Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
What is Malachi saying about the Offering and tithe?
First, Mal 3:1 says nothing about offering and tithe.
Second, the message of Mal 3:1 is actually taught where it is quoted in the NT, viz:
These texts clearly identify the two people involved in the prophecy:
For far more explanation, see https://biblehub.com/commentaries/malachi/3-1.htm
In terms of context, Malachi was a post-exilic prophet, probably writing around 432-424 B.C. This makes him a contemporary with Ezra and Nehemiah. The temple had been rebuilt, but the expected restored golden age - a hope kindled by the prophecies of Zechariah and Haggai - had not arrived. Malachi thus predicted the coming of a great prophet, a new Elijah (3:23 NABRE, Malachi 4:5 KJV), who would fulfill the frustrated hopes of the people.
(Capitalization is an issue here, as the KJV capitalizes "He" thus making the messenger divine. Other translations - both Jewish and Christian - rightly leave word uncapitalized, for the messenger is later identified as Elijah, not the messiah.)
The OP asks about the offering and the tithe. This is found a little later in the same chapter. About the offerings:
3 He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the Levites, Refining them like gold or silver, that they may bring offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord, as in ancient days, as in years gone by.
Thus, the messenger or lord of the temple will restore the corruption of the Levites and thus make the offering of the people acceptable to God. Malachi indicates that although the temple had been restored, the priesthood had been corrupted. He does not specify but see Ezra 9:1. This prophecy may have been one of the reasons why, in the time of Jesus, the Qumran community (Essenes) placed great importance on the coming of a priestly messiah, even more than the royal one.
Regarding tithes:
8 Can anyone rob God? But you are robbing me! And you say, “How have we robbed you?” Of tithes and contributions! 9 You are indeed accursed, for you, the whole nation, rob me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, That there may be food in my house. Put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, And see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you, and pour down upon you blessing without measure! 11 I will rebuke the locust for you so that it will not destroy your crops, And the vine in the field will not be barren, says the Lord of hosts.
Apparently, many people - having recently return from exile - were not fulfilling their duty to tithe, which in those days involved produce, more than money. Malachi called the nation to fill the storehouses of the temple with food and promised that those who offered their produce would be richly blessed with fertile crops and protected from locusts, etc.
Dot is right. And let me add a bit more.
The Messiah Jesus came to the earthly temple and cleansed it with a whip. That act was important. But it also was a picture of what Jesus is doing now, cleansing the church from moral defilement.
Why? Because Jesus will soon return to earth. And that is why Malachi 3 says, "he will come to his temple, and who can abide the day of His coming? And who will stand when He appears?"
This current cleansing process is the same predicted in Daniel 12:10 where "many will be made white and purified and tested" when the book is unsealed at the time of the end.
The cleansing of the Levites in Malachi 3 is a symbol of this cleansing of the church that happens now. (It is part of a larger fulfillment of the Day of Atonement that needs to be explained elsewhere).
When God speaks of the testing He will do to the church (Malachi 3:5-11) He confronts several specific sins defiling the church today: sorcery, adultery, false accusations, oppression of weak persons (like day laborers, widows, orphans), denying human rights to immigrants, and not returning tithes and offerings.
God's purpose is to exalt a beautiful church without spot or wrinkle that Jesus can return and claim. See Ephesians 5. And see Revelation 18:1 where all the earth is filled with the glory of God. This is all in our near future.
