Texts from Malachi 3, NIV, RSV, NKJV
Tithing. The giving of 10%. Will a man rob God? We have been so blessed. I’ve been longing to hear a discourse about tithing so I thought I would write one. Hear God’s Word to us.
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. 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 to store it. 11 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. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. (NIV)
8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How are we robbing thee?’ In your tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me; the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house; and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. 11 I will rebuke the devourer[a] for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts. (RSV)
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the Lord of hosts; 12 “and all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” Says the Lord of hosts. (NKJV)
I am trying to remember when I last heard a sermon in the local church on tithing. The memory escapes me. Maybe I missed that Sunday. I’m talking, flat out, Holy Ghost convicting message from holy writ on tithing. Exposition, not topical. If you have heard one, maybe you should invite me to your church.
I was in the pastorate in 1984 and God laid a sermon on my heart about giving, specifically, tithing. I wrestled with the Lord because I knew the audience and how it would be received. I argued with the Lord about how “He should adjust the asking from 10% to something more reasonable like 2%.” “You gotta start with where people are.” “How it was old school to expect people to give 10% of their earnings.” My arguing was to no avail. It fell on deaf ears. From then on, not just on tithing, I was convicted to just “preach the word” and not try to speak where the word does not speak. Per influence from Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, I just preached through the texts and let them speak for itself. The simplicity of that kind of conversation with the Lord has been life changing.
I preached that sermon that day with the hearers being made aware of my “dialogue” with the Lord, but if they wanted to experience the greatest blessings of the Lord, they should step out in faith and give – tithe – 10%. It was received, not necessarily well. The best part was knowing that I had delivered what was passed on to me.
Sherry and I can personally testify of God’s great provision when He is trusted in all areas of our life. We just finished our giving to Ceasar (the IRS) and our giving this year was more that 20% of our adjusted income. We are rich in Him, though we own only one car, one house but the knowledge of serving Him wholeheartedly is priceless. As we looked back over the year, we lacked for nothing. All of our needs were met.
I can give you three examples of individuals whose lives changed dramatically when they started trusting God with their finances.
One is our dear friends, Steve and Diane, way back in 1988. They had recently been a part of the Walk to Emmaus sponsored by their local Methodist church and came back wanting to do everything the Bible commanded them to do. When they came to discuss this part of their commitment, it was going to be challenging. But they stepped out in faith, had a few checks bounce until they got their budget in line, and despite misgivings of family members they endured. Their lives 30 years later are so much richer.
Another is our dear friend, Mary. Tithing was something she heard about after committing her life to Christ. Though she didn’t make lots of money, the tithe required by this passage was something she committed to doing. Just being around her to hear how God has blessed her makes Sherry and me so appreciative of seeing God at work in her life.
Another is our dear son, Eli. He married in February of 2011 and in August of that year was struggling mightily to make ends meet. Earnestly asking God what was going on, as he looked back from his September checking account, he realized he missed paying his tithes in August. The conversation was rich and deep about how he would never allow that to happen again. God has blessed him amazingly.
These are just three examples of how testing God, which He invites us to do in verse 10 of chapter 3 of Malachi, paid dividends of spiritual growth that are immeasurable. It’s the only time in holy writ where God encourages us to test Him. So do it, test Him.
The Kingdom of God is advancing and the invitation is for you to give in your local setting 10% of the blessings God has allowed you to earn. Then we who are doing Kingdom work can see the work of God advance. However, an even greater benefit, will be the richness of the individual who gives.