Articles
“Will A Man Rob God?” (Malachi 3:8-10)
If you were going to burglarize a person or place what would be some people or places to avoid? Three suggestions: Do not rob someone stronger and more powerful than yourself (Black belts, ninjas, Navy seals). Do not steal from a place with high security cameras, metal detectors, and facial recognition (banks, government buildings). Do not rob a place with weapons and prepared security teams capable of rendering justice (police stations, Brinks trucks, gun shops). This seems like common sense advice but, according to God’s Word, there are religious people who violate these principles regularly by robbing God Himself!
God is described as All-Powerful, All-Knowing, and All-Capable of rendering perfect judgment yet many try to foolishly rob Him! Notice the text of Malachi 3:8-10.
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it”
(Malachi 3:8-10).
God has made each of us stewards of His world in this life. We are to be stewards of our earthly treasures, time, and talents (Matthew 25:14). Ancient Israel failed in this regard, taking from God for themselves, and the prophet Malachi exposed them in this text. Likewise, when we fail to give God what belongs to Him, as part of our stewardship, we “rob God.”
Consider three ways an individual’s choices might lead him to rob God. We might rob God by making costly, personal financial choices which keep us from giving back to God (Proverbs 22:7). For example, we rack up credit card debt, multiple loans, and spend frivolously. When the debts we incur cripple us from using our funds for God’s glory we take money from God to put it in our own pockets. Secondly, we may rob God when we refuse to use our income to help the needy, as God has commanded (Ephesians 4:28). Thirdly, one can rob God by not giving towards the collection on the first day of the week—a command (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). God has an expectation for how we use His blessings. “Will a man rob God?” Better think twice.
