What Makes You Think Malachi's Curse Has Anything To Do With You?
But at the same time, most pastors will subtly preach you back under the law with the 3 famous verses of Malachi 3:8-10. This is not right. You cannot be both under law and grace at the same time.
Mal 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Mal 3:9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Preaching these 3 verses naturally put fear into your heart. Who wants to rob God? Who wants to be cursed for robbing God? This fear causes you to try to please God with a work of the law, ( and all this time you are supposed to be under the dispensation of grace, remember? ), and of course, with the law comes the curse. And so, Christians who pay tithes under the commandment of the law usually have no sense of peace because they are continually troubled by these thoughts, e.g. :
- Have I paid enough?
- Maybe I should have paid before tax and not after tax?
- Maybe because I have not calculated all my other income into the tithes?,
- Oh dear, this month I am really short of money, what will happen to me if I pay less than the 10%?
- Is Bro Parm Leng more blessed because he has chosen to give 20% instead of 10%?
- Should I now pay back the tithes I failed to pay in the last 5 months?
So what is the truth?
The truth is, you are not under law but grace and the curse of Malachi does not apply to you, and should not apply to you in the beginning. But it now does, because you have chosen to take on a curse which was never meant for you in the first place!
Why Does The Malachi Curse Not Apply To You?
Let the word of God speak peace back into your heart:
1. First, in Deu 27:26, Moses put the curse on any Israelite who does not obey all the law, and the Israelites accepted the challenge.
Deu 27:26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- Are you an Israelite under the law?
- Did you also say “Amen” to the law?
Surely you didn’t, did you? So, in the first place the law did not apply to you. It is suppose to be as foreign to you as the syariah law.
But now, you have been subtly led to follow the law with your awareness, and forsaking grace, you have learned to believe and trust in that one law - the law of tithe. How can you get out of this mess?
So you see, Malachi has nothing to do with you in the first instant.
2. These verses tell you clearly that the law does not apply to Christians any more, and Malachi’s curse is law! :
Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? ( Hey, this is speaking to you! ),
Gal 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. ( I simply love the book of Galatians. Why are you not being led by the Spirit? )
Gal 3:17 And this I say, that the covenant ( of grace with Abraham ), that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. Gal 3:18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. ( Abraham did not have to do anything to receive God’s blessings, you are an heir of Abraham through faith! See Gal 3:29 “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” )
Gal 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; ( Has the seed come? Of course He has. So why are they preaching you back under the law again? Even the Jews who come to Christ do not have to observe the law. So do you think the apostles were paying tithes in their time, and teaching others to do so? )
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. ( Do sons pay the temple tax? See Matt 17:25-27 Peter and the Coin in the fish’s mouth )
Rom 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. ( Are you not following the law to the letter when you insist that 10% is the minimum? Where is your newness of spirit in the grace of Christ? )
Gal 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ( If you have fulfilled you car loan, do you still go on making the payments? If you have been giving in love, can there be a law against you for giving more or less? )
Heb 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. ( The Aaronic priesthood is no more needed. He was a Levite to whom the compulsory tithe under law was given. It is now the priesthood of Melchizedek, with Jesus as the everlasting priest who receives the voluntary tithe of Abraham, not the tithe under law. )
So, why “cari sakit”? Everywhere in the New Testament you are told not to get entangled with the law again. Therefore, Malachi who was speaking them that were under the law, was proclaiming a curse on the Israelites. That curse cannot touch you; for you are an heir of Abraham, and your curse has been taken away by Jesus.
3. And even if you had said “Amen” to the law, these verses promise liberty for you.
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: ( Have you been missing out on the significance of the word “ redemption “. Redeemed from what? From sin. What is sin? Transgression of the law!! If there is no law, there is no transgression See 1Jn 3:4 , Rom 4:15 )
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. ( So why do you continue to feel condemned, unsure and uneasiness off and on when you have been “paying” your tithes? Because you chose to walk after the flesh, not after Christ who has set you free! )
Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: (Since Christ has redeemed you, why walk back into the snare of the law? )
4. Why do you have no sense of peace when you pay by the law?:
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Rom 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. ( “fallen from grace”! This is very serious! This does not just mean the loss of peace alone. In my reading, it also means the loss of salvation! OK. I know you believe in the “eternal security” lie. I’ll talk of this topic in a later article. )
Gal 5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. ( You have no sense of peace because even by faithfully “paying” your tithes { debtors pay, not give }, you are only doing one out of 613 laws; and even then you have been only paid one kind of tithe, and forgotten about the other types )
Rom 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. ( So the choice is yours, has always been yours. There cannot be transgression when one gives under grace )
Rom 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. ( You are supposed to be giving in grace and in love. When you give in grace and love, you are not supposed to expect more blessings in return, 10-fold returns for your givings! But you are expecting just that! You are giving back to God so that you can keep God happy, and hope that He will do more for you – that’s works of the law )
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. (i.e. you would carry out the law with ungodly thoughts like ( just doing a duty, paying tithes in order to get more, viz. doing it out of greed, covetousness )
Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them ( see what happens when you are led back to share your blessings by law? You are cursed! )
Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. ( How can you have peace when by keeping that one law of tithe, you have forgotten to do the whole law )
5. Why do Christians easily get misled back into the law?:
Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
This misinterpretation has caused them to preach grace and law at the same time, and be unable to explain the dilemma of the doctrinal contradiction. The New Testament, as we have clearly seen from the above, tells us the law is no longer in force.
What this verse simply means that by doing things through love and grace, the end( the intention, the objective) of law is being achieved meaningfully! This correct understanding immediately frees the Christian from the bondage of doubts created from the law. It doesn’t mean we must continue to carry out the demands of the law as an activity.
6. How will pastors live if we do not tithe?:
The bible says that we must ensure the workers of the gospel always have enough to eat.1Co 9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?
The problem that arises this days is the ox wants more than it can eat! I have heard of a pastor in the Kuala Lumpur area who wants to play golf so that he can reach out to the rich. Well, hmmm. Very telling, isn’t it.
7. What else is not right about the preaching of the Malachi verses to Christians?
Observe these:a) Chapter 1 tells you Malachi was sent to speak to Israel, not Christians,
Mal 1:1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi
.The message is this: God was reminding Israel how He loved Israel more than Edom, yet Israel does not love him back. Why does Israel not honor God, as animals They were not showing respect to God. This has nothing to do with you.
b) Chapter 2 tells you that the priests were the offenders, not you:
Mal 2:1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
The Lord was scolding the priest for dereliction of duty, causing people to stumble instead of teaching what is right ( reminds of what the pastors today are doing ). Then the Lord was scolding the Israelites for marrying foreign wives, and divorcing their wives ( reminds me of the Christians today who divorce for every type of reason ).
c) Chapter 3 tells you of God’s prophecy that He is sending a servant to restore everything to what it was before.
Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts
Here, notice the Lord was telling the Israelites to return to Him and honor him. Notice that the Israelites deny dishonoring God, and in response God told them to look at how they are already cursed for not bringing the Lord His tithes and offering.
This is where you have failed to read the message properly and allowed yourselves to be misled:
" But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
Mal 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Mal 3:9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
a) As explained, the Israelites said “amen” to the curses that will come on them if they do not obey the law. They did not. And they had already been cursed by God by this time. So they were not asked to tithe for future blessings. They were asked to tithe in order to get back their blessings which had been stopped.
b) Observe that “Bring the whole tithe to my storehouse” indicates:
i. The tithes were not money. Money is not stored in storehouses. Money is stored in treasury rooms.
ii. Where was the storehouse? It was in the temple. Where is the temple today? Your body is the temple of God. So where is storehouse today? It is surely not the church.
iii. “Test me in this” does not refer to new and future blessings. It refers to blessings that was stopped because God had already closed the windows of heaven.
And so you see how easily scriptures are twisted and misinterpreted to suit unholy motives. And you should see how you, in your covetousness for future blessings, allowed yourselves to be misled. You are all children of Abraham through faith. When did God ever shut off your blessings through Abraham?
Conclusion
The bible is clear. You either choose grace or law. You cannot be under both. The preacher cannot preach application of both at the same time.
Your greed has allow you to be led into the snare of the law. Get out of it now.
Do not muzzle the ox that tread the mill. Continue to give to make sure that your pastor and his family do not suffer from lack. If he can teach and act as elder at the same time, the bible says he is worth double.
But do not tithe under the system of Moses’ law. Malachi’s curse has nothing to do with you.
That’s the unpleasant truth – you have been lazy to read the scriptures.
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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