Robbing God

Malachi 3

⁶ "For _t I the Lord do not change; _u therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. ⁷ _v From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. _w Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. _x But you say, 'How shall we return?' ⁸ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. _x But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' _y In your tithes and contributions. ⁹ _z You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ¹⁰ _a Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby _b put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open _c the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ¹¹ I will rebuke _d the devourer ₁ for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. ¹² Then _e all nations will call you blessed, for you will be _f a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

¹³ _g "Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. _h But you say, 'How have we spoken against you?' ¹⁴ You have said, _i 'It is vain to serve God. _j What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? ¹⁵ And now we call _k the arrogant blessed. _k Evildoers not only prosper but _l they put God to the test and they escape.'"

1. Cross References
   Psalms 102:27
   But you are the same, and your years have no end.
   Numbers 23:19
   God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
   
2. Cross References
   Lamentations 3:22
   The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.
   
3. Cross References
   Acts 7:51
   You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
   
4. Cross References
   Zechariah 1:3
   Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
   
5. Cross References
   Malachi 1:2
   I have loved you," says the Lord. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the Lord. "Yet I have loved Jacob
   
6. Cross References
   Malachi 3:7
   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?
   
7. Cross References
   Nehemiah 13:10
   I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field.
   
8. Cross References
   Malachi 2:2
   If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
   
9. Cross References
   Proverbs 3:9 - 10
   Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce.
   
10. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 9:6 - 8
    The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
    
11. Cross References
    Genesis 7:11
    In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
    
12. Cross References
    Joel 1:4
    What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.
    
13. Cross References
    Zephaniah 3:19
    Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
    
14. Cross References
    Isaiah 62:4
    You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.
    
15. Cross References
    Malachi 2:17
    You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them." Or by asking, "Where is the God of justice?
    
16. Cross References
    Malachi 1:2
    I have loved you," says the Lord. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the Lord. "Yet I have loved Jacob
    
17. Cross References
    Zephaniah 1:12
    At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, 'The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.
    
18. Cross References
    Job 21:15
    What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?
    
19. Cross References
    Malachi 4:1
    For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
    
20. Cross References
    Malachi 4:1
    For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
    
21. Cross References
    Psalms 95:9
    When your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.