Thieves in the Temple
by Ronald W Robey
(written October 30, 2016)

Malachi 3:8-10 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 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.

In the text of Malachi 3:8-10, it wasn’t the whole nation of Jews that brought the curse. Nor was it the entire Levitic tribe that brought the curse upon the land of Canaan. It was the Priests of the Temple who had angered God.

Consider the fact that the Books of Malachi and Nehemiah were written at a very close proximity to each other. Just three years apart. Notice:

Nehemiah 10:37-38 And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house.

Nehemiah 10:37-38 reveals that there was an order that had to be observed in the practice of tithing. The order of tithing was as follows:

1. The children of Israel took the tithes of their agricultural crops and livestock to a location in the farming communities where the Levites were waiting with the Priest.
2. The children of Israel gave their tithe to the Levites.
3. The Levite handed a tithe of the tithe they received to the Priest that was with them.
3. The Priest lifted the tithe of the tithe to the Lord as an heave offering, and then handed it back to the Levite.
3. The Levites, took the tithe of the tithe (that which had been lifted before the LORD) to the House of God.

Nehemiah reveals that, just as the children of Israel were not to tithe directly to the Tabernacle, (Numbers 18:21-23) they also were not to tithe directly to the Temple. Rather, tithing to the Tabernacle, and later to the Temple…was strictly the responsibility of the Levites.

Now, given this fact, one might think that the Levites were the thieves who God was speaking to in Malachi 3:8-10. Context proves it was the top-tier of Temple Staff,… the Priests themselves who had robbed God.

Back up one chapter.

Malachi 2:1 And now, O ye Priest’s, this commandment is for you.

What commandment is Malachi speaking of? There is not a single commandment in the entire second chapter.

Malachi 3:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

We do not see a commandment until chapter three. Verse 7, which says: “Return unto me.”

The Priest’s ask, “Wherein shall we return?

God answers, (still talking to the Priests) “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. even this whole nation. But ye (the Priests) say, ‘Wherein have we robbed Thee?…

Clearly, God was speaking to the Priests, not the congregation in Malachi 3. The Priest’s had removed the tithes from the storehouse. They were keeping the best animals that the Levites brought to the Temple for themselves and were offering blind and lame animals on the altar,… animals unacceptable to God. (see chapter 1:6)

In chapter 3, God was telling the Priest’s to bring the stolen tithes and offerings back into the Temple. Their theft of the tithes and offerings had robbed the nation of rain needed for the crops to flourish.