Will a Man Rob God?

WILL A MAN ROB GOD?

Tithing teachers often use the phrase "God robbers" to describe people, Christians, who don't tithe, or are not tithing on a regular basis to them. They are, of course, referring to Malachi 3:8...

"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings."

Was Malachi addressing a problem of not tithing by people required to tithe, was he addressing New Testament Christians, or was Malachi making a clear statement and meant exactly what he wrote when he called certain men "God robbers"?

Who was Malachi referring to?

THE PORTION THAT WAS STOLEN

As with the teaching of false doctrine in many cases, along with taking scripture out of proper context, tithing teachers make the mistake of assuming...ASSUMING...that Malachi was really saying "will a man not tithe?," when in fact Malachi wrote nothing of the kind. Malachi stated exactly what he meant, and clearly meant exactly what he wrote, when he asked the rhetorical question; "will a man rob God?" Malachi was not citing a failure to tithe by anyone, but was in fact citing the stealing of a portion of the tithe from the whole tithe that had been properly turned over to the Levites under the direct supervision of a Priest descended from Aaron; a portion God had told them was to be taken to the Temple storehouse for the support of the Temple Priests, the Singers and the Porters as seen in Nehemiah 10:37-38...

"And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house." - Nehemiah 10:37-38

In short; 10 percent of the tithe that was taken from the tither (from the whole tithe) was to be sent to the Temple storehouse in Jerusalem to support the Temple workers (singers and porters) and Priests, the remaining 90 percent was to be taken to "all the cities of our tillage," the Levitical cities for the Levites to consume. See; Numbers 18-20-24.

Additionally, from Numbers 18:26-28...

"Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe. And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress. Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD'S heave offering to Aaron the priest."

THE PROPER INDICTMENT, INDICTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Malachi was accusing NO ONE of not tithing properly when he says "will a man rob God?"; he was, rather, indicting corrupt Priests who were stealing the "tithe of the tithe" that was to be transported to the Temple in Jerusalem, the portion of the tithe that was not making it to the storehouse, or stolen from the storehouse, being stolen by the Priests.

In support of these facts, consider the following...

1. There are no chapter or verse divisions in the Book of Malachi in the original autograph. Chapter divisions are man-made constructs not found in the original script. Chapter divisions were added by Cardinal Stephen Langton, the medieval Archbishop of Canterbury, before his death in 1228. The modern division into verses are believed to have been added by Robert Stephanus, a printer.  In the preface to his 1551 bilingual edition of the New Testament, Greek and Latin, Stephanus states: "I split the work into what are called “versiculos”, because in this way anyone could cross-reference the translation and the corresponding passage of Greek."

Chapter and verse divisions, while being a great advantage to Bible study, sometimes create an illusion of disconnect between one chapter from the previous chapters or the next chapters in a Book of the Bible when the original author intended no such disconnect. Sometimes this is done between Bible verses; quoting one verse and not considering verses before and after. People often believe, almost as a matter of fact, that information from one chapter has no bearing or relevancy on the next chapter or other chapters in a Bible book. Chapters are almost seen as "boarders between chapters." As a matter of course, when reading the Bible, the Bible student will often fail to refer to previous chapters, or the next chapter, as needed to interpret the chapter they are currently focused on. That is a big mistake in Bible study often leading to false doctrine, or in many cases losing the impact of what the reader is reading. Many times a book in the Bible must be compared to another book in the Bible to gain further and accurate information on a particular subject. The point? This...

2. In Malachi 2:1, Malachi clearly tells us who his focus of attention is, who the actual "God robbers" were, when he writes...

"And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you."

In what we call "Chapter three" of the Book of Malachi, Malachi is still targeting "O ye priests" when he calls out the Priests for robbing God. When you read Malachi 3:8-10 in the proper context of Malachi 2:1, bearing in mind Malachi's statement of "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you," Malachi 3:8-10 becomes clear as to who the actual God robbers were; the Priests of Malachi's time were the God robbers, not New Testament Christians who do not tithe.

To Claim that New Testament Christians not tithing are "God robbers" based on Malachi 3:8 is foolishness and is taking scripture completely out of context (out of textual, situational and historic biblical context). It's the mistake of not letting scripture properly interpret scripture, a mistake sadly common among tithing teachers.

Malachi did not say "will a man not tithe," he stated, for very good reasons; "WILL A MAN ROB GOD?," and he meant EXACTLY what he wrote. Malachi was targeting corrupt Priests, those were the men who were stealing the portion of the tithe meant for the Temple, he was NOT targeting New Testament Believers who are not tithers. 

Malachi was clearly writing to the Nation of Israel (Malachi 1:1), and to the Priests of Israel (Malachi 1:6, 2:1). Yes, the New Testament Church can learn from the Book of Malachi, as with any Old Testament Book, but we are under the instructions of the New Testament, the New Covenant, not the Old Covenant, not under the Law (Romans 6:14). 

3. In Nehemiah Chapter 13 (Nehemiah and Malachi were contemporaries), we find even more information confirming who Malachi was referring to in Malachi 3:8-10. Nehemiah Chapter 13 gives us precise details as to what was happening (the robbing of the tithes from the Temple "chambers" or "storehouse" designated to store the portion of the tithe); who was involved, what the solution was, who was affected by the robbery, and why Malachi wrote what he wrote.

The Book of Malachi was written in Jerusalem in 445 BC, the Book of Nehemiah was written in 400 BC. Malachi, who had a detailed knowledge of the robbery situation recorded and described in Nehemiah chapter 13, who also understood Nehemiah 10:37-38, wrote the Book of Malachi partially as an indictment of the Priests who were robbing God; again, he was NOT indicting New Testament Christians for a lack of tithing. Malachi did NOT write "will a man not tithe?"

Summary of Nehemiah chapter 13...

> What was happening? - "Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place." - verse 11.

> Who was involved in the crime? - "Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber [where the portion of the tithe was to be brought, see Nehemiah 10:38] of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah:" - verse 4.

> What was the solution to the robbery and Malachi 3:8? - "And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense." - verses 7, 8, 9.

> Who was affected by the robbery? - "And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field." - verse 10.

And... "And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests." - verse 5.

Note that the Priest did not have to "flee to the field" to grow food to live on, only the singers (worship leaders), and possibly the porters who also were being denied support from the tithe. Why was it being denied them? Because the corrupt Priests were stealing it, hence; "WILL A MAN ROB GOD?" Malachi asks pursuant to his statement in Malachi 2:1 "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you."

> Malachi wrote his document about 45 years after the Book of Nehemiah was written in 400BC. He recorded his indictment of the corrupt Priests, among other important items such as prophecy and a call for Israel to obey the law of Moses (Malachi 4:4) which are also important topics in his book. His additional information is important for the understanding of tithing. In Malachi 4:4, Malachi places the context of his call for honest management of the tithe as obedience to the Torah (the Law of Moses)...

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

To whom Malachi is writing to (including tithers and Priests) are the Children of Israel, who were at that time under the Law of Moses, which, the Body of Christ, New Testament Christians, are not under...

Romans 6:14 "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are NOT under the law, but under grace."

Romans 7:6 - "But now we are DELIVERED FROM THE LAW, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter."

Malachi was also recording his indictment of the corrupt Priests as a warning to future Priests who would consider robbing God, robbing the Temple Storehouse at Jerusalem of the portion of the tithe to be brought there to support Temple personnel.


CONCLUSION

Malachi writes the indictment of the real God robbers, and Nehemiah writes a history of what was happening and what he did about the robbers and their thievery.

Read carefully the entire thirteenth chapter of the Book of Nehemiah (and Nehemiah 10) to get an accurate record of why Malachi wrote "will a man rob God?" Without understanding the two chapters, Nehemiah 10, 13, tithing teachers and tithers routinely arrive at false doctrine regarding who Malachi was referring to, who Malachi called "God robbers."

Remember...

"And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." - Acts 17:10-11

In reality, today's GOD ROBBERS are tithing teachers stealing money from their victims, their "tithers."

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