Return To Me
Malachi 3:7-12
December 4, 2022
We have been studying through this short and potent book of Malachi
And the issue at hand is abundantly clear.
God’s people have become INDIFFERENT to the things of God.
• They were bringing the lame for sacrifice…
• They were ignoring the word of God…
• They were sinning against their brother…
• They were reassuring the wicked…
The IRONIC thing about all of this is that even while in their indifference
They still maintained a desire for the Messiah to come.
One might say that they didn’t just suffer from indifference
But delusional indifference.
AND WE SAW THAT LAST WEEK.
• Where it was revealed that they were not ready for the Lord they sought.
• They were not ready for the messenger of the covenant they delighted in.
In fact, Malachi revealed that they were so unprepared for Him
That God would first have to send a messenger ahead of time
Just to clean them up for His coming.
And when the Lord finally would come,
• It could NOT YET be to destroy the wicked for if He did that, they would not
have survived.
• He would have to first come and purify His people and then He would be
able to bring judgment upon the wicked.
AND THE ENTIRE POINT is that these people thought they were ready for the coming of the Lord when the reality is that they were not.
THEY WERE INDIFFERENT.
And God has been very direct in laying out that burden before them.
THIS MORNING GOD RENDERS HIS SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM.
(The problem, as you will see, is that in their indifference
They aren’t all that interested in the solution God offers)
But, none the less, this morning we learn the CURE FOR INDIFFERENCE.
This morning we learn what to do if we find ourselves in a state of apathy.
And it is not a surprising solution.
So let’s break this text down into 4 points this morning and we’ll see
God appeal to His people to leave their apathy and indifference behind.
#1 THE CALL
Malachi 3:7
As we pick up here in verse 7 it is important that you remember
THE SCENE OF THE DAY.
• We have a people here who (in some sense) are eager for the Lord to come.
• They want Him to return.
It was from the prophet Ezekiel that we witnessed that horrific departure of God’s presence from His temple around 150 years prior to this account.
Ezekiel 11:22-25 “Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen left me. Then I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.”
That was the final departure of God’s glory from the temple in Jerusalem.
Shortly after that Nebuchadnezzar would sack the city and burn that temple.
Israel would then complete her stay in Babylonian exile.
• However, after their time was complete
• Haggai and Zerubbabel and Zechariah would return and rebuild God’s temple. (Which was about 100 years prior to the time of Malachi)
And since that time the Jewish people have been waiting for 1 thing.
THEY’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THE RETURN OF THE LORD.
(In fact, their impatience may have even been a root cause of their indifference)
They could not understand why He had not come back.
Malachi showed THE PROBLEM last week revealing that they were not ready for Him.
And continuing with that idea God now gives THE SOLUTION.
“Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of hosts.”
See, they thought that by coming back to the land
And rebuilding the temple that they had returned to God.
Apparently from God’s perspective, even though back in the land, They had yet to truly return to Him.
SO GOD TELLS THEM ONCE AGAIN TO “RETURN TO ME”
It’s really quite simple.
When you determine to return to loving and serving and obeying Me,
Then “I will return to you”.
And here is what you NEED TO KNOW this morning.
THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOD’S SIMPLE REQUEST
Notice how Malachi starts this verse?
“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them.”
In other words, this is not a new issue.
• This has been the issue from the beginning.
• Your fathers struggled with this.
• All I ever wanted was for them to love Me with all their heart and to obey My commands.
• I just wanted them to be Mine and Mine alone,
• And that has always seemed to be too much for them.
We remember the golden calf incident where God first called them a stubborn and rebellious people.
And then after 40 years wandering in the wilderness, just before Moses died, he said this:
Deuteronomy 31:27-29 “For I know your rebellion and your stubbornness; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the LORD; how much more, then, after my death? “Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. “For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”
All God ever wanted was for His people
To return to Him and to love and serve Him.
AND ISRAEL NEVER WOULD.
Even in the days of the prophets before the exile the message was the same.
Isaiah 55:1-2 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.”
Amos 5:4 “For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel, “Seek Me that you may live.”
Hosea 5:15 “I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
And ultimately God said, “Fine I’m sending you to Babylon for 70 years until you learn to seek Me.”
Jeremiah 29:10-13 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
And now 100 years after the exile, Israel still hasn’t learned her lesson.
In fact, we could carry this all the way into the New Testament.
• Jesus will come and offer salvation, but instead of seeking Him they will crucify Him.
And when Peter stands to preach to those Jews in Jerusalem
Do you know what he’ll say?
Acts 3:19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”
God must at times feel like a broken record.
He has been saying the same thing
Since the day He delivered His people from the iron hand of Egypt.
And still, even to this day, Israel has failed to grasp it.
BUT LET’S BE CLEAR,
It’s NOT only Israel that has at times struggled here.
Listen to Jesus as He speaks to the church at Ephesus.
Revelation 2:1-5 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.”
• They were backslidden.
• They had fallen into a type of indifference.
• Sure they loved the Scripture and they were doctrinally sound, but they had
drifted away from Christ.
And so even to them the call was the same.
He would say that in this state YOU AREN’T READY for Me to come.
At this point I’d be coming to “remove your lampstand”
“Return to Me, and I will return to you.”
James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
NOW CHURCH, THIS IS THE CURE FOR INDIFFERENCE.
This, incidentally, is what we call REVIVAL
When God’s people recognize that they have strayed
From their love and devotion to the Lord
And they repent and draw near to Him again.
THAT IS THE CALL.
That is what we are looking for.
In spite of all the problems that the Jewish people in Malachi’s day had,
Their solution was simple – RETURN.
Just like for the prodigal son – RETURN
That’s all they had to do.
Incidentally, 450 years later when John the Baptist shows up,
What is it that he’s going to tell them to do?
• John is going to tell them to repent.
• He’ll tell them to return to the Lord so that the Lord can return to them.
This isn’t some stray radical message from Malachi,
This has always been God’s message.
AND IT IS STILL TRUE TODAY.
If you have found yourself in any area of indifference,
Then repent and return to the Lord.
NOW, I WISH THE END OF THE VERSE SAID
“so the people repented and returned.”
But that is NOT what the end of the verse says.
“But you say, ‘How shall we return?’”
God gave them clear instruction regarding how to fix the problem
And they people aren’t interested in hearing it.
This is a statement of RESENTMENT.
This is a statement of DENIAL.
• “What do you mean, ‘Return’?”
As if to say, “We came back from Babylon; we returned to the land; we built the temple. We did return. We’re here, where are You?”
It’s another way of saying,
Whatever God means by “return”, they aren’t interested.
But the question has been asked.
“How shall we return?”
The Call
#2 THE CONFRONTATION
Malachi 3:8-9
They asked how to return and God gives them a direct response.
“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!”
His immediate answer is that for starters you can quit stealing from Me.
Now, to prove their attitude, we see that when God did get specific
They weren’t interested in hearing it.
“But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’”
• They are in a sense calling God an irrational liar.
• You don’t know what You’re talking about!
So God answers.
“In tithes and offerings.”
• You have not given Me the tithe you owe Me.
• You have not given Me the offerings you owe Me.
NOW STOP THERE for a second and let’s make sure we understand what is happening here.
1. God tells the people they need to return to Him
2. When the people ask, “How?”
3. God immediately goes to the subject of money.
THAT IS INTERESTING.
If you’ll remember John the Baptist will do the exact same thing.
Luke 3:10-14 “And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”
When the people wanted to know how to repent John immediately went to the issue of money.
• “share with him who has none”
• “collect no more than what you have been ordered to”
• “do not take money from anyone by force”
• “be content with your wages”
So the obvious question is:
IS GOD JUST INTERESTED IN MONEY?
There are people who think that.
(Don’t go to church they just want your money)
• Is that true?
• Is that what God wants?
NO
Psalms 50:10-12 “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains.”
You’ll find this interesting:
TURN TO: 1 CHRONICLES 29:6-19
David was gathering supplies and materials for Solomon to build the temple.
But did you see how amazed David was?
• And it wasn’t that the people gave.
• It was that the people were able to give.
• God had supplied all that they had given.
So the point is, NO – GOD IS NOT JUST INTERESTED IN MONEY.
He has all the money He’ll ever need.
So why, when the people want to know what to do, does God immediately tell them to quit stealing from Him and to start giving to Him again?
Jesus makes this abundantly clear.
Matthew 6:19-24 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
It’s not about money is it?
(Everything you’ll give to God will only come from the pot that He first gave to you)
It’s not about money.
What is it about? – THE HEART
When these people want to know what God wants,
God goes straight for their heart.
I WANT YOUR HEART!
WELL HOW DO YOU GIVE GOD YOUR HEART?
Open your wallet and I’ll show you.
Your heart is directly linked to your treasure.
Give God your treasure and your heart will go with it.
And now you’re even better understanding stories
• Like the Rich Young Ruler when Jesus asked him to sell everything.
• Or Zacchaeus and why Jesus pronounced him saved after he gave up his
money.
It’s not about the money, it’s about the heart.
That is why God goes for the money.
And He tells these people, “you are robbing from Me!”
WHAT, were they breaking into the temple and stealing from the poor box?
NO, they were failing to give the tithe He had commanded.
Those of you with little kids in church, you’ll understand this.
• We’ve all been little kids or had little kids who wanted to put money in the
offering plate when it goes by.
• And so you pull out a dollar or a $5 or whatever
• And you give it to your small child
• And you tell them to put it in the offering plate when it comes by.
Now, let’s say when the plate comes by they take your dollar
And instead they put it in their pocket.
WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT?
THAT’S STEALING.
They took what you gave them
And failed to do what you commanded them to do with it.
Do you realize every dollar you have is that which God has given you?
You may think yourself wise or a hard worker or an earner of your income, but don’t overlook things like your ability or your opportunity or even the land in which you live.
EVERYTHING YOU HAVE IS THAT WHICH GOD HAS GIVEN YOU.
Now, the deal God made with Israel is a simple one.
You owe me back 10% of everything I give you.
Leviticus 27:30-32 “Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S; it is holy to the LORD. ‘If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. ‘For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.”
• This was sort of like a Jewish income tax.
• God commanded 10% of everything.
• It was a tithe (tithe means tenth)
• God gave to them and they were commanded to give some back.
The problem was, they weren’t doing it.
We already saw one of the ways they were messing it up.
They weren’t bringing the QUALITY God commanded.
Malachi 1:8 “But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the LORD of hosts.”
Malachi 1:14 “But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,” says the LORD of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.”
So you understand the robbery aspect.
God had given to them, they failed to give back.
Now, you can enter THE DEBATE if you like
About the New Testament and titheing.
And you are correct if you say that titheing was part of the old covenant
And is NOT commanded in the New Testament.
Titheing is not commanded,
Generous and cheerful and even sacrificial giving is commanded.
So you can split hairs over the 10% if you like, but in the New Testament you are still commanded to give and at times it may be way more than 10%.
And at the same time if you were raised on the tithe (like I was) and it just seems right to give 10%, no one is going to argue with that.
• Abraham commissioned the tithe when he gave a tenth to Melchizedek.
• Moses commanded the tithe when leading the children of Israel.
• And Jesus commended the tithe when speaking to the Pharisees.
Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”
So I’m not concerned about your algebra,
But I am concerned about your heart.
Luke 12:13-15 “Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”
Luke 16:10-13 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? “And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
SO HOPEFULLY YOU GET THE POINT.
• God told them to return.
• They asked how.
• God said, quit stealing from me.
• Because God was after their heart.
IN FACT, this is a point God has been trying to make for some time
And they have failed to see it.
(9) “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!”
What did He mean, “cursed with a curse”?
God had cursed their crops and their livestock and their weather.
If every time you tell your child to put a dollar in the plate they instead put it in their pocket, how long are you going to keep giving them the dollar?
SAME PRINCIPLE HERE.
And by the way, it’s NOT THE FIRST TIME God had used this.
About 100 years earlier when they had grown indifferent and had failed to rebuild the temple.
Haggai 1:7-11 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways! “Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the LORD. “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the LORD of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. “Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. “I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.”
• God was doing the same thing 100 years ago because the people refused to build His house.
• And now, because they are robbing from Him and failing to give Him their hearts He is doing it again.
The Call, The Confrontation
#3 THE COMMAND
Malachi 3:10a
The command is simple.
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house.”
• In chapter 1 the issue with the offering was it’s QUALITY.
• Here in chapter 3 the issue is it’s QUANTITY.
They are short-changing God.
They aren’t giving all that they are supposed to give.
Ask Ananias and Saphira how it works when you agree to give God an amount
And then fail to give all that you said.
This tithe was supposed to be used for 2 purposes.
• One was to feed the priests.
• The other was to feed the poor.
And so by failing to bring all that they were commanded to bring,
Both the ministry and the poor suffered.
AND SO GOD WAS CLEAR.
Return to Me and do it by bringing Me all that you owe Me.
Again, this is NOT God being GREEDY.
It IS God being JEALOUS.
He wants their heart.
• Everything they have He gives them anyway,
• He just wants their love and devotion in return.
I mean, think about Abraham for a moment.
God asked for a pretty significant offering from Abraham didn’t He?
• He asked for his son Isaac.
Let me ask you, “Who gave Isaac to Abraham?” – God
And God asked for him back.
But you remember the story.
Genesis 22:10-12 “Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Did God want Isaac?
No, God wanted Abraham
Abraham’s offering proved God had him.
THAT IS THE CASE HERE TOO.
God doesn’t want their money, He wants their heart.
AND THAT IS TRUE FOR YOU AND ME.
• The command is for us to give and give freely.
• And this shows that we treasure God more than we treasure this world.
Now next is where you really have to love God.
He doesn’t stop there.
He could have, but He doesn’t.
#4 THE CONSEQUENCE
Malachi 3:10b-12
God promises that if they will return to Him through their offerings
Then He will bless them in ways they can’t imagine.
Look at it.
He promises an UNQUENCABLE BLESSING
(10b) “test 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 a blessing until it overflows.”
If you’ll just give Me your heart
I’ll respond with more blessing than you can imagine.
Jesus reiterated this.
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
IN THE DAYS OF HEZEKIAH
He was seeking to renovate the temple and the priestly service.
Hezekiah commanded the people
To start bringing the offering to provide for the priests.
2 Chronicles 31:5 “As soon as the order spread, the sons of Israel provided in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of all.”
If you read on it says that
• They kept bringing stuff from the 3rd month until the 7th month
• And they just started having to pile the stuff up in heaps.
• It was enormous offering.
2 Chronicles 31:9-10 “Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok said to him, “Since the contributions began to be brought into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over, for the LORD has blessed His people, and this great quantity is left over.”
Did you see what happened?
As they started giving, God started blessing,
And He just kept on taking care of everyone.
He’s not greedy or stingy.
He’s abundantly generous and ready to share.
He just wants to make sure that He has your heart.
2 Corinthians 9:10-11 “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.”
And I’ll be honest, I think our congregation understands this a little.
• I’ve seen our church give a lot of money over the last 3 years.
• Some of the biggest donations since I’ve been here.
• And yet, has God not continually given back all that we have given?
You are seeing that principle at work CORPORATELY.
The call here is for you to apply it PERSONALLY.
Give the Lord your heart. Give the Lord your offering.
(Incidentally, this is NOT A PLEA for you to give money to our church,
there are plenty of ministries and people in need, but give as to the Lord)
He promises an unquenchable blessing and says you can test Him in this.
That’s remarkable!
He promises an UNTOUCHABLE BLESSING
(11) “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts.”
“The devourer” had been running rampant in Israel
Because they had failed to honor God with their giving.
Have you ever met “the devourer”?
• He’s the one that makes water heaters go out
• And tires blow out and stuff like that.
• He gobbles up your savings and takes away your surplus.
But when God blesses, He blesses in a way where it can’t be touched.
Those people in Hezekiah’s day couldn’t give it away fast enough,
God just kept on replenishing it.
And He promises an UNDENIABLE BLESSING
(12) “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the LORD of hosts.”
Look, I’m NOT into the prosperity gospel.
It is certainly true that our inheritance is not on earth, but in heaven.
But when God says that their blessing will be recognizable by the nations, He wasn’t saying they’ll recognize their closeness to God.
He was saying that He will bless the land in such a way
That it will be “delightful” even to pagan nations.
They’ll see the results of God’s blessing.
And I would not nullify that promise here.
GOD ALWAYS PROVIDES SEED FOR THE SOWER.
• If you give that dollar to your child and they put it in the plate,
• And the next time you have a ten,
• You’ll let them do that too because they’ve shown what they’ll do with it.
This is NOT get rich scheme.
If that’s what you think then you’re seeking to use God as a means to pad your bank account. God will not honor that attitude.
What we are talking about here is a people
Who give God their heart by giving Him their treasure,
And God in His goodness more than abundantly compensates
For any cost they incur.
Psalms 34:8-10 “O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.”
Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
Psalms 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”
James 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
He is good and He blesses those who seek Him.
And this now is THE POINT church.
• Has there been indifference in your life?
• Has there been evidence of apathy?
Then return to the Lord.
HOW?
• Give Him the thing your heart treasures.
• And your heart will follow your treasure.
As I have prayed for revival in my life and in the life of this church,
I keep coming back to one verse in my prayer.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
When we are a people who do that,
• We are a people who are experiencing revival.
• We will be able to say that indifference has been totally eradicated.
• We can say that we are a people who have returned to the Lord.
