Dr. D's Devotional
Title: Finances 37
by Dennis Reschke
Finances 37
Mal 3:10-13 "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that
there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says 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. And I will
rebuke the devourer (satan) 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, says the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you
blessed: for you shall be a delightsome land, says the LORD of hosts. Your
words have been stout (harsh) against me".
The tithe is a tenth, by definition.
There was no such concept in the mind of the Jewish culture back then, in
reference to the tithe, of net and gross. The difference between the two
is the amount going to insurance, the government, etc., all of which benefit
you indirectly. When you put your money down for anything, it gives you
authority in that area. For instance, if you purchase an item at the store,
you have the authority to complain to the manager if the product is defective.
You have less authority to do so if you had not purchased it. The same is
true in regards to paying into the government through taxes. It gives us
legal authority to pray in the spirit for our leaders who use those taxes
to pay for government services. You may not agree with the decisions being
made but praise God we can change things through prayer.
A storehouse
contains food and things that provide and sustain us for living. In spiritual
terms, I think this passage implies we should give our tithe to the church
or organization which feeds us spiritually. If your church doesn't fulfill
this function, I believe you should prayerfully consider whether you should
be tithing there. Too many dead works in the Body of Christ are being fed
through tithes. They suck the Body dry of life. They should die. Be led
by the spirit on this. Ask God.
The "windows of heaven" is suggestive
of revelation. Revelation of the kingdom is a prayer Paul continually prayed
for various churches. Eph. 1:17,18 "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that you may know...". "Know", again, is suggestive of revelation. We need
a revelation of what has already been given (2Pet 1:3). All of Paul's prayers
in the epistles can be characterized asking God for revelation regarding
of they were in Christ Jesus and what the nature of God is.
Finally, this passage ends with a rebuke. Their words were contradicting
God. They weren't saying what they were instructed to say in Deuteronomy
26 over their tithe. They weren't saying it because they didn't believe
it. Job 22:28 says, "You shall decree a thing and it will be established
to you." Mk 11:23 says we have what we say. Instead we are saying what we
have.
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