Dear Pastor Sanjeet,
Thank you for the wonderful email and the great question. I’m sure many of the readers of these messages have the same question. May I say I am blessed to know you. I praise God for your devotion to The Father and His Son, our King, Jesus Christ. I thank you for your wonderful heart dedicated to our Prince and King, Jesus. I also thank you for the desire to “intimately know” God’s Word as a wife and husband intimately know each other. We are the bride of Christ. I look forward to meeting all the precious souls that enter Heaven because of your ministry and the many other Sisters and Brothers in Christ in India.
I could really expound on this question, but I will keep it somewhat more concise due to this being in an email. Yes, “tithe” in Hebrew means “ten percent.” However, one is NOT limited to 10% as a tithe. This is the minimum. You will find instances in The Scriptures where individuals tithed more than 10%. For instance, in Luke 21, the poor widow cast in all she had to the tithe – 100%.
Luke 21:1-4
1 And He [Jesus] looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
2 And He saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
3 And He said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury [Lack of property; indigence; extreme poverty] hath cast in all the living that she had.
I have written about this poor widow previously. The Holy Spirit revealed to me this “poor widow” was not poor when she died and went to Heaven. She was materially rich. People ask me how I can say this when The Scriptures do not reference her again? First, I can say it because The Holy Spirit taught me this. Second, I can say it because Jesus in John 14:26 tells me He will teach me all things and bring to my remembrance whatsoever I [Jesus] have said unto you. John 21:25 tells us there are so many things that Jesus did that are not written. And, if they were written, there would not be enough books in the world to record it all. So much more was said and done by Jesus that is not recorded, but according to Jesus Himself, The Holy Spirit will teach these things to those who diligently seek after Him. Whatever is revealed or taught in this manner will always line up with The written Scriptures.
Why did this poor widow throw in all she had as her tithe? Because she finally developed the understanding and faith, through hearing Jesus’ teachings about The Kingdom of God, to pour into The Kingdom and receive the return. Do you think her flesh told her to cast in all she had as her tithe? No way! The flesh would have told her to hang onto it because it was all she had between life and death. So, who told her to tithe it all? Yes, The Spirit of God. The poor widow was both willing and obedient because of her meditation, confessing, and acting upon God’s direction to her.
We can never outgive God. Why? Because God gave all when He gave His Son, Jesus. Revelation 1:5 will provide us with the understanding of why Jesus is The Tithe and Jesus is The All, at the same time.
Revelation 1:5
And from Jesus Christ, Who is The Faithful Witness, and The First Begotten of the Dead, and The Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
Notice Jesus is “The First Begotten of the Dead.” The Scriptures tell us in Revelation 13:8 that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world. This means Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world. How is this so? Who is The Word? Jesus. Where is Jesus’ death foretold? In The Word. When was The Word? In the beginning (Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1). Where was The Word? In the beginning with God (John 1:2). We must understand God’s Word was spoken Spiritually from the beginning. God’s spoken Word is established forever. Even if The spoken Word hasn’t come to pass yet, it is still established. Did you ever wonder why ancient Hebrew doesn’t have a future tense? It only has a present and past (imperfect) tense. Simply, God has called those things which be not as though they were (Romans 4:17). Jesus teaches us in Mark 11:23-24 that we MUST believe that the moment we speak, or decree, a thing, we have it (Job 22:28). You may not see the physical manifestation, the fact, yet, but that doesn’t change The Spiritual Truth. In God’s mind, IT IS DONE once He has spoken it. No need for a future tense. No need for man’s poor substitution called hope and a chance.
Jesus is “The First Begotten of the Dead.” This means He is The Firstborn, The Firstfruits, and The Tithe of all the rest of “the begotten” who will come after Him. Therefore, Jesus is The Tithe of The Preeminent God, He Who cannot be second. God tithed Jesus and by doing so, Malachi Chapter 3 was fulfilled on God’s part. Let’s look at Malachi 3:10-12, again.
Malachi 3:10-12
10 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, 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.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
Notice, in the verses, what happens when we tithe:
- Blessings poured out upon us.
- devourer rebuked by God.
- Fruits of our ground not destroyed.
- Our vine shall not cast her fruit before the right time.
- All nations shall called us blessed and we shall be a delightsome land.
Making Jesus The Savior and The Lord of our lives, brings upon us The Blessing of Genesis 1:28 and the blessings of The Blessing in Deuteronomy 28:1-14.
Making Jesus The Lord of our lives enabled God to rebuke the devourer on our behalf. God said to the devourer, “you cannot have him/her.”
Jesus protects the fruit of our heart [ground]. What is the fruit? The decreed Word in faith that manifests into the earth.
Who is “The Vine.” Jesus of course (John 15), Christ in us. What does Jesus say in John 15:4-5? We must abide in Him, The Vine, and He in us. He who abides in Christ bringeth forth much fruit. The fruit is manifest by The Word spoken in faith by us.
All of the world, our family, friends, neighbors, peers, church, etc. will see The Hand and The Blessing of Almighty God upon us. It will be incredibly evident both Spiritually and physically.
Jesus, as The First Begotten of the Dead, The Tithe, brought forth the many begotten. God gave The Tithe and The All to bring us all forth into The Kingdom of God. Therefore God requires the tithe of us. Just as He and Abraham tithed Jesus and Isaac, so, too, are we to tithe.
I hope this helps answer your question. I could write so much more, but then it becomes a labor to read in an email.
Thank you for asking the question.
In Christ,
Larry