The message of Malachi 3 & 4 for us

It is interesting that Jesus gave the Nephites a recitation of Malachi 3-4 and not the first parts of Malachi as well. It makes me wonder. Did He give the other parts too and Mormon only included the parts he felt were most applicable to us, or did Jesus just give Malachi 3-4?

Regardless of this question, though, it is interesting to study the parts given and see how they apply to us.

The message seems to be about the importance of preparing for the second coming by repenting and purifying one’s self. Two particular issues are raised that need dealing with, which people aren’t aware, and which seem to underline the need for prophets and revelation. 

Problem #1 is the people don’t understand that withholding their tithing’s and offerings constitutes robbing God and brings a curse. The promise is reinterated that blessings are poured out on those who tithe.

Problem #2 is the people think serving God won’t get them anywhere. They think there is no profit in it because the wicked seem to be far more successful.  The problem with this is that it is an implicit rebuke of God Himself, asserting that His ways are less successful than the world’s. However, we are told that the righteous do not have this attitude, but they speak often to one another (to encourage each other to endure) and they fear the Lord (more than the world) and they think upon His name (instead of obsessing about worldly things). 

In the end, those who believe the Lord’s ways are best and who act in line with that belief will be vindicated because the difference will be obvious between the Lord’s ways and the world’s ways.  We are told the proud and wicked whom many thought were so happy and safe from difficulty will be burned up, whereas those who followed the Lord will be saved, healed, nourished, and at peace.

We get reminders about paying tithing from time to time, so the principle of tithing has higher awareness in the church. But how are our attitudes about the source of success and safety in life?

Unexpected indirect blessing of tithing: learning to de-clutter

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (Malachi 3:10)

This verse contains the great blessing that comes with paying tithing—that there will not be room enough to receive the blessing poured out. However, if we also look at it from the perspective of de-cluttering, it teaches another principle—the necessity of being able to perceive when there is “not room enough.” Finding there is not room enough is an invitation to give away the surplus and be blessed further.

These days many people are not able to tell that they have no room to receive more. They live their lives with homes stuffed with goods that are not important enough to the way they are living their lives now. This verse gives us the hint that an indirect blessing of paying tithing is that we will begin to discern what we need and what we don’t and be able to tell when we have been given more than we are able to receive. If we are able to tell the difference between what we can receive to make use of and what we don’t have room to receive, we will be able to de-clutter, our lives will be simpler, and our possessions will be streamlined in a manner that will really facilitate our lives of discipleship rather than inhibiting us.

How does tithing help us do this? When we pay tithing, we learn it is possible to live with what is left over. It gives us a chance to cultivate greater efficiency in our expenditures. That skill of efficient use can spill over to other parts of our stewardship, such as considering how our space is used and whether the things we have that fill up our space are really serving us as they should. Paying tithing takes practice, and de-cluttering takes practice too. Paying tithing gives us practice in sacrificing, so it will be easier for us to let go of what we don’t need when we de-clutter.

How I gained my testimony of the law of tithing

I want to share this story from my life with you.

First, I have to say that my parents taught me about paying tithing, and I grew up paying it without any question. 10% right off the top.

When I started going to college at BYU, I found that it was necessary for me to earn a certain amount every summer in order to have enough for the rest of the school year. That’s when it started to feel a little more difficult to pay tithing. I would look at the amount I was writing for a tithing check, and somehow it seemed large to me, and I would resent it just a little bit.

My second summer home from BYU, I heard of another guy in the ward who had paid all his paychecks as tithing at the beginning until it reached 10% of the full sum he needed and how he was blessed to make enough money for college. I decided I wanted to do that to bind the Lord to bless me with the money I needed for college.

I got a part time job as a telemarketer at the beginning of that summer. (This was back when telemarketers still sold things.) That job was really hard for me, especially because I had to try to convince people to take out a second mortgage. (More debt, bad!) It was also especially hard to pay my entire paychecks as tithing. I remember crying a few times as I was filling out the tithing slip. But I had faith that Heavenly Father would bless me.

Then, I lost my telemarketing job. On one hand, I was happy about that because I didn’t like telemarketing to try to get people to go deeper into debt. On the other hand, I was sad because it meant I had to go on the job search AGAIN. Deep down, I didn’t worry at all because I had paid all the tithing for the sum I needed for college, so Heavenly Father was now BOUND to bless me. The iron had entered my soul. I sensed that there was a better job out there for me.

There was. With a job application miraculously pulled from the trash, I became one of two candidates for a job with a mosquito abatement company. They chose me. All of a sudden, I had a job counting dead mosquitoes and treating standing water for mosquito larvae. The amount of work I had depended upon how bad the mosquitoes were and how much standing water there was for mosquitoes to breed in. In turn, the amount of mosquitoes depended upon high temperature and lots of rain. That summer became a very hot and rainy summer. The mosquitoes were so terrible, my hometown used up all of that year’s mosquito abatement budget and had to use part of the next year’s mosquito abatement budget to pay for mosquito abatement services.

At the end of the summer, I didn’t have all the money I needed for the school year, but I still wasn’t worried because I knew that Heavenly Father was bound to bless me. While I was at BYU, I was prompted to get an on-campus job. I picked out a job at an electronics parts storeroom, which I felt qualified for and applied. They didn’t hire me, but as I left, I felt prompted to go back and ask if they knew anyone else who might need me. They directed me to a different electronics storeroom on campus. The second storeroom didn’t need employees at the moment, but they took my name and number. After that, I didn’t feel any extra urgency to apply for jobs. Near the beginning of winter semester, I got a call from the second storeroom with an offer of a job to work there. I took the job and thereby earned the rest of the money I needed.

When I looked back at the end of the year, I could see how the Lord had blessed me with what I needed, and I had a strong testimony of the law of tithing. But that wasn’t the end of it. A few years later, I could look back and see that not only had the Lord blessed me with the money I needed, He led me to a job where I met my future husband. Every time I think of this experience, I am always flabbergasted by the immensity of this blessing the Lord poured out upon me. I feel like what I did was so small in comparison, even though it was an extra trial of faith for me. I learned that sacrifice does bring forth the blessings of heaven.

Will you share with me how you gained your testimony of the law of tithing?

Valuing holy alliances

There’s a story in Genesis of when there is a battle between a bunch of Canaanite kings. It was the king of Shinar, the king of Ellasar, the king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations versus king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela. (Genesis 14:1-2) (We’ll call it team Shinar versus team Sodom, shall we?)

Team Sodom didn’t make out very well. In fact, they lost badly and team Shinar took all of team Sodom’s stuff. But they also took Lot and his family captive with their stuff.

Well, Abraham heard about Lot’s capture, and so he took his men servants to rescue Lot. He attacked the camp at night with divided groups of 318 people total and won. (Sounds like a Gideon tactic or a Captain Moroni tactic, doesn’t it?) Then he brought everything back. And when he comes back, there is this interesting scene:

17 ¶And the king of Sodom went out to meet him [Abraham] after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion. (Genesis 14:17-24)

It struck me how interesting it was that both these kings are present—the wicked king of Sodom and the righteous King Melchizedek of Salem. This suggested to me that a contrast was being set up between these two kings.

King Melchizedek blesses Abraham and Abraham pays tithes to him. The king of Sodom tries to bless Abraham too, but with the wealth of Sodom, and Abraham refuses to accept it. It seemed to me that Abraham didn’t want to be under any obligation to the king of Sodom. Or maybe, he would rather keep the king of Sodom under obligation to him rather than be paid like a mercenary.

Either way, it is clear that Abraham would rather pay tithing to Melchizedek than be made rich by the king of Sodom. (Even Abraham chose his friends carefully.) Holy alliance and the quality of his affiliations meant more to him than any tangible reward. What a great example!

Why Christ wanted Malachi 3 in the Book of Mormon

There’s an evangelical website that I go to every once in a while just to see what kinds of discussions they have, and one post they had last week was about passing the plate in church. The comments on the post went back and forth between the topic of the most appropriate way to solicit offerings without being disruptive or how to make it seem less uncomfortable and the topic of tithing.

I had to put my little oar in and testify to the truthfulness of the principle of tithing and the blessings that come from it. (I suppose I also got carried away and started suggesting things they should do. I used a lot of shoulds.)

The blog owner replied to my post, “Can you justify tithing as part of the new covenant? No.”

I read that and thought, surely there must be something in the scriptures about tithing! So I went and looked in the Topical Guide under “tithing” and I also looked under “tenth”. You know what? I only found three instances in the New Testament about tithing. Here they are:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. (Matthew 23:23)

But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. (Luke 11:42)

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:9-14)

So I felt kind of frustrated and wondered how there was such an oversight. I couldn’t believe that Jesus would not say something about it.

Well, yesterday in my scripture study I was reading in 3 Nephi and I ran across chapter 24.

And it came to pass that he commanded them that they should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written he expounded them… (3 Nephi 24:1)

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say: Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the fields, saith the Lord of Hosts. (3 Nephi 24:8-11)

For many years I have wondered just why these chapters were included. And now it’s clear to me that Heavenly Father knew that people would try to argue that tithing was no longer a commandment after the Law of Moses had been done away. If it had been done away, Jesus would not have given Malachi’s words about tithing to the Nephites. The repetition of them demonstrated they were still in force.