“‘You are under a curse — your whole nation — because you are robbing me.
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…’
Malachi 3:9-10
Last time we saw the fantastic news that Yahweh does not change, and that His people were robbing Him by not bringing a tenth of their produce nor ensuring the priests were given the heave offering. Today we see God’s challenge if they would just obey.
“You are cursed with a curse…”
Cursed is the verb arar, and curse in “with a curse” is meerah, the noun which comes from arar. There’s just no getting around that this means curse. And this is not the first time we’ve heard about a curse in Malachi.
Remember, Yahweh had spelled out up front how obedience would yield blessing, and disobedience a curse on themselves and their land. This section is simply reiterating how they are currently reaping what they’ve sown, even in their return from exile. And why?
“…for you have robbed Me, this whole nation…”
We began exploring the concept of robbing last time – this word qaba, meaning “rob, take, spoil; to cover, defraud.” You probably remember, it not only implied taking what is not yours, but also spoiling what is someone else’s. In this case the tithe and heave offering for the priests.
Now for the solution:
“Bring all the tithes into my house, the storehouse…”
Bring is bo – to come in, come, go in, go; abide, apply, attain, be, befall, besiege, bring forth, in; House is bayith; and Storehouse is otsar – a treasury, storehouse, cellar.
We have seen this word for storehouse before when we found out the men who had been appointed over it. God’s challenge is to bring every last tenth of every last crop and herd into this storage unit. And why?
“…that there may be food in my house…”
Simple as that. As much as the Most High has been tough on the priests for accepting unacceptable offerings, He is still ensuring they have their portion under His law. This was literally their food to eat.
Now for the challenge of it all.
“…now try me in this,’ says Jehovah-sabaoth, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven…’
Here now is na – I (we) pray, now; Ah, beg, beseech, implore, O may, please; a particle of entreaty or exhortation. The phrase try me is bachan – to examine, try, prove, test, tempt, to test (especially metals); and open is pathach – appear, break forth, draw out, let go free, engrave, loose self, be, be set opening, to open wide, to loosen, begin, plough, carve ungird, unstop, have vent.
Windows is arubbah – a lattice, window, sluice; chimney, floodgates; from arab – to lie in wait. And heaven is shamayim – heaven, sky; astrologers, horizons; Dual of shameh meaning to be lofty; the sky, perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve.
I beg of you, my children, test me like metal, as I have tested you. See if I won’t break wide open the floodgates of heaven.
I love, love this. Because if we’re honest, the main reason we don’t give God the first and best is we do not genuinely believe He has our best interest at heart. He is holding out on us, doesn’t understand our needs or anxieties, and basically wants us to be unhappy. So He speaks to this. Test me, try me, give it a shot, and see if I don’t open the floodgates.
The testing Him as metal made me think of this section from a few weeks ago:
“...flux [is] any substance introduced in the smelting of ores to promote fluidity and to remove objectionable impurities…Bleach, fire, soap, flux: all used to remove impurities. You don’t just take out impurities for no reason; you do it so what is left is pure.”
Don’t you love it? He wants them to test Him like they would a metal to remove impurities – only He has none! Zero. He’s perfectly pure and He wants them to trust that as He implores them to bring the whole tithe.
Reminds me of Peter’s response in how the disciples had left everything to follow Jesus:
“Then Peter spoke up, ‘We have left everything to follow you!‘
‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields — along with persecutions — and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.’”
Mark 10:28-31
Basically? Anything you have to sacrifice is worth nothing compared to the freedom obedience brings you.
And finally for the over and above:
“‘…and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be enough room to receive it.'”
Here pour out is ruq – arm, cast out, draw out, make empty, pour forth out; (see riq – to make empty, empty out, to no purpose, vanity, figuratively, a worthless thing; adverbially, in vain — empty, to no purpose.)
Blessing is our familiar berakah – benefit, generous, gift, peace; and not be is beli – wearing out; because, lack, no more, overflows, without; From balah – failure, without. And enough (room) is day – sufficiency, enough; ability, often, sufficient, what you need, able; used chiefly with preposition in phrases (as in “enough room” – room is implied only).
I will not only open the floodgates of heaven, I will empty them by pouring out generous gifts and peace. So much so that you will have no more room to receive it.
Remember, God making our wildest dreams come true this side of heaven is not His goal – especially if it would not conform us into the image of Jesus. And we will continue to see as we travel on in Malachi who and what this over-abundant of blessing is for.
But for now, can we each pause at the start of this new year and ask ourselves where we’re holding back from God? Then let’s confess to Him our fears about why. And rather than stay there, let’s make a plan for letting go, walking in faith, and trusting Him with the results. Based on the authority of His Living Word, only blessing will result.