“For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’ “Will man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try 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 such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3.6-10
“For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed…” The people’s precarious condition was not because God changed, because He does not change. The children of Israel were the ones who changed their behavior towards God. As a result, there was a change in their quality of life.
They turned away and did not keep the ordinances of God. Every company, every institution and every nation has statutes to keep their standards. And these laws must be respected. Failure to follow them will bring drastic consequences to their offenders. God is no different. There are statutes that have to be kept and those who stray from them will suffer consequences.
God said, “Return to Me, and I will return to you.” Telling a nonbeliever to turn to God is easy to understand, but its different when you say this to someone that supposedly knows Him. Their answer will certainly be: “BUT IN WHAT WAY shall I return?” This means the person believes they’ve done everything that needed to be done. This is why they ask: “BUT IN WHAT WAY?” Take a look at God’s answer to this question: “Will man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me!” How can a righteous person accept the fact that they are stealing from someone, especially from God? This is why the people asked: “IN WHAT WAY have we robbed You?” And God shows them: “In tithes and offerings.” This is why curses were part of their lives. Curses come from disobedience, but our God blesses everyone.
God asks the people to bring their tithes and offerings, and suggests them to try Him. Nowhere else does God invite people to try Him, except when it comes to tithes and offerings. There was no need to say that He is the Lord of hosts, He could have just said Lord, but He made it a point to say the Lord of hosts to declare that He is the Lord of battles, and faithful to those who are part of this army.
To those who try Him, He promises to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings beyond measure. It would be one thing to receive blessings that can be measured, its another to receive blessings that are beyond measure, such is His greatness. Because of the recognition of the Lordship of the Lord Jesus, He rebukes the devourer Himself. This is so strong that God Himself says to the devil: “I rebuke you because this person serves Me!”
Surely the people wondered: “Why is it that I do everything correctly, yet the land is barren? Why don’t I ever have enough money? Why do I have so many losses?” Obeying the statutes of God causes the land to cease being barren. There are 194 officially recognized nations in the world. Can you imagine all of them considering you happy? Those who are part of this holy nation, people that exclusively belong to God, must be considered happy by all. The land of this nation has to be different – a delightful land.