Test God? Take the "90 Day Tithe Challenge?"

Many tithing teachers tell their followers to do so; but does Scripture instruct Christians to put God to the test?

Quoting scripture in Malachi 3:10, tithing teachers can be heard telling their students to "put God to the test and tithe to me or the church"...

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." - Malachi 3:10

The same tithing teachers who love to quote Malachi 3:10 trying to get you to tithe to them by advising you to "test God" never seem to embrace Malachi 3:15 nearly as much, if at all...

"And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt [test] God are even delivered." - Malachi 3:15

In Malachi 3:15, God calls those that tempt [or prove, or test] Him WICKED, or involved in wickedness. There is clearly a vast difference in "TEMPTING" or "TESTING GOD" in unbelief and wickedness, and that of obeying His word and thereby experiencing His word in our lives by obedience.

In Malachi 3:10 the Hebrew word translated "prove" is...

Hebrew: בּחן
Transliteration: bâchan
Pronunciation: baw-khan'
Definition: A primitive root; to test (especially metals); generally and figuratively to investigate: - {examine} {prove} {tempt} try (trial).
KJV Usage: try (19x), prove (7x), examine (1x), tempt (1x), trial (1x).
Occurs: 29
In verses: 28

In Malachi 3:15 the Hebrew word translated "tempt" is the exact same Hebrew word as in Malachi 3:10; "bâchan." So, in reality, tithing teachers instructing their followers to "bâchan God" are telling them to do something that God regards as wicked. 

Why then would God instruct His people to do something He regards as wicked? The answer is simple if Malachi 3:10 is understood in proper context of the whole book of Malachi.

God, once again, is close to passing judgment on His people, the Children of Israel, for their blatant disobedience to Him (Malachi 3:5) and for calling obedience to his commandments "vain to serve God" (Malachi 3:13-14);

God has been pushed to the point of even permitting something He regards as wicked to get them to obey Him so that judgment can be avoided, even to the point of God more or less "looking the other way" and in mercy permitting them to act in a manner of testing Him, and then expressing a willingness to forgive them for doing so. That is made clear in Malachi 3:15 where God proclaims "they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered." The Hebrew word for "delivered" in Malachi 3:15 is a word of "rescue" or "to be preserved" or "escape" as in escape Judgment, or as God declares...

"For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." - Malachi 3:6

The Hebrew word for "delivered" in Malachi 3:15...

Hebrew: מלט
Transliteration: mâlaţ
Pronunciation: maw-lat'
Definition: A primitive root; properly to be {smooth} that {is} (by implication) to escape (as if by slipperiness); causatively to release or rescue; specifically to bring forth {young} emit sparks: - deliver ({self}) {escape} {lay} leap {out} let {alone} let {go} {preserve} {save} X {speedily} X surely.
KJV Usage: escape (47x), deliver (33x), save (5x), ...out (4x), alone (1x), get away (1x), lay (1x), preserve (1x), speedily (1x), surely (1x).
Occurs: 95
In verses: 85

In addition; God makes it clear in other situations that He and His Word are NOT to be tested by people...

"You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah." - Deuteronomy 6:16

"Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water that we may drink," And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?" - Exodus 17:2

"Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice," - Numbers 14:22

"Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." - Matthew 4:7

"Nor let us try [test] the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents." - 1 Corinthians 10:9

Who was to prove God in tithing by obedience to God's Word concerning tithing? These people, not the New Testament church...

1. The Nation of Israel -

Malachi 1:1 - "The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi."

2. The Nation of Israel and the corrupt Priests of the Nation of Israel -

Malachi 1:6 - "A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?"

3. The corrupt Priests of the Nation of Israel -

Malachi 2:1 - "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you."

4. Concerning tithing, in the proper context of the Book of Malachi, those living under the Law of Moses in the Nation of Israel -

Malachi 4:4 - "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments." 


NOWHERE in God's Word does He instruct Christians to "test Him by tithing." To claim so is blatant false doctrine and deceptive stupidity.

An Interesting Commentary on Malachi...

"Malachi 2:17 presented a dangerous, hypocritical complaint against God. Namely, that He was not sufficiently punishing the wicked. God's response, in the earlier verses of chapter 3, was to warn Israel that judgment was, in fact, coming. And it was coming to Israel first. Verses 13 and 14 detailed one of Malachi's final accusations against Israel, which is that of blasphemy: speaking "harsh" words against God. These, and the attack here in verse 15, are similar to the criticisms of Malachi 2:17. Part of the suggestion being made is that God is not holding up His end of their covenant agreement.

Of course, the fact that God keeps His promises is the only reason Israel has survived long enough to make this complaint in the first place (Malachi 3:6). Neither the people, nor the priests, are obeying the commands of God (Malachi 1:7–8; 2:11–14; 3:8).

Israel has already been reminded that God has punished evil in the past (Malachi 1:2–5). He will purify His people at some point in the future (Malachi 3:2–4). And, according to the warning coming at the beginning of chapter 4, this judgment will be all-encompassing (Malachi 4:1)."

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