God Wants to Rebuke the Devourer For You

* Disclaimer - The first 3 paragraphs of this is not an original of mine. I had this on a photocopied paper stashed in a folder in my filing cabinet dating back many years, and I really have no idea just where I even got it from now. I'd like to give credit to the author, but I do not know who it is.

There is one who scatters, yet increases more;

And there is one who withholds more than is right,

But it leads to poverty.

Proverbs 11:24

During the Great Depression, two families shared a house in Pennsylvania. One family occupied the upper floor, and the other family lived on the lower level.. The family which lived downstairs was always inviting people in to share what they had. Whenever there was an opportunity for them to help out, they would do so. No matter how much they gave, they always seemed to have enough. The family on the upper floor, however, scoffed at the way the downstairs family lived. they stored all extras in a locker in the pantry. They gave nothing away, always saving more in case times got worse. It was not until they discovered that rats had gotten into their pantry and destroyed all that they saved that they were sorrowful for what they had done. Interestingly, the rats had not disturbed the downstairs pantry.

Selfishness leads to despair. True joy comes to us not from what we own but from what we are able to give to others. We were put on this earth to serve one another, and when we fail to do so, there is always a price to pay. When we give what we have, God will bless us with more. The blessings will be double because of the joy that giving brings.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you. 

A good measure, pressed down,  shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, 

it will be measured to you."

Something many people fail to realize is that it is not JUST the blessing of God that comes in our giving to the church, it is also the protection of God.  In Malachi chapter 3:8-12 says:

 8 “Will a man rob God?

Yet you have robbed Me!

But you say,

‘In what way have we robbed You?’

In tithes and offerings.

9 You are cursed with a curse,

For you have robbed Me,

Even this whole nation.

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,

That there may be food in My house,

And try Me now in this,”

Says the Lord of hosts,

“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven

And pour out for you such blessing

That there will not be room enough to receive it.

11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,

So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,

Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”

Says the Lord of hosts;

12 “And all nations will call you blessed,

For you will be a delightful land,”

Says the Lord of hosts.

Verse 11 is such a key verse. God says that when we are faithful in our giving to the church, that he protects or shields us from "the devourer."  Then in Haggai 1:6 the Word of God paints an incredible picture for us when it says;

“You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

What God says in Haggai chapter 1 is that the people were so busy taking care of themselves and neglecting the House of God that God had taken His hand off of them, and even though they had plenty of money, it was never enough to meet the need or to bring satisfaction to them.  This is exactly how it is when God is no longer "rebuking the devourer" on our behalf. No matter how much we have, it is never enough. The description of putting your wages into a bag with holes in it speaks clearly to that issue. This is a description of when people just cannot find peace, and they keep buying more, spending more... but nothing satisfies. The more they have, the more miserable they are. Why? Because they are not honoring God. When people find themselves in this condition, they find that one thing after another happens to cause their money to disappear into thin air. The car breaks down, the washing machine quits, unexpected bills come, losses come and it just keeps piling on. Am I saying that God is causing these things to happen to them? Absolutely not. But what HAS happened is that when they started robbing God of the tithe and offering, then the covenant with God was broken and God no longer rebuked the devourer on their behalf, and their money is cursed. Usually when people find themselves in this place, they blame God, or they might actually blame the devil... but the fact of the matter is, the finger of blame needs to be pointed back at themselves. They broke covenant and there is no devil to blame for that. It is entirely their own fault.

So what does one do?

Simple... re-establish that covenant with God. Don't worry about the past... start where you are today. Bring what belongs to God to God and watch His covenant spring into action.

Remember what he says and take him up on it...

"And try Me now in this,”

Says the Lord of hosts,

“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven

And pour out for you such blessing

That there will not be room enough to receive it.

11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,

So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,

Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”

Says the Lord of hosts;

12 “And all nations will call you blessed.",