Clearly this chapter is often misinterpreted. He is not upset that they were not bringing their tithes of money, He was upset that they were not giving him his PRAISE. Clearl;y its stated that they have turned away from God, this was not about money, it was about acknowledgement of the Glory and Mercy of God. Yet, we continue to preach it all wrong.
Bradley, Malachi, as you suggest, speaks of Israel's sins & coming judgement (vv 1-7). Then the question is asked in the latter part of v 7: "But ye said, Wherein shall we return?" That is, the people ask, "How (or, in what manner) shall we return?", "How have we robbed You?" In tithes & offerings.
They were clearly robbing God by living careless, wicked lives, & in so doing this had a cumulative effect by not paying the right wages, lack of support to the widows & orphans & showing no care to the visitor. So the issue of robbery, God declares, is that you people have added to your wicked deeds, by even robbing me by not doing what has been commanded, viz in tithes & offerings. And verse 10 clarifies this even further to their giving, despite any hardship in doing so, as they would experience God's abundant blessings as a result.
You state that this passage actually speaks about giving God praise, acknowledging His Glory & Mercy. And this would be the expected response if the people turned away from doing wickedly, but to read this chapter in its context, one can't help but observe that they were not able to give the sacrifice of praise to God, simply because of their many sins, of which their robbery to God was evident. What I would question of the present day interpretation of this passage is the necessity of the giving of tithes, which is an Old Testament mandate, but I could not see in the passage what you are seeing there. You could give your further explanation on your view, if you care to.
They were clearly robbing God by living careless, wicked lives, & in so doing this had a cumulative effect by not paying the right wages, lack of support to the widows & orphans & showing no care to the visitor. So the issue of robbery, God declares, is that you people have added to your wicked deeds, by even robbing me by not doing what has been commanded, viz in tithes & offerings. And verse 10 clarifies this even further to their giving, despite any hardship in doing so, as they would experience God's abundant blessings as a result.
You state that this passage actually speaks about giving God praise, acknowledging His Glory & Mercy. And this would be the expected response if the people turned away from doing wickedly, but to read this chapter in its context, one can't help but observe that they were not able to give the sacrifice of praise to God, simply because of their many sins, of which their robbery to God was evident. What I would question of the present day interpretation of this passage is the necessity of the giving of tithes, which is an Old Testament mandate, but I could not see in the passage what you are seeing there. You could give your further explanation on your view, if you care to.
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