Question 81: What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?

Answer: The eighth commandment forbids whatever would unjustly withhold or diminish a person's possessions or attainments.

DAY 1:

We have taken time to look at the prophet Malachi many times before and this week we will turn to his message again. Since we have looked at the other verses under this subject in previous lessons, I will dispense with them for this week and focus on this passage.

Though we made mention this past Lord’s Day that this commandment assumes personal property rights, this passage from Malachi reminds us that we are mere stewards of the things God has graciously given. Malachi’s message is one of judgment upon the nation of Israel. They have failed to glorify the name of God in many ways. Thus, when Malachi makes his statements in chapter 3 concerning the coming of the Messiah, he speaks of Him having a messenger. This messenger is John the Baptist. John came to prepare the way of the Lord and to call people to repentance. Isaiah prophesied of him and he knew the prophesies concerning himself (Isa. 40:3; Matt. 11:10-11; Mark 1:3; Jn 1:23). He was the heralder of the King and His kingdom. Malachi tells us that Christ will show up suddenly at His temple. That He did and taught the people in the temple. He also had great love for the house of God that moved Him to drive out the moneychangers.

This being said, Malachi has a word of judgment for the people. For though they delight in this Messiah (vs. 1), they despised the very one who is the Messiah. The term delight here is (chaphets khaw-fates’). It simply means, “to find pleasure in.” The people delighted in the Messiah, it seems carnally. We see that at the time of Jesus the people wanted A Messiah to conquer their enemies and bring peace and prosperity to the nation of Israel. However, we know that Christ came as One who would deal with our greatest enemy, Satan and settle the debt that we had with God. He was to pay for the sins of His people in order that they might be able to enjoy His kingdom and not find themselves under the judgment spoken of in this passage.

Malachi then asks the questions of verse 2. Who can endure the day of his coming? The term for endure is (kuwl kool). It means, “to sustain, maintain, contain, hold in, restrain, to support, endure.” The question is literally, “Who can keep Him from coming?” When He comes He will be like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap. Christ came and cleared away the things which would be the dross of the false teachings of the Jewish leaders. This prophecy states that He will refine and that He will clean. He will be one that purges false doctrine and sins from His people. The term launderer’s soap here is interesting. It is the words (kabac boriyth kaw-bas’ bo-reeth’). It is simply a washing soap. The Online Bible has this to say about the fuller or lauderer,

The word "full" is from the Anglo-Saxon fullian, meaning "to whiten." To full is to press or scour cloth in a mill. This art is one of great antiquity. Mention is made of "fuller’s soap" #Mal 3:2 and of "the fuller’s field" #2Ki 18:17 At his transfiguration our Lord’s rainment is said to have been white "so as no fuller on earth could white them" #Mr 9:3 En-rogel (q.v.), meaning literally "foot-fountain, " has been interpreted as the "fuller’s fountain, " because there the fullers trod the cloth with their feet.

We can see that this soap was to whiten and that refining meant getting the purest metals. This is indeed what Christ does. Notice that in verses 3-5 we see the results of Christ’s teachings. Once again God’s Word will be clear and clean of falsehoods and will become a spiritual cleansing agent that is able to cleanse the soul of sin. I am not saying that God’s Word contained false statements, but rather the teachers began communicating lies concerning the Word of God and in the people’s minds this amounted to them believing lies about God’s Word. Throughout the Old Testament there are references to cleansing and that cleansing was sometimes ceremonial and sometimes that cleansing was spiritual. Here we will see some of the cleansing in removing the “dross”, so to speak, from what was becoming commonly accepted.

God tells them in verse 7 that they have constantly gone away from the ordinances that He had instituted. They were a sinful people and we can claim nothing higher ourselves. He calls them to repentance and then gives the question that they are asking in their minds, “In what way shall we return?” The people don’t think they have gone away from the ordinances of God. As a matter of fact, our churches today looks like Israel at this time. We move away from the ordinances of God and we say, “What do we have need of repentance?” We might be quick to say, “Yes, we’re sinners”, but when asked to name our sins and confess them, we find it a bit intrusive to elaborate or be specific. We thus fall under a delusion like that of Israel. Notice what God speaks of first.

God’s first indictment of the people was that they had robbed Him. Again, notice that God already sees the way their minds are working and asks the question for them, “In what way have we robbed you?” His answer is in tithes and offerings. We know that they robbed God of Sabbaths. We saw that in the lessons on the fourth commandment. They were judged for that via the captivity in Babylon. However, now they were robbing Him by withholding their possessions.

Malachi speaks of tithes (ma‘aser mah-as-ayr’) and offerings (t@ruwmah ter-oo-maw’). The tithe is simply a tenth part. The offerings could refer to that which would go beyond the tenths set up under the law or it could refer to the many offerings or sacrifices which Malachi also addresses. However, I believe the context is that it would be the former. Now we have often been taught that the tithe was merely 10%. However, it went much deeper than that. First, we’ll recall that Abraham paid tithes before there was the institution of tithing at the time of Moses. In Genesis 14:20 and then again in Hebrews 7:6 we find that he paid tithes of the spoils that he had received to Melchizedek, who was a priest and king of Salem. In Genesis 28:22 we find that Jacob made a vow to the Lord. He told Him that, “And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” It seems sort of strange at first. How did Jacob actually give his tenth? It seems best to see that the altar that he erected was used for a place of sacrifice and offerings. It seems that Jacob would offer animal sacrifice and meal offerings as described in Deuteronomy. However, the tenth must have been a concept among many people for these men to have done it. There is no record that God demanded such a thing before, nor was there a demand upon them at the time they offered it. This should give us some insight into what we find in the New Testament. The Scripture says, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7).” Our giving is not to be legalistic or done out of a sense of duty, but cheerfully. Some people may give their tithes legalistically and mope around because they feel like they have lost something. They should have kept their money. There is no blessing for the giver who does so with such a heart.

When we look at an example of giving in the book of Acts, it is clear that their giving was voluntary and “as they purposed in their hearts”. In 5:1-11 we see the story of Ananias and Sapphira. At that time many of the church were in severe circumstances. Therefore many of the church who owned property sold them and brought the money to the apostles to distribute to those that had need. However, we find that Ananias and Sapphira also had made arrangements for giving. But their intentions were the problem. They sold property and then conspired to say that they were giving the entire amount to help. This giving was not demanded or commanded. It was voluntary. It would not have been a sin to not give or to give only a portion. But they lied about the amount in order to appear spiritual. Notice that Peter says in verse 4 that the property was in the control of the husband and wife and that even when they sold it that money was also in their possession. In other words, it was theirs and they were under no obligation to give it to others. Yet they chose to lie to God and His church about it and they paid dearly for it with their lives. Again, at the heart of the issue is the heart. Giving should be that which is a joy to do and which doesn’t seek its own.

As we move to the time of Moses, we find that the first mention of the tithe as an ordinance in Leviticus 27:30-32. Here we see that there was instruction that the first fruits, so to speak, both of crops and animals were to be offered to the Lord. They were His. Later in Numbers 18:21-28 we see that the tithes were to be brought to the tabernacle to provide for the Levites, who did not do common work, but were performing the ceremonial tasks assigned to them by God. God even had the Levites give a tithe of the tithe that they received. So God had made provision so that everyone was able to give the same amount, mainly one tenth of all they took in.

In Deuteronomy 14:22-26 we find that the people were to take a tithe of all of their produce and animals and wine and were to go to the place where the Lord instructed and partake of it. However, if they were unable to carry it to the place or the place was too far away to carry the goods, then they were to sell it and buy whatever their heart desired and go to the place and purchase food and eat it there. This was to be observed as the Lord had commanded.

In verses 28-29 of the same chapter we see that there was another tithe every three years that was to be taken from that years produce and was to be stored up and given to the poor, the Levites, strangers, widows and the fatherless. This is what is commonly referred to as the welfare tithe. God had appointed a fashion in which everyone could be satisfied.

So we can clearly see that tithing was a central part of the Jewish social and religious life. They were rebuked not only by the prophet Malachi, but also by the prophet Amos for failing in their tithing (4:4). We also saw that they were rebuked by Nehemiah in chapter 13 and the people brought in their tithes. This also happened with king Hezekiah (2 Ch. 31:5, 6)

This law was used to fund the ceremonies and duties of those involved in them. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they were sticklers for tithing little seeds and herbs, but failing to give heed to weightier things of the law such as judgment, mercy and faith ( Matt. 23:23). It’s not that tithing was not important, but when one focuses upon the exact amount and then thinks himself to be “doing his duty”, then he falls into the trap of self-righteousness and pride. I am thrilled that some people have enough faith to give 20-40% of their earnings. It is a tremendous testimony to God’s provision. However, it also seems to be a place for boasting and legalism. No where in the New Testament are we commanded to tithe. Our offerings are from the heart and the Scriptures command us to give as we purpose in our hearts. If people today are so gung ho over tithing, let them institute it as God did with ALL of the tithes: Both for the work of the ministry (cf. 1 Cor. 9:13-14), and for celebrations and for the poor. If not then let them remain silent in bringing people under law.

With that said, I do think that the tithe is a good benchmark to start to train children in. Some will want to give more and some less. However, the important thing is the attitude with which they give and the fact that they are giving. I certainly want my children to participate in giving. They don’t accumulate much and neither do I, but I want them to have a cheerful spirit when they give their pennies, nickels and dimes so that when they grow older they will have the same cheerful spirit with their dollars. Let us not rob God by withholding a portion of what He has given us. He is worthy of so much more. May God give us hearts that are willing to give cheerfully and generously.

Scripture: Malachi 3:8; Ephesians 4:28; Romans 13:7.