Malachi 3:7 “Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from My decrees and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask,  ‘How are we to return?’

Malachi 3: 8-9 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob Me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing You?’ “In tithes and offerings.  9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing Me.”

A tithe is 10% of one’s grain, produce, animals, or money A tithe is 10% of one’s grain, produce, animals, or money. There were special storage rooms in the temple to keep the grain, produce, and money that the people brought in obedience to the Lord. There was also an annual tithe given to the Levites, who in turn gave a tithe of that to the priests. Families could share a meal with the Levites from their tithes.

Every third year, a tithe was to be brought to the local leaders to be used to help the poor (Deut. 14: 28-29). Tithing predates the Old Testament Law, with it clearly being seen in the lives of Abraham and Jacob…and possibly much earlier with Abel.

Nehemiah 10: 34-39 Likely just prior to the time of Malachi, the people come together to make a covenant to provide all the necessary tithes, offerings, staffing, and any other resources necessary for the Temple: “We will not neglect the house of our God!”

Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My House. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough for it.”

Not only was Judah robbing God by not bringing Him their tithes and offerings… they were also robbing themselves! They were robbed of the blessing of joyful giving, as well as the future blessings of God for their faithfulness.

You earn wages, only to put them Haggai 1: 5-6 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.  6 You have planted much, but harvested little.  You eat, but never have enough.  You drink, but never have your fill.  You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

Malachi 3: 11-12 “I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

In addition to robbing God and ourselves when we don’t tithe…we rob others. Had the Jews who returned to Jerusalem been faithful to God and His laws, He would’ve built them back strong… gaining a strong testimony to show the neighboring nations. That didn’t happen.

As we get ready to take today’s Offering, if God has been challenging you to trust Him more fully in the area of your finances so that you can better honor Him and walk a more blessed path… obey Him.