Malachi 1:1-2:17 – God looks upon us in our sin. What does He see? He sees ‘the Wicked Land. He sees ‘a people always under the wrath of the Lord’ (1:4). He looks at what Christ has done for us – ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’; ‘While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’; ‘Christ died for our sins’ (1 Timothy 1:15; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3). God looks upon us in Christ – and everything is so very different: ‘God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Corinthians 5:21). There, at the Cross of Christ, we hear God’s Word of love – ‘I have loved you’; ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love’ (1:2; Jeremiah 31:3).

Malachi 1:1-2:17  –  God looks upon us in our sin. What does He see? He sees ‘the Wicked Land. He sees ‘a people always under the wrath of the Lord’ (1:4). He looks at what Christ has done for us – ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’; ‘While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’; ‘Christ died for our sins’ (1 Timothy 1:15; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3). God looks upon us in Christ – and everything is so very different: ‘God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Corinthians 5:21). There, at the Cross of Christ, we hear God’s Word of love – ‘I have loved you’; ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love’ (1:2; Jeremiah 31:3).      

Malachi 3:1-4:6  –  God calls us to be His faithful people. He says, ‘Return to Me’. He promises to bless those who return to Him: ‘I will return to you’. God calls us to honour Him with our ‘tithes and offerings: ‘Bring the whole tithe (tenth) into the storehouse…’. When we honour the Lord, He has promised that He will honour us: ‘Those who honour Me, I will honour’. When we honour the Lord with our obedience, He promises that He will honour us with His blessing. He promises to ‘open the windows of heaven and pour down for us an overflowing blessing’. Satan – ‘the devourer’ – will be defeated. We will ‘serve God’. He will take ‘delight’ in us. We will be His ‘treasured possession’ (3:8-12,17-19; 1 Samuel 2:30).     

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An additional note on tithing
After this article was posted, I received an important comment from Dr Russell Kelly. Rather than posting Dr Kelly’s detailed comment on this blog, I have decided to add my own note. Dr Kelly has discussed, at length, the question, “Should the Church teach Tithing?”. He has reached the conclusion that “Tithing is not a Christian Doctrine”.
Also of interest is Stuart Murray’s book, “Beyond Tithing” (Paternoster Press, 2000). Murray adopts a similar position (though his exposition of Scripture is less detailed than Russ Kelly’s). In his discussion of Malachi 3:8-12, he writes, “Tithing is an important, although somewhat obscure component in the worship life and social legislation of the nation of Israel. Nothing more. … It is not a fundamental principle that can or should be transferred from its Old Testament context into the experience of Christians and churches today.” (p. 88).
I appreciate the work of Russ Kelly and Stuart Murray. I hope that, by adding this note, I have indicated that I am aware of the importance of taking great care in our interpretation of Malachi’s words regarding tithing. Whatever our answer to the question, “Should the Church teach Tithing?”, I hope that all of us will hear the words of Malachi as a call to consecrate ourselves fully to the Lord our God.