By Evangelist Ron Davis, Minister of
Christ
One of the
main Scripture these peddlers of God’s word use to support
their doctrine of demanding and extorting "tithes and
offerings" from those who are seeking God's favor is
Malachi 3:
Let’s look at one of the main
Scripture that all these self-appointed gospel peddlers love to use:
(those who peddle the word of God for profit and gain - see 2
Corinthians 2:17 below), these tithes and offerings
extorters, ministers who follow the doctrine of Balaam (Jude
1:11); who claim these verses in Malachi 3 give them the
authority to extort "tithes and offerings" from the people
that are seeking to be saved from this evil and adulterous world;
and that is Malachi chapter 3.
But, first let us look at Malachi
chapters 1 and 2 to see who the word "man" refers to
in verse 8 of Malachi 3 when God asks the question, these
gospel peddlers love to quote when they want more of your money
in their control; and that is "Will a man rob God? They never
tell you who God is speaking to in this Scripture (they just speak
about it in such a way to lead you to believe that God was speaking
to you the member of their human organizations) - they have deceived
you into believing God was speaking to you rather than to them -
more specifically God is speaking to the Levites and the priesthood
of Aaron and not the people giving the tithes and offerings to them.
These Levites and priests
behavior had caused the people to be discouraged in that by
saying the "Lord’s table is contemptible" (much like those today
who take your tithes and offerings to buy for themselves the best of
goods and services while refusing to help those who are not a member
of their church); they were making the people give defected and
sick animals for God as tithes and offerings; and taking the best of
the livestock and grain offerings for themselves to sell for profit.
Nor were these priests of Levi keeping God’s command to the
Levites in Deuteronomy 26:12-13, where God said to
them… "12 When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of
your increase in the third year--the year of tithing--and have given
it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so
that they may eat within your gates and be filled, 13 then you shall
say before the LORD your God: "I have removed the holy tithe
from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger,
the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments
which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your
commandments, nor have I forgotten them""
The Levites were commanded to receive tithes
and offerings from the people; however, in the third year they were
to share this tithe given to them by those who had livestock and
land to tithe on with "the stranger, the fatherless, and the
widow". In Malachi 3, these "sons of Levi" were
not during this because they did not fear God.The below listed
Scriptures tell us what most of the ministers today are about -
these are the tele-evangelists, the super-ministers, and the
mega-church ministers who believe building bigger churches are more
important than taking care of the needs of the widows and the poor
and needy in their community.
Notice, the Holy Spirit through the apostle
Paul says, "many" not a few ministers are peddling God's word
for profit from your "tithes and
offerings"
-
2 Corinthians
2:17... "For we are not, as so many, peddling the word
of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the
sight of God in Christ."
Here again in Jude 1, the Scripture
points us to those who "run greedily in the error of Balaam for
profit". They live in mansions and very costly temples while
claiming to serve God and His Christ Jesus. Many of you know these
super ministers and their up and coming students of their greed
(see Rev. 2:14).
In Malachi
1:6-8, it is shown that God
were speaking to the leaders (the Levites and Priests of
Israel) who were defrauding and robbing God of the tithes and
offerings not the people who brought the tithes to them (the people
continued to give and tithe to them even while these corrupt Levites
and priests stole from God - and the widows, the poor and strangers
in the land). These priests were not giving God His due honor before
the people by taking care of those widows and orphans in need nor
were they sacrificing the best of the grain and livestock to God
rather they were keeping the best for themselves to sell and
increase their own wealth from the things tithed and offered by
those who were required to tithe. Just think of the glory our God in
heaven would receive if these so-called "tithes and offerings"
ministers actually followed these old Covenant instructions by
helping the poor and needy with your "tithes and offerings"
money instead of helping themselves. Today, we as Christians are
called upon in the New Testament (or Covenant) which requires much
more in giving and helping those in need than the Old Testament.
For, we as Christians shall be judged by our treatment of those in
need and those well to due Christians will be judged by what they
did with their money (Matthew
19:16-24; Luke 12:33; Luke 19:1-10 and Matthew 25 - more on this
later).
Malachi 1:6-8... "6
A son honors his
father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the
honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says
the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my
name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?' 7
"You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we
defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. 8
When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When
you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try
offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would
he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty"
Notice in verse 6 of Malachi chapter
one God says, "It is you, O priests, who show contempt
for My Name"; there you have it, it were the priests
not the people, who were not respecting God as a Father and
Master (if they were sons or servants then they did not show it,
making them neither as for as God was concern). God says these
priests showed Him contempt instead of honor and "place defiled
food on"(v. 7) His altar (this phrase give us more proof that
God was talking to the Levitical priesthood because they were the
only ones commanded by God to offer the sacrifices on the altar).
These priests said to the
people, "the Lord’s table is contemptible"(v. 7)
causing the "whole nation" to be cursed because of their evil
deeds (Malachi 3:9); this gives us further Scripture proof
that it were the priests and not, I repeat not the people who God is
talking about in Malachi 3. Because only the priests sins
brought sin on the nation, the sins of the people were atoned for by
the priests; therefore, it was not possible for the people not
tithing to bring a curse on the whole nation. So, I say to you today
where these self-appointed gospel peddlers claim the people were
robbing God - its not the people but the Levites and the priests who
were robbing God - read it for yourself. This makes Malachi a
prophecy for these same ministers who claim the right of extracting
"tithes and offerings" from you because they are during the
same thing these "sons of Levi" were doing; and that is
keeping the better part of your money for themselves and their pet
projects.
Now, when we move to Malachi chapter two we
see God is still speaking to the priests and not the people as so many Christians have been led
to believe by their leaders, these money lovers and self-proclaimed
"tithes and offerings" collectors who have declared
themselves to be God. For they say to those who they demand money
from, that if you don't give to them you are robbing God. Thereby,
claiming if you want to give to God then you must give to them and
no one else.
These ministers peddles the word of
God for profit and financial gain - teaching for doctrine the
traditions of men and doctrines of Satan concerning tithes and
offerings; something God have not command them, and He have
not given them this authority to demand money from you under the new
Covenant. They are misusing the Holy Scripture to fill their pockets
and "their churches" bank accounts. They are "living it
up" on the word of God rather than being content, and helping
those in need. These ministers are refusing to preach the word
without cost. The Holy Spirit speaks of these ministers in 2
Peter 3:16… where it is said, these ministers have used
Malachi 3 as "untaught and unstable people twist to their
own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scripture".
Yes, some twist the Scripture through ignorance and some
through deceit and evil motives, and they all resist sound
doctrine.
Malachi 2:1-9...
Admonition for the
Priests
(Notice here God through the prophet speaks of the
the admonish of the Priests not, I repeat not the people)
"1 And now
this admonition is for you, O priests. 2 If you do not
listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name," says
the LORD Almighty, "I will send a curse upon you, and I will
curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you
have not set your heart to honor me. 3 "Because of you I will
rebuke your descendants; I will spread on your faces the offal
from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off
with it. 4 And you will know that I have sent you this
admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue," says the
LORD Almighty. 5 "My covenant was with him, a
covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this
called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my
name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing
false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and
uprightness, and turned many from sin. 7 "For the lips of a
priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men
should seek instruction-because he is the messenger of the LORD
Almighty. 8 But you have turned from the way and by your
teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant
with Levi," says the LORD Almighty. 9 "So I have
caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people,
because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in
matters of the law."
Notice verse 1 "this admonition is for
you, O priests", and verse 4 where God says, He is
sending these evil priests this admonition because of His covenant
with Levi that it may continue. Then in verses 5 and 6 God
speaks of His covenant with Levi and how Levi "stood in awe"
of His Name and gave Him "reverence and revered" His Holy
Name (this is why ministers should refuse to be called reverend -
for only God deserves to be called reverend - yet, since this sin is
so common among the churches of Babylon the Great these ministers
refuses all sound reasoning in this matter even resisting the Holy
Spirit). Next, God praises Levi for giving "true instruction"
and "nothing false was found on his lips"; but these
priests in verses 7 and 8 are bearing false witness about the
word of God nor are they preserving knowledge (you would expect men
of God to give sound doctrine).
They were causing many to stumble
because of their teaching; and of these "sons of
Levi" God says, they "have violated" (v. 8) His covenant
between Him and Levi. God also says in verse 9 that He have
caused them "to be despised and humiliated before all the
people", because they did not follow His ways and showed
"partiality in matters of the law". (We see and hear this today when
the men refuse to go to these churches (most them are filled with
women) and others even accuse these lovers of money of living high
on the hog while their churchgoer can barely pay their rent and feed
their family). And for those of you who are faithful givers of
tithes, you will be able to see this when these gospel peddlers only
help those who give to their churches (if you are not a member then
you of out of luck), and only those who tithe to them are allowed to
speak in their churches. Yet, these gospel peddlers wonder out loud
in their sermons why people despise them for their behavior; and
they still believe you should reverend them when they have not
honored and revered God nor kept His laws.
Now, let us re-read Malachi 3 again, where it
speaks of these priests (today, they
are commonly called ministers or some other names which I will not
mention nor should they use them because it blasphemes God Holy
Name) robbing God - we will start in verse one, and I
want you to pay particular attention to verses 3-5, and 9;
where we see the phrases "sons of Levi", "that they may offer
to the Lord an offering in righteousness", "then the offering of
Judah and Jerusalem", "those who exploit wage earners and widows and
orphans", and "even this whole nation".
You know the more I study what God
really says about "tithes and offerings"; the more I wish these
gospel peddlers would rightly divide God’s word for a change and
give God His honor and reverence among the people of this
world. For many of our poor widows and fatherless children
would be cared for with the tithe money they collect, and God would
receive His honor and be reverend. Yet, these ministers uses your
"tithes and offerings" for "their pet projects". Oh
yea, they will definitely declare to you the word of God when they
stand to profit from it, but never are they truthful when it may
take money out of their pockets and their "human
organizations" aka "their
churches".
Malachi 3:1-7...
The
Coming Messenger of God... "1
Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way
before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His
temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts. 2 "But who can
endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner's fire And like launderers' soap. 3
He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will
purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That
they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness. 4 "Then
the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will be pleasant to the LORD,
As in the days of old, As in former years. 5 And I will come
near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against
sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who
exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who
turn away an alien--Because they do not fear Me," Says the LORD
of hosts. 6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore
you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 7 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?'"
Do Not Rob [Note: This is another subtitle added by the
translators which implies that these verses are speaking about
people in general rather the priests - the sons of Levi who
collected the tithes.]
Malachi
3:8-12... "8 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, "In what way
have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed
with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
10 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.
11 "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he
will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail
to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the LORD of hosts; 12
And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a
delightful land," Says the LORD of hosts."
Now, we see here God were speaking to those
who were of the Levitical priesthood
(Malachi 1:6-8; Malachi 2:1,4,7-8; Malachi 3:3-5). God in
Malachi chapter 3 gives us the time of Christ correction of
these sons of Levi for their sins against Him in verses
3:1-3. Notice the phrase "I send My messenger"(v. 3:1)
this phrase refers to John the Baptist (Malachi 4:5-6 and
Matthew 17:9-13) who came and prepared the way for Christ Jesus;
and his message was "to bear witness of the Light" (John 1:7)
and "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark
1:4) so people would receive Christ as the One who Saves
(Luke 7:26-30). Next, we have the phrase, "the Lord, whom
you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of
the covenant" (v. 3:1) this phrase refers to Christ Jesus our
Lord and Savior (the second Adam) who came to pay the penalty for
the sin of Adam and of all Mankind; and to make another Covenant (a
New Covenant) with the people whom God would call, a chosen people
of priests for His new nation (Hebrews 8 and 1 Peter 2:9-10).
So you see, we have the time frame for the purifying of the "sons
of Levi" (the priesthood) as the Holy Spirit says of the
Messenger of the Covenant, "He will purify the sons of Levi, and
purge them" (v. 3:3). Christ Jesus, as the Messenger of the
Covenant have already purged these "sons of Levi" and
purified those who would be called and chosen by God. The priesthood
has changed, and Christ is the High Priest of this royal priesthood
(Hebrews 2:1;4:14-15; and Hebrews chapters 5-10 of
which I will speak more of later). When we get to the
phrase, "who can endure the day of His coming?" (v. 3:2),
this further identify the arrival of Christ to purify and purge the
priesthood (sons of Levi) that "they may offer to the LORD an
offering in righteousness" (v. 3:3). I ask this question are
there "sons of Levi" offering up "an offering in
righteousness" today? Are not the priests of the New Covenant
royal priesthood offering up offerings to God and His Christ in
righteousness today? Malachi is the last book of the old
Covenant because this closes out the old nation of Israel for the
bringing in of the new Covenant as it is written in the book of
Hebrews.
Now, let us go back to these priests
and sons of Levi during Malachi time. They were denying the
portions of the tithes which belonged to the "widows and orphans"
and the alien (every three years they were to share the tithes
they received with needy) in the land of Israel (Deut. 14:27-29
and Mal. 3:5). Having already proved from Malachi 1 and 2
that the priests, the sons of Levi were the ones who are said to
have been robbing God of His "tithes and offerings" in
Malachi 3:8. If you still do not see this at this stage of my
paper, then I pray that you please ask God for understanding with a
humble and teachable heart, and He give you understanding in this
too. Furthermore, this can be seen clearly in these verses in
the book of Malachi where God says of these corrupt "sons
of Levi"; "you place defiled food on My altar", you say
"the LORD's table is contemptible" (Mal. 1:7), and "you
bring blind animals for sacrifice" (Mal. 1:8). Then, we come to
Malachi 3 where God speaks of purifying and purging the
sons of Levi, and that God will come near to them for judgment.
He "will be a swift witness against... those who exploit wage
earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an
alien" (Mal. 3:5). As you can see God says, these "sons of
Levi" were receiving the "tithes and offerings" from the
people, but they were taking the best for themselves (for the Spirit
says they exploited wage earners) and refusing to give to and
support the widows, orphans, and aliens in the land.
Now then, I say to you, the people
were bringing their tithes and offerings to these corrupt priests;
but they were teaching the people to bring "crippled or
diseased animals" to sacrifice while still requiring them to
bring the required tithe and offering for them to profit from
(Isaiah 3:14 and Amos 4:1). These priests and the sons of
Levi were robbing God. So now, we come to the question; if
the sons of Levi, the priests were robbing God then who represented
God in Malachi 3 and on this planet? For those of you who are
asking this question because you believed the priests and the
"sons of Levi" represented God in Malachi, please
re-read Malachi 2:8-9; 3:4-5. If you are asking this question
because you are thinking that these human organizations called
churches or your minister represent God then here is a truth you can
trust, they do not. And those ministers who claim their human
organizations are God's house then they are wrong nor do they
represent God. First of all, your body is God's house (His temple);
if indeed you have the His Spirit and the Spirit of His Christ
living in you. And further proof that these church houses of this
world are not God's houses is this, that throughout God's word He
compares and speaks of Himself as being among the poor and oppress
of the land. The poor and needy of the ones God says He stands up
for and takes up their cause - what you do to them you do to God
(Psalm 12:5, Proverbs 14:31 and Matthew 25:35-46). These
Scriptures tell us that God lives among the poor and needy of this
world. Therefore, the poor and needy and oppressed of this world
represent God. And if you want to give to God then help the poor and
helpless of this world with your tithes and offerings not, I repeat
not some self-appointed, over fed minister claiming he represent God
(believe me he don't) and nor do his human organization so-called by
the name "church" or "God's house".
The word in verse 10 as
"storehouse" is Strong's number 0214, Phonetic speech
"o-tsaw'"; the Hebrew Original Word: "Rcwa";
Transliterated Word: "owtsar" Malachi 3:10... the word
"storehouse" in the Hebrew means: treasure (gold, silver,
etc); storehouse (store, supplies of food or drink); treasure house,
treasury (fig. Of God's armory); King James translations:
treasures, treasury, storehouses, cellars, armory, garners and
store.
The in verse 10 as "food" is
Strong's Number 02964, Original word "@rj"
Transliterated word "Tereph" Phonetic spelling for speech
"eh'-ref"; Meaning in Hebrew: prey, food or leaf;
Translations in the KJV: prey, meat, leaves, and
spoil
The People Complain
Harshly (this NKJV subtitle should say the
priest and the Levite - see verses 3 and 9 above in this same
chapter 3):
Malachi 3:13-18... "13 "Your words have been harsh against Me," Says the
LORD, "Yet you say, "What have we spoken against You?' 14 You
have said, "It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that
we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners
Before the LORD of hosts? 15 So now we call the proud
blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even
tempt God and go free."'
A
Book of Remembrance
16 Then those who feared the LORD
spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a
book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear
the LORD And who meditate on His name. 17 "They shall be
Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "On the day that I make them My
jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who
serves him." 18 Then you shall again
discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves
God And one who does not serve Him.
Now, I exhort you today
as Christians, those of
you who fear the Lord and who are speaking to one another today
about the deceit of those who teach these doctrines of Satan and how
the deceitfulness of sin have sway the masses of the people and
their leaders; and know within your heart today that they are wrong,
those who hear my voice - the Lord is listening and He hears your
voice, and He is writing these things down (Malachi 3:16).
So, I call upon you to continue to serve God in your spirit - those
are us who realize we have been had (led astray) by these gospel
peddlers and now refuses to support their pockets. I say to you, we
as Christians must give to and support those in need not those who
seek to gain financial wealth and build buildings. We who have eyes
to see and ears to hear are the Christians Christ Jesus speaks of in
Revelations 2 and 3 in His messages to the churches, when He
says we live and congregate among those who serve Satan and teaches
the doctrines of Satan and men rather than the whole counsel of
God's word (Rev. 2:9, 13, 24 and Rev.3:9). Just as Christ and
His disciples gave to the poor (John 13:29), and the early
New Testament Christians remembered the poor (Acts 15 and
Galatians 2:9-10). This is our calling to serve those in need to
preach the good news to the poor and the oppressed in this evil and
adulterous world, for in so doing we serve God and His Christ
(Matthew 25:34-40). Amen. Praise God.
Evangelist
Ron Davis, a Minister of Christ, of the Kush Edifying
Ministries proclaims the whole counsel of God. This
ministry believes in the command of Jesus to His disciples in
Matthew
10:7-8 “As you go, preach this message: 'The
kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse
those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received,
freely give” (NIV). Jesus
commands us to “freely” preach the
word without demanding those preached to give to
you.
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