Malachi 3:9

 Malachi 3:9

Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

a. NLT: You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. NIV: You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. [THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.]

c. YLT: With a curse ye are cursed! And Me ye are deceiving -- this nation -- all of it. YLT: [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Amplified Bible Classic: You are cursed with the curse, for you are robbing Me, even this whole nation. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Septuagint: And ye do surely look off from me, and ye insult me.

f. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: You are cursed with a curse, yet you [continue to] steal from Me, the entire nation! [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ldt.]

1.”Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me….”

a. Ye [Strong: 859 'attah at-taw' or (shortened); aatta {at-taw'}; or wath {ath}; feminine (irregular) sometimes nattiy {at-tee'}; plural masculine attem {at- tem'}; feminine atten {at-ten'}; or oattenah {at-tay'naw}; or fattennah {at-tane'-naw}; a primitive pronoun of the second person; thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you:--thee, thou, ye, you.]

b. [are] cursed [Strong: 779 'arar aw-rar' a primitive root; to execrate:--X bitterly curse.] 

c. [with a] curse [Strong: 3994 merah meh-ay-raw' from 779; an execration:--curse.]

1). This is referring to the curse of Deuteronomy for those who will not obey the law.

a). Deuteronomy 28:15 But is shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

d. [for ye have] robbed [Strong: 6906 qaba` kaw-bah' a primitive root; to cover, i.e. (figuratively) defraud:--rob, spoil.] 

1). This ties the curse to the robbing of God by not paying their tithe.

e. [me] [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

2. “…even this whole nation.”

a. [even this] whole [Strong: 3605 kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).

b. nation [Strong: 1471 gowy go'-ee rarely (shortened) goy {go'-ee}; apparently from the same root as 1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:--Gentile, heathen, nation, people.]

1). Kenneth E. Hagin, The Midas Touch: I’ve also heard preachers try to hammer Christians by quoting from Malachi chapter 3 saying that they are cursed if they don’t pay tithes and give offerings. Obviously, this is not correct. While the people of Malachi's day were under the Law of Moses, the New Testament plainly declares that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13). Does that mean that tithing is not longer valid? Not at all. As I said in the last chapter, God’s people were tithers four hundred years before the Law, and Jesus reaffirmed the validity of tithing in His teaching. In the only recorded instance of Jesus’ referring to tithing. He said it should be done! But there is no curse today for not tithing. We are free from the legalistic requirements of the mosaic Law. Is there any other consequence? Yes, if we don’t tithe, we limit our selves from receiving the blessings of God has promised those who pay tithes and give offerings by faith.  

2).  Again, this is a specific rebuke to the nation of Israel in Covenant relationship with God for their disobedience in respect to the tithe. This is not to the Church, the body of Christ. The church does not have to keep the law. Granted, there are many moral elements of the law that were transferred to the New Covenant. For instance, the Ten Commandments were all incorporated into the New Covenant, except the command to keep the Sabbath. 

3). In the New Covenant we who are in Christ are redeemed from the curse. I don’t know of any Bible believing Christian who would teach that a born again Christian’s failure to tithe would cancel out what Christ Jesus accomplished on the cross.  

a). Galatians 3:13, 14 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

b). I can’t for the life of me imagine the apostle Paul strenuously arguing against being circumcised and keeping the law in Acts 15, but with the exception of tithing.