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. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. Malachi 3: 10-12 When the children of Israel who have come back from their Baby­lonian captivity we already settled in their town and farms, they be­gan to have problems. Their crops were not flourishing, their flocks of sheep and goat and other domes­tic animals were dying of diseases, and their businesses were failing, drought came because rains did not come, and locusts came to eat what little plant managed to grow. The Prophet Haggai told the peo­ple bluntly, “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each

of you is busy with your own house. 10 There­fore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”” Haggai 1: 9- 11.

Prophet Malachi had a more se­rious charges against them. The space is too short to detail all of them, but he said that the Lord is charging with robbery and theft apart from treachery and injus­tice.. The people asked, “How did they rob God?”. In Malachi 3: 8, 9 we read, 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.”NIV. For a solution, God said,
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. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. Malachi 3: 10-12. NIV

Abraham gave tithes of the spoils they got after defeating the kings that raided Sodom and Gomorrah, and took Lot. Abraham’s nephew with them. He gave tithes to Priest-King Melchezedek, of Salem. He was the priest of the Most High God .In Genesis 14: 18-20 is recorded 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And praise be to God Most High, who deliv­ered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.“

To the children of Israel, God commanded them to give a tenth of all their increase and give to the Levites who have no inheritance because they belong to the Lord. They are the ones who serve in the sanctuary. Deuteronomy 14: 22, 28; 26: 12 2 “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. 23 And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.” “When you have fin­ished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year—the year of tithing—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled, 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.” So tithing has been established in the Bible for the support of the clergy because of the work they do. So the priests, the pas­tors, the rabbis, and the imams are all entitled to receive a tenth of our income because they do the work of the Lord.

God promises blessings when we are faithful in giving our tithes. Go back agai to our opening text and read what God has promised to do. Jesus did not abolish tithing while he was on earth. He said to the clergy at that time, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” Matthew 23: 23, 24

Do you know that Ford and Col­gate paid tithes? There are many others who were faithful in giving tithes and they give testimonies of how the Lord has blessed them and kept their crops from being destroyed by natural calamities like typhoons, hurricanes, locusts, and others. By the way, you could also claim them for charitable deductions when you pay your in­come tax. Just keep your receipts from your church.

So remember, the Lord keeps His promises. Let us not be rob­bing God by not giving our tithes and offerings for He said, “ Prove Me now “ (KJV) “Test Me in this” 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. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.” Malachi 3: 10-12

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