Hebraic
Musing – How Dare God Say that We Rob
Him!
Don’t we decide how much of our money to give in Tithes and
offerings?
How often have you heard a
message on “Tithing” based on Malachi 3:7-8?
-- “Return
to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to
return?' "Will a man rob God? Yet you
rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob
you?' "In tithes and
offerings.”
Why does God accuse us of robbing Him? Can that strong language be justified?
Typical thought process says “I will decide how much of my
money, time and oxen to give to God?” And
besides, didn’t God say he already has all the bulls, goats and cattle He needs
in Psalm 50:9-10 – “I have no need of a
bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest
is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” Is God really saying the “cattle on a thousand
hills” are His? If we truly understand
who God is, then we realize He already owns everything, including the cattle we
think belong to us.
In the OT, God commanded His people to bring sacrificial
offerings. “…you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and
sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you
have vowed to the Lord.” Deut.
12:11-12 Consider that our sacrifices
came from God and belonged to God all along.
They never really belonged to them/us to begin with. We are just returning them to the rightful
owner. So, whose money is it
anyway?
It is not a matter of His ox and my ox; or His money and my
money; or my car; or my child.
Maybe we are like bankers holding His money in trust in our
bank; and maybe the car in our driveway is really His, on loan to us. Maybe we are like bankers, and with that in
mind – when God asks to make a withdrawal from His account in our bank, do we
have a right to refuse to return His money to Him?
We serve like bankers holding
someone else’s money and goods in trust.
When a customer ask to withdraw from their account, a good banker says
“Thank you for trusting your funds with us.”
No way should a banker be proud to have returned the depositor’s funds! Or cattle, or car, etc.
Points to ponder
When
the Holy Spirit tells us to give something, do we have a right to say “NO”?
If a
bank refused to let you withdraw your money, wouldn’t you say they “robbed” you?
Are we
sometimes reluctant to return anything else He has asked us to give Him?
Do we
treat all our time and possessions as loaned from Him?
♫ All to Jesus, I surrender, All to Him I
freely give… I surrender all… I
surrender all…♫
Yosef a.k.a.
Joe Brusherd August 8,
2017
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