Malachi 3:8

It says in Malachi 3:8-10, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 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.” This is a passage of scripture that is used by many Christian preachers to emphasize what they say is the importance of tithing. If you are familiar with the previous sermon that I did starting in Malachi 3:7, then you know that the new covenant in the New Testament puts an emphasis on the giving of one hundred percent, not ten percent. The point that I want to make with this sermon is to look at all of the evidence in this passage of scripture that reveals the fact that tithing was a part of the law. We know what the Christian’s relationship to the law is. It says in both Romans 6:14 and Galatians 5:18, “ye are not under law.”

The phrase in question is Malachi 3:10 that says, “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.” Whenever we study the Bible, we must be careful to consider the context. One of the worse things that can happen when someone studies or teaches the Bible is to take a verse out of context. If you take something out of context, you can change its meaning. If you take something out of context, you can miss entirely the correct emphasis that God wants to give to it. A good student of the Bible always wants to ask the question, “Is what I am reading part of the old covenant or the new covenant?” That is not always as easy as it may seem. The Bible helps quite a bit in its basic division in that it is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. Of course, the word “testament” means “covenant or contract.” Never forget that the Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. God made that division for a reason. Jesus said in Matthew 26:28, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Concerning the Old Testament, it is called the “first testament” in Hebrews 9:16-22, “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” The Old Testament is given that name in Second Corinthians 3:14 that says, “But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.”

The time period of the Old Testament actually lasted longer than the period covered by the books of the Bible that we call the Old Testament. Malachi was the last of those books. But the period of the old covenant lasted many hundreds of years past the time when Malachi was written. The period of the Old Testament lasted into the life of Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross, He ended the covenant of the law. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law in two ways: for one thing He lived without sin. Jesus lived under the law, obeyed the law, and fulfilled the law from a practical standpoint. That is one of the reasons that the Father spoke from heaven and said in Matthew 17:5, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him.”

The second way in which Jesus brought the covenant of the law to an end was by giving His blood on the cross of Calvary. Jesus said in Matthew 26:28, “For this is my blood of the New Testament.” This verse means, “For this is my blood of the new covenant.” Once Jesus gave His blood, the new covenant came into effect, and the old covenant came to an end. The old covenant brought death to anyone who did not perfectly obey it. By dying and giving His blood on the cross, Jesus satisfied the demands of the old covenant, thus fulfilling the demands of law for all of those who failed to keep the covenant and who trust in Jesus for salvation. The law brings a curse. It says in Galatians 3:10-13, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

The problem with the covenant of the law was not with the law itself, but was with human beings. This human life, including the human will and faithfulness, is known as the “flesh” in the Bible. One of the problems of the flesh is that it is exceedingly sinful and cannot and will not keep the commandments of God. That is one of the reasons that Jesus told us we must have a spiritual birth in order to see the kingdom of God. It is also at the center of what is being taught in Romans chapter 8 concerning the contrast between the spirit and the flesh. It says in Romans 8:1-4, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Is tithing (the strict requirement of giving ten percent) of the law or is it not? This passage in the book of Malachi chapter three is very strong evidence that tithing is of the law and therefore an emphasis on the strict requirement to give ten percent should not be taught to Christians. Of course, it is alright to give ten percent if you so wish, because you can give any amount that you are led of the Lord to give. You will be judged on the New Testament requirement of one hundred percent. You will be judged on your willingness to give one hundred percent. And you will be judged on how truly you were led of the Lord in what you gave. It is not wrong to give ten percent, but it is wrong for a “teacher” or a “pastor” to require you to give ten percent.

If we were to find one verse in the Bible that is used by modern-day legalistic preachers to teach that Christians are required to tithe, it would be Malachi 3:10. The requirement to tithe as expressed in Malachi 3:10 says, “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.”

Let’s list all the reasons to understand this verse as applying to those who were under the law, and not applying to Christians who are under the new covenant:

1. Malachi 3:10 is an Old Testament verse.

2. The book of Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, emphasizing all the ways in which the Israelites failed to keep the law.

3. The verse that introduces this teaching about tithing says in Malachi 3:7, “Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them.” The word “ordinances” refers to the commandments of the law. What did the Israelites need to do in order to change their ways and once again start obeying the commandments of the law? They needed to start tithing once again. Anyone who teaches tithing as a requirement to please God is teaching the same thing that Malachi taught. They are teaching: you need to please God through the keeping of the law, and tithing is part of the law.

4. The result for the Jews of not tithing is given in Malachi 3:9, “Ye are cursed with a curse.” This is the result of not keeping the law. The law brings a curse because the law must be perfectly obeyed. If only one part of the law is broken, the curse is a result. A Christian can never be under a curse because of the great salvation that we have in Jesus. Listen to some of the curses that the law pronounces as found in Deuteronomy 27:15-26:

“Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he uncovereth his father's skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

“Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.”

Compare the statements from Deuteronomy with what was said in Malachi 3:9, “Ye are cursed with a curse.” This curse was due to not tithing. Tithing was part of the law because a failure to tithe resulted in a curse just like all breaking of the law. Christians are never under the law. It says in Galatians 3:10, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” And it says in Galatians 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” One of the many blessings of being saved by faith in Jesus is that a curse will never be pronounced upon us.

No verses in the New Testament that occur during the time of the new covenant tell Christians to tithe. Jesus did tell some Jewish people to tithe, but remember that Jesus lived under the law. The new covenant did not start until Jesus shed His blood on the cross of Calvary. Why is there not one verse in the New Testament epistles that tell Christians to tithe? That is because tithing is part of the law. The Christian principle for giving under the new covenant of grace is found in Second Corinthians 9:7, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

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