Now back in Malachi chapter 3,
I've entitled this message, you know, I've been studying for
this message, you know, I look at commentaries, read commentaries,
do word studies, and listen to several messages. Most every
message that's preached from this section of the scripture
is entitled, Will a Man Rob God? And so I saw no reason to go
beyond that and try to seek anything more creative or eye-catching
or ear-catching, as it will. That's what I've entitled this
message, Will a Man Rob God? And I'm sure that you know how
most of religion today goes with this kind of a subject. Many
preachers, and I'll tell you something that just really makes
me sick, is to hear a preacher from a pulpit or on television
begging for money. I think it's sickening. I really
do. To hear them begging for money. First of all, and I'm
gonna say this because it's true, God doesn't need your money.
That's what it is. This issue, now, somebody said,
well, what about money? Well, the Bible has a lot to
say about money. The Bible has a lot to say about
giving. But you know, the issue here in this thing of giving
and supporting the truth, the gospel, the church, and all that,
it's really not an issue of what God needs from us. It's simply
an issue of giving God the glory that's due unto his name. That's
really what it's all about. But let's look at it in the context
that it's given here, and hopefully, prayerfully approach these scriptures
that the Lord might teach us and by his teaching inspire us,
motivate us by his grace and by his love to us. But the first
thing that's brought out here, you know, this whole thing is
in the context of the promise of salvation by the grace of
God in Christ, the promised Messiah. As you saw how it started out,
the messenger, meaning John the Baptist, who would come and prepare
the way of the Lord. And then the messenger of the
covenant, Christ himself, the promised seed of woman, the child
born, the son given, the Lord our righteousness, whom they
expected but not the one identified and promised and distinguished
in the scripture. And so he asks that question,
who may abide the day of his coming? Who's going to stand
when he appears? And because he's coming to do
a great work, like a refiner's fire, like a fuller's soap, that
speaks of redemption. That speaks of cleansing. That's
what he's coming to do. He's not coming to pat you on
the back. He's not coming to applaud your
works and your efforts. He's coming to save his people
from their sins. He's coming not because He needs
us. He's coming because we need Him.
That's the issue. He is our need. He doesn't need
you. He doesn't need me. But we need Him. We need a Savior. We need a Redeemer. We need cleansing
from our sins. We need a righteousness that
we cannot produce. And that's what He's going to
do. He's going to sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. That's
redemption. That's symbolic language. that speaks of the redemptive
work and the redemptive glory of Christ and how God reveals
himself in the person and the finished work of Christ. He even
says this, he's going to purify the sons of Levi, that's his
priest and I believe that's a symbolic prophecy and picture of the church
because in Christ by the cleansing that he brings to us through
his blood We are made both kings and priests, the book of Revelation
says, or as some say, a kingdom of priests, and that's okay.
You know, we have the authority and the protection of our Redeemer. And it says he's going to purchase
his gold and silver. He's going to remove the dross.
That's what that means. Refine us that we may offer unto
the Lord an offering in righteousness. How do you offer the Lord an
offering in righteousness? It comes through the blood of
Christ. That's the only way any offering can be offered unto
God in righteousness. It's not the offering of your
best intentions. Should we do our best? Yes. But
our best is not righteousness. Our best is not good enough.
The best that man can do is altogether vanity, the scripture says. Our
righteousnesses, as compared to Christ, are filthy rags, Isaiah
wrote in Isaiah chapter 64 and verse 6. So how can we offer
anything to God in righteousness? We offer it under the blood of
Christ. That's how we offer it, cleanse
our persons and our works, everything about us must be cleansed by
the blood of Christ. And the kind of kind of preaching
or teaching that was going on in Israel in that day, which
spawned the kind of behavior that was going on in a religious
way and in an immoral way, people justifying themselves, every
man doing that which is right in their own eyes. It's so appropriate
for our day. But God, see, we change. We're
up one day and down the next. But God says, I'm the Lord, I
change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Now
he says that in light of something that is very telling in verse
seven. And that's the apostasy of Israel. The apostasy of Israel. He said,
even from the days of your fathers, you are gone away from my ordinances. That's falling away. That's apostasy,
you've not kept my ordinances. What are his ordinances? Those
are, that's the commandments of the old covenant. Especially
that which is connected with the tribe of Levi, concerning
the priesthood and the tabernacle. He says, return to me. He's calling
on them to repent. And I will return unto you. Now
that's conditional, isn't it? Well that old covenant was conditional. But the thing about it is they
were a failure, as all of us would be. Remember I preached
a message on that out of chapter one and I believe chapter two
about the curse of a conditional covenant. Thank God for the covenant
of grace. Thank God for the covenant that
was conditioned and is conditioned on Christ and on him alone, who
alone met and fulfilled those conditions. Or else we'd be just
like Israel, falling away, falling a thousand times a day. But they
asked this question, wherein shall we return? Now, let me
show you something that I believe over in Jeremiah chapter two.
Now, this obviously was years and years before Malachi. But
I believe there's some verses here in Jeremiah chapter two
that the way the Holy Spirit inspired Jeremiah to write them
is kind of like a universal indictment against Israel during their whole
time under the old covenant as a nation. And in essence, it
becomes a universal indictment against all men by nature. This
describes all of us by nature, all right? And he says in verse
11, look at Jeremiah 2 in verse 11. Now, Jeremiah's talking to
Judah in his day just prior to the captivity in Babylon. Malachi is talking to Judah in
his day after the captivity. They've returned home. But it's
still the same problem. Man doesn't change. In this sense,
he doesn't change. He's still a sinner. And look
at verse 11 of Jeremiah 2. He says, Hath a nation changed
their gods, which are yet no gods? That's man by nature. But my people have changed their
glory for that which doth not profit. Now, what is their glory?
It was the glory of God. In that tabernacle, think of
it, or in that temple, it was the glory, the Shekinah glory
of God. that dwelt above the mercy seat. It was the glory of Christ. And
he says in verse 12, be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be
horribly afraid. Be ye very desolate, say the
Lord, for my people have committed two evils. Now, somebody said,
well, we know they committed more than two evils. Well, this
is a way of just, as one old fella said, killing the whole
covey with one shot. This covers it all. All right? Yes, if you want to count them
up, they committed more than two evils, but these two statements
covers it all. And it said they've committed
two evils. Number one, they have forsaken me, the fountain of
living waters. That's what Israel done. That's
what Judah done. That's what we've done by nature. That's
us by nature. Forsaken. Christ, the fountain
of living waters. And then secondly, they hewed
them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. That's
anything and everything that man looks to for salvation, for
improvement, for blessing, for eternal life, for righteousness,
but Christ and him crucified and risen again. Now that's what's
happened over here. In Malachi chapter three, In
verse 7, they've fallen away. They've apostatized, doctrinally
and morally. Turn over to Romans chapter 1
with me. Now that's the same indictment
that God, through the Apostle Paul, brings upon all men and
women by nature, fallen in Adam, both Jew and Gentile. Remember
here in Romans 1, he's talking about the gospel of God in Christ? How that gospel concerns a person,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who did a great work. He established
and worked out the righteousness of God, which is his obedience
unto death, the entire merit of his obedience unto death.
And somebody might ask this question, well, why do I need the righteousness
of God? Why do we need the righteousness
of God? Why aren't we good enough? Why
aren't our works good enough? Well, look at verse 18. He says,
for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men. And look at the first thing here
he says, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. That's what
we do by nature. That's total depravity right
there. Now he's not talking about going
out and robbing a bank or shooting somebody. That's bad, that's
sin. That's part of man's depravity. But here's the definition of
total depravity. Right there. Holding the truth
in unrighteousness. Not believing God. That's what
that is. Or, now think about this. Not
believing that what God has said is worth our time. Or worth our
thought. Or worth our obedience and our
honor. To honor Him. That's holding
the truth in unrighteousness. Now think about this. Who is
the truth? Christ said, I am the way, I
am the truth, I am the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. So all truth is to be summed
up as it reflects and relates to the person and work of Christ.
And he says in verse 19, because that which may be known of God
is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them, the
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen being understood by the things that are made.
Creation itself tells you enough in that sense about the glory
and the power of God. Now nobody's going to be saved
by just looking at creation. The Bible teaches that. Read
Psalm 19. You've got to hear the gospel.
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The gospel
is the power of God and the salvation. But there is enough light in
the realm of creation by which God holds men accountable for
not seeking him. That's what that's teaching.
And he says, even his eternal power and Godhead so that they
are without excuse. Man's without excuse. Go back
to Malachi 3. Now they ask this question at the end of verse
seven, where in shall we return? What they're saying there is
why do we need to repent? And I thought about that, you
know, like in Luke 13, you know, when Christ speak, I've mentioned
this several times, Christ speaking of those who had been killed
by some, some act of heinous slaughter by a heathen king or
governor, Pontius Pilate. or those who had been the victims
of some natural disaster, and people judging in their minds,
well, they were greater sinners than we are, greater sinners
than the ones who survived. And he says, oh, no, that's not
the case. He said, except you repent, you shall likewise perish. We all, none of us, deserve or
earn what we have or what we've got. Mark it down. And if we don't realize that,
if we don't realize that everything we have in this life and in the
next is a total undeserved, unearned gift from God, if we don't realize
that, then we need to repent. And somebody says, well, where
should I repent? Why should I repent? Well, then he comes across with
this thing of robbing God. Will a man rob God? Will a man rob God? He says,
yet you have robbed me, he said. But you say, wherein have we
robbed thee? How have we robbed thee? He says, in tithes and offerings. In tithes and offerings. And
then he says here, you are cursed with a curse. For you have robbed
me, even this whole nation. Now, first of all, let's look
and see how that applies to Israel under the Old Covenant. And the
first thing you have to understand is what is a tithe? You know
tithe is 10%. What is a tithe? Well, under
the Old Covenant, the Levitical government, the tithe was a religious
tax. That's what it was. It was a
tax placed upon, imposed upon the whole nation of Israel, that
whole rebellious nation, it was a tax imposed upon them and collected
for one reason, that is the maintenance of the tabernacle and the priesthood. That's what it was for. It was
a tax levied by God upon a rebellious people to keep the priesthood
and the tabernacle in place and going. And it was a law that
was given to them to maintain that worship. And you can read
about it all through the old covenant, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, even in the prophets, Nehemiah spoke of it. And for
them to withhold that tithe, now that's what a tithe was.
Now an offering was anything above that. If they wanted to
give anything above that 10% tax that was levied on that rebellious
people. And that's why they're called
free will offerings. It's not teaching the doctrine
of free will when you see that in scripture. In other words,
it's simply saying that anything above that is not required. You
give it because you're willing to give it. That's all it's simply
saying. And so you had the tax and then
you had the offerings, all right? Now, they were withholding that,
these people, this nation, he said they were withholding that
and not paying their tax. And not giving, if you don't
pay your tax, you can't give an offering, can't give above
it if you're not giving the tax, so he says tithes and offerings.
Now, listen very carefully to this. To withhold that tax, to
withhold that tithe and not give it, was to do what? It was to
show their contempt for the glory of God, for the promise of the
Messiah, for the worship and the service of God. That's what
it was doing. They didn't care about the tribe
of Levi. They didn't care about the tabernacle,
which means they didn't care about the glory of God. They
didn't care about the Messiah. They didn't care about salvation
by grace. They didn't care about the blood
of animals, which typified the blood of Christ. See, it's all
related. So what were they robbing God of? It wasn't money. God
didn't need their money. Let me read you a passage of
scripture out of Psalm 50. I want you to think about this.
God didn't need their money. That wasn't the issue. Alright? God says in Psalm 50 in verse
10, listen to this. He says, For every beast of the
forest is mine. Belongs to God. And the cattle
upon a thousand hills. He said in verse 11 of Psalm
50, I know all the fowls of the mountains and the wild beast
of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not
tell thee. God says, if I were hungry, I
wouldn't tell you. I think about our little grandson,
Hayden, then Neil too. Even though Neil don't talk it,
he screams it. When they get hungry, they come
say, Papa, gee, I'm hungry. God says, if I were hungry, I
wouldn't tell you. Why would he tell you? He owns
the cattle in a thousand hills. He says, if I were hungry, I
would not tell thee for the world is mine and the fullness thereof. What does God need from me? But
what does God require? God requires that we pitiful
creatures whom he put on this earth, whom he gave the breath
that we breathe, the breath that you took in your lung just now,
God gave that to you. He requires that such pitiful
creatures as we are give him the glory that's due unto his
name. Worship him. Serve him. Honor him. Obey Him. Thank Him. And how do we do that? As we come to Him pleading the
blood and righteousness of Christ. As we serve Him in Christ. As
we worship Him in Christ. His ultimate gift to His people. And to fail to do that is like
robbery. Robbing God of His glory. Taking
those things that belong only to God, which we only have for
a little time here on earth, and we can't even hold on to
it more than 70, 80, 90 years. God, who is eternal. And we act
like we've earned it, and we own it, and we deserve it, and
it's ours. It's mine. No, it's not. It belongs to God. That job that you have, that
income that you have, that family that you have, And think about
this, what about salvation? For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever should believe
in him should not perish but have eternal everlasting life.
God spared not his own son, you see. Everything we have. That's what this was all about.
It wasn't about money, it was about God's glory. and their
withholding their money showed their contempt for God's glory.
That's what it was about. Robbing God of the glory due
only to Him and giving it to themselves or to idols. And giving
it to themselves was giving it to an idol. Somebody asked me
the question, does God require tithing under the New Covenant?
No, He does not. He requires giving That's what
he requires. Somebody said, well, it's a good
thing to start at 10%. Well, that's okay with me, I
don't care. You know what the Old New Testament
says about giving? Let me read it to you, 1 Corinthians
16. Now listen to this, 1 Corinthians
16, verse one. And you know why Paul was really
dealing with the subject in Corinth is because here was a wealthy,
a heavily populated church group, local assembly, who were tight
and would not support the ministry, would not support missionaries.
That's what he said. They wouldn't support the ministry,
they wouldn't support evangelism. They held it back for themselves.
And he says in 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 1, he says, now
concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order
to the churches of Galatia, Even so do you. And here's what he
said. Now, here's how he put it. Verse
two of 1 Corinthians 16, he said, upon the first day of the week,
let every one of you lay by him in store. In other words, you
set it aside. Here's the key now, as God hath
prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. In
other words, he says, as God has prospered, And in 2 Corinthians
chapter 9, listen to this one, this is in verse 6, he kept on
this issue with the church at Corinth because they were so
stingy. And he says in 2 Corinthians 9 in verse 6, he says, but this
I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly. There's
blessing in it. It's not because you earned the
blessing or you deserve it. It's just simply that's the way
God has purposed it in the scheme of things. And the blessing is
not necessarily a 10% or a 100% return on your money. Don't listen
to these false preachers. The blessing, listen, if you
give to support the church, I'll tell you an automatic blessing
that comes with that, the gospel is preached. The gospel is maintained. And that's a gift from God. And
even the money you gave to support it is a gift from God. And here's
another thing, if you have a heart, willingly gives it, that's a
gift from God. But listen on, he says, but this
I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and
he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every
man, now listen, verse seven, every man, not just some, but
every man, according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give. Not grudgingly, not like a tax,
You all pay your taxes, do you do it cheerfully? Some, maybe. I don't mean some of you, I mean
some of the money. But not grudgingly or of necessity. In other words,
don't do it grudgingly or of necessity in the sense of, well,
if I don't do this, God's going to get me. For God loveth a cheerful
giver. That's a key. Now, that's what
God requires under the New Testament. Yes, we're to support the church
with our money, with our time, with our gifts, with our efforts,
all of those things. But not like a tax that is imposed
upon a rebellious people. We're to give as God has prospered
us willingly, not grudgingly, for God loves a cheerful giver.
That's what the New Testament teaches. You see, you've got
to understand that tax was laid upon a rebellious nation. That's
what it was. It was a tax. But now God prospers
us and God gives us a heart to give to support the gospel and
to help each other when needed. But now let me make the spiritual
application here. As I said, the main issue in
all of this is the glory of God. God's being,
God's glory, and God will not share his glory. To fail to give
God the glory in worship, in love, in thanksgiving, in service,
that glory that's due in Him, that's to rob God. Whenever a
man exalts himself above what he is, thinks that he earned it or deserved
it in that sense. Now, I know you go to work and
you earn your paycheck. I'm not saying that, but I'm
talking about as God. I'm talking about your relationship
with God. My relationship with God. You see, that's robbery
when we hold that back. All we are and all we have is
to be dedicated to the glory of God and not to do so is robbery. That's what he's saying. Let
me give you these things. You rob God, for example, listen
to this. You rob God when you refuse to believe Him. Think
about it. In Romans chapter 4 and verse
20, it says, Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Strong in
faith, believing God. Because he was persuaded that
what God had promised, God was able to perform. And listen,
that did have to do with Abraham and Sarah having a child in their
old age, but it went further than that. It went directly to
the promise of Christ and salvation by him. You rob God when you
despise his sovereignty and dominion as God. Many people today, they
claim to believe in God, but they don't believe in a sovereign
God. The Lord said, thou thoughtest that I was altogether one such
as thyself. He said, but I will reprove thee
and set them in order before thine eyes. You see, when we
recognize the sovereignty of God in all things, We give Him
glory. That glorifies Him. That honors
Him. You see, but to most people, God is some kind of a cosmic
chess player up there. You make your move and then He
makes His move and then He waits on you to make your... That denies
God. That dishonors Him. That's a
robbery. You rob God when you deny His
eternal purposes and performances. God works all things after the
counsel of His own will. You know, There's many people
that when somebody dies, they say, well, the devil did that.
That's robbing God. Job said, the Lord killeth, the
Lord maketh alive. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
You rob God when you slight His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and
rob Him of merit and the efficacy of His blood and righteousness.
We preach the gospel of a sovereign Savior who finished a great work
of redemption and saved His people from their sins. To preach less
is to rob God of His glory. When you make salvation conditioned
on the sinner rather than on Christ and him alone, you rob
God of his glory. God put all of it on his son. God placed it on his shoulder.
God engaged himself and swore an oath in Christ. God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing, not
charging their trespasses unto them. For he was made sin, Christ
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. To say less is to rob God of His glory. You rob
God when you deny the Spirit's mighty work of grace in regeneration
and in conviction and effectual calling. He said, My people shall
be willing in the day of His power. He said, All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. To say anything less is to rob
God of His glory. You rob God of His glory when
you mix the works of man with the work of Christ. In fact,
Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 5 that it's a denial of Christ.
It's a denial of the glory of God. For by grace are you saved
through faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of
God. not of works, lest any man should
boast. You see, when man boasts, he
robs God of his glory. Paul wrote, God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, because
that's where God's glory is engaged, in that person and in that great
work. You rob God of his glory when
you make man's will omnipotent and God's will subservient. That's
what most people do. You rob God when you give man
a place of glory before the triune God. We had no place of glory
before him. We rob God whenever we fail to
use our tongues to show forth his praise. We rob God whenever
we rob him of worship, public worship, private worship. To
forsake the assembling of the people of God together is to
rob God of his glory. And man can justify it, he can
rationalize it any way he wants. It doesn't matter, it's still
robbing God. The Bible says that God seeketh
after such to worship him, who worship him in spirit and in
truth. We rob God when we live unto
ourselves in our lives, whether it be our family, our work, or
whatever, our recreation. When we live unto ourselves to
please ourselves, or to make it convenient for ourselves,
rather than living unto God, we rob him of his glory. And
we rob God if we give not to our Lord and Savior, our Redeemer,
Jesus Christ, the honors and glories that belong to Him as
our Savior. He is God and man. He is the
one and only Redeemer. Here in Malachi 3, 7, look at
verse 9. He says, You're cursed with a curse, for you've robbed
me, even the whole nation. First Corinthians 16.22 makes
this statement, if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let
him be anathema, maranatha, he's cursed. Do you realize that to
be without Christ is to be cursed? And what they were doing here,
and withholding their tithes and their offerings, and not
supporting the priesthood and the tabernacle, is they were
showing they did not love the Lord Jesus Christ. They did not
love his blood and his righteousness. They did not love the grace of
God. If you love not the Lord Jesus
Christ, anathema, cursed of God. Look at verse 10, he says, bring
you all the tithes into the storehouse. That storehouse was the, some
say it was in the temple, some say it was outside, doesn't matter.
That there may be meat in mine house, food for the priest, and
prove me now herewith. Isn't that something? I never
noticed, I've read through this several times, but I never stopped
and really, here's what God's saying, you prove me. Now it's
not putting God on trial here. But here's what it's simply saying. Put it to the test. Is God faithful
to his word? Have you ever put that to the
test? Is God powerful enough to do what he promises to do?
You know, most people who call themselves Christian today don't
believe that he is. I mean, think about it. To them,
he's promised to save everybody. That's right, he's trying to
save everybody, but he either won't or can't. He won't or he
can't. He can't if you don't let him.
Does that sound like the God of this book? No, sir. But put
him to the test. Think about it. Is God faithful
and powerful enough to fulfill his promise? The answer is yes.
And think about it in the situation of salvation. Every sinner who
comes to Christ for salvation shall be saved. And all who give
unto the Lord for His glory shall be blessed. Whether it's money,
time, talent, whatever, there is a blessing there. Again, you
don't earn it, you don't deserve it, but it's given. It's given. And as I said, it's not that
the Lord needs it or needs us. but he requires that his children
glorify him. Well, look at verse 10. He said, bring ye all the tithes
into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house, and
prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, the Lord who
cannot be defeated, 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. Now these people here under the
old covenant, there were conditional blessings and they were failing
to get them because they weren't meeting the conditions. That's
right. And again, that's what I call
the curse of a conditional covenant. But I want you to think about
something. Think about all the blessings that we who are saved
by the grace of God have and enjoy because of Christ. and him crucified and risen.
We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. And we don't realize it, and
we don't. We think about it when we hear
that verse, but we just don't realize it like we will when
we're in glory. I don't know how that'll work
either. I mean, somebody said, you think we'll look back on
this life and say, I don't know, I doubt it, I don't know. But
I know this, just like the two old farmers from West Virginia
who wanted to see the ocean. I've told this before. They wanted
to see the ocean before they died. And so they finally got
up enough gumption and money to make it to the beach and they
went out somewhere in South Carolina or something. They stood on the
beach and both of them standing there seeing the ocean for the
first time, seeing the Atlantic Ocean. And one of them said to
the other, he said, he said, I didn't realize how big this
thing really is. And the other one said, he said,
yeah, and he said, that's just the top of it. And that's the
way it is with us, in this thing of blessing. I mean, we realize
some of it, something of it, we have a glimpse of it. We didn't
really, before I came to saving faith by the power of the spirit
and the new birth, and before I saw Christ, I didn't realize
how big it really was, but I've just seen the top of it. Just
seen the top of it. No greater blessing than to know
that God loves me in Christ and that he saved me by his grace
in Christ. He says in verse 11, and he said,
I'll rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not
destroy the fruits of your ground. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
it's risen again. You see, these people did have
some temporal, physical promises that their crops and their fields
would be productive. If they kept those ordinances
and supported that ministry, we don't have those physical
promises, but we have something better. We have those spiritual
eternal promises in Christ. And it may be that God will bless
us materially, I don't know. You don't either. But I'll tell
you what, David said, I've never seen the righteous begging for
bread. He takes care of our needs, doesn't he? He says, neither
shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field,
saith the Lord of hosts. In verse 12 he says, and all
nations shall call you blessed, for you shall be a delightsome
land, saith the Lord of hosts. Now if you apply that to national
Israel, you would have to say that that right there is an abject
failure. But that's not the application.
You see again, this is all connected with the coming of the Messiah.
and the establishment of spiritual Israel, his church in Christ.
And there's coming a time, you see, when all nations shall call
you blessed. Paul said, right now, they call
me cursed. You remember he said that? God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. He looked upon
the world as cursed, the world looks upon him as cursed. But
there's coming a time when all nations shall call you blessed
in two senses. Number one, because God has a
people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation, his elect,
whom he chose before the foundation of the world, whom he redeemed
by the blood of his son, and whom he's going to call out by
the power of his spirit. And then secondly, in the end
of time, when all nations will see, they'll bow to Christ, every
knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
And we'll be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of Hosts.