There’s no question that televangelists have made it difficult for people to understand what the Bible teaches about money. They promote the concept of so-called “seed money.” The message is bold: “Give God $10, and expect Him to give you $1,000.” They flash their expensive cars and jewellery and declare that poverty is from the devil, and God wants all Christians to prosper. In reality, it can become a religious pyramid scheme where the preachers get rich at the expense of vulnerable people.
But where do they get their ideas, and how should we understand the passages they misuse? One passage they often turn to is Malachi 3:6-12. Let’s consider what it says and try to separate the fact from the fiction.
Malachi was a prophet who ministered to God’s people after the exile. Although the temple had been rebuilt, the spiritual condition of the nation was in disarray. In Malachi 3:7, God says to them, “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.” They had continued patterns of sin that had been present for generations. Their culture had become corrupted.
They thought that adding a little religion to their lives would change things, but it hadn’t. A holy temple on its own couldn’t undo the consequences of unholy living. In the book, God addresses a number of areas of systemic corruption. Regarding finances, three lessons stand out.
1. True repentance includes financial repentance
The people in Malachi’s day did what we often do. We’re more likely to buy new exercise equipment and yoga pants than we are to start exercising. The people had built a temple to welcome God’s presence into their midst, but they hadn’t taken practical steps to welcome Him into their hearts.
Malachi 3:7-8 says: “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.”
Notice the repetition of the words “return” and “rob” in the verses. In verse 7, God calls His people to return to Him, and in verse 8, He confronts them for robbing Him. They didn’t see how genuine repentance should affect how they handled their money. In God’s mind, they were robbing Him of the place He deserved in the stewardship of their resources. True repentance includes financial repentance. Billy Graham agreed. He said, “If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life.”
2. Finances are the one area where God invites His people to test Him
When Malachi ministered to the people, times were tough financially for most of them. They had lost everything in the exile and starting over in a new country with neighbours who are hostile to your presence couldn’t have been easy. Giving God 10% of their income and special offerings above and beyond that must have seemed impossible. But God wanted them to trust Him with their finances, and so He asked them to test His faithfulness in this area.
In verse 10, He says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts.” It’s unusual because God usually says not to test Him. But here, He wants them to test His faithfulness. That raises an important question, though: What kind of test is He inviting? Are we to test God’s ability to make us rich?
3. God promises to meet our needs, not feed our greed
The rest of the verse clarifies the kind of test God is proposing. It says, “Put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” He’s challenging the people to test His faithfulness as they step out in faithful giving, but the idea isn’t that gold is going to fall from the sky. It’s a promise of “blessing,” but to meet our needs, not feed our greed. In fact, often it’s only when we start to trust God with our finances that we’re able to discern the difference between what we need and what we want. And we begin to experience gratitude for God’s provision and contentment with what God gives us.
Has twisted teaching on money kept you from giving God authority over your finances? Have you repented of your sin in general without repenting of your attitude toward money in particular? If the idea of tithing feels overwhelming, ask whether you believe that God can provide for your needs. God won’t have any part in a plan that involves our greed, but He does love to provide for His children when they trust Him.
In awe of Him,
Paul
Originally published: February 10, 2021. Revised: October 28, 2026.
