Testing God is something only cocky Christians do. Christians have isolated one sentence from a prophetic book and taken it out of context. They believe that God is required to bless them if they do this one thing. Blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience. Hundreds of years of inefficacy have not deterred the masses. Enthusiasm continues to grow as Christians eagerly anticipate a massive payday.
Testing God is a terrible idea for Christians. Malachi was written to Jews. It has zero applicability in our lives. Tithing is not a perpetual principle. Christians who attempt to keep parts of the law are severed from Christ and have fallen from grace.
Malachi is unfortunately known as the “tithing” book. Somehow, the primary prophetic message has been missed or perhaps misinterpreted. I think of heroes in the faith who are reduced to a singular idea. Both John Calvin and Martin Luther have been reduced to one of their most popular ideas. They are perceived by many as theological one-hit wonders.
Malachi 3:10 — One Hit Wonder
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.”
Calvin is reduced to predestination.
Luther is reduced grace.
Malachi is reduced to tithing (and maybe offerings). Essentially, everything else he taught is conveniently forgotten or put on the back shelf.
What’s taught by the plurality of preachers is incorrect at best.
I am going to Biblically review some of the key points made by the prophet in Malachi 3:10.
Click here for an ultimate guide to tithing.
Bring The Whole Tithe — Testing God
What is the whole tithe? The whole tithe is essentially 1%. Shocking, I know. It has nothing to do with gross or net income despite what preachers say.
The laity brought the tithe to the Levites. Then the Levites gave a tithe of a tithe (1%) to the Aaronic priests. When farmers fulfilled tithing commands they gave ten percent of their crops and every tenth animal – whether good or bad. The Levites were required to give the best to the priests.
Leviticus 27:32-33 (NIV) Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.
Nehemiah 10:38 (NKJV) And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes; and the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms of the storehouse.
This is the tithe that went to the storehouse. Perhaps there were two breakdowns in the tithing system. The people could have been withholding grain or animals from the Levites. It’s also possible that the Levites were withholding a portion from the priests.
I wrote about the whole tithe in a previous article. It’s a section that requires a deeper dive. Click here for that article.
The Storehouse — Testing God
Hezekiah introduced the temple storehouse out of necessity. Farmers began to tithe en masse during the reign of Hezekiah. One day the king noticed heaps of food and questioned why there was so much. He decided to begin a temple-building project and added storehouses to the temple.
The storehouse is often improperly defined as the house of God. It’s not, though. The storehouse is a barn or similar structure used to store food for future use.
Pastors do not have the authority to change Biblical definitions. Yes, they do it all of the time but they should not.
Proving, Testing, and Trying God — Malachi 3:10
Robert Morris, the pastor of Gateway Church, offers a money-back guarantee on the tithe. This seems like a risky move to me. Morris is fully dedicated to the doctrine of tithing.
He fully believes those who do not tithe are cursed. If he refunds a person’s “tithe” wouldn’t that person be cursed once again (according to his theology)? Wouldn’t he be complicit in their cursing?
I’ve heard other preachers say, “The tithe is the only place where God says to test Him.” Well, kind of.
Deuteronomy 28, the blessing and cursing chapter, in a way tests God. If a person could perfectly keep the law then blessing would come upon them and overtake them. Curses engulf those who stumble at any point in the law. We’re so much better under the New Covenant.
The idea that one could isolate a single behavior and expect an uncontainable blessing is ludicrous. Let’s imagine some odd situations. A person gives ten percent of their income to their local church but is a spousal abuser. Is God obligated to bless this person? A family gives ten percent of their income to the church and practices illicit behavior. Blessing? Cursing?
At what point must behavior be perfect to earn God’s favor? Earning God’s favor is impossible.
The Windows of Heaven — Testing God
Tithing preachers love to reiterate that Israel was an agrarian society. That’s convenient when they want to alter the food tithes referenced in Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Malachi to money today.
The windows of heaven (some say floodgates) referenced in Malachi are clouds releasing rain. Only those who depended on weather tithed. Farmers and ranchers are unable to control weather patterns. Rain in the desert is rare. Modern irrigation techniques were unavailable.
God had to do His part.
Pour Out the Blessing — Testing God
The blessing for tithers is an abundant harvest. It’s not an unexpected $1 million check. Robert Morris in a recent sermon indicated that it could be a lost child returning to God.
Wow! Salvation is not for sale.
He doubled down on the lunacy. Tithing salvages marriages according to Morris. He tacitly implies that wayward children and bad marriages are a result of people not tithing.
The blessing in Malachi 3:10 is rain showers for a future harvest. Morris and other diabolic preachers are simply conjuring theology from their opinions.
It’s Too Much God!
How much is too much? Does God mean that there is insufficient room to contain joy, peace, and love? Malachi did not say that.
Temple storerooms have a finite amount of space. God informed the Levites and the priests that obedience (Deuteronomy 28:1-14 and Leviticus 26:1-13) resulted in massive harvests. The storerooms would not be large enough to contain the tithe of food.
It’s not an overflowing of a person’s wallet, purse, or bank account.
Read the verse in context and stop making it say what you want it to say.
Be a student of the Bible.
Crucify greed.
Fearlessly give.
Reject lies.
Embrace truth.
Tim manages a $ billion + loan portfolio. He loves to write and teach about biblical stewardship. He has authored three stewardship books including The Profit Dare. His 4th book, Savvy Stewardship will be released in April 2024. He hosts The Profit Dare and Sola Melodica YouTube Channels.
He has an MBA from Cornerstone University and a Certificate in Behavioral Finance from Duke University.
Tim is a former church planter, youth pastor, and short-term missionary.
