"When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.“Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty."
Select verses in Malachi 1 & 3
When the Angel of Death appeared at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and halted, Araunah offered to give his land free of charge to David to build a temple. Why? I think for two main reasons. First, as you are looking at death square in the face, suddenly possessions don't matter - you are going to leave it all. Secondly, he got a glimpse of the glory of God and he knew that if God wanted his land, he would be honored to give it up. David's response was, "No, I want to pay. I won't give God anything that costs me nothing." Why did he say that? Because David, more than anyone possibly in the Old Testament, was keenly aware of the glory of God and David only wanted to give Him something that had great value.
This gives us a little insight into why God was not pleased with the nation of Israel in Malachi. The nation had lost the value and glory of God and was demonstrating that in their giving. Instead of offering God the best of their flock for sacrifices they were giving Him the diseased animals, the ones they couldn't sell. We do the same often to ministries. I just donated all my medical equipment as I retired to a maternity clinic in Ukraine and they were thrilled but technically they received 5 year old ultrasounds that are probably on their way out. The medication we take on trips is usually one month from going out of date. We donate used vehicles for tax write offs, etc. and although it is all very helpful, do they deserve better? These are donations but hardly sacrifices. Are we valuing "our" money more than we value God?
The other thing they were doing was giving Him token amounts of money. They weren't even "tipping" God. He gave them the ability to make a living and somehow they had come to believe they were "self-made". Or possibly, they were financially barely making it so they thought "We can't afford to give 10% to God. I guess if we have something left over after the bills are paid we can give some to God but frankly it would be better to save in case we have a bad month next month."
The first reason for not giving seems worse than the second because it reeks of pride and disdain for God but the second one is bad too because it reveals a lack of faith and trust. God tells the people through Malachi "I can bless your 90% so 90>100." Do you have faith in God to surrender your first fruits -10% off the beginning of the paycheck and say "God bless the rest supernaturally. We are trusting you."
I fear the Israelites who were about to stop hearing from God for 400 years are a lot like us in America. May we not go through a famine of the word of God and a manifestation of His presence due to our focusing on possessions rather than His majesty and glory. May we continue to remember that we are just short timers here and put possessions in the right perspective.
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