For what it's worth, here are my two mites on Malachi, because the miss-use of Mal 3:10 concerns me. First let me say that the book of Malachi, espeically 3:10, had everything to do with the people who were not giving the whole tithe and unblemished offerings, and nothing to do with those that were. To prove this we have to go back to the book of Haggai, where we find that in prosperity they were not giving the whole tithe. The House Of God had fallen into disarray.
Hag 1:5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways,
Hag 1:6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Hag 1:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.
Hag 1:8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
Hag 1:9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that lieth waste, while ye run every man to his own house.
Hag 1:10 Therefore for your sake the heaven is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
Hag 1:11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
So now we see that drought was brought on the land because of their failure to give the full tithe and pure offerings. Not only that, the priests were offering polluted bread and blemished sin offerings. And, again we see that this time, in their lack, they were not giving the whole tithe.
Hag 2:11 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
Hag 2:12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it become holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
Hag 2:13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
Hag 2:14 Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
Hag 2:15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:
Hag 2:16 Through all that time, when one came to an heap of twenty, there were but ten; when one came to the winefat for to draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty.
Mal 1:6 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?
Mal 1:7 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.
Mal 1:8 And when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, it is no evil! and when ye offer the lame and sick, it is no evil! Present it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee? or will he accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
So now we see in Mal 3, that when they bring the entire tithe and pure offering to the temple, Father will restore the rain from heaven to increase their crops, flocks, and herds.
Mal 3:6 For I the LORD change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Mal 3:7 From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return?
Mal 3:8 Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Mal 3:9 Ye are cursed with the curse; for ye rob me, even this whole nation.
Mal 3:10 Bring ye the whole tithe 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.
Mal 3:11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:12 And all nations shall call you happy: for ye shall he a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
The way Mal 3:10 is used today to raise funds is, in my mind, unapropriate. Personally, my giving of a tenth follows the guidelines laid down in Isaiah 58: 6-7
May God smile when He thinks of you :-)
