Bible Study on Malachi - Part 5, Malachi 2:8-11,13, 3:8-15

As always, we began with prayer, asking God to guide us and our study. We turned then to Malachi 2:8-9, where we reviewed the strong indictment of God’s people and their sins. These words are particularly aimed at the priests and the tribe of Levi. They were to be leaders of God’s people, and yet they went far astray. Two times God says that they had turned aside from and not kept His ways They had corrupted God’s covenant with them, and in the process, caused many of the people to stumble by their bad instructions.

Hearing this is a reminder to us today to pray for our pastors and teachers and other spiritual leaders, that they remain faithful to God’s Word and teach faithfully. It is so important and is such a big responsibility. I ask your prayers for me, too. Though I am retired and have much less direct responsibility, I need your prayers, that when I teach, I do it clearly and faithfully, according to God’s Word, too. If something does not sound quite right, be sure to ask. Pastors are not perfect obviously, and questions help us clarify things, for greater understanding.

Older ones among us may also remember the problems we had in our own Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in the 1960’s and 70’s, when some leaders and teachers were getting off track in their teaching and treatment of the Scriptures. How important strong pastors and faithful lay leaders of the Lutheran Laymen’s League of that time and others were in getting our church body back on track. I am grateful for Pastor Lang, from St. James, and his lay leaders and others, for their part in this process at that time. It was crucial for our Synod and for a young person like me, in college and seminary then.

Malachi reminds, in Malachi 2:10-11, that the root problem in his day was lack of faithfulness to God and His Word and will. People were “faithless” and “committing abominations” and “profaning God’s covenant” and “profaning the sanctuary of the Lord, which He loves” - and which was the place where He brought His gifts of forgiveness and blessing to His people. Unfortunately, as we have heard in past weeks, people were corrupting the sacrificial system with the wrong kinds of offerings - and sometimes just not offering much of anything to the Lord, in gratefulness for His love. To see that, read Malachi 3:8-10, where we hear: “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me,” says the Lord.

Part of the Old Testament system for God’s people was “tithing” - giving 10 percent of one’s income or crops or whatever one earned to the Lord at the temple. This was to provide “food in the Lord’s house." God did not need the food and other resources; but the priests and others of the tribe of Levi did. This was a way of supporting all the Levites, so that they could then do their work at the temple, on behalf of others. Sadly, the “tithes and offerings” were not coming in as they should have. Apparently some Levites had to go find other work and support themselves and could not carry out their temple duties as they should. The system was not working because of human failure.

God says, “Don’t rob Me. Bring in the full tithes.” Then God says something very surprising, “Thereby put Me to the test” and you will see that I will pour down blessings and care for you and your crops and you will have what you need and “you will be a land of delight” (Malachi 3:10-12).

This was a very rare idea. See Matthew 4:5-7, where the devil was tempting Jesus and trying to get Him to do something dangerous and crazy, just to test God and see if He would help. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Malachi tells us that many of the people were actually skeptical of God and His promises. He did not seem to respond to them, even when they did make some offerings to Him. Read Malachi 2:13. They were upset and weeping and groaning because God seemed not to pay any attention to their gifts. God was not blessing what they did do. Why bother to do anything at all?

This sounds very much like the story of Cain in Genesis 4:1-8. His brother, Abel, gave an offering of the firstborn and best of his flock. Cain simply gave of the fruit of the ground. God had no regard for Cain’s offering, most likely because of his seemingly bad attitude and poor offering and just going through the motions without genuine gratitude and because “sin was crouching at his door” and he was not battling it. Cain becomes so angry that he kills his brother. (This is something that we will hear more about next week in our study. If our attitude toward God is bad, that will negatively affect our attitude toward others, too.)

Malachi speaks of that faithless attitude toward God also in Malachi 3:13-15. God has just promised blessings in Malachi 3:10-12, as we have heard. But the people are thinking and saying harsh things against God. “Evildoers test God by their evil and they prosper. Nothing happens to them. It is vain - useless and worthless - to serve God and walk humbly before Him. It is the arrogant who are blessed.

Such attitudes were there with Cain. They were there even with the prophet Jeremiah, in weak moments. See Jeremiah 12:1. As we read all this, we need to be asking ourselves: Are some of these our problems still today? Are we sometimes skeptical of God and His ways? How is our giving? Do we ever rob God, with our attitude about our own time and talents and treasure?

Under the New Covenant in Christ, we are not bound by Old Testament standards, on some of this. There are no more animal sacrifices needed. Jesus has done all we need, by His sacrifice for us. Tithing is mentioned only a few times in the whole New Testament. Only once does Jesus tell some people to tithe, the Jewish scribes and Pharisees who were still under Old Testament law, but He actually scolds them for neglecting “weightier matters of the Law,” under the coming New Covenant, the New Testament, things like “justice and mercy and faithfulness,” which Jesus Himself was bringing into the world and living out for us. (See Matthew 23:23-24 and its parallel, Luke 11:42.) A Pharisee also brags about his tithing in the parable Jesus tells of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee tithes, but the one who goes home justified, declared right with God, is the tax collector, who simply confesses his sin and pleads for God’s mercy. The only other mention of tithing in the whole New Testament is in Hebrews 7:4-9, where we hear the Old Testament story of Abraham giving a tithe to Melchizedek and how Jewish Levites were still requiring tithes in the temple at Jerusalem - a system which was soon to disappear, along with the temple (Hebrews 8 and following).

Some would say that if the Old Testament standard was tithing, then that should be the goal for New Testament Christians. That is never commanded under the New Covenant. Rather, we read, “Each one should give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” See 2 Corinthians 9:6-9 and 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 and giving in gratitude for all that Jesus gave up for us to be our Savior (2 Corinthians 8:8-9).

In all this, the key is faithfulness, trusting that God will help and bless us and keep us in faith, as He knows best. Read Psalm 73 in closing this study. The Psalmist Asaph also has weak moments and almost stumbles and falls, with questions he has about God and His ways and how the evil seem to do well, with few consequences. The Lord awakens him to renewed faith, for this life and for eternal life to come. Asaph says, “You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You receive me to glory.... My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:23,24,26).