Drives me ***NUTTY*** when pastors use this verse as a pre-amble to collecting tithes.
Malachi 3:9-10
9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 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.
The OT tithe was 23.3% (see ref below).
The OT tithe was crops/food (not money).
The OT tithe was for landowners ONLY!
A curse wielding OT verse spoken to disobedient covenant bound farmers, does NOT apply to NT believers who hear and give from THE SPIRIT as opposed to a mandated set %.
Yes, God loves a cheerful giver.
Yes, God blesses those who bless.
Yes, God honors giving of time, self, and dollars.
Yes, God has hard wired us as natural givers.
Yes, God will amaze you with His goodness.
No, God will **not** curse you if you don't drop hard cash into the offering plate.
But. We must remember that Jesus as first fruits WAS the tithe and that we too as "a kind of first fruits" are also the tithe (James 1:18).
You are the temple of His Spirit.
You are His church.
You are the priest.
You are the offering.
You are the living sacrifice.
You are the tithe.
The NT tithe *isn't* 10% (this comes from flat rent on property during the middle ages).
The NT tithe is 100%.
It's everything.
It's all of you AND your wallet.
(See Acts 4:32-36)
We were bought with a price and we belong to another to bear fruit (Romans 7:1-4). And. Our stuff belongs to another!
We give from our wallets, giftings, and hearts as led by the Spirit. That might be every last dime you have - or it might be spending time with the hurting and broken.
If the brick and mortar spent more time teaching the body of Christ to HEAR from God instead of a mandate - the results just might blow the doors off the kingdom. And. Honestly. Everything God asks us to supply into the body of Christ, HE has already provided. God never directs without supply.
We don't give until it hurts, it simply hurts not to give.
Truly, God didn’t set us free from the burden or curse of the law by His Spirit, to then legislate our financial giving. If you aren't free *to* give, you aren't really free at all! Yes. 2% bound, is still fully bound. For FREEDOM you have been SET 100% free! Gal 5:1
Folks. The offering plate isn't your RIGHT standing .... the offering upon the tree is!
Hear. Follow. Bear fruit.
Reference:
Tithe 1: Numbers 18:21-26
Tithe 2: Deuteronomy 14:22-27
Tithe 3: Deuteronomy 14:28-29