on Calvary (Rom. 3:25-26). For those who do not fear God, the time of reckoning is yet to come and it will.
CONCLUSION . . . Mal. 4:4-6
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come. 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.
LXX . . . And, behold, I will send to you Elias the Thesbite, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes; who shall turn again the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his neighbour, lest I come and smite the earth grievously. Remember the law of my servant Moses, accordingly as I charged him with it in Choreb for all Israel, even the commandments and ordinances.
COMMENTS
The Old Testament Scriptures close with a prophetic plea to Gods people to remember the law of Moses. It would be some four hundred years before Jehovah would speak again. In the interim, if they are to survive as His people, the law must be remembered.
Special attention is called to the statutes, that is those portions of the law dealing with religious ceremony. These ceremonies, as we have seen, were designed to keep visually and tangibly before the people an object lesson of the coming Lamb of God. If they were to fall into disuse before He came, Calvary would indeed be hard to comprehend.
Fortunately, they did not fall into disuse. During the Maccabean period and shortly thereafter (c. 160 B.C.), the party known as the Pharisees came into being for the express purpose of maintaining the literal outward observances of the statutes governing the Mosaic ceremonies in worship. Regrettably the Pharisees became obsessed with the letter to the neglect of the spirit of these observances, but they did. quite significantly, preserve the form.
In calling for remembrance of the law, Malachi does so in such a way as to provide the people one last term of its covenant meaning. The burden of the last Old Testament writer was delivered to a stiffnecked and rebellious people. They prided themselves on being Jehovahs people, but he bluntly declared, I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of hosts. (Mal. 1:10) They thought they could play fast and loose with God, but Malachi reminded them of the greatness of Him with Whom they had to do. (Mal. 1:14) In their faithlessness, Malachi reminds them of the covenant, and told them flatly they were breaking it. (Mal. 2:1-9) He despaired of the nation as a whole and of the race as a race. He foresaw the coming of a terrible day in which this proud and wicked people would be utterly consumed.
But the remnant would survive, made up of those who individually feared Jehovah (Mal. 4:2) and thought upon His name. That is, those who had come to understand the true character of the eternal God and His purpose for all men. (Mal. 3:16) These faithful would be spared only because they had fulfilled Gods covenant conditions (cf. Exo. 19:5-6) laid down on Mount Horeb (Sinai). Those who were so spared would be Gods true Israel; all the rest were doomed.
Before the terrible day of the Lord, Elijah would come to once more call the remnant. His purpose would be the reconciliation of those present at his coming with the covenant faith of their fathers. Elijah, perhaps more than any other prophet of the pre-exilic period, had pled for a return to the pure worship of Jehovah as implemented in the law. The second Elijah would have the same purpose. Unless this be done, there would be not even a remnant in that day and the whole earth, which Jehovah had striven to redeem, would stand under a curse. The word curse (Hebrew cherem) means literally a ban.
Just as those Gentiles who had not the law and were ignorant of the covenant were without God and without hope in the world (cf. Eph. 2:12), so, if the remnant were not finally called in preparation for the day of the Lord, the whole world would stand permanently alienated, banned forever from the presence of God.
The Old Testament is continuous with the New. The Bible is, in this sense, a single book. The coming of Christ did not constitute an abrupt break, but a fulfillment. The method and purpose of Jesus is a continuation and fulfillment of the method and purpose revealed in the call of Abraham. The new factor is the personal presence of the Messiah.
Malachis promise of Elijahs coming is fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist. Jesus began where Malachi left off and consciously continued the work of the prophets. His ministry is understood only in light of Gods plan to redeem all the world through a people prepared as the instrument of divine worldwide purpose. (cp. Luk. 24:44-47 and Eph. 1:23)
Chapter XLVQuestions
The Coming Day of the Lord
1.
What were the two arguments of the wicked priests?
2.
What was Gods answer to the questions, Where is the God of justice?
3.
The New Testament applies Mal. 3:1 to _________________.
4.
Relate the rabbinic interpretation of this verse to Jesus temptations.
5.
What is meant by Malachis description of the Messiah as fullers soap and refiners fire?
6.
When Messiah came He would testify against the ___________, ___________, ___________, and against __________.
7.
Comment on those who turn aside the sojourner.
8.
Discuss the proposition that, because God does not immediately smite the wicked, He is no longer a God of justice.
9.
Note the similarity of Mal. 3:7-12 to Stephens defense (Acts 7).
10.
What is the eternal principle presented in these passages?
11.
How were Malachis readers robbing God?
12.
What is the distinction between tithes and offerings?
13.
What were the first, second and third tithes required by the Law?
14.
The offering consisted of not less than ___________ of ones corn, wine and oil.
15.
The Israelites were commanded to give in three categories: ___________, ___________ and ___________.
16.
How does Jesus express the thought of Mal. 3:10?
17.
Is this passage a valid proof text for modern store house tithing?
18.
List four pertinent points concerning Mosaic tithing.
19.
When the principles of stewardship presented by Malachi is applied to modern giving, ten per cent seems._____________________.
20.
What is meant by the promise of Malachi that God would open the windows of heaven?
21.
Gods provisions are always adequate to those who ________________.
22.
Not only have Malachis readers robbed God, they have ______________________.
23.
God has never promised ___________________ to the faithful nor ___________ to the unjust.
24.
The people equated the sacrifice of blemished animals and with holding of tithes and offerings with ___________________.
25.
A book of ________________ is being written.
26.
To whom does they shall be mine (Mal. 3:17-18) refer?
27.
Discuss Mal. 3:17-18 in comparison to Act. 10:34-35.
28.
Trace the association of fire with judgement.
29.
The sun of righteousness shall ____________________.
30.
The wicked are to be punished by fire while Gods people are freed from _____________________.
31.
Does the unequal distribution of wealth negate the necessity of righteousness?
32.
The justice of God demands a ______________________.
33.
The Old Testament closes with a plea to Gods people to ___________________.
34.
Why was it essential that the formal observance of the sacrificial system be preserved?
35.
The proud and wicked would be consumed but the ___________________ would survive.
36.
Who is the second Elijah?
37.
How is the New Testament continuous with the Old?
38.
What is the new factor in the New Testament not present in the Old?
39.
The coming of Christ did not constitute an abrupt break but a __________________.
40.
Approximately how much time lapsed between Malachi and Jesus?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(7) Even from . . . fathers.Throughout the whole course of their history they had been a people (Exo. 32:9, &c.); and now, when exhorted to repent, they ask in feigned innocence:
Wherein shall we return? . . . Return unto me . . . unto you.Comp. Zec. 1:3.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
YHWH Brings A Further Charge Against His People. They Have Failed in Their Offering Of Tithes ( Mal 3:7-12 ).
There were no doubt some who could still feel pretty pleased with themselves. They could insist that they had not brought defective offerings (Mal 1:7-14), that they had not married foreign wives who introduced idolatry (Mal 2:10-11), that they had not divorced their wives (Mal 2:14-16), that they had not been complacent about the sins of Israel (Mal 2:17). So now Malachi brings another test of their genuineness in worship. Have they contributed their full required amount in tithes? Tithes were like taxes. Unless you were very godly you paid as little as possible. There were always possible ways of manipulating situations that could result in a reducing of the tithes needing to be paid, especially at a time when the Levites were not particularly active to monitor them. And the non-arrival of the tithes (which is a small and struggling community would not be plentiful, could affect the worship at God’s House because the Levites had to give attention to their own survival (compare Neh 13:10).
Mal 3:7-9
‘From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances,
And have not kept them.
Return unto me, and I will return unto you,
Says YHWH of hosts.
But you say,
In what shall we return?
Will a man violently rob God?
Yet you violently rob me.
But you say, In what have we robbed you?
In tithes and offerings.
You are cursed with the curse,
For you rob me, even this whole nation.’
Having laid out many of his accusations against the priests and the people Malachi now calls for repentance. From the days of their fathers to the present they have turned aside from God’s ordinances, and have not kept them. Now he calls on them to return to God, and then, he says, God promises that He will return to them.
Do we sometimes wonder why God is not as active in our day as we would like? Here is His answer. It is because His people have turned aside from His ordinances. It is because they are not fully obeying Him and are not genuinely dedicated to Him. It is because they are withholding themselves from God. And the solution is simple. ‘Return to Me, and I will return to you.’
But these people of God would not have it that they were not obeying God’s ordinances. ‘In what shall we return?’ They asked God. YHWH, through the prophet, comes back with a rhetorical question in return. ‘Will a man violently rob God? And yet you violently rob Me.’ This immediately brought an indignant reply. ‘In what have we robbed you?’ The idea was preposterous. They were not Temple robbers. Who would be foolish enough to rob the One Who knows everything that a man does?
God’s answer comes firm and sure. ‘In tithes and offerings.’ Let them just think back over how they have behaved in respect of His tithes and offerings. They have calculated, they have stinted, they have wrangled, they have interpreted ‘leniently’, they have avoided paying and giving to the full extent that they knew in their hearts, once they thought about it, that they should have done. Thus they are guilty of having robbed God. There would be very few if any who could deny the charge.
The ‘tithe’ or ‘tenth’ was what they should have been offering to God out of all their produce. It had been a continual requirement since the time of Moses. And it should have been of their very best, because it was made to God. Every third year the tithe would be set aside for the needs of the poor, so that food would always be available for those in genuine need (Deu 14:28-29), and the remainder of the time the tithe went to the Levites, and of that a tenth went to the priests (Leviticus 27; Numbers 18). No doubt many had argued to themselves that as not many Levites had returned full tithes need not be paid, and they had in fact carried that argument into effect so efficiently that the Levites hardly received any at all (Neh 13:10).
The word ‘offerings’ covers the other offerings that should be made including such as the firstfruits and wave offerings, and other contributions due to the Temple. It should be noted what a turn around this was requiring in their hearts. From being those who offered blemished sacrifices, and begrudged tithes and offerings, they were to become wholehearted worshippers of, and givers to, God. The searching of heart would unquestionably result in religious revival.
Mal 3:10
‘Bring you the whole tithe into the store-house,
That there may be food in my house,
And prove me now herewith,
Says YHWH of hosts,
If I will not open you the sluicegates of heaven,
And pour you out a blessing,
That there will not be room enough to receive it.’
God now returns with His offer. Let them bring the WHOLE tithe into the store house so that the Levites and priests could be amply fed, and let them prove whether in return He would be faithful or not. This would, of course, produce a total revolution in their thinking. Once they began being honest about their tithes, and began to consider what was truly required, it would develop a healthy attitude of mind (calculating tithes was not mechanical, quality as well as quantity had to be considered, as they considered what they would give to God) and it would bring to mind a host of other ways in which they were not being faithful to the covenant. And the aim was that those matters would be sorted out as well.
But the very change in the attitude of their hearts would result in God responding and blessing their harvests. For once they had begun to worship Him truly and fully from their hearts His promise was that He would ensure sufficient rain to produce abundant fruitfulness. Palestine was almost totally dependent on rain for its productivity. When the rains came then life was good. The land was productive, and the harvests produced were plentiful (there was never any doubt about the sun). But when the rains were withheld the land suffered, and the harvests were poor. The sun beat down and the earth was scorched. Unlike in Egypt and in Babylonia there were not sufficient quantities of water in their rivers to irrigate the land.
‘The sluicegates of Heaven.’ They did not, of course, literally believe that there were sluicegates in Heaven. They knew perfectly well that the rain came from the clouds. It is simply a picturesque way of describing plentifulness of rain.
And what would be the final result? Their storehouses would prove too small. They would have such abundant harvests that they would be unable to store them. To people struggling as they were in difficult circumstances it must have sounded like a dream come true.
The implication is quite clear. Those who would enjoy the blessing of God must themselves ensure that they are generous and genuine towards God. This was not a promise of great prosperity. It was a promise of good returns for honest toil. It was an assurance that God would be with them and would bless them. It was a call for a total change of heart. To see it as a kind of mercenary bargain is to miss the whole point.
Mal 3:11-12
‘And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
And he will not destroy the fruits of your ground,
Nor will your vine cast its fruit,
Before the time in the field,
Says YHWH of hosts.
And all nations will call you happy,
For you will be a delightsome land,
Says YHWH of hosts.’
And how would all this happen? It would happen because of the activity of God. He would deal with all who would ‘devour’ the crops, whether humans, beasts or insects (including fruit pests and locusts), preventing them from attacking the harvest. He would ensure that the fruit of the vine remained in place, and did not fall to the ground until harvest time, a result which would denote trees destitute of water.
And the result would be that all the nations around would call them ‘happy’ and their land a ‘land of delight’, because it would be such a wonderful and fruitful land. And this was the promise and guarantee of YHWH of hosts.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The People Rebuked
v. 7. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from Mine ordinances and have not kept them, v. 8. Will a man rob God, v. 9. Ye are cursed with a curse, v. 10. Bring ye all the tithes, v. 11. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, v. 12. And all nations shall call you blessed,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
SECTION V
The People are rebuked for withholding the legal Tithes and Offerings
3:712
7Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8Will a man rob5 [defraud] God? Yet [ that, Khler, Keil, Pressel], ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.6 [In tithe and heave offering.] 9Ye are cursed with a curse: for [yet] ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10Bring ye all the tithes7 [tithe] into the storehouse8 [treasury], that there may be meat [food, Vulgate cibus] in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not9 open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it10 [to superabundance]. 11And I will rebuke11 the devourer for your sakes,12 and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground;13 neither shall your vine cast her fruit14 before the time in the field, saith the Lord of Hosts. 12And all nations shall call15 you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of Hosts.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Mal 3:7. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts. After Jehovah had announced the coming judgment for the long-continued transgressions of the people, He adds a gracious promise, as in Zec 1:3 : Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord, and I will return unto you. In self-righteous delusion, supposing that they lack nothing, and need no repentance, they inquire, Wherein, in what particular, shall we return? The prophet thereupon shows them their sin. They do what no man should attempt. They try to defraud God in the tithe and heave-offering, either by not paying them at all, or not paying them as they should. The word , which occurs besides only in Pro 22:3, where it is translated, spoil, means here, as the connection shows, defraud, overreach, cheat.
Mal 3:8. Will a man rob (or defraud) God? The Prophet appeals to their conscience for a decision as to the baseness of their conduct. But ye have robbed, or defrauded, me, or, That ye have robbed me. This is a reason of the previous question, since you have defrauded me.
In tithe and offering. This is a specification of the manner in which they had robbed God. In Neh 13:10 we find a striking coincidence with this verse. I perceived, that the portions of the Levites had not been given them. Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn, wine, and oil.
The tithe, according to Lev 27:30, and Deu 14:22, was of the corn, wine, and oil, and of the firstlings of the flock and herd, for the maintenance of the Levites. The heave-offeringfor that is here referred towas the portion of the priests. Ye shall give the heave-offering to the priests. It was partly a free-will offering, and partly prescribed by the law. They withheld tithes, notwithstanding that God had already visited them with severe punishment, which aggravated their guilt. They had been cursed, as we learn from the following verses, with failure of the harvest and famine. This curse corresponded to their sin. As they had refused to give God his due withholding the tithes and offerings, so had He withheld from them the products of the field.
Mal 3:9. Ye are cursed with a curse. The position of the noun before the verb is here highly emphatic. Yet me ye defraud. It is not necessary to regard the as causal.
Mal 3:10. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse. The prophet now enlarges upon the mode of recovering the divine favor. Israel should not, as before, keep back a part of the tithes, but should pay the whole without defrauding Jehovah, that there might be food for the priests and Levites. Notwithstanding Jehovah was angry with the priests, yet He cannot suffer the people to withhold the tithe.
Storehouse. This same word is translated, Neh 13:12, treasuries. We find in 2Ch 31:11, mention of chambers in the Temple, into which they were to bring the tithes. In Neh 10:38, the Levites were to bring the tithe to the chambers, into the treasure-house.
Prove me now herewith. The object of the proof of Jehovah was not, whether He would be faithful to his promise, for this was not the subject under discussion, but whether He was a holy and righteous God, for this had been called in question by them. They were now to put Him to the test, and learn by the result of the experiment, in what relation He stood to them, and also learn, that as He had manifested Himself as a holy God in his severity, so He would also do so in his goodness, and the abundance of the blessings conferred upon those who keep his commandments.
If I will not open the windows of heaven. This is to be regarded as an indirect question, whether I will not. Open the windows. We read of the windows of heaven in Gen 7:11, 2Ki 7:2. The copious blessing is here compared to rain coming down from heaven.
And pour out upon you a blessing till there is not sufficiency of room. The word means, sufficiency, and room is to be understood, as in Zec 10:10 : and place shall not be found for them, where place is to be supplied, as here room. negatives the idea of the noun as in Isa 5:14. The interpretation, forever, adopted by Wordsworth: Till there be not enough, till my abundance is exhausted; and since this can never be, therefore it means, forever, is strained and unnatural. The Septuagint has translated it: Until there should be enough.
Mal 3:11. And I will rebuke the devourer. This verse describes in detail what blessings Jehovahs coming will bring with it. Jehovah will take away everything which would injure the fruits. The devourer, that is, the locust, shall no more ravage the land. The corn and wine shall flourish. The grapes shall not fall before they ripen.
Mal 3:12. And all nations shall call you blessed. The consequence of Jehovahs blessing will be, that the land will be an object of pleasure to every one. We find similar language in Zec 8:13 : As ye were a curse among the heathen, so shall ye he a blessing.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL
From Matt. Henry: On Return unto me (Mal 3:7). What a gracious invitation God gives them to return and repent! Return unto me, and to your duty, return to your service, return to your allegiance, return as a traveller that has missed his way, as a soldier that has run from his colors, as a treacherous wife that has gone away from her husband; return, thou backsliding Israel, return to me; and then I will return unto you, and be, reconciled, will remove the judgments you are under and prevent those you fear. What a peevish answer they return to this gracious invitation! Wherein shall we return. Note: God takes notice what returns our hearts make to the calls of his Word, what we say, and what we think when we have heard a sermon; what answer we give to the message sent us. When God calls us to return we should answer, as they did (Jer 3:22): Behold, we come, but not as these here, Wherein shall we return? They take it as an affront to be told of their faults, and called upon to amend them; they are ready to say, What ado do these prophets make about returning and repenting. They are so ignorant of themselves, and of the strictness, extent, and spiritual nature of the divine law, that they see nothing in themselves to be repented of; they are pure in their own eyes, and think they need no repentance. Many ruin their souls by baffling the calls to repentance.
HOMILETICAL
Pressel: On Mal 3:10. Prove me now herewith. The condescending goodness of God gives not only to the godly, but sometimes even to the ungodly, opportunity and even a challenge to prove his truth and almightiness; and it is the duty of a minister of God now, as it was then of the Prophet Malachi, not only to point both classes to it, but even to offer to them this proving of God, confident as Elijah was against Ahab, and as Isaiah was against Ahaz, that God will not forsake his servants, but will by the event put to shame all unbelief.
On Mal 3:13. We are very apt to complain of Gods providences, when extraordinary afflictions and troubles put men out of patience, or when we read or hear of extraordinary accidents, but where a heart stands firm in the fear and love of God, what the Apostle John says: His, seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, is true of it.
On Mal 3:10-12. How much depends upon our giving ourselves wholly as an offering to the Lord ! The offerings which the Lord now requires are our own hearts, and all that comes from them. But if the Lord was so strict in tithes, how much more so is He with our hearts ! Dost thou wish the full blessing of God, then be exact in whatever is thy duty. What is our duty? Whatever God requires of us, whether great or little, whether his service or an every-day life. How can he who is not strict in his duty hope, or even pray for the full blessing of God?
On Mal 3:14-15. The vain service of God, He serves God in vain who serves Him only outwardly. He who serves Him from the heart has never served Him in vain. God is not man. It sometimes is the case with men that an outward service only receives an unmerited reward, or that he who serves another from the heart does not receive his due reward, for men can be deceived; but this can never be the case with God, for He is omniscient and faithful. All things are under Gods providence. The contrary seems to be the case in the history of the world and in daily experience, and men without conscience lose thereby their faith; but this is only so in appearance, for the inward testimony of the heart and eternity will make plain the most difficult and frowning providences, and sometimes in this world, Gods holy and righteous government is clearly manifested.
Footnotes:
[5]Mal 3:8., found only in Pro 22:3 : to cheat, defraud. The Fut. is used here in the sense of: dare a man rob God.
[6]Mal 3:8.. The heave-offering.
[7]Mal 3:10.The whole tithe.
[8]Mal 3:10., storehouse, or treasury; Neh 13:12.
[9]Mal 3:10., not an oath, whether not.
[10]Mal 3:10. means need, lack.
[11]Mal 3:10. negatives the ideabeyond sufficiency.
[12]Mal 3:11., to rebuke. In Mal 2:3, it is translated, corrupt. , dative of use, profit.
[13]Mal 3:11.The LXX. read, , I will destory.
[14]Mal 3:11., miscarry, applied to the vine.
[15]Mal 3:11.. The future is here used contingently, to denote a probable future occurrence. See Nordbeimer, 933, 1.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Oh! what a charge is here, after contemplating the unchangeable nature of our covenant God in Christ, as in the preceding verse to consider our sad departure from the Lord. Reader! do not confine this view to Israel of old, but look at Israel now. How are we gone away from the Lord, as a nation, as a people? Time was, when the blessed and holy doctrines of our holy faith were cherished in this nation, by all ranks and orders of the people. When the distinguishing truths of the Gospel, such as the everlasting covenant love of God the Father, the atoning blood and justifying righteousness of God the Son; and the quickening, converting, comforting influences of God the Holy Ghost, were heard, preached on, and received with joy and thankfulness, both by ministers and people. But how are we gone away? We may now take up the language of the Prophet, and say, how is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! Lam 4:1 . Oh! that He, who saith return unto me, would graciously accompany the invitation with his power, and cause the hearts of the people, as the heart of one man, to return to the Lord, that our land might again be called Hephzibah, and Beulah. Isa 62:4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mal 3:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept [them]. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
Ver. 7. Even from the days of your fathers, ye are gone away from mine ordinances ] The more to magnify his own mercy (by a miracle, whereof they had hitherto subsisted, by an extraordinary prop of his love, and longsuffering), God sets forth here their utter unworthiness of any such free favour, by a double aggravation of their sins. First, their long continuance therein, so that their sins were grown inveterate and ingrained, and themselves aged and even crooked therein, so that they could hardly ever be set straight again.
From the days of your fathers, &c.
But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Malachi
THE LAST WORD OF PROPHECY
A DIALOGUE WITH GOD
Mal 3:7
In previous sermons we have considered God’s indictment of man’s sin met by man’s plea of ‘not guilty,’ and God’s threatenings brushed aside by man’s question. Here we have the climax of self-revealing and patient love in God’s wooing voice to draw the wanderer back, met by man’s refusing answer. These three divine utterances taken together cover the whole ground of His speech to us; and, alas! these three human utterances but too truly represent for the most part our answers to Him.
I. God’s invitation to His wandering child.
The gracious invitation of our text follows, ‘I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.’ Threatenings, and the execution of these in acts of judgment, are no indication of a change in the loving heart of God; and because it is the same, however we have sinned against it and departed from it, there is ever an invitation and a welcome. We may depart from Him, but He never departs from us. Nor does He wait for us to originate the movement of return, but He invites us back. By all His words in His threatenings and in His commandments, as in the acts of His providence, we can hear His call to return. The fathers of our flesh never cease to long for their prodigal child’s return; and their patient persistence of hope is but brief and broken when contrasted with the infinite long-suffering of the Father of spirits. We have heard of a mother who for long empty years has nightly set a candle in her cottage window to guide her wandering boy back to her heart; and God has bade us think more loftily of the unchangeableness of His love than that of a woman who may forget, that she should not have compassion upon the son of her womb.
II. Man’s answer to God’s invitation.
But the question of our text has often a nobler origin, and comes from the depths of a troubled heart. Not seldom does God’s loving invitation rouse the dormant conscience to the sense of sin. The man, lying broken at the foot of the cliff down which he has fallen, and seeing the brightness of God far above, has his heart racked with the question: How am I, with lame limbs, to struggle back to the heights above? ‘How shall man be just with God?’ All the religions of the world, with their offerings and penances and weary toils, are vain attempts to make a way back to the God from whom men have wandered, and that question, ‘Wherein shall we return?’ is really the meaning of the world’s vain seeking and profitless effort.
God has answered man’s question; for Christ is at once the way back to God, and the motive which draws us to walk in it. He draws us back by the magnetism of His love and sacrifice. We return to God when we cling to Jesus. He is the highest, the tenderest utterance of the divine voice; and when we yield to His invitation to Himself we return to God. He calls to each of us, ‘Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.’ What can we reply but, ‘I come; let me never wander from Thee’?
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mal 3:7
7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
Mal 3:7 From the days of your fathers For a historical overview of Israel’s history, see Nehemiah 9. Israel has a settled history of covenant disobedience.
you have turned aside This VERB (BDB 693, KB 747, Qal PERFECT) speaks of their settled character of rebellion. There is a play on the concept of turning in this verse.
1. Israel has repeatedly turned away, BDB 693, KB 747, Qal PERFECT, cf. Exo 32:8; Jdg 2:17
2. YHWH commands them to turn (i.e., repent), BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal IMPERATIVE
3. If they will, YHWH will turn to them, BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal COHORTATIVE (i.e., in covenant restoration and blessing)
4. The people ask how shall we turn, BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal IMPERFECT (i.e., of what should we repent)
My statutes See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS FOR GOD’S REVELATION
Return to Me and I will return to you This is a call not to initial repentance, but to subsequent repentance (cf. Zec 1:3; Jas 4:8). Our lifestyle reflects and verifies our faith commitment to God (cf. 1 John and James). See Special Topic: Repentance in the Old Testament .
But you say, ‘How shall we return’ This seems to focus on two possible motives: (1) their truly wanting to know how to show repentance or (2) arrogant, self-righteousness, which sees no problems that need to be corrected. It may just be the literary continuation of the diatribe technique.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
ordinances = statutes. Hebrew, hok. Referring to particular ritual observances. Not the same word as in Mal 3:14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mal 3:7-12
IF THE PEOPLE WILL RETURN IN DEVOTION TO GOD
HE WILL YET BLESS THEM . . . Mal 3:7-12
FROM THE DAYS OF YOUR FATHERS . . . Mal 3:7
When Stephen stood before the council and accused them with, Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears . . . as your fathers did, so do ye, (Act 7:51) he was in good company. Malachi here levels the same charge against his readers.
Just as their ancestors had turned aside from Gods ordinances to worship Baal, these were turning aside in making a mockery of the same ordinances. The withholding of tithes, the offering of blemished animals, the indulging in sorcery and adultery and false swearing while showing unconcern for human need by oppressing wage-earners, widows, orphans and non-Jews indicated theirs was a religion of form rather than sincerity. The prophet sees no advantage in this over the false religion which had brought on the Babylonian captivity.
There is an eternal principle presented here which the modern church member cannot afford to ignore. The observance of outward form and the passive abstention from false religion are a sham if done as these did them. The cheapening of the ordinances of God as they did in offering unacceptable sacrifices, or as is often done in present day churches by penny-wise and niggardly church budgets are no more advantageous than false doctrine. The lack of any real concern for the poor, the abandoned, the downtrodden, that is frequently hidden under an annual Christmas basket, does not deceive Him Who knows the hearts of His people.
The entreaty of God to such people to return to Him is frequently met today as in Malachis time (Mal 3:7) with a blank faced and feigned innocence expressed in wherein shall we return?
Zerr: Mal 3:7. As proof that God has always been the same lenient One he is at the present time, they are reminded of the wayward conduct of the fathers in spite of the pleadings which He made with them, in which they were urged to Return unto me, and I ‘will return unto you.
(Mal 3:8-13) Malachis answer to this sham is will a man rob God? When their response was again an assumed innocence expressed in, wherein have we robbed thee, the prophet goes directly to the heart of the matter . . . in tithes and offerings.
Zerr: Mal 3:8. Will a man rob God?’ was doubtless answered with an emphatic “no” by these people. But they recognized the question actually to be an accusation that they had robbed Him, and then they asked in what way they had done so. The Lord’s reply was that it was done in tithes and offerings. When the Jews held back a part of their tithes, or brought some inferior products to the service, they were thereby robbing God.
That they could answer in such false righteousness after what the prophet has written in the preceding chapters about their unholy sacrifices, is amazing. It is no more so than the assumed correctness of the New Testament Christian today whose sacrifices of himself is an hour or two on Sunday and whose giving of tithes and offerings consists of less than he spends for soft drinks and tobacco.
Ye are cursed with a curse because ye rob me declares Malachi (Mal 3:9). Our own consciences may accept a cut-rate allegiance to God, but He will not. The country parson who said, Salvation is free but it aint cheap, spoke the truth!
Zerr: Mal 3:9. The whole nation could justly be charged with the evils complained of because all the people upheld the corrupt priests and prophets (Jer 5:31).
There is a significant distinction drawn here between tithes and offerings. The law defined the first tithe as a tenth of all that was left after the first fruits were paid. This tenth went directly to the Levites for their support. (Lev 27:30-33) A tenth was to be paid in turn to the priests. (Num 18:26-28)
A second tithe was to be paid for the entertainment of the Levites and their own families at the temple. (Deu 12:18)
A third tithe was to be paid every third year for the welfare of the poor, etc. (Deu 14:28) It has been estimated that the total tithes amounted annually to approximately 27% of ones gross income.
The offerings were in addition to the tithes. These consisted of not less than 1/60 of ones corn, wine, and oil (Deu 18:4, Neh 13:10-12).
So the Israelite under the Old Covenant gave in three categories. (1) He sacrificed the first fruits of his fields and flocks (2) he tithed three times, first of all remaining after the sacrifices, second for the entertainment (expenses) of the Levites and thirdly for the sake of supporting the poor, and (3) he then gave an offering of at least 1/60 of all his grain, wine and oil.
It was common, during the lean years, such as those which prevailed at the time of this writing, to neglect the tithes and offerings. Malachi, as we have seen, accuses his readers of also bringing much less than the first fruits for sacrifice.
Jehovahs challenge (Mal 3:10) is to bring all the tithes (he whole tithe) into the storehouse and see if times do not change. Jesus would say, seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. (cp. Mat 6:19-34)
Zerr: Mal 3:10. There never was or will be a time when it pays to defraud the Lord out of His deserts. On the other hand, it is always profitable in the end to be liberal and cheerful in the service to God. Hence these people are challenged to cast their trust on the Lord and cease holding back what they were obligated to give into the service of Him because it will be to their advantage to do so in reality.
Here is the eternal principle of giving which continues from covenant to covenant. The support of the Lords work must come first in the economic lives of His covenant people. He who gives only what he can afford has not given at all!
This passage, especially verses nine and ten, are frequently used to prove that one who does not give ten percent of his income to the church is robbing God. Conversely, on the basis of these same verses, promises are frequently extended that God will open the windows of Heaven to those who practice store-house tithing.
Before one makes such accusations or promises from these verses it would be wise to keep in mind several pertinent points concerning Mosaic tithing; (1) The tithes spoken of here had to do with the tithes of the fruit of the land, not wages per se. (2) These words are directed specifically to Judah because of the neglect of the ordinances of the law. (3) No money was involved. The tithe was a portion of the produce of an agrarian society. (4) The promise to open the windows of heaven has to do with rain which would end a drought and cause the land to again become productive when the people met the requirements of giving.
The principle taught, which must be learned by Christians, is stated by Jesus, not as a command to count one dollar of every ten into the offering, but to put the kingdom of God before the material necessities of life. (cf. Mat 6:33) When this principle is applied to the giving of money, ten per cent seems a frightfully immature and inadequate amount, especially when those who had witness borne to them through their faith. (even though they) received not the promise . . . (Heb 11:39) were required to give 27% of all they produced on the land.
(Mal 3:11-12) Upon their return to faithfulness in tithes and offerings, God promised to remove the blight from the land. Whatever was organically wrong with the crops would be corrected. They had robbed God (Mal 3:8) from the very first (Mal 3:7). They were now cursed (Mal 3:9) with drought (Mal 3:10). The curse brought about by their dishonesty had taken two forms, drought and locusts (Mal 3:11). Their repentance would be the occasion of unmeasured blessing, blessing so great they would be the envy of surrounding nations. (Mal 3:12).
Zerr: Mal 3:11-12. The Lord even promised to protect their increasing products from the ravages of those who would devour them. The plants for fruit and other articles of food were guaranteed to bring their yield to maturity. Besides the general favors indicated in this verse that fleshly Israel could have acquired, the greater one pertained to them as spiritual Israel. The words all nations were fulfilled when the Gospel was offered to Jew and Gentile alike.
Gods provisions are always more than adequate to those who are honest in their dealings with Him.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Rebuke for Defrauding The Lord
CHAPTER 3:7-15
Another rebuke is administered. They were alway a stiff-necked people, never obedient to His ordinances. His gracious call to return unto Him, and the promise that He will return unto them is answered by Wherein shall we return? They had robbed God of what was His right. The tithes and offerings which He demanded in the law covenant had been withheld. On account of it the blessing was lacking and curse was upon the nation. Then follows a command to bring all the tithes into the storehouse, the challenge to prove Him, the assurance of abundant blessing. It is strange that even those who have a good knowledge of truth, the dispensations and the heavenly position of a Christian, should fall back upon this verse and claim that it is binding and should be practiced among believers. For a system like Seventh Day Adventism, a system which has perverted the gospel of grace, which denies Gods oath-bound covenants with Israel, which claims to be the true Israel, the system to which applies the term the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not; for such a cult to make this command a binding law is not surprising. But well taught believers should never look upon this passage as in any way in force today. True Christian giving, like everything else in the life and service of a true believer, must be done, not by law but through grace, under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Nowhere in the New Testament is there anything said about tithing. A believer must be a cheerful giver, giving as the Lord has prospered him, communicating to others, doing good, remembering the poor, ministering in temporal things to those who minister in spiritual things; but all this giving must be under the direction of the Spirit of God.
The day will come when His earthly people will minister to the wants of the Lords house (a Jewish term), so that there will be an abundant supply for sacrifices. That will be in the future day of their restoration, when the devourer will be rebuked (Mal 3:11). It is at that time, when the millennium has come, that all nations will call them blessed, when they shall be a delightsome land Isa 62:4. This has never been since it was written by the pen of Malachi.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
SERMON #14. WILL A MAN ROB GOD?
Text:Mal 3:7-12
Subject:Giving God His Due
Date:Sunday Evening December 13, 2009
Introduction:
The title of my message is found in the words of God spoken to us by his prophet Malachi. WILL A MAN ROB GOD? Will Adam pillage Elohim? Will frail, weak man attempt to supplant the great and mighty God? Dares mortality attempt the robbery of immortality? Dares the creature draw out his dagger and try to slip up on the Creator, to rob him? Impossible as it is for man to rob God, insane as it is to attempt, this is an ancient crime and a crime of which all the human race is guilty.
Mal 3:8 is one of those verses preachers have used and abused to beat people over the head and shame them into paying their religious taxes, their tithes. If you dont pay your tithes Gods going to get you. Your children will get sick. Your bills will pile up until you have to file bankruptcy. The Lord might even kill you, or your wife, or one of your children. Preachers are worse than the Federal government. They make tax evasion (tithe evasion) a capital offence! Then they promise that if you tithe, God will pour out his blessings upon you, enrich you and make you happy. Needless to say, that is not Malachis message. You cant bribe God; and God wont bribe you.
Turn with me to Mal 3:7-12; and lets see what God the Holy Spirit here teaches us about men robbing God.
Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith 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. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. (Mal 3:7-12)
THE APOSTASY
The first thing the Lord mentions in our text is apostasy, the relentless apostasy of whole house of Israel from him. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Israel brought upon themselves the judgment of God by their willful departures from him. The previous generation brought themselves into Babylonian captivity by their departures from God, his worship and his revealed will (Jer 2:13).
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Jer 2:13)
But this is not Gods Word to a group of people who lived 2500 years ago. This is Gods Word to you and me. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
What a solemn charge this is! After contemplating the great goodness and faithfulness of our covenant God, goodness and faithfulness arising from his everlasting immutability (Mal 3:6), the Lord God directs our thoughts to the consideration of our unfaithfulness and our countless, sad and shameful departures from him!
There was a time when the blessed and holy doctrine of the Gospel was cherished in this nation, cherished by the rich and the poor, cherished in the church house and in the school house, preached from the pulpit and pleasing to the pew. The distinguishing truths of the Gospel, such as the everlasting covenant love of God the Father, the atoning blood and justifying righteousness of God the Son and the quickening, converting, comforting operations of God the Holy Ghost, were heard, preached, published and received with joy and thanksgiving. How we have fallen!
Apostasy from the Word and worship and will of God brings the judgment of God upon men and nations. It is this departure from God, a departure to which the nation has been led by will-worshipping preachers, that has led to the moral degeneracy of the nation (Rom 1:16-32); and it is this apostasy from the worship of God to the worship of man that is the sure sign of antichrist in this world (2Th 2:1-17). Freewill, works religion is the apostasy of this day and the ruin of this day!
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Rom 1:16-32)
Yes, you read the Book of God correctly. Homosexuality is a moral perversity, a degeneracy of man, an act of divine judgment that brings greater judgment. And the root to which the moral perversity is traced is idolatry, the idolatry of will-worship, the idolatry of man worshipping himself!
2 Thessalonians 2
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work. (2Th 2:1-17)
Oh, that he, who says return unto me, would graciously accompany the invitation with his power, and cause the hearts of the multitudes, as the heart of one man, to return to the Lord, that our land might be called Hephzibah and Beulah (Isa 62:4).
THE ROBBERY
This apostasy from God is nothing less than the robbery of God, a robbery of God that holds men under the curse of the Almighty (Mal 3:8-9).
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. (Mal 3:8-9)
In the Old Testament, under the Levitical government of that typical dispensation, the tithe was a religious tax collected for the maintenance of the tabernacle and the priesthood, a tax levied by Gods law to maintain his worship (Lev 27:30-33; Num 18:26-28; Deu 12:18; Deu 14:28-29; Neh 13:10-14).
But the robbery of God here spoken of by Malachi involves much more than money. Remember, Malachis message was specifically addressed to the priests of Judah and of Israel who refused to give glory to Gods name (Mal 2:1-2).
1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. 2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. (Mal 2:1-2)
The priests of Israel defrauded God of his worship as God by offering Gods praise and worship to another (Jer 7:8-23), just as the preachers and religious leaders of our day defraud him.
8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. 9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? 11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. 12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; 14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. 17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. 19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. 22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: 23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. (Jer 7:8-23)
Think of this matter spiritually, applying it to our day, as God intends for us to do. How does a man rob God? A man robs God by robbing him of his sacrifice and his praise! How do people rob God?
You rob God when you refuse to believe him.
You rob God when you despise his sovereignty and dominion as God (Isaiah 45).
You rob God when you deny his eternal purposes and performances (Rom 8:28-30; Eph 1:3-6).
You rob God when you slight his darling Son and rob him of the merit and efficacy of his blood and righteousness (Isa 53:9-10; Heb 9:12; Heb 10:9-14).
You rob God when you deny the Spirits mighty operations of grace in regeneration, conviction and effectual calling (Joh 16:7-11).
You rob God when you mix the works of man with the work of Christ (Gal 5:1-4).
You rob God when you make mans will omnipotent and Gods will subservient (Rom 9:16).
You rob God when you put your hand to his Ark, put your tool to his Altar and break his Sabbath, when you despise his Son!
You rob God when you give man a place of glorying before the triune God (Psa 115:1).
1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truths sake. 2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? 3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. (Psa 115:1-3)
If you rob God of his offering he says, in Mal 3:9, Ye are cursed with a curse! It is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Ye are cursed with a curse, God declares, for ye have robbed me. There is always a reason for Gods judgment. He never punishes where no offense exists.
THE STOREHOUSE
Now, look at Mal 3:10-12 and learn of God to bring Gods tithe, Gods Sacrifice into the storehouse.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith 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. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. (Mal 3:10-12)
The storehouse was the tithe barn (Neh 13:11-13) where all the sacrifices of grain and such were brought and kept. The tithe money was kept in the temple treasury. But here the tithe specifically speaks of the storehouse and the grain that was kept there. God says, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.
When Gods Christ is our Christ, and the Lords Holy One, is our Holy One, when poor sinners come to the Lord and look with an eye of faith to Gods Christ and his rich covenant mercy in Christ, they find meat in Gods house, for Christ himself is the living bread. In him and by him the windows of heaven are opened, and Gods blessings are so profusely poured out, that the gladdened heart finds more than it can hold. Then the enemy is restrained. Satan is rebuked. Gods ordinances are blessed. And Gods Church is made fruitful. The barrenness of the land is taken away! Oh, that our God would grant such blessedness in our day, for Christs sake!
Indeed, when our God has finished his work in us and for us, he who sought to devour us shall be devoured and we shall be blessed (Rom 16:20; Mal 3:12; Eph 2:7; Rev 19:1-6).
And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. (Mal 3:12)
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (Rom 16:20)
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (Eph 2:7)
1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hathenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. 4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. (Rev 19:1-6)
Amen.
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
from the: Deu 9:7-21, Deu 31:20, Deu 31:27-29, Neh 9:16, Neh 9:17, Neh 9:26, Neh 9:28-30, Psa 78:8-10, Eze 20:8, Eze 20:13, Eze 20:21, Eze 20:28, Luk 11:48-51, Act 7:51, Act 7:52
Return unto me: Lev 26:40-42, Deu 4:29-31, Deu 30:1-4, 1Ki 8:47-49, Neh 1:8, Neh 1:9, Isa 55:6, Isa 55:7, Jer 3:12-14, Jer 3:22, Eze 18:30-32, Hos 14:1, Zec 1:3, Jam 4:8
Wherein: Mal 3:13, Mal 1:6, Isa 65:2, Mat 23:27, Luk 15:16, Rom 7:9, Rom 10:3, Rom 10:21
Reciprocal: Psa 6:4 – Return Psa 80:14 – Return Isa 43:27 – first father Eze 18:17 – he shall not Eze 24:19 – General Dan 9:5 – departing Mal 1:2 – Wherein
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Mal 3:7. As proof that God has always been the same lenient One he is at the present time, they are reminded of the wayward conduct of the fathers in spite of the pleadings which He made with them, in which they were urged to Return unto me, ana I ‘will return unto you,
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mal 3:7. Even from the days of your fathers, &c. Here the discourse is again addressed to the wicked, and from hence to the end of Mal 3:12 the people are reprehended for slighting the institutions of divine worship, and for withholding the legal tithes and oblations; are assured that they are under a curse for these violations of the law, and that an opposite conduct would bring on them the divine blessing. Ye are gone away from mine ordinances Those which directed you respecting my worship, or your dealings one with another. Return unto me Namely, by repentance, and amendment of life; and I will return to you I will pardon and accept you, and bestow my blessings upon you. But ye said Or, ye say, Wherein shall we return? You persist to justify yourselves, and inquire what it is you are to repent of? as if your crimes were not most notorious and shameful. And your words, or at least your actions, show that you have no sense of, nor remorse for, your former sins, nor any purpose of forsaking them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mal 3:7-12. Tithes and the Divine Blessing.The people cannot hope to win Gods favour so long as they Withhold Gods dues. When the tithes (Deu 12:17 f; Deu 14:22-29*, Num 18:21-32*, Lev 27:30-33*; see p. 99Malachi presupposes the stricter legislation of P as represented in the two latter passages) are paid in full to the Temple treasury, the curse of locusts (the devourer, Mal 3:11) and drought shall be removed, and showers of blessing shall make the land fruitful. The word used for offerings (Mal 3:8) is terumah (see HDB, Offering, Mal 3:5) and here means gifts from the produce of the soil, and strictly includes tithe. It is often wrongly translated heave-offering.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
3:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept [them]. {g} Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
(g) Read Zec 1:3 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
A. First command: return to the Lord with tithes 3:7-10a
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
From Israel’s early history the people had deviated from the straight path that Yahweh had prescribed for them to walk in the Mosaic Covenant. They had disobeyed covenant stipulations. The almighty Lord called His people to return to Him with the promise that if they did He would return to them (cf. Deu 4:30-31; Deu 30:1-10). A command to "return" to the Lord, in Mal 3:7, occurs at the beginning of this speech, and a promise that the Lord would "return" to them, in Mal 4:6, ends the speech. The response of the people was that they did not know how to return. The Mosaic Covenant specified how they were to return, by trusting and obeying Yahweh, so their question indicated a reluctance to change their ways.
"’How should we return?’ is not an earnest entreaty for information but a self-serving declaration of innocence. The people, in effect, are saying, ’What need do we have to return since we never turned away to begin with?’" [Note: Merrill, p. 437.]
"They were like the stereotypical husband who has failed to recognize that his relationship with his wife has deteriorated." [Note: Clendenen, p. 413.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
IV. JUDAH EXHORTED TO RETURN AND REMEMBER (THE ECONOMIC ANGLE) 3:7-4:6
The Lord had said that Israel’s earlier history was a time when the priests and the people of Israel pleased Him (Mal 3:4). Now He said that those early days were short-lived (cf. Exo 32:7-9). In contrast to His faithfulness (Mal 3:6), they had been unfaithful.
This third and last hortatory speech in Malachi differs from the previous two in its construction. Whereas the former two both began with positive motivation and ended with negative motivation, this one begins and ends with commands. Whereas the central section in each of them was a command surrounded by evidence for needed change, this one centers on the evidence that is flanked by motivations. Thus this speech, and the entire book, ends with a climactic command to remember the Law (Mal 4:4-6).
The focus of the first speech was on the peoples’ relationship to God (divine responsibility), the focus of the second one was on their relationship to one another (social responsibility), and the third one is on their relationship to their possessions (economic responsibility).