And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
When His people bring all the tithes into the storehouse to prove Him, He opens the windows of heaven with blessing beyond capacity to receive and rebukes the devourer so crops are not destroyed and vines do not drop fruit early. The condition is exact and complete obedience in returning the full tenth of all increase, by rich and poor alike, with no substituted gift or self-devised plan taking its place. The promised blessing is both temporal and spiritual, with protection, fruitful land, and the outpouring of His Spirit, fitting the faithful for larger trust. All nations shall then recognize them as favored and speak well of them, for their land is made pleasant, fruitful and delightful even to the Lord Himself. This is a plain, positive requirement of the Lord Himself that still stands and tests loyalty, and no one after light has come may disregard it as non-essential.
Place in Malachi's Appeal
The verse is the climax and completion of the call to bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there is provision and meat in God's house. To prove God in this is to meet His exact arrangement of rendering a tenth of all increase, with systematic benevolence carried out as faithfully by the wealthy as by the poorer classes. In response He opens the windows of heaven and pours out more blessing than can be received, so great there is not room enough to receive it. At the same time He rebukes the devourer so the fruits of the ground are not destroyed and the vine does not cast fruit before its time or drop it early in the field. Then obedient givers are recognized by all nations as blessed and made a delightsome land, regarded as favored because their land is made pleasant and fruitful. This faithful handling keeps the treasury constantly replenished, removes the need for repeated and urgent calls for means, and guards against an impoverished treasury and a backslidden church.
Robbing God in tithes and offerings by covetous retention and serving self brings a curse on the whole nation and withdrawal of blessing. Stopping that robbery and returning to Him by bringing all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse removes the curse, and giving back what He claims while relieving the necessities of brethren in poverty and distress secures the blessing. No substituted charity, gift, or self-devised averaging can take the place of exact tithing, while even those with small means who faithfully return what belongs to God secure His blessing and fitness for larger trust. Withholding what belongs to the Lord brings a curse, will be met in the judgment in a revelation of the charitable good that might have been done, and belongs to the chapter's contrast between withholding and faithfulness.
The chapter is the plain requirement of the Lord Himself that all subjects of Christ's kingdom pay tithe, a plain, positive and clearly defined requirement for one's own good and for the good of others helped by the example. The whole chapter is to be read carefully and every specification followed out through love and fear of God as a faithful steward, with its instruction studied and practiced. Its promise still stands and will be fulfilled exactly to His people if they faithfully obey His directions, proving whether servants will prove faithful and testing gratitude and loyalty. It warns those who deal falsely and oppress others, brings sure visitation on disobedience as robbery toward God which no one can afford, and after light has come no one should venture to disregard God's requirement as non-essential, with those who refuse to comply dealt with in the manner described in the chapter. Faithfully paying the tithe into God's treasury provides for gospel laborers and the ministry and gives abundant supply to encourage men to enter and continue ministerial work, while withholding, diverting, or using it for other lines leaves the treasury depleted.
The verse belongs to a contrast between those who appear favored in the world and those whom God favors because they honor Him. God's people will ultimately be distinguished as favored by Him, while the proud and wicked face judgment.
Condition of Faithful Giving
When God's people return to Him by faithfully bringing tithes and offerings into the storehouse, He blesses and protects them and their land, making crops fruitful, preserving produce from destruction, and causing surrounding peoples to call them blessed and their land delightful. This connection between obedience in giving and blessing on the land holds for every church, family and individual that stops robbing God and serves Him rather than self, and it brings prosperity in both temporal and spiritual things. The instruction is given for man's good, to turn the life from sin to righteousness and to advance the preaching of the gospel through the means thus supplied.
The condition is exact and complete obedience in bringing the full tenth of all increase and of all possessed and received, not one-fourth or one-half, carried out by wealthy and poor alike. No substituted charity, gift, or self-devised averaging can take its place, and dishonest, covetous retention forfeits blessing in this life and leaves the unfaithful steward under condemnation. Even those with small means secure blessing and fitness for larger trust by faithfully returning what belongs to God, so that the treasury is constantly replenished and supplied for the work of salvation.
Acceptable giving is free, willing, glad, sincere and honest, expressing appreciation for mercies and acknowledging that all belongs to God and that intellect and all capabilities are owed to Him, following the example of Abraham in paying tithe. There is no safety in withholding God's own portion, for to withhold the faithful tithe which is the Lord's portion is to rob God. Those who meet the condition of bringing all the tithes to sustain His appointed ministers and advance His kingdom receive opened blessing with more than can be received, rebuke of the devourer, and preservation of the fruits of ground and vine.
The promises are fulfilled when those who have received great light return to God, humble themselves before the Lord, confess sins, meet the conditions of His covenant, and serve Him in sincerity. God does not bless those who depart from truth and righteousness and keep robbing Him while coming to His house expecting blessing and exaltation, and such will murmur and complain wondering why they are not exalted as others are. Blessings are given for obedience and curses for disobedience, and withholding tithes brings a curse that will be met in the judgment in a revelation of the charitable good that might have been done in relieving the necessities of brethren in poverty and distress.
Outsiders recognize God's people as blessed when they show true godliness by loving God supremely and neighbor as self through personal, direct care for the poor and suffering as Christ did. This means feeding the hungry, bringing the cast-out poor into the house, covering the naked, loosing wicked bands, undoing heavy burdens, freeing the oppressed, breaking every yoke, and taking homeless orphans into Christian homes with Christlike self-denial and self-sacrifice, rather than depending on institutions or doing the work by proxy. So done, it gives evidence to the world and causes light to shine from every Christian home to lead the ignorant to the source of all knowledge.
Content of Promised Blessing
God pledges to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessing so great there is not room enough to receive it, standing behind the promise with assurance so positive it leaves no room for mistake. He invites His people to pray and to prove Him, and His resources cannot be exhausted, for His word is Yea and Amen in Christ. This overflowing gift follows bringing all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in His house, and it is the completion of the blessing promised to faithful stewards. Systematic benevolence universally adopted keeps the treasury constantly replenished and guards against repeated urgent calls for means.
He rebukes the devourer so the fruits of the ground are not destroyed and the vine does not cast fruit before its time in the field. Crops are protected from destruction and premature loss, and the faithful are kept from loss. Stopping robbery of God in tithes and offerings removes the curse on the whole nation and brings this protection in its place. Then other peoples regard His people as favored because their land has been made pleasant and fruitful.
The blessing includes prosperity in temporal and spiritual things, both financial blessing and spiritual blessing. It brings protection, fruitful land, God's power working for good, and the outpouring of His Spirit, turning the soul from sin to righteousness. It is not a shower of money from heaven but God's care for those He can safely bless as His chosen ones. Even those with small means who faithfully return what belongs to God secure His blessing and fitness for larger trust.
Disobedience withholds the blessing and permits destructive work, for God permits Satan to do destructive work when stewards refuse faithfulness. Withholding tithes brings a curse and condemnation as unfaithful stewards in this life, with loss not only of what was withheld from God but also of what was committed as one's own. Dishonesty and robbing God brings the curse of heaven and failure to gain eternal life, to be met in the judgment in a revelation of the charitable good that might have been done.
Witness to the Nations
All nations will call God's people blessed when they faithfully return the tithes and offerings that belong to Him and obey Him, for He then blesses and protects their produce and their land. That calling blessed means other peoples regard them as favored, speak well of them, and see God's power working on their behalf for people He can safely bless as His chosen ones. This follows His invitation to stop robbing Him in tithes and offerings, which brings a curse on the whole nation, and instead to bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there is provision in His house, prove Him, receive blessing beyond capacity to receive, and have the devourer rebuked so the fruits of the ground are not destroyed and the vine does not drop fruit early. The blessing so recognized includes prosperity in temporal and spiritual things, with care for crops and protection from destruction.
They shall be a delightsome land, for the Lord makes their land pleasant, fruitful, pleasing and delightful when they return to Him what He calls for in tithes and offerings. Their land is made fruitful and delightful even to the Lord Himself, acknowledged as blessed and favored by others because the Lord of hosts has made it pleasant. These promises are fulfilled for those who have received great light when they humbly confess sins and do not depart from truth and righteousness, with blessings given for obedience and curses for disobedience. The resources thus returned are used to advance the preaching of the gospel.
This worldwide recognition is an encouraging promise of God's favor and abundant provision that prevents loss of the land's produce. When God's people bring the full tithe and offerings and receive His blessing with protection from crop loss, other nations recognize them as blessed and their land as delightful.
Charge for the Present
What is returned to God puts meat in His house and supplies the treasury for the work of salvation, providing for gospel laborers and the ministry and advancing the preaching of the gospel throughout the world. Faithfulness in paying the tithe into His treasury gives abundant supply to encourage men to enter and continue ministerial work, while selfish use of the tithe for other lines leaves the treasury depleted. Such giving acknowledges mercy and provision and is itself abundantly blessed. When the treasury is thus supplied it does not fall into depletion, the church is kept from backsliding, and there is no need for repeated urgent calls for means.
Every convert and every newly raised church is to be decidedly taught this requirement of tithes and offerings, for it is binding on every soul now. Ministers and all workers in connection with the church are to read verse 12 with the preceding verse to the church, teaching every member to pay an honest tithe, warning against robbery toward God, and training people not to bring themselves under curse and censure. The words are direct and explicit, calling for the full tithe and not one-fourth or one-half, so that there may be meat in God's house and the challenge to prove God and receive the opened heaven may be met. Believers are to become educators in this truth, and when all come into harmonious action in this faithfulness they will see the salvation of God.
The promise stands for the present time when probation is fast closing and the great day of the Lord is at hand, to arouse every soul to give means for sustaining foreign missions so the last message of mercy is not restricted. Receiving the blessing requires cooperating with God in saving souls, helping plant His standard where the truth has never been heard, and practicing self-denial in outlay with no money laid out unnecessarily so the work in foreign fields may go forward. Those who keep robbing God in tithes and offerings while expecting exaltation cannot come to His house expecting His blessing, but blessing and exaltation come to those who stop robbing Him and serve Him in sincerity.
Keeping this injunction is for man's good, to turn the soul from sin to righteousness and to do good by life and example. Returning a certain portion to His treasury acknowledges that all that men enjoy comes from God, confesses dependence on Him and accountability to Him, and answers His goodness and mercy with proof of gratitude and loyalty. The means thus provided give support for His house and are to be invested in missionary work by stewards and co-laborers with Christ who have examined their business relations with the Creator and use entrusted possessions and gifts for His work. Disregarding His plain claims and appropriating for personal use the portion He has reserved proves unfaithful stewardship.
Withholding tithes brings a curse and will be met in the judgment in a revelation of the charitable good that might have been done for brethren in poverty and distress. After attention has been called to this subject no one should venture to disregard the requirement as non-essential, and those who refuse to comply with the claims will be dealt with in the manner described in the chapter.
When His people bring all the tithes into the storehouse to prove Him, He opens the windows of heaven with blessing beyond capacity to receive and rebukes the devourer so crops are not destroyed and vines do not drop fruit early. The condition is exact and complete obedience in returning the full tenth of all increase, by rich and poor alike, with no substituted gift or self-devised plan taking its place. The promised blessing is both temporal and spiritual, with protection, fruitful land, and the outpouring of His Spirit, fitting the faithful for larger trust. All nations shall then recognize them as favored and speak well of them, for their land is made pleasant, fruitful and delightful even to the Lord Himself. This is a plain, positive requirement of the Lord Himself that still stands and tests loyalty, and no one after light has come may disregard it as non-essential.
Place in Malachi's Appeal
The verse is the climax and completion of the call to bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there is provision and meat in God's house. To prove God in this is to meet His exact arrangement of rendering a tenth of all increase, with systematic benevolence carried out as faithfully by the wealthy as by the poorer classes. In response He opens the windows of heaven and pours out more blessing than can be received, so great there is not room enough to receive it. At the same time He rebukes the devourer so the fruits of the ground are not destroyed and the vine does not cast fruit before its time or drop it early in the field. Then obedient givers are recognized by all nations as blessed and made a delightsome land, regarded as favored because their land is made pleasant and fruitful. This faithful handling keeps the treasury constantly replenished, removes the need for repeated and urgent calls for means, and guards against an impoverished treasury and a backslidden church.
Robbing God in tithes and offerings by covetous retention and serving self brings a curse on the whole nation and withdrawal of blessing. Stopping that robbery and returning to Him by bringing all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse removes the curse, and giving back what He claims while relieving the necessities of brethren in poverty and distress secures the blessing. No substituted charity, gift, or self-devised averaging can take the place of exact tithing, while even those with small means who faithfully return what belongs to God secure His blessing and fitness for larger trust. Withholding what belongs to the Lord brings a curse, will be met in the judgment in a revelation of the charitable good that might have been done, and belongs to the chapter's contrast between withholding and faithfulness.
The chapter is the plain requirement of the Lord Himself that all subjects of Christ's kingdom pay tithe, a plain, positive and clearly defined requirement for one's own good and for the good of others helped by the example. The whole chapter is to be read carefully and every specification followed out through love and fear of God as a faithful steward, with its instruction studied and practiced. Its promise still stands and will be fulfilled exactly to His people if they faithfully obey His directions, proving whether servants will prove faithful and testing gratitude and loyalty. It warns those who deal falsely and oppress others, brings sure visitation on disobedience as robbery toward God which no one can afford, and after light has come no one should venture to disregard God's requirement as non-essential, with those who refuse to comply dealt with in the manner described in the chapter. Faithfully paying the tithe into God's treasury provides for gospel laborers and the ministry and gives abundant supply to encourage men to enter and continue ministerial work, while withholding, diverting, or using it for other lines leaves the treasury depleted.
The verse belongs to a contrast between those who appear favored in the world and those whom God favors because they honor Him. God's people will ultimately be distinguished as favored by Him, while the proud and wicked face judgment.
Condition of Faithful Giving
When God's people return to Him by faithfully bringing tithes and offerings into the storehouse, He blesses and protects them and their land, making crops fruitful, preserving produce from destruction, and causing surrounding peoples to call them blessed and their land delightful. This connection between obedience in giving and blessing on the land holds for every church, family and individual that stops robbing God and serves Him rather than self, and it brings prosperity in both temporal and spiritual things. The instruction is given for man's good, to turn the life from sin to righteousness and to advance the preaching of the gospel through the means thus supplied.
The condition is exact and complete obedience in bringing the full tenth of all increase and of all possessed and received, not one-fourth or one-half, carried out by wealthy and poor alike. No substituted charity, gift, or self-devised averaging can take its place, and dishonest, covetous retention forfeits blessing in this life and leaves the unfaithful steward under condemnation. Even those with small means secure blessing and fitness for larger trust by faithfully returning what belongs to God, so that the treasury is constantly replenished and supplied for the work of salvation.
Acceptable giving is free, willing, glad, sincere and honest, expressing appreciation for mercies and acknowledging that all belongs to God and that intellect and all capabilities are owed to Him, following the example of Abraham in paying tithe. There is no safety in withholding God's own portion, for to withhold the faithful tithe which is the Lord's portion is to rob God. Those who meet the condition of bringing all the tithes to sustain His appointed ministers and advance His kingdom receive opened blessing with more than can be received, rebuke of the devourer, and preservation of the fruits of ground and vine.
The promises are fulfilled when those who have received great light return to God, humble themselves before the Lord, confess sins, meet the conditions of His covenant, and serve Him in sincerity. God does not bless those who depart from truth and righteousness and keep robbing Him while coming to His house expecting blessing and exaltation, and such will murmur and complain wondering why they are not exalted as others are. Blessings are given for obedience and curses for disobedience, and withholding tithes brings a curse that will be met in the judgment in a revelation of the charitable good that might have been done in relieving the necessities of brethren in poverty and distress.
Outsiders recognize God's people as blessed when they show true godliness by loving God supremely and neighbor as self through personal, direct care for the poor and suffering as Christ did. This means feeding the hungry, bringing the cast-out poor into the house, covering the naked, loosing wicked bands, undoing heavy burdens, freeing the oppressed, breaking every yoke, and taking homeless orphans into Christian homes with Christlike self-denial and self-sacrifice, rather than depending on institutions or doing the work by proxy. So done, it gives evidence to the world and causes light to shine from every Christian home to lead the ignorant to the source of all knowledge.
Content of Promised Blessing
God pledges to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessing so great there is not room enough to receive it, standing behind the promise with assurance so positive it leaves no room for mistake. He invites His people to pray and to prove Him, and His resources cannot be exhausted, for His word is Yea and Amen in Christ. This overflowing gift follows bringing all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in His house, and it is the completion of the blessing promised to faithful stewards. Systematic benevolence universally adopted keeps the treasury constantly replenished and guards against repeated urgent calls for means.
He rebukes the devourer so the fruits of the ground are not destroyed and the vine does not cast fruit before its time in the field. Crops are protected from destruction and premature loss, and the faithful are kept from loss. Stopping robbery of God in tithes and offerings removes the curse on the whole nation and brings this protection in its place. Then other peoples regard His people as favored because their land has been made pleasant and fruitful.
The blessing includes prosperity in temporal and spiritual things, both financial blessing and spiritual blessing. It brings protection, fruitful land, God's power working for good, and the outpouring of His Spirit, turning the soul from sin to righteousness. It is not a shower of money from heaven but God's care for those He can safely bless as His chosen ones. Even those with small means who faithfully return what belongs to God secure His blessing and fitness for larger trust.
Disobedience withholds the blessing and permits destructive work, for God permits Satan to do destructive work when stewards refuse faithfulness. Withholding tithes brings a curse and condemnation as unfaithful stewards in this life, with loss not only of what was withheld from God but also of what was committed as one's own. Dishonesty and robbing God brings the curse of heaven and failure to gain eternal life, to be met in the judgment in a revelation of the charitable good that might have been done.
Witness to the Nations
All nations will call God's people blessed when they faithfully return the tithes and offerings that belong to Him and obey Him, for He then blesses and protects their produce and their land. That calling blessed means other peoples regard them as favored, speak well of them, and see God's power working on their behalf for people He can safely bless as His chosen ones. This follows His invitation to stop robbing Him in tithes and offerings, which brings a curse on the whole nation, and instead to bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there is provision in His house, prove Him, receive blessing beyond capacity to receive, and have the devourer rebuked so the fruits of the ground are not destroyed and the vine does not drop fruit early. The blessing so recognized includes prosperity in temporal and spiritual things, with care for crops and protection from destruction.
They shall be a delightsome land, for the Lord makes their land pleasant, fruitful, pleasing and delightful when they return to Him what He calls for in tithes and offerings. Their land is made fruitful and delightful even to the Lord Himself, acknowledged as blessed and favored by others because the Lord of hosts has made it pleasant. These promises are fulfilled for those who have received great light when they humbly confess sins and do not depart from truth and righteousness, with blessings given for obedience and curses for disobedience. The resources thus returned are used to advance the preaching of the gospel.
This worldwide recognition is an encouraging promise of God's favor and abundant provision that prevents loss of the land's produce. When God's people bring the full tithe and offerings and receive His blessing with protection from crop loss, other nations recognize them as blessed and their land as delightful.
Charge for the Present
What is returned to God puts meat in His house and supplies the treasury for the work of salvation, providing for gospel laborers and the ministry and advancing the preaching of the gospel throughout the world. Faithfulness in paying the tithe into His treasury gives abundant supply to encourage men to enter and continue ministerial work, while selfish use of the tithe for other lines leaves the treasury depleted. Such giving acknowledges mercy and provision and is itself abundantly blessed. When the treasury is thus supplied it does not fall into depletion, the church is kept from backsliding, and there is no need for repeated urgent calls for means.
Every convert and every newly raised church is to be decidedly taught this requirement of tithes and offerings, for it is binding on every soul now. Ministers and all workers in connection with the church are to read verse 12 with the preceding verse to the church, teaching every member to pay an honest tithe, warning against robbery toward God, and training people not to bring themselves under curse and censure. The words are direct and explicit, calling for the full tithe and not one-fourth or one-half, so that there may be meat in God's house and the challenge to prove God and receive the opened heaven may be met. Believers are to become educators in this truth, and when all come into harmonious action in this faithfulness they will see the salvation of God.
The promise stands for the present time when probation is fast closing and the great day of the Lord is at hand, to arouse every soul to give means for sustaining foreign missions so the last message of mercy is not restricted. Receiving the blessing requires cooperating with God in saving souls, helping plant His standard where the truth has never been heard, and practicing self-denial in outlay with no money laid out unnecessarily so the work in foreign fields may go forward. Those who keep robbing God in tithes and offerings while expecting exaltation cannot come to His house expecting His blessing, but blessing and exaltation come to those who stop robbing Him and serve Him in sincerity.
Keeping this injunction is for man's good, to turn the soul from sin to righteousness and to do good by life and example. Returning a certain portion to His treasury acknowledges that all that men enjoy comes from God, confesses dependence on Him and accountability to Him, and answers His goodness and mercy with proof of gratitude and loyalty. The means thus provided give support for His house and are to be invested in missionary work by stewards and co-laborers with Christ who have examined their business relations with the Creator and use entrusted possessions and gifts for His work. Disregarding His plain claims and appropriating for personal use the portion He has reserved proves unfaithful stewardship.
Withholding tithes brings a curse and will be met in the judgment in a revelation of the charitable good that might have been done for brethren in poverty and distress. After attention has been called to this subject no one should venture to disregard the requirement as non-essential, and those who refuse to comply with the claims will be dealt with in the manner described in the chapter.