Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house

Marachi 2:17-3:12

 You have wearied the Lord with your words.

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. 

“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ 

“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 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.

God's people can always look around and see godless men and women flourishing. It seems unfair. But in the final winding-up of thins justice and right will prevail. The Lord is coming,, first to purify, and then to judge. First, a herald-messenger will come to prepare the way. Then a messenger will come who is the Lord himself.

God does not change. Nor, sadly, do his people. They have been fickle from first to last. God gives them all they have, yet they rob him even of his legal dues. Anything given to God is only a small return on all that people owe him. To hold back from giving, through self-interest, is to deprive themselves of all the good things God would otherwise give them.

Why?

Return to the Lord, and the Lord will return to us.

Bringing the whole tithe into God's storehouse is our duty to show we fear the Lord and obey his command. It is the action to reflect our faith in the Lord.

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人看到這個世代的天災人禍，多有人問神在那裏?

1. 神差遣使者來預備道路：神忽然出現沒有人可以擔當的起，預備道路，所以預先告訴人預備

2. 主會突然出現：誰能夠擔當的起?

3.有個立約的使者會來，你們仰慕的，即施洗約翰，及耶穌的出現。

神一出現是要煉淨人，潔淨人。

當我們指責別人不公不義時，我們自己站立的住嗎？神不是不執行公義，而是給我們機會悔改。悔改的行動就是從奉獻十分之一做起。呼籲人要轉向神！人一直以為自己做的很好，反而問神我該如何轉向?神不是那麼愛人的收穫，可是教導人一條蒙福的道路，這是豐收的途徑。繼續奪取神的供物，神就會毀壞人的土產，叫人白忙一場。人抓的愈緊，收獲愈少。十分之一不是得救的條件，卻是蒙福的道路。人不能說一面愛主，卻又奪取神的貢物。

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How?

All I have is the grace of the Lord, so fear the Lord and give the tithe to the Lord is our duty, and God's mercy and grace are higher than others.