Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Malachi 3:10
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].
10. all the tithes ] More exactly, the whole tithe, R. V. Cf. Deu 26:12.
the storehouse ] This may have been the “great chamber”, or “lean to”, surrounding the second Temple on three sides, and consisting of three stories, each containing several rooms, which had been perverted from its original purpose as a receptacle of the tithes and offerings, and assigned by the High-priest to Tobiah, but which Nehemiah had restored to its proper use again (Neh 10:38; Neh 13:5-9; Neh 13:12-13). It is not improbable that the “chambers”, which abutted to the height of three stories on the walls of Solomon’s Temple, were intended in like manner for storehouses (1Ki 6:5-6). In the great Reformation under Hezekiah such chambers were “prepared”, either built or restored, in some part of the Temple area, to receive the enormous influx of tithes and offerings (2Ch 31:11-12).
meat ] The Hebrew word properly means “prey”, or “booty”. It has, however, the same meaning of “food” as here in Pro 31:15 (comp. Pro 30:8 for the verb in the same sense), and in Psa 111:5.
the windows of heaven ] Comp. Gen 7:11; Gen 8:2; 2Ki 7:2; 2Ki 7:19.
that there shall not be room enough to receive it] Heb. till not enough. The ellipsis has been supplied in various ways: “till there be not (barely) enough, but much more than enough, i.e. abundance”; or “till there be no longer sufficiency with Me, or, as that can never be, in boundless measure”. The rendering, however, of A.V. and R.V., is the simplest and most satisfactory.
The history of the Jews in the time of Hezekiah had already afforded an example of the reward of faithful obedience, in the matter of tithes and offerings, in overflowing abundance bestowed upon them by God. 2Ch 31:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Bring the whole tithes – , not a part only, keeping back more or less, and, as he had said, defrauding God, offering, like Ananias, apart, as if it had been the whole; into the treasury, where they were collected in the time of Hezekiah and again, at this time, by the direction of Nehemiah, so that there shall be food, not superfluity, in My house for those who minister in the house of My sanctuary. Neh 13:10-23. The Levites and singers had, before the reformation, fled every one to his field, because the portion of the Levites had not been given them. On Nehemiahs remonstrance, aided by Malachi, the tithe of corn and the wine and the new oil were brought into the treasuries.
Bring the whole tithes – o Thou knowest that all things which come to thee are Gods, and dost not thou give of His own to the Creator of all? The Lord God needeth not: He asketh not a reward, but reverence: He asketh not anything of thine, to restore to Him. He asketh of thee first-fruits and tithes. Niggard, what wouldest thou do, if He took nine parts to Himself, and left thee the tenth? What if He said to thee; Man, thou art Mine, Who made thee; Mine is the land which thou tillest; Mine are the seeds, which thou sowest; Mine are the animals, which thou weariest; Mine are the showers, Mine the winds, Mine the suns heat; and since Mine are all the elements, whereby thou livest, thou who givest only the labor of thine hands, deservest only the tithes. But since Almighty God lovingly feeds us, He gives most ample reward to us who labor little: claiming to Himself the tithes only, He has condoned us all the rest.
And prove Me now herewith, in or by this thing – God pledges Himself to His creatures, in a way in which they themselves can verify. If you will obey, I will supply all your needs; if not, I will continue your dearth. By whatever laws God orders the material creation, He gave them a test, of the completion of which they themselves could judge, of which they themselves must have judged. They had been afflicted with years of want. God promises them years of plenty, on a condition which He names. What would men think now, if anyone had, in Gods name, promised that such or such a disease, which injured our crops or our cattle, should come at once to an end, if any one of Gods laws should be kept? We should have been held as finatics, and rightly, for we had no commission of God. God authenticates those by whom He speaks; He promises, who alone can perform.
There are three keys which God hath reserved in His own hands, and hath not delivered to any to minister or substitute, the keys of life, of rain, and of the resurrection. In the ordering of the rain they look on His great power, no less than in giving life at first, or afterward raising the dead to it; as Paul saith Act 14:17, God left not Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave rain, from heaven and fruitful seasons.
If I will not open the windows of heaven – o In the time of the flood, they were, as it were, opened, to mans destruction: now, God would rain abundantly for you, for their sakes. And pour you out, literally empty out to you, give to them fully, holding back nothing. So in the Gospel it is said, that the love of God is shed abroad poured out and forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
That there is not room enough to receive it; literally until there is no sufficiency. (In Psa 72:7 (quoted by Ges. Ros. etc.) there shall be abundance of peace , literally, until there be no moon, has a literal meaning, that the peace should last until the end of our creation, without saying anything of what lies beyond.) The text does not express what should not suffice, whether it be on Gods part or on mans. Yet it were too great irony, if understood of God. His superabundance, above all which we can ask or think, is a first principle in the conception of God, as the Infinite Source of all being. But to say of God. that He would pour out His blessing, until man could not contain it, is one bliss of eternity, that Gods gifts will overflow the capacity of His creatures to receive them. The pot of oil poured forth the oil, until, on the prophets saying 2Ki 4:6, Bring me yet a vessel, the widows son said, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Gods gifts are limited only by our capacity to receive them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mal 3:10
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse.
Gods storehouse
The contents of this book show that, in the time of Malachi, religion was in a very low condition. The people robbed God by keeping back the tithes and offerings, and the priests polluted Gods altar. They offered to God what they dared not to have offered to a human governor, and what a human governor would not have accepted at their hands. And yet they seemed unconscious of the evil of their conduct. Sin so blinds the eyes and blunts the conscience that men often do wrong, and scarcely know that they are doing it. But sin brings its own punishment. God blighted their fields and blemished their flocks, so that the land groaned beneath the curse. And the only way to remove the evil was to turn from the evil of their ways.
I. The origin and meaning of tithes. It was the tenth part of the produce of the soft, and the increase of the flock, or the income of the individual. It was not simply a Mosaic institution. See Jacobs vow at Bethel. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. God seems to have instituted this claim, to be a constant acknowledgment on our part of our dependence upon Him for all that we possess. God claims an absolute ownership of the soil and all its produce, and He claimed this constant acknowledgment of His ownership at the hands of men. Tithes were used at first to maintain the ordinances of religion, and to supply the wants of the poor, the fatherless, and the widow, who have ever been the objects of Gods care. In addition to these tithes, there were also freewill offerings. Many of their own free will, gave far beyond the minimum stipulated. Perhaps it was never intended, even under the Jewish economy, that the tithe should be exacted by force. It is evident that it was often withholden. The tithe is certainly not to be exacted by law under the present economy. Yet surely less cannot be expected of us than of the Jews. The earth is still the Lords, and He demands the same acknowledgment from us that He did from them. It is God that sends sunshine and shower, and causes the seed to germinate and spring up. Is God amply repaid, as the owner of the land, and for His toil, when you give Him the tenth, and that, perhaps, grudgingly? But it is not simply your substance, but yourself, also, that belongs to God. You are not your own. Then surely there ought to be an acknowledgment of His ownership. Have you even tithed yourself for God? Where is the storehouse into which these tithes are to be brought? Where is Gods storehouse? The storehouse is just where the tithes are needed. You need to tithe your time and thought for the culture of your own heart and life, if they are to be as a well-kept garden, beautiful unto God. You need to tithe your time for the good of your family, if your house is to be well ordered, and your children trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. You need to tithe your time, and thought, and affection, to meet the claims of society–the ignorant and degraded around you loudly call for help. The storehouse for your substance may be found in the homes of the widow, and the orphan, and the poor, and the destitute.
II. THE BLESSING HERE PROMISED. Opening the windows has, no doubt, reference to sunshine and showers, which produce the harvest. But every good gift is from above, and, therefore, this expression may symbolise the way in which every blessing is bestowed upon us. How easy it would be for God thus to pour down His blessing upon us till there be not room enough to receive it. This is true of temporal blessing. It is equally true in relation to the spiritual blessing. If we were to comply with the conditions God has here named, how easy it would be for Him to fill this house. This is especially true in relation to personal blessing. In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. You see then the way in which Gods blessing can be obtained. You shut heaven or you open it, by the attitude you assume in relation to God. He will ultimately be to you what you persist in being to Him. You may, too, in many ways, prevent or procure blessings for others. (A. Clark.)
Bringing in the tithes
1. It is objected, that we are not Jews, and that the command is, therefore, obsolete. But the occasion of tithing, like that of the Lords day, is found in permanent, unchanging facts, the glory of God and the needs of man. The occasion for tithing is even more urgent to-day than of old, as the work of religion is to be extended throughout the globe.
2. It is objected, that this law of tithing, like the laws concerning sacrifice and circumcision, has been repealed. But this is not true. There is not a syllable in the New Testament which, either directly or indirectly, repeals the law of the tithe.
3. It is objected, that every man is to give as he purposeth in his heart, and as the Lord hath prospered him, and this is a virtual repeal of the tithe. On the contrary, it really confirms the principle of tithing. We are to give by purpose; that is, deliberately, systematically–not according to whim or accident.
4. It may be said, I am not limited to a tenth, but, like Zaccheus, I may give half, or, like the apostles, all. So much the better. There is no objection to the rule. Thank-offerings were always commended.
5. The worst objection is, I cannot afford it. There is the real obstacle–selfishness. But I want to save for old age. Yes, and for eternity, too. Do not save for your children by robbing God. What shall it profit a man if he gain the tithes, and lose his soul? (M.V. Crouse.)
Prove Me now herewith.
God put to the proof
Far higher than the heavens are above the earth is our God above men; and yet He speaks to men, not merely after the manner of men, so far as that manner is good, but often with a tenderness, a gentleness, and a freedom of which many men are utterly incapable. Here, to assist Nehemiah in the restoration of the worship of God, Malachi is directed to say to the people, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse . . . and prove Me now herewith, etc. The consecration of a tenth of the produce of property and of toil is of earlier date than the establishment of the Mosaic economy. The custom was adopted by Divine direction in the Levitical dispensation, and was enforced by Divine commandments. God here complains of neglect with respect to this said ordinance, which indicated a careless, undevout, and irreligious spirit among the people; and on account of this, God had withheld His blessing and smitten Israel with a curse. Gods requirements are, in principle and spirit, very similar in all ages, and the omissions, and defects, and faults of the people of God are, in times even far distant from each other, not unlike.
1. God has ever connected the enjoyment and use of certain blessings with the observance of His ordinances, and with obedience to His requirements. We may trace the connection of obedience with our salvation. The obedience of the children of Israel had nothing whatever to do with their election. In like manner our obedience has nothing whatever to do with the provision made for our redemption. I am born again, not because I have obeyed, but that I may obey. I am pardoned and justified, not because I have obeyed, but that I may be in a position to be trained for obedience. What has the obedience of a child to do with his relation to his father? This obedience does not earn or procure, or in any sense purchase and obtain our salvation, but it is the working out of that salvation, so far as our experience and our inward consciousness and enjoyment of that salvation are concerned. Let us therefore distinctly understand this at starting. But look further, and look at certain institutions and ordinances. Just as there is a close connection between the enjoyment of pardon,–the deliverance of our souls from the dominion of sin, and the confession of our sins to God, so there is a close connection between peace of mind, freedom from care, and obedience evidenced in earnest, importunate, and continued supplication.
2. Although God has thus connected blessedness with obedience, and with the observance of His ordinances, the people of God have often neglected them–neglected institutions founded for their benefit, and neglected Divine precepts and prohibitions: and this neglect is traceable to various sources. Sometimes neglect arises from ignorance. How can a man know the mind of God concerning him, who does not search his Bible? But a man may read the Bible, and still be ignorant. Hearing you may not understand, and seeking you may not find. Neglect arises from thoughtlessness and carelessness, and from indolence.
3. Such neglect often brings spiritual adversity, and sometimes exposes to sore affliction. If we have not all the spiritual blessings which God has promised, why are they not in our possession? The connection which God has ordained between obedience and blessedness cannot be severed. Our spiritual adversity, therefore, cannot be traceable to God. The cause can only be in ourselves; and it will be often found in some neglect,–not in the commission of something wrong, but in the omission of duties that we Christians think lightly of. We have restrained prayer, therefore our anxiety and our unrest. We have not acknowledged our sins, therefore our sense of guilt and our fear. We have neglected the Scriptures, or forsaken the assembling of ourselves together.
4. Our awaking to the knowledge that we have not all that God has promised, should be immediately followed by searchings of heart. Here again the cause must be in ourselves.
5. Now say that neglect is discovered, it should be instantly followed by supplying the omission. Prove me–my love, my hand, my faithfulness. All these omissions, by Gods grace, and the grace of the Spirit, may be supplied. (Samuel Martin.)
Heavens windows
Belief in a heaven has been universal Material good descends from the material heaven. The visible heavens are the type of the spiritual.
I. Windows are for light. Heaven is filled with unsullied light. Its light falls upon the earth. It ever gleams upon men in their benighted wanderings.
II. Windows are for health. The atmosphere of heaven is pure. The inhabitants never say, I am sick. Mans moral health on earth is from the heavenly influences that descend upon him.
III. Windows are for the interchange of sentiment, observation, and the glances of affection. The inhabitants of heaven are interested in men. Men are penitent, angels rejoice. Men look up to God, and He regards them from His lofty dwelling-place. He manifests His love to their hearts.
IV. Windows are for the exclusion of noxious vapours and reptiles. Earths evils cannot enter heaven. Men may enter, but not their sins. Whatever may defile other worlds in Gods universe, nothing can defile this one.
V. Windows are for beauty. Whether of glass or of lattice work, they ornament earths palaces and temples. Heaven is full of beauty. The incomplete descriptions that are given sometimes ravish us. (W. Osborne Lilley.)
An overflowing blessing
Not room enough in our hearts! They are limitless in their sense of need.
1. Sense of poverty. Gods title-deed expresses limitless ownership.
2. Sense of bereavement. God fills this with assurance of immortal reunions.
3. Sense of ignorance. God promises the Spirit to lead you into all truth.
4. Sense of sin. If sin abound, grace doth much more abound.
5. Sense of uselessness in purpose. Lifes energies drained into self, as the Jordan into the Dead Sea, instead of the desires flowing out to bless man kind.
6. Sense of little service with the best intentions. God makes a Christian useful beyond his ability, his planning, and his knowledge. (Homiletic Monthly.)
Giving as an expression el gratitude
I was once staying with a woman whose husband was sick and out of employment when she received a letter from C. H. Spurgeon containing a five-pound note and these few cheery words, A little something just to keep the pot boiling. I changed the note for her into gold, and taking one half-sovereign up, she said, This must go into the green purse, and straightway produced from an underneath pocket, a faded green purse into which the small yellow coin was dropped. I asked her why she separated her money in that way, and she answered, This is Gods purse, we always put aside a tenth. But, said I, God does not require this from you in your present circumstances. No, was her answer, and a beautiful light came upon her face, He may not, but it is our joy to do it. See how good He has been! I never asked Mr. Spurgeon to help us, nor did I even tell him that we were in a corner. It would be selfish to spend all this on ourselves; where would be our gratitude if we did? (Charlotte Skinner.)
Blessing comes by giving
In the olden days, when spring-time came, the Grand Duke of Venice, with attendant nobles and innumerable priests, used to go to the last point of land, and there, standing on the shores of the Adriatic, throw a gold jewelled ring into the ocean. It was called Marrying Venice to the Sea. In the same days when the Nile was at its height, the dam was broken connecting the river with the canals, and as the water rushed into its new channels, a living woman was thrown into the mad stream to become the bride of the Nile. In each ceremony there was the idea that blessing came by giving; the ring made Venice the queen of the seas–the woman brought fertility to a whole nation. (Charlotte Skinner.)
Proportionate giving
When Mr. Marshall the publisher was a young man of eighteen, he heard a sermon by the late Rev. Baldwin Brown, which dealt chiefly with the stewardship of wealth. He left the church determined that henceforth whatever money he had got, whether it was much or little, he would always put aside one-tenth for the Lord before he devoted any of it to his own use. This he continued to do for some years. After a time he found himself giving away more money than many of his friends who had much greater incomes. Some of them expostulated with him, and, as his wont was, he took the question to the Lord in prayer. Here, said he, I have given away, believing it to be my duty, for purposes which I regard as yours, one-tenth of my income. Am I doing what is right? Will you give me a sign? In the year 1852 he devised the first illustrated programme for a public funeral that had ever appeared in London–that of the Duke of Wellington. Now he prayed to God. I am publishing this programme; it may succeed, it may fail. May I ask that, in connection with the publication of this programme, you will give me a sign that will give me clearly to understand whether I am to go on giving, to curtail my subscriptions, or what I shall do? Well, it turned out that the programme was a great success. And then comes the most remarkable thing. When the balance-sheet came to be made up for that programme, Mr. Marshall found to his astonishment that the net profits that he had realised amounted, to the very penny, to the sum which he had given away since his eighteenth year! When he compared the figures, and found that they exactly corresponded, he felt that his prayer had been answered; and, as he put it in his own quaint way, I saw that the Lord was determined never to be in debt with me, so I went ahead. Afterwards, as his wealth multiplied, he increased the proportion.
Proportionate giving
1. That faithful and proportionate giving will be rewarded with superabundant spiritual blessing. The statement does not require proof, since experience has stamped it already as an axiom. Other things being equal, that Christian who opens the broadest outlet for charity will find the widest inlet for the Spirit. The health of a human body depends upon its exhalations as well as upon its inhalations. It is reported that a boy who was to personate a shining cherub in a play, on being covered over with a coating of gold-leaf, which entirely closed the pores of the skin, died in consequence, before relief could be afforded. Woe to the Christian who gets so gold-leafed over with his wealth, that the pores of his sympathy are shut, and the outgoings of his charity restrained! He is thenceforth dead spiritually, though he may have a name to live.
2. That faithful and proportionate giving will be rewarded with abundant temporal prosperity. Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the first-fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine (Pro 3:9-10). This is but one specimen of many from the Old Testament. Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom (Luk 6:38). Let us now throw light upon this subject from a few inserted leaves from a pastors notebook. One says, I knew a widow of limited means who was remarkable for her liberality to benevolent objects. But a sad change came into her by an unexpected legacy which made her wealthy, and then her contributions began to fall below the amount of her straitened finances. Once she volunteered: now she only gives when importuned, and then it is as meagre as if the fountains of gratitude had dried up. Once when asked by her pastor to help a cause dear to her heart in her comparative poverty, and to which she gave five dollars then, now she proffers twenty-five cents. Her pastor called her attention to the surprising and ominous change. Ah, she said, when day by day I looked to God for my bread, I had enough to spare; now I have to look to my ample income, and I am all the time haunted with the fear of losing it, and coming to want. I had the guinea heart when I had the shilling means, now I have the guinea means and the shilling heart. It is a fearful risk to heart and soul to become suddenly rich. This is one of the reasons why God lets many of His best children acquire wealth so slowly, so that it may not be a snare to them, may not chill their benevolence; that when wealth comes, the fever of ambitious grasping may be cooled, and that benevolence may overtake avarice. Now the only way to avoid this peril is to cultivate two habits, and let them grow side by side,–the habit of economy and the habit of charity. If ones economy grows steadily and alone, it will tend to dry up his charity; if ones charity grows steadily, it will dry up his means, unless balanced by the other virtue of economy. Therefore, let both grow together, then our giving will increase just in proportion to our getting. (J. A. Gordon, D. D.)
Money and the blessing
We have brought the gifts into the storehouse; now look out for the opening of the heavens. The first blessing that will come will be one of prayer. The spirit of prayer poured out will be continuous. Prayer is the chalice in which we fetch the water from the rock. It is the ladder on which we climb up to pick the grapes hanging over the wall of heaven. It is the fire that warms the frigid soul. Prayer is the lever. The Divine promise is the fulcrum. Earnest prayer is always answered. Another blessing will be a spirit of work. Not a Christian here but will be anxious about somebody else. The Church was never in such a fair way for a blessing as now. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
Prove Me now
1. With regard to the pardon of our sin for Christs sake.
2. With regard to the purifying influence of the Gospel.
3. With regard to our guidance in the investigation of religious truth.
4. With regard to the supply of our temporal wants.
5. With regard to the happiness of personal religion.
6. With regard to answers to prayer. (G. Brooks.)
Conditional blessing
The Hon. C. Rhodes, in a recent meeting, told his audience that the extension of British power in Africa had been the one object of his life for years. For this he had lived and laboured. To him would come the purpose of his life, if in South Africa he might see the British flag waving over a free and united empire. A noble ambition, truly, for a patriotic heart, and worthy of the great efforts made for its accomplishment. The prophet Malachi was engaged in a nobler mission still. Far more worthy, in conception and results, was the work of winning an apostate nation back to God. It was no easy task. The work of the reformer never is. Divine love and courage made Malachi a patriotic saint, and led him boldly to attack the evils of the sinful nation in which he lived. It is to one of his most courageous messages that we would direct attention.
I. The grave accusation made by God against this people–Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. This accusation was a startling one. Whoever would have thought that men would rob God? They might rob their fellows, but surely they would never rob the Lord. As Malachi uttered these words they made a great sensation. I imagine all Jerusalem was in an uproar over his utterance. The merchants forgot their merchandise as they discussed it in the bazaars. Priests gathered with scribes in solemn council, and agreed that the man who had made such a statement was mad. Yet this message was absolutely true. They were committing the awful sin of robbing God: and when the excitement and anger had died down they were forced to admit its truth. Men are robbing God in like manner to-day. God says, Ye are not your own: ye are bought with a price, and yet they withhold themselves from Him. Is not that robbery? The Holy Ghost speaks, Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? Yet instead of permitting Him to dwell there, its rooms are filled with sinful guests. Is not that robbery also? You say these are strong, stout words. True! but Gods messages are never vague or uncertain. Great evils demand powerful remedies. Hence God calls robbery, robbery, and sin, sin. He puts His finger upon the plague spot, and says, That is where you are wrong. The cupboard of your life may be shut to others, and looks like some fair adornment on the wall. He knows the secret spring, and reveals the skeleton of thy sin which lies hidden within. Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me.
II. The sad result of such a sinful course–Ye are cursed with a curse, etc. In the south of Scotland there stands the ruin of a famous abbey. Its broken columns and arched windows, its trellised doorways and roofless aisles, its damp chapels and deserted altar, all speak sadly of a former glory and a departed greatness. The curse of man has fallen upon it. Methinks, that as Malachi looked upon the life of his countrymen he saw only a ruin which shadowed forth its former beauty and greatness. Decay was stamped upon it. Its worship had become an abomination. Ye offer, said Jehovah, polluted bread upon Mine altar. The table of the Lord is contemptible (Mal 1:7). Gods covenant was despised (Mal 1:6). Justice and judgment were perverted. The sorcerer, the adulterer, the false-swearer, and the oppressor fattened upon the woes of others (Mal 3:5). Israel was a moral ruin and a spiritual desolation. She was despised by men and cursed by God. It is an awful thing to fall beneath Gods curse; and yet every soul which robs God has that curse upon him. History tells us that wherever the axe of Richard the Lion-hearted swung, the stoutest mail was splintered like matchwood, and the bravest men went down. God is a man of war: the Lord of Hosts is His name. He taketh up the isles as a very little thing. His strong arm can make the choicest defences a ruined heap. He shall utterly destroy His foes. Men shall look for them, and they shall not be found. Hast thou wondered why thy soul hath not prospered? Is Gods curse resting upon thee? How can it prosper when it is robbing God?
III. The just demand which God makes–Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house. In the preceding verse you will notice that God complains of robbery from two sources, i.e., tithes and offerings. The tithing God requires: the offerings were freewill gifts over and above the tithes. Hence in this demand God speaks of tithes only. Under the Jewish economy everything connected with life and worship was built up upon one great principle, i.e., ownership by God. Whilst they remained true it never failed. The land was His, and so its first-fruits, whether of corn, fruit, or cattle, had to be redeemed by an offering to Him. The firstborn of children were His, and they, too, had to be redeemed. The same principle ran through their worship. Whenever they appeared before Him they brought an offering. If they were too poor to give a bullock, they gave a lamb; if too poor for this, they brought pigeons or turtle doves. If to the tithes there are added these offerings, then a very modest calculation shows that every pious Jew must have given about one-seventh of his entire income to the Lord. It was only when their spiritual life grew dim that these offerings and tithings ceased. But, says some one, God does not demand such things to-day; we are not under law, but under grace. True; but as Christ is better than Moses, and grace is laden with richer blessings than the law, our generosity ought to flow out in yet larger abundance; for the greater the blessing the greater the gratitude, and the greater the gratitude the greater the gifts. However much conditions change, principles remain. Tithes meant at least three things.
1. They meant money. The produce of the field was the Jews money. It might be corn, fruit, oxen, sheep, or asses; but it was in these that his wealth consisted, and of these he gave his tenth to the Lord. To-day the coin of the realm is the medium of circulating wealth, but the principle of devoting some portion of it to the Lord is the same.
2. Tithes meant time. If the produce represented money, the cultivation of it represented time. The ploughing, harrowing, sowing, etc., which the successful farmer had to do, made great demands upon his time. If you would bring all the tithes, your time will not be exempted. Let me put this truth in another form. Suppose it took five minutes to pay a visit to a home. Then if fifty Christians gave this one-tenth of time per day to visitation, they could pay no less than 900 visits daily.
3. Tithes meant talent. The man who would succeed in cultivation must use his talents in mastering and applying the principles of agriculture. God asks the produce and the time, but He demands the talents also. Have you the talent of speech? God wants it. Of song? He requires it. Of organisation? He asks it. Of literary ability? He will use it. Of humbler working power? He seeks it, and if you withhold it you are robbing God. Bring ye all the tithes–not one, but all.
IV. The abundant blessing which god promises to those who obey him–A blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. The figure is that of a great flood. Just as the banks of a river are unable to hold the waters in flood-time, so will God bless the person who obeys Him. He will fill to overflowing such an one with Divine gifts. The seraphic Fletcher had to cry out, Lord, stay Thy hand. This blessing means–
1. Prosperity. 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 (Mal 3:11).
2. Honour. And all nations shall call you blessed (Mal 3:12).
3. Happiness. And ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts (Mal 3:12). How attractive would such a people be. To such would men cry, We will go with you, for God is with you. Too long has Gods Israel been satisfied with leanness, barrenness, dearth, and death. Worldliness, rationalism, and formalism are eating out her life. As it is with the Church, so it is with every individual. The Churchs life is the exact counterpart of the individuals who compose it. Recently I heard it stated that means were being invented to stop the rain from falling in certain districts. Whether such a thing is possible I cannot say. But this I know, that unless you bring all the tithes into the storehouse you will shut up Gods heaven of blessing, and there will be famine in your soul. God wants to bless. (F. Inwood.)
Tithes brought into the storehouse
In this part of the Divine Word we have first a duty prescribed, and secondly a promise containing high encouragement to its performance. The prescription of duty is expressed in these words, 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, and the promise follows, 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. Gods ancient people had, in the days of Malachi, greatly failed in doing this duty, and here God charges them with robbery of no ordinary kind. Tithes were only a part of the contributions of their worldly substance which the Israelites were required to devote to the service of God; and as a leading part, they seem to be employed in the text as a part for the whole. There was very much required of them besides the tithes. They were to bring the first fruits, the male firstlings of all clean beasts, and the redemption price of such as were unclean. It does not appear, however, that coercive measures were employed to enforce the furnishing of the various kinds of offerings, except by exclusion from participating in spiritual privileges, which in many cases followed as a necessary consequence of failure in this duty. The kings and rulers in Israel are not reproved for not employing power and authority to enforce the payment of tithes or other offerings. This seems to have been left between God and the consciences of individuals.
I. Let us advert to the law of proportion in this matter. Here it may be remarked–
1. That our offerings should bear a proportion to our resources. This was the law under the Old Testament, and it is so under the New. Hence the apostolic injunction, Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him (1Co 16:2). This truth is also taught in these words–If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not (2Co 8:12).
2. Remark that our offerings are to bear a proportion to the exigencies of the public cause of God. These axe different at different times. When the tabernacle was constructed in the wilderness, which by Gods special appointment was to be formed in many of its parts of costly materials, a very large demand was made on the resources of the Israelites, which was met by an unwonted measure of liberality, even till there was more than sufficient for the work.
3. There is also to be a proportion between what is contributed to the treasury of the Lord and expended on other objects. It is in this respect that there is a very general failure in this duty. God had to complain of His ancient people, by the prophet Haggai, that they dwelt in their ceiled houses while His house lay waste. And perhaps there is nothing in which true Christians fail more than in the disproportion between what they give freely for other objects–not always necessary objects–and what they devote to God as His portion, and for the promotion of His cause.
4. There is to be a proportion of its kind between the offering and the glory and claims of that God to whom it is presented.
II. Of the spirit in which offerings should be presented to the Lord.
1. This will manifest itself in giving God the first share of our worldly increase. This is no doubt one thing taught in the prescription of the first fruits. This is expressly taught in these words, Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase (Pro 3:9).
2. It is to be rendered willingly (2Co 9:7).
3. We are to esteem it an honour and a privilege to be called and enabled to make offerings of our temporal substance to the Lord, David felt deeply how great an honour and privilege it was to have the heart and the ability to perform this duty, when he and his people contributed liberally to the building of the Temple (1Ch 29:13-14).
4. This should be rendered as an expression, though small, very small, of our gratitude to God (2Co 8:9). What blessedness would they have in the performance of this duty; first, in the purposes of their heart regarding it, and then in fulfilling them, having fellowship with God in all. Though the immediate and special subject of the text plainly is literal tithes and other external offerings, these offerings, however costly, behoved to be accompanied with such offerings are are spiritual, in order to acceptance with God. With out the spiritual the literal could not be offered in a right spirit. This kind of tithes must also be brought into the storehouse. Here there are the offerings of prayer and of praise, of Bible reading and spiritual meditation; the offerings of worship to God in the closet, in the family, and in the public assembly, as well as those of Sabbath sanctification, self-examination, and fasting; the observance of the Lords Supper, and personal and social vowing. From this subject learn–
1. One thing which has a special influence in drawing down an abundant temporal blessing on individuals and a people is a due rendering of literal offerings to the promotion of the cause of God.
2. One thing which has special influence in drawing down the curse of God on the worldly interests of individuals or a people is the withholding of a due measure of literal offerings from God. (Original Secession Magazine.)
Systematic giving
I. The first proposition that lies at the basis of this challenge is: there is a close connection between religion and prosperity. I do not mean spiritual prosperity, but prosperity in the material things of life. There is a close and intimate relationship between the righteousness which is enjoined upon us of the Lord and the prosperity which is promised to follow. The Old Testament makes no secret about it; it does not mince matters. Irrespective of all appeals to motives of selfishness, and the fact that it lays itself open to reproach from critical and cynical people, it boldly and plainly declares that if the children of Israel will be obedient to the covenant and keep the commands God has enjoined upon them, they shall he rewarded in return with plenty, with prosperity, with an abundance of happiness and peace. All the history of all the nations of the earth confirms that declaration, at any rate from national standpoints. The nations that rise to pre-eminence rise in virtue of their righteousness. No nation has ever fallen through external forces. It has fist of all been honeycombed and undermined with inward deterioration, and then when the first breath came from without, it was sufficient to bring about its overthrow and ruin. And England will never fall if England is true to the tradition of godliness and of honour. When it comes to personal matters, the same principle must apply. But immediately difficulties appear. We recall at once the Book of Job. We remember the 37th Psalm. These have their explanation in the Providence of God. But notwithstanding these, the general rule holds good that religion tends to prosperity. I remember when the only son of a distinguished mayor of one of the largest cities in the North of England got converted. His father was not troubled with too much seriousness in matters of religion. He was one of the keenest of business men, and one of the most level-headed fellows in the country. He shook hands with me as I sat in the private room, and said: Mr. Chadwick, what has happened to my lad to-night is worth more than you think. I would have given 100,000 for it. I thought he was not serious until I looked up and saw the tears in his eyes. He repeated it. The commercial value to the lad is worth more than 100,000, he said. I found out he was not far wrong. I have met with more than one father who would have given more than 100,000 if he could have guaranteed his sons conversion, and it would have been cheap at the price. Godliness is profitable to the life that now is, as well as to that which is to come. I am not going to contend that every man who becomes a Christian will become a millionaire; I am not convinced that being a millionaire is a sure indication of prosperity. Barney Barnato was a millionaire, and at last he jumped into the sea to cool his brain! If a man to make millions sacrifices his soul his millions are bought at too big a price. Neither am I going to contend that all Christian men will be equally prosperous. If a man is born with only ninepence to the smiling, that is threepence short. Christ can never make up the threepence short, and he will always be short, converted or not converted. My contention is that God can do more with ninepence than the devil can do with half a crown; and that there is nothing in this world so calculated to make the best of a man as the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, intelligently grasped and enthusiastically lived. Of course, you will ask me, what about the good men who do not get on? Well, there are lots of them, and they are problems. But I have never known a good man fail to get on because of his religion. A great many people go on the assumption that religion can enable them to dispense with the common principles of success. That can never be. If a man brings cattle to the market when the fair is over he will not succeed, and he must blame himself that he did not get up sooner in the morning. His religion should be manifested by promptitude, and not, by pious expressions. Religion never makes up for laziness. Religion never makes up for bad workmanship and lack of punctuality I would not give much for the religion which does not make a man a better worker and a more punctual workman. It is not brain that is wanted, but things coupled with character. That which commands the highest price in the market to-day is efficiency and trustworthiness. It is the greatest insult to this generation to say it is impossible for a man to maintain his integrity and get on. He may not get on very fast, but he will have a peaceful life and be prosperous if there is a God in heaven and truth in the Book.
II. There is a close conection between what a man gives and what he gets. Some men will never lose less until they give more. God calls for the whole tithe, not for a tithe. I believe people who give much lose much of the blessing of it, because they give contrary to the principles laid down in the Bible. They often give as the result of impulse or rivalry and competition. God has never let go His right to the things material. Everything a man gets God snips a bit out of it, to remind the man that he did not get it by his own skill and wit. God gave it to him, and man is not the proprietor but the steward. And the principle laid down is this–that a man has got to settle between himself and his God what the proportion ought to be which he should give to God. I think a tithe is a generous maximum for the poor and a mean minimum for the rich. Unless a man cultivates a habit of systematic giving when he has not much to give, he will give little when he is rich. (S. Chadwick.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. Bring ye all the tithes] They had so withheld these that the priests had not food enough to support life, and the sacred service was interrupted. See Ne 13:10.
And prove me now herewith] What ye give to God shall never lessen your store. Give as ye should, and see whether I will not so increase your store by opening the windows of heaven-giving you rain and fruitful seasons-that your barns and granaries shall not be able to contain the abundance of your harvests and vintage.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Bring ye: if these persons spoken of be the priests, then they are required not to detain the tithes in their own hands, but, as was their duty, to bring them into the public storehouse. If the people are the persons, ye, people, it requires them to make g punctual and full payment of all tithes of corn, wine, oil, &c.: about this did Nehemiah contend with the rulers, and made them honester, and all Judah obeyed and did the like, Neh 13:10-13.
The storehouse; which was one or more large rooms built on purpose for this use, to lay up the tithes, and to keep them for holy uses. It was some large and stately chamber, for we find that Eliashib had befriended Tobiah, letting him have it for an apartment to dwell in, Neh 13:5-7, &c.
That there may be meat in mine house, for the priests and Levites to live upon; that they flee not, as many had done, from the service of God in the temple, to take care of their country affairs, and by their industry provide maintenance for themselves and theirs, Neh 13:10.
Prove me now herewith; make the experiment. The prophet doth in the name of God offer to put it to a short trial: By doing your duty try whether I will not make good my promise, and give you a blessing instead of a curse.
Open the windows of heaven: this form of speech is used Gen 7:11, when those mighty rains that helped to drown the world were poured forth; and now here plentiful and fruitful rains are promised in the same phrase, in a kind of proverbial speech, to express great abundance of the thing intended.
Pour you out a blessing; first of rain, to water the earth, and to make it fruitful; next a blessing of corn, wine, and oil, and all other products of the earth, for the use of man and beast.
That there shall not be room enough; your barns and storehouses shall not be large enough to receive it all. Your
fats shall overflow, Joe 2:23,24. Or, as it is Amo 9:13, you shall have harvest work, and vintage work, and sowing work, as much, or more, than your labourers can well finish in their seasons.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. (Pro 3:9;Pro 3:10).
storehouse (2Ch31:11, Margin; compare 1Ch 26:20;Neh 10:38; Neh 13:5;Neh 13:12).
prove me . . . herewithwiththis; by doing so. Test Me whether I will keep My promise of blessingyou, on condition of your doing your part (2Ch31:10).
pour . . . outliterally,”empty out”: image from a vessel completely emptied of itscontents: no blessing being kept back.
windows of heaven (2Ki2:7).
that . . . not . . . roomenough, c.literally, “even to not . . . sufficiency,”that is, either, as English Version. Or, even so as that thereshould be “not merely” “sufficiency” butsuperabundance [JEROME,MAURER]. GESENIUSnot so well translates, “Even to a failure of sufficiency,”which in the case of God could never arise, and therefore means forever, perpetually: so Ps 72:5,”as long as the sun and moon endure” literally, “untila failure of the sun and moon,” which is never to be; andtherefore means, for ever.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,…. Or “treasury” e; for there were places in the temple where the tithe was put, and from thence distributed to the priests and Levites, for the support of their families, as they wanted. There were the tithe or tenth part of all eatable things paid to the Levites, and out of this another tithe was paid by the Levites to the priests; and there was another tithe, which some years the owners ate themselves at Jerusalem, and in others gave them to the poor; and these were called the first tithe, the tithe out of the tithe, the second tithe, and the poor’s tithe; though they are commonly reduced to three, and are called first, and second, and third, as they are by Maimonides; who says f,
“after they have separated the first tithe every year, they separate the second tithe, as it is said “thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed”, c. De 14:22 and in the third year, and in the sixth, they separate the poor’s tithe, instead of the second tithe.”
So Tobit says Tobit 1:7
“the first tithe I gave to the Levites, who stand before the Lord to minister to him, and to bless in his name the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the second tithe I sold (as he might, according to the law in De 14:24), and took the money, and went up to Jerusalem, and bought with it what I pleased; and the third tithe I gave to the repair of the temple;”
so Fagius reads: but according to Munster’s edition it is, the second and third tithes I gave to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; see De 26:12. It appears from hence that the sin of the people was, that they did not bring in “all” their tithes; they kept back a part of them: wherefore they are called upon to bring in the whole, and which they did in Nehemiah’s time; see Ne 10:38 where mention is made of the treasuries for the tithe, which were certain chambers adjoining to the temple; and besides those that were built by Solomon, there were other chambers prepared by Hezekiah in his times, when the tithes were brought in, in such plenty, that there was not room enough for them, 2Ch 31:11 and besides those in the second temple, that were in the court of the priests, there were others in the court of the people, as L’Empereur thinks g, where what the others could not contain might be put; and into which court the priests might come; and there were also receptacles underground, as well as upper rooms, where much might be laid up; add to all this, that Dr. Lightfoot h suggests, that these tithes were treasured up in the chambers by the gates of the temple, and were at least a part of the treasuries of the house of God, which the porters at the gates had the care of, 1Ch 9:26 and particularly that the house of Asuppim, at which were four porters, was a large piece of building, containing divers rooms for the treasuring up things for the use of the temple; in the Apocrypha:
” And are resolved to spend the firstfruits of the the tenths of wine and oil, which they had sanctified, and reserved for the priests that serve in Jerusalem before the face of our God; the which things it is not lawful for any of the people so much as to touch with their hands.” Judith 11:13
that there may be food in mine house; in the temple, for the sustenance of the priests and Levites: so the Targum,
“the prophet said, bring all the tithes into the treasury, that there may be food for them that minister in the house of my sanctuary:”
and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts; by bringing in all their tithes; when they would find, by making this experiment or trial, that the curse would be removed from them, and blessings be largely and liberally bestowed upon them by him, who is the Lord of hosts, and so able to perform any promise he makes; and here one is implied, and is as follows:
if I will not open you the windows of heaven; which had been shut and stopped up, and let down no rain upon their land, which brought a scarcity of provisions among them; but now, upon a change in their conduct it is suggested that these windows or floodgates should be opened, and rain let down plentifully upon them, which only could be done by the Lord himself; for the key of rain is one of the three keys, the Jews say i, which God has reserved for himself, and never puts into the hands of a minister:
and pour you out a blessing: give abundance of rain to make the earth fruitful, and bring forth its increase in great plenty, which is a blessing; and not destroy the earth, and the fruits of it, as in the times of Noah, when the windows of heaven were opened, and a curse was poured out upon the earth:
that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it]; and so Kimchi says his father interpreted this clause, that there would not be a sufficiency of vessels k and storehouses. Some render the words, as Junius, “so that ye shall not be sufficient”; either to gather in the increase, or to consume it. The Targum is,
“until ye say it is enough;”
and so the Syriac version. The phrase, which is very concise in the original text, and may be literally rendered, “unto not enough” l, denotes great abundance and fulness of good things, so that there should be enough and to spare; and yet, as Gussetius observes, not enough to answer and express the abundance of mercy and goodness in the heart of God.
e “thesaurum”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “[vel] in domum thesauri”, Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Burkius. f Hilchot Maaser Sheni, c. 1. sect. 1. g Not. in Misn. Middot, c. 2. sect. 6. No. 14. h Prospect of the Temple, c. 5. p. 1058. c. 19. p. 1097. i T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 2. 1. Sanhedrin, fol. 113. 1. k “adeo ut non sint vobis sufficientia vasa”, Pagninus, Vatablus. So Burkius. l Eousque ut nunquam sit satis, nempe a parte datoris, Gussetius. So De Dieu.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Mal 3:10. “Bring ye all the tithe into the treasure-house, that there may be consumption in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I do not open you the sluices of heaven, and pour you out a blessing to superabundance. Mal 3:11. And I will rebuke the devourer for you, that he may not destroy the fruit of your ground; and your vine will not miscarry in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts. Mal 3:12. And all nations will call you blessed; for ye will be a land of good pleasure, saith Jehovah of hosts.” In Mal 3:10 the emphasis lies upon kol: the whole of the tithe they are to bring, and not merely a portion of it, and so defraud the Lord; for the tithe was paid to Jehovah for His servants the Levites (Num 18:24). It was delivered, at least after the times of the later kings, at the sanctuary, where store-chambers were built for the purpose (cf. 2Ch 31:11.; Neh 10:38-39; Neh 12:44; Neh 13:12). Tereph signifies here food, or consumption, as in Pro 31:15; Psa 111:5. , through this, i.e., through their giving to God what they are under obligation to give Him, they are to prove God, whether in His attitude towards them He is no longer the holy and righteous God (Mal 2:17; Mal 3:6). Then will they also learn, that He causes the promised blessing to flow in the richest abundance to those who keep His commandments. is not a particle of asseveration or oath (Koehler), but an indirect question: whether not. Opening the sluices of heaven is a figure, denoting the most copious supply of blessing, so that it flows down from heaven like a pouring rain (as in 2Ki 7:2). , till there is no more need, i.e., in superabundance. This thought is individualized in Mal 3:11. Everything that could injure the fruits of the land God will take away. , to rebuke practically, i.e., to avert the intention. , the devourer, is here the locust, so called from its insatiable voracity. Shikkel , to miscarry, is affirmed of the vine, when it has set a good quantity of grapes, which perish and drop off before they ripen. In consequence of this blessing, all nations will call Israel blessed (Mal 3:12), because its land will be an object of pleasure to every one (cf. Zec 7:14; Zec 8:13, Zec 8:23).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
He at length declares that they profited nothing by contending with God, but that a better way was open to them, that is, to return into favor with him. After having then repelled their unjust accusations, he again points out the remedy which he had already referred to — that if they dealt faithfully with God, he would be bountiful to them, and that his blessing would be promptly extended to them. This is the sum of the passage. They had been sufficiently proved guilty of rapacity in withholding the tenths and the oblations; as then the sacrilege was well known, the Prophet now passes judgement, as they say, according to what is usually done when the criminal is condemned, and the cause is decided, so that he who has been defrauded recovers his right.
So also now God deals with the Jews. Bring, he says, to the repository (256) (for this is the same as the house of the treasury, or of provisions) all the tenths, or the whole tenths. We hence learn that they had not withholden the whole of the tenths from the priests, but that they fraudulently brought the half, or retained as much as they could; for it was not without reason that he said, Bring all, or the whole. They then so paid the tenths as to supply the priests with a part only, and thus they trifled with God, according to what hypocrites do, who ever claim to themselves high honor, and try to perform their duty in such a way as not to discover their own perfidy, and yet they are not ashamed of the liberty they take to illude God; and of this we have here a remarkable example. We then see that it is no new or unusual thing for men to pretend to do the duties they owe to God, and at the same time to take away from him what is his own, and to transfer it to themselves, and that manifestly, so that their impiety is evident, though it be covered by the veil of dissimulation.
He then adds, Let there be meat in my house. We have elsewhere explained this form of speaking, and in the last lecture the Prophet spoke also of the meat of God, not that God needs meat and drink, but that whatever he has given us ought to be deemed his. We have already stated, that it has been recorded for our sake, that the Jews offered bread, and victims, and things of this kind, and that they feasted at Jerusalem in the presence of God: for what is more desirable than that God should dwell in the midst of us? and this is often repeated in the law. But this could not have been set forth to us in a way so familiar, as when God is represented as in a manner sitting at table with us, as though he were our guest, eating of the same bread and of the other provisions: and hence it is said in the law, “Thou shalt feast and rejoice before thy God.” (Deu 2:18.) Now as God needs not meat and drink, as it has been said, and as men in their grossness are ever prone to superstitions, he substituted the priests and the poor in his own place, to prevent the Jews from entertaining earthly notions respecting him. And this kind of modification or correction deserves to be noticed: for the Lord on the one hand intended to draw men in a kind manner to himself; but, on the other hand, he proposed to raise their minds upward to heaven, lest they should ascribe to him anything unworthy of himself, as is wont to be done, and is very common.
But, at the same time, he again accuses them of sacrilege, for he complains that he was deprived of meat; Let there then be meat in my house; and prove me by this, saith Jehovah, if I wily not open, etc. He confirms what he said before, and yet proceeds with his promise, for by subjecting himself to a proof, he boldly repels their calumny in saying that they were without cause consumed with want, and that God had changed his nature, because he had not given a large supply of provisions. God then briefly shows, that wrong had been done to him, for he admits of a proof or a trial, as though he had said, “If you choose to contest the point, I will soon settle it, for if you bring to me the tenths and them entire, there will immediately come to you a great abundance of all provisions: it will hence be evident, that I am not the cause of barrenness, but that it is your wickedness, because ye have sacrilegiously defrauded me.”
Then he adds, If I will not open to you the windows of heaven. It is the first thing as to fertility that the heavens should water the earth, according to what Scripture declares: and hence God threatens in the law that the heaven would be iron and the earth brass, (Deu 28:23,) for there is a mutual connection between the heaven and the earth, and he says elsewhere by a Prophet,
“
The heaven will hear the earth, and the earth will hear the corn and wine, and the corn and wine will hear men.” (Hos 2:22.)
For when famine urges us, we cry for bread and wine, as our life seems in a manner to be dependent on these supplies. When there is no wine nor corn, we meet with a denial; but the wine and the corn cry to the earth, and why? because according to the order fixed by God, they seek as it were to break forth; for when the bowels of the earth are closed, neither the corn nor the vine can come forth, and then they in vain call on the earth. The sense is the case with the earth; for when it is dry and as it were famished, it calls on the heavens, but if rain be denied, the heavens seem to reject its prayer. Then God in this place shows that the earth could not produce a single ear of corn, except the heavens supplied moisture or rain. God indeed could from the beginning have watered the earth without rain, as Moses relates he did at first, for a vapor then supplied the want of rain. Though then rain descends naturally, we are yet reminded here that God sends it. This is the first thing.
But as rain itself would not suffice, he adds, I will unsheath, etc. ; for רק, rek, means properly to unsheath; but as this metaphor seems unnatural, some have more correctly rendered it, “I will draw out” Unnatural also is this version, “I will empty out a blessing,” and it perverts the meaning. Let us then follow what I have stated as the first — that a blessing is drawn out from God when the earth discharges its office, and becomes fertile or fruitful. (257) We hence see that God is not only in one way bountiful to us, but he also intends by various processes to render us sensible of his kindness: he rains from heaven to soften the earth, that it may in its bosom nourish the corn, and then send it forth from its bowels, as though it extended its breast to us; and further, God adds his blessing, so as to render the rain useful.
He subjoins the words עד-בלי-די, od-beli-di, which some render, “that there may not be a sufficiency,” that is, that granaries and cellars might not be capable of containing such abundance. They then elicit this meaning — that so great would be the fruitfulness of the earth, and so large would be its produce, that their repositories would not be sufficiently capacious. But others give this version, “Beyond the measure of sufficiency.” The word די, di, means properly sufficiency, or what is needful, as by inverting the letters it יד, id (258) With regard to the general meaning there is but little difference. Suitable also is this version, “Beyond sufficiency;” that is, I will not regard what is needful for you, as though it were measured, but the abundance shall be overflowing. It follows —
(256) The literal rendering is —
Bring ye the whole of the tenth Into the house, the treasury, And let the prey be in my house.
That is — “Let what you rob me of, the prey, or plunder, be in my house.” The word is טרף, properly prey, or plunder, and so rendered by the Septuagint, “ διαρπαγὴ —plunder.” It was the Targum that gave a wrong meaning to the word, which most have followed. — Ed.
(257) The verb in Hiphil, as it is here, is applied to the drawing forth of a sword or lance, Exo 15:9, and to the drawing out of an army for battle, Gen 14:14. It is rendered, “ εκχεῶ —I will pour out, or forth,” by the Septuagint. — Ed.
(258) די not only means sufficiency, but also what is necessary to suffice, demand, requirement, as in Lev 25:26, כדי גאלתו, according to the demand of his redemption, or what was necessary or sufficient for his redemption. See Deu 25:2, where it means “according to what his sin may require,” or literally, “according to the requirement of his sin.” See also Nah 2:13, בדי גרותיו, “for the demand of his whelps,” or, for what was necessary to suffice his whelps. There is a similar phrase to what we find here in Psa 72:7, עד בלי ירח, “until no moon,” that is, until there be no moon. The literal rendering then of the phrase here would be, “until no demand,” that is, until nothing be required fully to suffice. Corresponding with this is the version of the Septuagint “ εως το ἱκανωθηναι —until there should be enough.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE LORDS TITHE
Mal 3:10-12.
REFINEMENT is a painful process; and improvement requires extended time. The gold and the silver are refined from dross only at white heat, and it is a far cry from the dirty iron ore in the ship-hold to the delicate watch-spring. Time, intense heat, intelligent treatment are all involved in the change. The accomplishment of a Christian character involves at once refinement and improvement. The first is commonly a process of pain; the second, a result of many seasons. A man does not conquer his selfishness in a day; nor does he get his victory against it without suffering. The minister of God must regard these facts. Whatever his personal conception or custom, it is hardly to be expected that an entire people will instantly rise to the one or adopt the other.
For nearly thirty-six full years I have sought by precept and practice to inspire this people in giving. The improvement marked by the years is a sufficient reward for the pastors pains. I am fully persuaded, however, that the time has come for this church to take higher ground on the whole subject of giving. I beg you to mark the phrase, higher ground. Tithing is not the highest ground. It is living up to the Law in the letter; and, if one does it willingly, in the spirit, also. Will a man rob God? The Prophet answers, Yes. Have we robbed God; and, if so, wherein? His reply is, In tithes and offerings. I fear the indictment will stand against many of even this membership.
The text is the way of reparation. It involves three things:The Lords Tithe: The Lords House: and The Lords Blessing.
THE LORDS TITHE
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse.
Then God has appointed a tithe. No good student of the Scriptures would ever call that into question. The language of the Law is this
And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lords: it is holy unto the Lord (Lev 27:30).
And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord (Lev 27:32).
Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy is no more an express command of Gods than is the tithing system the plain teaching of His Word. The men who deny that, or who neglect it, practically deny the Divine ownership, and thereby dispute the teaching of Scripture.
For all the earth is Mine (Exo 19:5).
The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine (Hag 2:8).
For every beast of the f orest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills (Psa 50:10).
The earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof (Psa 24:1).
Now if God is the owner of all it is His right to appoint His own rental; and with a generosity beyond that which is accustomed to characterize the conduct of men, He has asked of earths occupants but a small proportion of the increase of the land, namely, one tenth. The Apostles and Prophets never disputed this; nor yet did they neglect it. Whether rich or poor, they regarded Gods request and paid their tithe.
As early as Cyprians day in the third century he excoriated those Christians who forgot their obligation,Some of us do not even give tithes of our patrimony, and when God commands us to sell, we purchase and amass.
Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed, cried, O what a shame! that what was no great matter among the Jews should be pretended to be such among Christians. If there was danger then in omitting tithes, think how great must be the danger now!
Ambrose, in the fourth century, said, The Lord commands our tithes to be paid every year. He has given you nine parts, but He has reserved the tenth for Himself; and if you give not the tenth part to Him, He will take from you the nine parts. Whosoever is not willing to give those tithes to God which He has kept back, fears not God and knows not what true repentance and confession means.
John Calvin declared that the heathen contributed more to their idols and to express their superstitions than Christian people are giving to the great cause of our Christ.
John Knox reminds us that our Lord in the Gospels, speaking of payment of tithes to the Pharisees, said, These ought ye to have done. It is only another instance of the great Apostles teaching that Whatever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, and another confirmation of the fact that the Old and New Testaments are not opposing Books, but counter-parts of one great volume, and that the mandate of the one is the moral law of the other. Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, called upon the Greek converts to, Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him (1Co 16:2). Yes, God has appointed a tithe.
God has also appointed the measure of the tithe.
The tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.
It sounds like a little measure, and yet never once has it been adopted by a church without utter amazement as to results. The Wesley Chapel, Cincinnati, a part of whose people adopted the tithe system in 1895, has illustrated what it would mean, for at the end of a few years it was revealed that the tithers, in proportion to their number, had given just twenty-four times as much for every one adopting it as those who contributed by other means. As a result of their return to the Divine order, that church, located in the heart of the city regarded as dead and ready to be deserted, was suddenly and splendidly revived and became an ensample to every Methodist church in that section of the country. The Pastor, making a report at one of their conferences, uttered these remarkable words, I have not had to devote five minutes of time to the consideration of the finances of the church during the six years of my pastorate. My time, instead of being occupied with officials, planning suppers and lectures, concerts, soliciting donations, or selling tickets, has been given wholly to the spiritual work of the church. All merchandise has been swept out and the place for prayer and praise restored. And while the church had in it even plain, and many poor people, it had not a single pauper, illustrating the fact that God was bestowing temporal blessing upon those who. were being obedient to His Word.
Permit me to say a word about what the tenth means. That word is this,It means the tenth! And the language is perfectly plain,A tenth of all,not the tenth after you have given your grandmother a Christmas present; not a tenth after you have paid your taxes; not a tenth after you have bought another forty acres; not a tenth after you have provided yourself a home; not a tenth after you have stocked up your library with books, your laboratory with instruments, paid your livery bill, or purchased an automobile, but the tenth of ALL shall be holy unto the Lord.
I confess frankly that I never hear men talk on this tenth and witness their wriggling endeavors to charge up to Gods account their personal necessities or luxuries, without feeling shamed afresh by our modern conceptions of Christianity; and being painfully alarmed lest, after all, the reason we give so little is that we love even less.
Uncle Boston Smith, when he was yet alive, told the story of the old colored man who said, Bredren and Sisters:I hab, after long searching found two texts ob Scripcher for to illustrate de subjic I am about to bring to your notis. De fust am foun in 2Ti 4:14, and de udder am in de second chapter ob Rebelations and de six verse. My subjic am Givin fo de Lawds Cause, and dese texts show us dat we caint fool de Lawd ef we kin fool ourselves. Dis Book ob de Lawd contains dese two texts: Alexander de copper-smith did me much evilDe deeds ob de nickel-aitanes I also hate. Now I reckon dat Mr. Alexander wuz a leadin business man who made lots ob money and libed in a fine house; but when de collection box came roun for de Lawds work, he put in a copper cent and de Lawd done tol Paul to tell de world dat man done him a heap ob evil. An dese nickel-aitanes what we read about in de Rebelations, must hab been members of some high-tone city chuch who had all de luxurees ob life,big houses, fast hosses, and went to de summer resots and spent a pile ob money on demselves,and when de collection fo missions and givin de Bible to dem what dont hab any come on, dey felt roun in deir pockits and when dey foun a nickel, jest drapped dat in de box, when dey ought to hab put in a hundred dollars, and some ob dem ought to hab gibben a thousan. So de Lawd jes said, De deeds ob de nickel-aitanes I also hate.
Remember that God appointed the amountone tenth. The man who gives one cent less than that amount robs God. Candidly I had rather rob any mortal on earth than to rob my Heavenly Father.
Recently throughout the length and breadth of this land there has been a pandemonium of holdups of the black-hand sort. Men find their lives threatened unless they put up $500, $5,000, $10,000, instantly to the one who demands it. The papers report an eighteen-year-old son having sent such a letter to his father.
Whoever else I rob, may I have the grace not to hold up my Heavenly Father.
God also determines the purpose of the tithe.
That there may be meat in Mine home.
The whole tabernacle service was maintained by the tithe. From it the priests were fed and clothed; and the great high priest received his proportion; and every incidental expense of the Divine worship was met. God has never departed from that original purpose. The laborer is worthy of his hire. The temple service is still dependent upon the gifts of those who worship there. The publication of the Truth to the ends of the earth can only be accomplished by Christian contributions.
There are not a few people whose sympathies are capable of being stirred, but not all of these are willing to act in keeping with the Divine will. Dr. Geo. Truett says, I once heard that gracious philanthropist and preacher, Dr. Buckner, telling in his inimitable way the thrillingly romantic story of the Texas Orphans Home. Higher and higher rose the great tide of emotion, throughout the audience, as the preacher spoke. One man in particular sobbed with seemingly uncontrollable emotion. All eyes were moist with tears, and then the preacher said, The orphans are in need of food and clothing and better shelter. Surely you are all ready to help them. In one moment the sobbing brother had his emotions all under perfect control, and was quietly wending his way to the door, and, as he passed, said to the head usher, It is too bad that a good meeting has to have cold water thrown on it like this. That man was a landholder of no small import, and had money in the bank, but he had never touched the fringe of the doctrine that he was to hold his property, not as unto himself, but as a steward for God. It was a glorious thing to this man to cry over helpless orphans, but to be asked to feed and clothe them,that was something like taking a chill or having a tooth pulled.
Yet such is the purpose of Gods tithe. He has his needs, and Inasmuch as ye [do] it unto one of the least of these * * ye [do] it unto Me.
THE LORDS HOUSE
All the tithes into the storehouse?
The offerings were made at the Templethe storehouse was in the same. The most effective tithing movements of modern times have regarded the Church of God as the Divine storehouse,the place of offerings, the medium through which they were to be made.
Three remarks concerning this ancient storehouse may be truthfully made, and each one of them applies in the New Testament Church.
Its treasury was the test of Israels spirit. The true Israelite cried, What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?
In N. L. Rigbys treatise entitled Ten Cents on the Dollaror The Tithe Terumoth he says, Under the kings, when the piety of the people was far from fervent, this duty was almost wholly neglected. Dead to Deity, they were necessarily dead to every sense of indebtedness to Him. But when their spiritual life was revived under the pungent preaching of the Prophet Hezekiah, and the God of their fathers was again made manifest in the gracious promises of His favor, one of the first duties done was to bring their tithes into His storehouse. Alive unto God, they were soon alive unto every good work.
The truth obtains no less at this moment! One of the tests of every professed Christian and every church is the Lords treasury. When Christ sat over against the treasury and saw the rich people casting in much, and the poor widow casting in her all, He declared it a test of their spirit, and the woman who gave most was the one who sacrificed to the greatest extent. The one time in Israels history when she was most poverty-stricken, when her condition was such that God fed her with manna from Heaven and brought water out of the rock, was in her wilderness journey. And yet, when during that journey there was a call for offerings unto the erection of a Tabernacle, the people poured into the treasury until the overseer cried out, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses had to proclaim,Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary (Exo 36:5-6).
Truly, as one has said, The Jewish sense of indebtedness to God had reached its flood-tide, and was overflowing.
How such conduct shames the Christian church in that oftentimes when men must be pleaded with to part from that which belongs to the Lord, and to give a gift in addition to that, is well-nigh impossible!
A little girl had given to her a bright silver dollar. She went to her father and said, Change this into dimes for me. What for, Nannie, dear? was his reply. So that I can give the Lords part to Him. He put ten dimes into her hand and shortly walked with her to the church. At the basket of offering she dropped in a dime, and then before her father could say aught, she dropped in another. Why, said her father, I thought you gave the tenth to the Lord? Yes, she answered, that tenth belongs to Him, and I cant give Him what is His own. So if I give Him anything I have to give Him what is mine.
Cowper writes:
Such as our motive is, our aim must be,If this be servile, that can neer be free;If self employ us, whatsoeer is wrought,We glorify that self, not Him we ought.
This treasury was the channel of Israels gifts. No less should the treasury of the Lords House now be the same. The last appeal to the Old Testament Church is this of the great Prophet Malachi that they should bring in the tithes and offerings. The first declaration regarding the New Testament body of baptized believers reads after this manner, And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need (Act 2:44-45).
No man can tell what the Church of God has lost by forgetting that The House of God is the place of the Divine treasury. Three things have happened to our contributions in the Name of the Lord. They have been stingy, spasmodic and sporadic. This last strikes the Church of God a blow! Practically every modern Christian movement outside of the church, such as the Associated Charities, hospital work, Y.M.C.As, and Y.W.C.As, community fund, evangelistic organizations, and all the rest, are organized and supported largely by church people. But oftentimes the church, not being the direct channel of endeavor, not only fails of credit in the same, but is actually criticized and charged with having come short in her duty.
If, at this present moment, every benevolent offering made by the membership of this church passed through its treasury, her individual members would be inspired by the amount; the outside world of nonregenerates would be profoundly impressed by the same, and her sister churches throughout the length and breadth of the land would be stimulated to higher endeavor. Let us not forget that the Lords House in the ancient time was the storehouse, and the channel of Gods gifts.
This channel was also the medium of Israels opportunity. Through it she carried the priesthood and whole Israelitish system. By means of it she made her proselytes and accomplished her mission in the world. The treasury of the modern church is also the medium of its opportunity. Through it benevolences are under the Divine blessing; and by way of it missions to the ends of the earth are accomplished.
I sometimes wish that men might be brought to see that to give is to get; that the practice of liberality is the privilege of life. Nor does one need to be rich in order to enjoy the same. A writer says,I have been interested in a little street urchin I have met going to and from the hospital on the street car. There was something wrong with one leg. He had met with an accident and was receiving treatment at the free clinic. He had a ticket entitling him to treatments and was never tired of praising his doctor. One day I saw him on the car with a very shabby man whose arm was in a sling. Tim nodded brightly enough, but avoided conversation. When I met him two hours later he was alone. Hows the leg? I asked. Getting along first-rate. See that fellow with me on the car? Hes got an awful arm but I know my doctor can make it all right, and I asked him if hed give that fellow half my treatments. He didnt want to at first, but then he said he would, so thats where I was taking him. Me? O, Ill get along somehow! Why, mister, that mans got a wife and three little girls to take care of. Think of it! The opportunity of a whole limb surrendered that another sufferer might share in his blessing!
A writer says, The good there is in riches lieth altogether in their use, like the womans box of ointment; if it be not broken, and its contents poured out for the refreshment of Jesus Christ, they lose their worth. He is not rich who lays up much, but he who lays out much.
Gods treasury is mans opportunity.
THE LORDS BLESSING
Mark the text.
It was a blessing of temporal benefits.
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 (Mal 3:10).
Temporal benefit is Gods promise to Christian benevolence. Come now; I can hear some man say, are you not in danger of degrading giving; of bringing men to believe that God barters with them, and by giving they get more? My answer is, Am I quoting the text correctly? It is amazing how conscientious some men get when you speak on the subject of giving. Fellows that have robbed God for years are very anxious not to be barterers. I had rather trade with God than to trick Him out of what He has. I had rather exchange gifts for gifts than to steal His tithe. The same man who makes that objection will be on his knees tomorrow morning pleading with God to prosper his financial enterprises. Since God has offered to make good the New Testament promise Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, who am I to object, and what is my ministry other than to declare His whole plan and His full promise? Men who make such arguments against the tithing system are only squirming to escape.
It is related that Dr. Chalmers, the great Presbyterian preacher, once delivered a pathetic sermon on The Christians Financial Relation to God. Two of the men who heard it, being rich and very penurious, fell to talking it over and one said to the other, Is it not too bad that a preacher should be so worldly in his preaching?
Alas for the customs of men, for their conduct, covered over, for the attempt to make God-robbery appear humanly right! I candidly believe that the man that gives will find God returns him double.
There is a pretty legend, in the German, of a poor lad, the son of a widow, who had gathered in the woods a dish of strawberries. Returning home he was met by a venerable old man who called out, Let me have thy full dish and take my empty one. In pity for the old mans weakness and inability to gather for himself the boy made the exchange. Returning to the berry patch he filled the new dish and carried it home, relating to his widowed mother what had happened. Ah, happy are we, my son; the man has given you in exchange for your plain dish one of pure gold, and our fortune is secure.
How many men have impoverished themselves for Christ, only to find Him abundantly able to fill and enrich the life in both temporal and spiritual things!
To illustrate, take the story of William Colgate. A lad of sixteen he had left home to secure his fortune. His entire belongings were in a little bundle which he carried in his right hand. Down the old towpath toward the New York city he trudged. He met an old neighbor, the captain of a canal boat, who said, Well, William, where are you going? I dont know, he replied. Father is too poor to keep me at home any longer, and says I must now make a living for myself. Theres no trouble about that, said the captain. Be sure you start right, and youll get along. What trade do you know? The lad told him that the only trade he knew anything about was soap and candle-making. Well, said the old man, let me pray with you and give you a little advice, and then I will let you go. They knelt on the towpath and the old man prayed for William, and then said, William, some one will soon be the leading soap maker in New York. It can be you as well as anyone. Be a good man. Give your heart to Christ. Give to the Lord what belongs to Him of every dollar you earn. Make an honest soap. Give a full pound. I am certain you will yet be a rich and a good man. Arriving in the great city, homeless and friendless, he remembered the old mans parting words of advice. He was thus led to Christ and into the church. The first dollar he made brought up the question of the old captain. By a study of the Bible he learned that the Lord requested a tenth, and instantly he adopted it. Ten cents out of every dollar he kept wholly to the Lord. A few years, and he was a partner in the business that employed him. A little longer, and he was the sole owner. He was wonderfully blessed. He then gave two-tenths. He became richer still, and gave three-tenths, and afterwards five-tenths. He then educated his family, settled all his plans for life, and told the Lord he would give Him all his income. Schools which now wear his name are monuments to his benevolence. He gave, and the Lord gave to him. The Lord is keeping His Word.
But the Prophet adds another word!
The Lords blessing was one of national influence.
And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of Hosts.
Walter Scott never wrote more truthfully than when he said, Teach self-denial and make its practice pleasureable, and you create for the world a destiny more sublime than ever issued from the brain of the wildest dreamer.
It is possible for a people who are sufficiently devoted to God to do His will to become a blessing to the entire earth. Beyond all question Israel has been, and is destined to be, yet more. American Christianity can flood the earth with light in this generation if she desires. In 1890 we had only one-fourth the wealth that we own today, yet at that time the Protestant churches of this country had a membership of 14,000,000 and a wealth of over four billions per annum. Had they tithed it they would have contributed over four hundred million per annum; now it would be $1,600,000,000. It would turn the world upside down in a twelfth month. No wonder that God should say, Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.
Shall it continue so? It is ours to take heed and beware of covetousness, for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And how marvelously suggestive is this saying of Christ in Luke,Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations (Luk 16:9).
Think on this verse, and a vision of the future world of the redeemed, indescribable in glory, will pass before you. Many and wonderful will be the surprises connected with our giving that shall be made to us on the other side. Orphans whom we helped, but never saw, will haste to greet us, and with them will come unknown preachers whom we helped to educate, together with the army of souls converted under their preaching. And from far distant climes, where out of our poverty we sent men to preach the Gospel, even from China and India, and the dark places of Africa, and the islands of the seas, they shall press about us to thank us, and in the midst of it all may be heard the blessed words, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.
May I conclude with a personal word.
Forty-three years ago I had a salary of $600.00. Five people were dependent upon me for support, and four of those, myself included, at school. Tithing seemed an impossibility; but after much prayer I could see no other way, and I laid aside $60.00 out of the $600.00,sacred unto the Lord. From that moment until this I think I have known no year in which less than the tenth of all possible incomes was put into His treasury. His blessing has been beyond my desert. Under no circumstances could I be persuaded to turn back from this Divine order and deny myself this blessed privilege. Will you join with me today in the Tithers League of the First Baptist Church?
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
(10) The emphasis is on the word all.
Storehouse.From the time of Hezekiah (2Ch. 31:11) there were at the Sanctuary special storehouses built for this purpose; so, too, in the second Temple (Neh. 10:38-39; Neh. 12:44; Neh. 13:12-13).
Meati.e., food for the priests and Levites.
Open you . . .According to the promise of Deu. 11:13-15, &c. For a practical commentary on this verse, see 2Ch. 31:10. And Azariah, the chief priest of the house of Zadok, answered Hezekiah and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty; for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.
That.Better, until.
There shall not be room enough . . .This rendering gives the correct meaning of the words (Compare an expression of similar import in Zec. 10:10.) We cannot agree with the rendering of Gesenius, until my abundance be exhausted, as equivalent to for ever.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Read these verses also spiritually, and ask what are the tithes the Lord hath respect to in what is here said? What can the Lord be requiring of his creatures, when we know that the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof? What is it then? I humbly conceive the souls of the truly awakened, regenerated believers, bring in revenues of praise to the bountiful giver of all, when God’s Christ is our Christ, and the Lord’s Holy One, is our Holy One. When the poor sinner thus, comes, and thus looks to the Lord, with an eye of faith to God’s rich covenant mercy in Christ, there is then meat in God’s house, for Christ himself is the living bread, and in Him, and by Him, the windows of heaven are opened, and blessings so profusely are poured out, that the gladdened heart finds more than his full bosom can hold. Then also the enemy is restrained; Satan is rebuked; ordinances are blessed; and the barrenness of the land is taken away! Oh! for such blessings as these on the nation, and ministers, and people!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mal 3:10 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].
Ver. 10. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse ] All, whether pecuniary or personal, all, and of every kind.
Into the storehouse
That there may be meat in my house
And prove me now herewith
If I will not open the windows of heaven
If I will not often you the windows of heaven
“ Creditur Aegyptus caruisse iuvantibus arva
Imbribus, atque annis sicca fuisse novem. ”
To teach both them and us, that both plenty and scarcity, drought and rain, are his work; he carries the keys of the grave, of the heart, and of the windows of heaven, the clouds, under his own belt. Vessels they are as thin as the liquor which is contained in them. There they hang and move, though weighty with their burden. How they are upheld, and why they fall here and now, we know not, but wonder at it, as God’s handiwork. In the island of St Thomas, on the backside of Africa, in the midst of it is a hill, and over that a continual cloud, wherewith the whole island is watered. In the middle region of the air, God hath made darkness his secret place: his pavilion round about him is dark waters and thick clouds of the sky, Psa 18:11
God will pour him out a blessing
There shall not be room enough to receive it
a A matted lock of sheep’s wool, esp. one of those about the hinder parts; D
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
all = the whole; implying that a part had been withheld.
meat prey: i.e. animals for sacrifice. Not put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for food; but put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species), App-6, for sacrificial animals.
open you the windows, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 7:11; Gen 8:2). App-92.
pour you out = empty you oat.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
all: 2Ch 31:4-10, Neh 10:33-39, Pro 3:9, Pro 3:10
the storehouse: 1Ch 26:20, 2Ch 31:11-19, Neh 10:38, Neh 12:44, Neh 12:47, Neh 13:5, Neh 13:10-13
and prove: 1Ki 17:13-16, Psa 37:3, Hag 2:19, Mat 6:33, 2Co 9:6-8
open: Gen 7:11, Deu 28:12, 2Ki 7:2, 2Ki 7:19
pour you out: Heb. empty out, Ecc 11:3
that there: Lev 26:10, 2Ch 31:10, Luk 5:6, Luk 5:7, Luk 12:16, Luk 12:17, Joh 21:6-11
Reciprocal: Gen 14:20 – tithes Exo 23:25 – he shall Exo 23:26 – shall nothing Deu 7:13 – he will also Deu 11:15 – eat and be full Deu 12:6 – tithes Deu 14:29 – that the Lord Deu 16:10 – according Deu 28:3 – in the field Deu 28:8 – storehouses 2Sa 6:11 – the Lord blessed 1Ki 8:35 – heaven 1Ch 13:14 – the Lord Neh 10:37 – and the tithes Neh 13:12 – treasuries Psa 65:11 – thy paths Psa 78:23 – opened Psa 144:13 – our garners Isa 23:18 – for them Isa 30:23 – shall he Isa 65:23 – shall Eze 34:26 – shower Eze 36:9 – General Eze 44:30 – that he may Joe 2:19 – I will send Joe 2:22 – for the tree Joe 2:24 – General Mar 10:30 – an hundredfold 1Co 16:2 – as God 2Co 9:8 – God 2Co 9:11 – enriched Phi 4:19 – supply Heb 6:7 – receiveth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Mal 3:10. There never was or will be a time when it pays to defraud the Lord out ot 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.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mal 3:10-12. Bring ye all the tithes Make a punctual and full payment of all tithes: and in this instance make good your solemn engagement with Nehemiah, mentioned Neh 10:29. Into the storehouse This was one or more large rooms built on purpose for this use; that there may be meat That there may be provision for the daily sacrifices, and for the maintenance of my ministers, the priests and Levites, who attend upon the service of my temple. And prove me now herewith Make the experiment in this particular. If I will not open you the windows of heaven, &c. There is now a scarcity of the fruits of the earth, and a dearth, but take the advice which I give you, and try whether your plenty will not be in proportion to the free-will wherewith you bring in your tithes and offerings; and whether I will not immediately send you plentiful showers of rain, whereby the earth shall bring forth its fruit in great abundance. The dearth here spoken of is mentioned Neh 5:3 : compare 2Ch 31:10. To open the windows of heaven is a proverbial speech, expressing Gods showering down plenty, or giving great abundance of the fruits of the earth; (see 2Ki 7:2;) as shutting up heaven denotes scarcity, Deu 11:17; Hag 1:10-11. And pour out a blessing First of rain to water the earth, next a blessing of corn, wine, and oil, and all other products of the earth. That there shall not be room, &c. Or, till there be enough; or, till you shall say, There is enough. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes All kinds of devourers, the locusts, the canker-worms, the caterpillars, and all other destructive insects, which, though they may be in incredible multitudes, yet, by a rebuke from God, they will be checked all at once, as if they were but one insect. Neither shall your vine cast her fruit Neither shall your vines, or other fruit-trees, be blasted by blighting winds, so as to make their fruit fall off before it comes to maturity, but they shall carry it till it be fully ripe. And all nations All that are near you; shall call you blessed Shall style you a happy people. For ye shall be a delightsome land Your country shall be again known by the name of the pleasant land, as it was formerly called. The revival of religion in a land will make it delightsome both to God and all good men.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:10 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, {k} that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it].
(k) Not having respect how much you need, but I will give you in all abundance, so that you will lack place to put my blessings in.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
B. Positive motivation: future blessing 3:10b-12
Both motivational sections of this speech have a future orientation (cf. Mal 3:16 to Mal 4:6).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The people needed to bring the whole tithe, not just part of what they owed, into the storehouse, the temple. There were special rooms in the temple devoted to storing the gifts the Israelites brought (cf. 1Ki 7:51; Neh 10:38; Neh 13:12). Then there would be food in the Lord’s house for the priests and for Himself. The sacrifices were, in a figurative sense, food for the Lord (cf. Mal 1:7). The Lord urged His people to put Him to a test by doing this.
There are several references to people tempting God in the New Testament that discourage this practice (e.g., Act 5:9; Act 15:10; 1Co 10:9; Heb 3:9). It is always wrong to test God’s patience by sinning and presuming on His grace. It is another thing to hold Him accountable to His promises and so test His faithfulness, which God asked His people to do here.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord had promised to bless the Israelites for obedience, so their obedience in bringing the full amount of tithes that the Law required would test (i.e., prove, demonstrate) His faithfulness to His promise. He promised to reward their full obedience with rain and harvests abundant enough to satisfy their needs. His "storehouse" of blessings for them was full.
This verse has often been used to urge Christians to tithe. However, the New Covenant under which Christians live never specified the amount or percentage that we should give back to God of what He has given to us. Rather it teaches that we should give regularly, sacrificially, as the Lord has prospered us, and joyfully (cf. 1Co 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Philippians 4). In harmony with the principle of grace that marks the present dispensation, the Lord leaves the amount we give back to Him unspecified and up to us. Christians who sit under a steady diet of preaching that majors on God’s grace often give far more than 10 percent. Since tithing preceded the giving of the Mosaic Covenant (Gen 14:20; Gen 28:22), many Christians regard giving 10 percent as our minimal responsibility. However, the examples of tithing that appear before the Mosaic Law are just that: examples, not commands (e.g., Gen 14:20; Gen 28:22). Examples are not binding on believers, but precepts (commands) are. Another example of this is the early Jerusalem Christians practicing communal living (Act 2:44). Few people would say that this practice is binding on all Christians today.
This verse has also been used to teach "storehouse giving." Those who do so view the church building, or the church congregation, as the storehouse into which Christians should bring their gifts to the Lord. Some go so far as to say that it is wrong for Christians to give to the Lord in ways that bypass the local church, for example, giving directly to a missionary.
This viewpoint fails to appreciate the difference between Israel’s temple and Christian churches. Israel’s temple was a depository for the gifts that the Israelites brought to sustain the servants and work of the Lord throughout their nation. The Christian church, however, is different in that we have no central sanctuary, as Israel did, nor does the church have a national homeland. Christians live and serve throughout the world in contrast to the Israelites who were to fulfill their mission by serving God within their land. God told the Israelites to stay in the land and let their light shine from there (Exo 19:5-6), but He has told Christians to go into all the world and let our light shine there (Mat 28:19-20). Some Christians believe that each local church is a microcosm of Israel, so we should regard our church as Israel regarded its temple. Most Christians believe the church is not limited to a collection of local churches but includes the whole universal body of Christ (Ephesians 1; Ephesians 4). The whole is greater than any of its parts and even all its parts.