CONFUSION OVER THE BOOK OF MALACHI
>> The False Claim;
The book of Malachi, in particular Malachi 3:10, was written to command and instruct all people, including New Testament Christians to tithe (hand over ten percent of their income) to a church or other ministry. Everyone must tithe money to the church because Malachi 3:10 tells us to do.
>> The Truth;
The Book of Malachi was written to the Nation of Israel (Malachi 1:1), in particular to Israel's corrupt priesthood (Malachi 1:6, 2:1) who were stealing from and neglecting the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Malachi clearly states who he is addressing, and it is not the New Testament Church. The Book of Malachi was addressing the Nation of Israel under the Law of Moses, in particular Malachi is addressing the disobedience and sins of the Levite Priesthood in regards to the Temple in Jerusalem.
>> The Facts;
Most all, if not all tithing teachers refer to Malachi 3:10 as their "go to scripture" that they claim instructs a Christian to tithe. By "tithing" they clearly mean "handing over ten percent of your income to the church or a ministry." This claim is made even in the fact of Malachi giving no such command, and in detail stating who he is in fact addressing and what he is speaking of.
Malachi 3:10 reads...
"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."
Why was this commanded in Malachi? The reason is that the tithe of the tithe was not being delivered to the Temple storehouse as it should have been;
Nehemiah 10:38 - "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."
Malachi was addressing the corrupt priesthood of his era (Malachi 1:6, 2:1) who were in disobedience to God's commands. By doing so, by robbing God, they were once again placing the entire nation of Israel in peril of judgment and destruction a mere 30 years after they had began to return from their exile in Babylon (now the Medo-Persian empire). The Medo-Persians, led by King Cyrus II, invaded Babylonia from the east in June of 539 B.C. and captured its capital, Babylon, in July of the same year. In biblical chronology, this occurred near the end of the Babylonian exile of the Jews. God warns of the judgment...
Malachi 2:3 - "Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it."
Note the phrase "and one shall take you away with it." ...a warning of once again being taken into captivity and exiled from the Land of Israel into slavery.
As historians have noted, and as recorded in the Bible;
"Before the Babylonian exile even began, God told Jeremiah that Judah would “become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jeremiah 25:11). Ezra and others recorded that “in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia [539 B.C.], in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus” (Ezra 1:1), and Cyrus allowed all the Jews to return to Judah. Not only did Cyrus release the Jews, but he also returned the stolen temple articles and paid for the Jews’ rebuilding efforts from the royal treasury (Ezra 6:4-5). This was a monumental time in Israel’s history, as Jerusalem and the temple were rebuilt and the Law was reinstituted."
In these verses Malachi makes record of God's indictment of the corrupt priests of Israel...
Malachi 1:6-8 - "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? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts."
Who was the man who was robbing God being referred to here?...
Malachi 3:8-9 - "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation."
Answer; the corrupt priests of Israel as stated here...
Malachi 2:1-2 - "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart."
>> Apply All or Apply None;
If you are claiming that Malachi 3:10 refers to the New Testament church then you must also apply all of the Book of Malachi to the church. This is why...
1. Malachi clearly states that he is addressing the Nation of Israel who are under the Law of Moses; 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."
2. James wrote this; James 2:10 - "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
3. Paul wrote this; Galatians 5:3 - "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law." "circumcised"... in context; keeping the Law of Moses.
Therefore, if Malachi 3:10 is to be applied to New Testament Christians, THIS also must be applied to New Testament Christians...
THIS - Malachi 2:2-3 - "If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it."
THIS - Malachi 2:8-9 - "But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law."
THIS - Malachi 2:12 - "The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts."
THIS - Malachi 3:7 - "Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?" "mine ordinances" ...ergo; Return to the Law of Moses.
THIS - 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."
Malachi was instructing tithing PURSUANT TO AND UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES (Malachi 3:7, Malachi 4:4), yet the Bible tells us that New Testament Christians are NOT under the Law of Moses...
Romans 6:14 - "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."
Romans 10:4 - "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
CONCLUSION;
It is without a doubt that Malachi, in particular Malachi 3:10, was written to the corrupt priests of Israel and to the people of the Nation of Israel, not to the New Testament Church, not to New Testament Christians. New Testament Christians have no command or instructions to tithe anything to anyone...
Hebrews 7:18-19 - "For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God."
Disannulling;
Greek;
Original: ἀθέτησις
Transliteration: athetēsis
Phonetic: ath-et'-ay-sis
Definition: From G114; cancellation (literally or figuratively): - disannulling, put away, ended.
> Footnotes;
1. The tithe that was to be brought (transported, bring, Malachi 3:10) to the Temple storehouse in Jerusalem was limited to 1/10th of the tithe; Nehemiah 10:38 - "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."
2. Only the Levites were permitted to bring the tithe of the tithe to the storehouse, anyone else doing so faced the death penalty; in the clear context of tithing Numbers 18:21-23 says this; "And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, AND DIE. But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance."
3. For details of the robbery and neglect of the Temple in Jerusalem BY ISRAEL, NOT BY THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH, see Nehemiah chapter thirteen which gives us details of the situation Malachi is speaking of such as these (Nehemiah 13 will help you understand in proper context the Book of Malachi)...
>> Was allied unto Tobiah, And he had prepared for him a great chamber - Nehemiah 13:4-5 - "And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah: 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."
Note; the "great chamber" was the location where they were storing the stolen tithe (the tithe of the tithe) which was not being placed in the proper Temple Storehouse for the use of the singers, porters and priests on duty in the Temple. Look closely; "HE [Eliashib] had prepared for HIM [Tobiah] a great chamber;" ...that is not a reference to the proper Temple Storehouse where the tithe should have been stored. He, Eliashib, was the man robbing God referred to in 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." ...The "God robber" in Malachi 3:8 IS NOT A NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIAN WHO IS NOT TITHING; see Malachi 2:1.
>> That did the work, were fled every one to his field - Nehemiah 13:10-11 - "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. 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."
>> Why is the house of God forsaken? - Nehemiah 13:7-11 - "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. 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. 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."
>> What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? - Nehemiah 13:16-18 - "There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath."
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