Will A Man Rob God?

Will a Man Rob God?

—Malachi 3:8

Suppose you asked me to write your biography. And suppose I had access to only one of your personal items to try to determine what was really at the heart of your life. I wouldn’t ask to see your diary, even though I might learn many of your most private and heartfelt emotions, or your prayer journal, even though it would show me those people for whom you interceded and those concerns for which you regularly petitioned God. I wouldn’t even request your Bible, even though I might find personal notes and insights you jotted down through the years as the Lord spoke to you during your private devotions. If I could use only one personal item to help me write your biography, I would choose your bank statement. Your canceled checks and debits would reveal more to me about what really mattered to you. After all, Jesus’ teaching from a green and grassy Galilean hillside two thousand years ago still applies to us today: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

The Lord calls us to be aware of where we are investing the gifts He gives us. So, through the prophet Malachi, the Lord asked this intensely personal question: “Will a man rob God?” And God immediately answered His own question: “Yet you have robbed Me . . . in tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8).

THE QUESTION IS PERSONAL

Have you ever been robbed? I have. And let me assure you that you feel personally violated when someone unannounced and uninvited invades your private space—when he breaks your doors and windows, ransacks your drawers, and steals money and other valuables, often including irreplaceable items of great sentimental value. Only someone who has been the victim of such an intrusion knows the deep anguish it can bring. To say that being robbed feels very personal is a gross understatement.

Keeping that in mind, look again at what God said: “You have robbed Me!” Note the two personal pronouns in play here, “YOU have robbed ME!” This is a strong accusation, not merely an insinuation. The reality is, robbing God is like committing a robbery without a weapon. When we don’t give financially, our Lord revealed that He is put in the same position of intrusion as though we were breaking, entering, and robbing Him personally. And the Lord’s exclamation clearly suggests that our robbing Him pains Him.

Furthermore, when we rob God of His “tithes and offerings,” that act triggers a chain of robberies—and we are complicit in each of those as well. When we rob God of His tithes, we rob His church of its ability to minister in His name. We also rob the world of the gospel by limiting many worthy and effective missionary enterprises. But on an even more personal level, we rob ourselves of great blessings, for “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

Jesus Himself instructed us to “render . . . to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Most Christians would never entertain the thought of not paying their property taxes, sales taxes, or income taxes: they know that this rendering to Caesar what belongs to him is right and good and required by law. And yet an alarming number of Jesus’ professed followers seldom, if ever, render to God the things that are God’s . . . and in the process they rob Him. It is personal.

THE QUESTION IS POINTED

God says, “You have robbed Me.” We answer with a question: “In what way have we robbed You?” In a flash comes His reply: “in tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8). Some Christians today believe that the tithe (giving one tenth of our income to God) is an Old Testament command with no bearing or application on us in this dispensation of grace. The reality is that the tithe existed among God’s people long before the Law was ever given. In Genesis Abram gave tithes to Melchizedek, the priest (14:20). Jacob vowed to give a tenth “of all that You give me” to the Lord (28:22). Later, when the Law was given, tithing was incorporated: “All the tithe of the land . . . is the LORD’s. It is holy to the LORD” (Leviticus 27:30).

In the New Testament we find Jesus both approving of and practicing the tithe. The Pharisees were on the watch to catch Him violating the Law at any point, big or small. Certainly if Jesus had been failing to tithe, He would have had their stern fingers of accusation pointed in His direction. Note also that in His rebuke of the Pharisees, Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Matthew 23:23). In the language of the New Testament, ought is an imperative, a command. Personally, I have not understood, in light of the cross, why anyone under grace would give less than those who gave under the law.

God promises provisions both in quality and quantity to those faithful in their stewardship of the blessings He gives them. God says He will “open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). By definition, blessings from heaven will be quality, and the fact that God’s faithful will not have enough room to receive those blessings definitely speaks of quantity and abundance.

As far-fetched as it may seem, our finances generally mark the condition of our spiritual pilgrimage. We are often no further along in our walk with God than the point where we have learned to trust Him with our tithes and offerings. One-third of all Jesus’ parables have to do with our stewardship of the income and material possessions He blesses us with. God never emphasizes our giving; He always focuses on our receiving, even here in His instruction about the tithe. God said, “Bring all the tithes” (v. 10). Why? To support the church or missionary work? No, that’s not what God says. At issue is God’s desire to open for us “the windows of heaven” and pour out His blessings on us.

So God presents us with a proposition: “Bring all the tithes . . . and try [prove] Me now in this” (v. 10). Do you see how amazing this is? God is saying to you and me, “Put Me on trial! Test Me! Try Me in this.” This is one directive in Scripture that can be put on a trial basis. If there is any doubt as to God’s desire to bless us, here is a way to prove Him. This is amazing condescension.

Q & A: “Will a man rob God?” I would rather be guilty of robbing the bank downtown than found guilty of robbing God. If you also want to avoid robbing God, pray about your own stewardship and ask God to guide, provide, and embolden you. Make your tithe your top financial commitment; let it take priority over everything else. Be as systematic with your tithing as you are in your business matters. Rest in the fact that you can trust Him. Then get started. Just do it. “Prove Me,” said the Lord.