John Calvin Commentary Malachi 3:10

"Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah 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]." — Malachi 3:10 (ASV)

He finally declares that they gained nothing by contending with God, but that a better way was open to them: to return to favor with Him. After repelling their unjust accusations, He again points out the remedy He had already mentioned—that if they dealt faithfully with God, He would be bountiful to them, and His blessing would be promptly extended to them.

This is the essence of the passage. They had been sufficiently proven guilty of greed in withholding the tenths and the oblations. Since the sacrilege was well known, the Prophet now passes judgment, as is commonly said, according to what is usually done when the criminal is condemned and the case is decided, so that the one who has been defrauded recovers what is rightfully theirs.

So now God also deals with the Jews. Bring, He says, to the repository (for this is the same as the house of the treasury, or of provisions) all the tenths, or the whole tenths. From this we learn that they had not withheld the whole of the tenths from the priests, but that they fraudulently brought half, or retained as much as they could; for it was not without reason that He said, Bring all, or the whole.

They then paid the tenths in such a way that they supplied the priests with only a part, and thus they trifled with God, as hypocrites do, who always claim high honor for themselves and try to perform their duty in such a way as to conceal their own treachery. Yet they are not ashamed of the liberty they take to deceive God; and of this we have a remarkable example here.

We see then that it is not a new or unusual thing for people to pretend to perform the duties they owe to God, and at the same time to take away from Him what is His own and to transfer it to themselves, and to do so openly, so that their impiety is evident, though it is covered by the veil of deceit.

He then adds, Let there be meat in my house. We have explained this way of speaking elsewhere, and in the last lecture the Prophet also spoke of the meat of God—not that God needs meat and drink, but that whatever He has given us ought to be considered His.

We have already stated that it has been recorded for our benefit that the Jews offered bread, victims, and things of this kind, and that they feasted at Jerusalem in the presence of God. For what is more desirable than that God should dwell in our midst? And this is often repeated in the Law.

But this could not have been presented to us in such a familiar way as when God is represented as, in a way, sitting at the table with us, as though He were our guest, eating of the same bread and other provisions. And for this reason it is said in the Law, Thou shalt feast and rejoice before thy God (Deuteronomy 2:18).

Now, as has been said, God does not need meat and drink. And since people in their spiritual insensitivity are always prone to superstitions, He substituted the priests and the poor in His own place to prevent the Jews from entertaining worldly notions about Him.

And this kind of modification or correction deserves notice: for the Lord on the one hand intended to draw people to Himself in a kind manner; but, on the other hand, He intended to raise their minds upward to heaven, lest they should ascribe to Him anything unworthy of Himself, as is customarily done, and is very common.

But, at the same time, He again accuses them of sacrilege, for He complains that He was deprived of meat: Let there then be meat in my house; and prove me by this, says Jehovah, if I will not open, etc. He confirms what He said before, and yet proceeds with His promise. For by subjecting Himself to a test, He boldly refutes their slander in saying that they were consumed with want without cause, and that God had changed His nature because He had not given a large supply of provisions.

God then briefly shows that wrong had been done to Him, for He allows a test or a trial, as though He had said, “If you choose to contest the point, I will soon settle it; for if you bring to Me the tenths, and them entire, a great abundance of all provisions will immediately come to you. It will therefore be evident that I am not the cause of barrenness, but that it is your wickedness, because you have sacrilegiously defrauded Me.”

Then He adds, If I will not open to you the windows of heaven. Regarding fertility, the first thing is that the heavens should water the earth, according to what Scripture declares. And for this reason God threatens in the Law that the heaven would be iron and the earth brass (Deuteronomy 28:23), for there is a mutual connection between the heaven and the earth. And He says elsewhere by a Prophet:

The heaven will hear the earth,
and the earth will hear the corn and wine,
and the corn and wine will hear men (Hosea 2:22).

For when famine presses us, we cry for bread and wine, as our life seems, in a way, to depend on these supplies. When there is no wine or corn, we are met with a denial. But the wine and the corn cry to the earth. And why? Because according to the order fixed by God, they seek, as it were, to break forth.

For when the depths of the earth are closed, neither the corn nor the vine can come forth, and then they call on the earth in vain. The same is the case with the earth: for when it is dry and, as it were, famished, it calls on the heavens; but if rain is denied, the heavens seem to reject its prayer.

Then God shows in this passage that the earth could not produce a single ear of corn unless the heavens supplied moisture or rain. Indeed, God could have watered the earth from the beginning without rain, as Moses relates He did at first, for a vapor then supplied the lack of rain. Though rain descends naturally, we are still reminded here that God sends it. This is the first thing.

But as rain itself would not suffice, He adds, I will unsheath, etc. For רק, rek, properly means to unsheath. But as this metaphor seems unnatural, some have more correctly rendered it, I will draw out. This version, I will empty out a blessing, is also unnatural and perverts the meaning.

Let us then follow what I have stated as the first option—that a blessing is drawn out from God when the earth performs its function and becomes fertile or fruitful. Thus we see that God is not only bountiful to us in one way, but He also intends by various processes to make us aware of His kindness.

He rains from heaven to soften the earth, so that it may nourish the corn in its bosom, and then send it forth from its depths, as though it extended its breast to us. And further, God adds His blessing, so as to make the rain useful.

He adds the words עד-בלי-די, od-beli-di, which some render, that there may not be a sufficiency; that is, that granaries and cellars might not be capable of containing such abundance. They then derive this meaning: that the fruitfulness of the earth would be so great, and its produce so large, that their storehouses would not be sufficiently spacious.

But others give this version: Beyond the measure of sufficiency. The word די, di, properly means sufficiency, or what is needful (as by inverting the letters, it is יד, id). With regard to the general meaning, there is little difference.

Suitable also is this version: Beyond sufficiency; that is, I will not consider what is merely needful for you, as though it were measured, but the abundance shall be overflowing.