Mal 3:10 | KingComments | STEP | The case is not hopeless. God gives a clue that is a challenge to faith. He asks them to bring “the whole tithe,” not just part of their income, “into the storehouse” of the temple. Then there will be “food in My house”, that is, the priests and Levites serving in the sanctuary will then have food to eat. If they respond to this, He will give an abundant blessing. It must be on His terms. If they want God to open His storeroom, they must first open their storeroom to take the tithes. Those tithes must be brought into “My house”, which is the temple ( ; ). We often reason that God must first give us abundance and then we can give. But God says: ‘First bring all tithes into the storehouse. If you do that, you will see what I do.’ He then opens “the windows of heaven” to pour out blessing on them in such quantities that there are no barns enough to contain them. By this He means that He will give an abundance of rain by which the land will give an abundant harvest. The abundance will be so great that they will not have enough barns to store it (cf. ). He can also fulfill this word by providing His people with food in a special way, as with the miraculous salvation of Samaria ( ). If we first give God His share, He gives us what He has, which is many times more than we have given Him. We see an example of this in what Elijah says to the widow of Zarephath. The woman has only a handful of flour and a little oil, just enough for a last meal for her and her son. Still, Elijah asks the woman to make him a little bread cake from it first. He adds that she can afterward prepare something for her and her son. The woman does that. Her faith is richly rewarded, because “the bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty” ( ). God answers our trust in Him with abundant blessing. We “are not under law but under grace” ( ). But from this we should not draw the conclusion that ‘therefore’ it does not matter how much we give. Would God be satisfied with two or three percent instead of ten percent? Those who think in this way have little understanding of the true Christian position, of the love that is the fulfillment of the law ( ). Without any command, the first Christians in Jerusalem do not give ten percent, but hundred percent ( ). Would not love lead us not to give as little as possible, but as much as possible? Coercion comes from a law, love gratefully and joyfully gives what it can, and especially enjoys fellowship therein with God, the great Giver ( ). To the extent that the believer has prosperity ( ), the Lord expects a generous gift from him for His work and for the needy saints. Why does it say: “And do not neglect doing good and sharing” ( )? Because we tend to forget them, and then hastily and arbitrarily fish a bit out of our wallets. Let’s see if we have anything left. God often has to be content with our leftovers. That goes for our possessions and also for our time. Also to us applies: “Honor the LORD from your wealth And from the first of all your produce” ( ). Everything we have belongs to Him. Christ bought us for God with His blood ( ; ). This concerns our body and everything we possess. We rob Him when we live for ourselves and use our possessions for ourselves. Should He also say to us: ‘Look at your bank account. To whom does that money belong? What do you want to do with it?’ The Christian does not look at what he can miss, but asks the Lord what he may spend for himself, because everything is His.

‏ Malachi 3:10

Test Me

The case is not hopeless. God gives a clue that is a challenge to faith. He asks them to bring “the whole tithe,” not just part of their income, “into the storehouse” of the temple. Then there will be “food in My house”, that is, the priests and Levites serving in the sanctuary will then have food to eat.

If they respond to this, He will give an abundant blessing. It must be on His terms. If they want God to open His storeroom, they must first open their storeroom to take the tithes. Those tithes must be brought into “My house”, which is the temple (Neh 10:38 ; Neh 13:12; 2Chr 31:10).

We often reason that God must first give us abundance and then we can give. But God says: ‘First bring all tithes into the storehouse. If you do that, you will see what I do.’ He then opens “the windows of heaven” to pour out blessing on them in such quantities that there are no barns enough to contain them.

By this He means that He will give an abundance of rain by which the land will give an abundant harvest. The abundance will be so great that they will not have enough barns to store it (cf. Deu 28:12). He can also fulfill this word by providing His people with food in a special way, as with the miraculous salvation of Samaria (2Kgs 7:2 ; 19).

If we first give God His share, He gives us what He has, which is many times more than we have given Him. We see an example of this in what Elijah says to the widow of Zarephath. The woman has only a handful of flour and a little oil, just enough for a last meal for her and her son. Still, Elijah asks the woman to make him a little bread cake from it first. He adds that she can afterward prepare something for her and her son. The woman does that. Her faith is richly rewarded, because “the bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty” (1Kgs 17:13 ; 16).

God answers our trust in Him with abundant blessing. We “are not under law but under grace” (Rom 6:14). But from this we should not draw the conclusion that ‘therefore’ it does not matter how much we give. Would God be satisfied with two or three percent instead of ten percent? Those who think in this way have little understanding of the true Christian position, of the love that is the fulfillment of the law (Rom 13:10).

Without any command, the first Christians in Jerusalem do not give ten percent, but hundred percent (Acts 2:45). Would not love lead us not to give as little as possible, but as much as possible? Coercion comes from a law, love gratefully and joyfully gives what it can, and especially enjoys fellowship therein with God, the great Giver (2Cor 9:7 ; 15).

To the extent that the believer has prosperity (1Cor 16:2), the Lord expects a generous gift from him for His work and for the needy saints. Why does it say: “And do not neglect doing good and sharing” (Heb 13:16)? Because we tend to forget them, and then hastily and arbitrarily fish a bit out of our wallets. Let’s see if we have anything left. God often has to be content with our leftovers. That goes for our possessions and also for our time.

Also to us applies: “Honor the LORD from your wealth And from the first of all your produce” (Pro 3:9). Everything we have belongs to Him. Christ bought us for God with His blood (1Cor 6:20; Rev 5:9). This concerns our body and everything we possess. We rob Him when we live for ourselves and use our possessions for ourselves. Should He also say to us: ‘Look at your bank account. To whom does that money belong? What do you want to do with it?’ The Christian does not look at what he can miss, but asks the Lord what he may spend for himself, because everything is His.