Do Not Rob God!

Malachi 3:8-12

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.

God’s people had been robbing Him of His due worship and offerings to include their regular giving of tithes as a way to sacrificially give of what they valued in the best of their livestock which was as currency along with actual money.  They questioned their LORD about how they were robbing Him and He told them these things plainly.  He made it clear that their selfishness and lack of honor to Him affected all those of His people and not only each of them withholding their best from sacrificial offerings of what they valued that actually had come from God in the first place.  They were reminded to bring their offerings to the temple storehouse to be used for the house of God to see how he would bless them in return for doing what they were supposed to do (Luke 17:10) and not to earn their salvation from judgment on their sins.  He would pour out immeasurable blessings not earned as wages but as His grace and goodness for simply serving Him wholeheartedly and without reserve by giving what they valued to the One they should value most.  He described it as opening the windows of heaven to abundantly supply all their needs if they gave their very best to Him in faith without expecting it as a reward for good works.  God would keep the enemy at bay and He would bring them fruitfulness because it was His original covenant promise of goodwill given to the first man Adam and his wife Eve in Eden’s garden (Genesis 1:22, 17:6) and to Abraham as the father according to faith of all God’s people.  Through these first chosen ones all the people of God through the faith of Abraham (Galatians 3:9) would be blessed and fruitful spiritually and with daily living (Luke 12:29-31) needs met like daily bread to sustain and nourish both body and soul.  Do not rob God in giving Him all of your best or you will miss the opportunity to honor and glorify Him and you will know His sustaining providence and provision.  That is the lesson from this passage of Malachi.