Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Last week’s message examined the legal shield God put in place to protect the Believer from satan’s control over the wealth of the earth. God put the tithe in place to ensure The Words spoken by Jesus thousands of years later would always point back to “worshipping only The Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” The tithe is an act of worship declaring God as our source. When we tithe, we are saying to God, to satan, and to the world, “I worship and serve only one God, The Father of Jesus Christ.” In doing so, we give God legal authority in this earth, on our behalf, to exercise our “tither rights” for us. This message will look more into the tithe and the legal Spiritual implications of it.
We learned in the last message the power over the wealth of the world passed from Adam to satan when Adam fell. This ushered in the kingdom of darkness as the world’s system. This system is still in place today. Yes, satan still has control over the economy and wealth of the earth. As satan told Jesus in Luke 4:6, “for that (power and wealth of the nations, kingdoms) is delivered unto me (legally by Adam); and to whomsoever I will give it.”
Luke 4:6
And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give Thee, and the glory [the wealth] of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
God instituted the tithe to protect His children from satan’s legal right to deny them money and give the wealth of the earth to whom he pleased. God also did not want His children chasing after money because this would make money their priority and not God, Himself. This is exactly what satan wants and why Jesus spoke Matthew 6:33 to His disciples.
Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first The Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Jesus made it plain to His disciples, and to us, His disciples today, that we are to seek God, His Kingdom, and His righteousness first before anything else in this world. If we do this, we will always have more than enough materially so that we can fulfill God’s commandment in Genesis 12:2-3 to be a blessing to the families of the earth. This means we must obey the Spiritual Law of the Tithe.
II Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
I’ve always found it perplexing when people fight against the legality of the tithe in The Kingdom of God and yet the very things God promises the tithe will protect against is being destroyed in their life and the life of their family. I almost want to shout at them, “can’t you see what the devourer is doing to your family and you?” And it’s not a shout of condemnation, it is a shout of love. I want to see their lives and the lives of their families blessed and prospering as God promises. There is love, joy, and peace in it. Not the anxiety, fear, chaos, division, strife, discontent, and lack of the kingdom of darkness.
The practice of the tithe is first mentioned in Genesis 4:3-7 with Cain and Abel. We all know this historical accounting.
Genesis 4:3-7
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto The LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And The LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth [angry], and his countenance fell.
6 And The LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth [angry]? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Why were Cain and Abel giving an offering? There was no written law stating they had to do so at this time. They had to learn it from Adam and Eve. Who taught Adam and Eve to give an offering? It certainly wasn’t satan. And why did God have Adam and Eve give an offering? By doing so, just as was mentioned in the last message and the start of this message, the tithe is an act of worship declaring God as our source. When we tithe, we are saying to God, to satan, and to the world, “I worship and serve only one God, The Father of Jesus Christ.” We give God legal authority in this earth, on our behalf, to exercise our “tither rights” for us. Adam and Eve, by observing the tithe, gave God legal authority to step in between satan, the devourer, and Adam and Eve and protect them and their material wealth and possessions.
Notice in Genesis 4:4 that Abel brought of the “firstling” of his flock, which is the firstborn, and of the fat, the best portion of the flock. Abel brought the best of the firstborn of his flock to God. Please note that when the Law of Moses was written, the tithe was the first ten percent given from the best. Interesting connection between Abel’s giving and the Law of Moses thousands of years later.
Now, let’s examine Cain’s giving. Notice in verse 3 it says, “in process of time it came to pass.” Cain gave when he felt like giving, and he gave what he felt like giving. What was God’s reaction to Abel and Cain’s giving? In verse 4, “And The LORD had respect unto Abel and his offering.” In verse 5, “But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect.” God respected what Abel brought, but God did not respect what Cain brought. Now, “being a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing The Word of Truth” how did Abel know what to bring and when to bring it? Let’s also look at God’s Word to Cain, in verses 6 and 7, after God rejects Cain’s offering. God gives a clear indication from His Word that Cain knew what to bring and when to bring an offering. “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” Notice the phrase, “doest well.” God is not the author of confusion. It is plainly evident God gave Adam and Eve clear commands and instructions about the tithe which they passed along to Cain and Abel. Abel obeyed God and God accepted His offer. Cain disobeyed God and God rejected His offer. God told Cain in verse 7 that sin desired to have Cain and was crouching at his door and that Cain must rule over it by obeying God’s command or else Cain would fall victim to sin. We know the rest of the historical accounting. If God is not our first priority, our worship, we will slide down the slippery slope of this world’s system into further decay and decadence until we become like righteous but vexed Lot. Lot, a righteous man, looked like and suffered like the unsaved.
Let’s look at another example of Believers and the tithe found in the Old Testament Book of Haggai.
Haggai 1:5-11
5 Now therefore thus saith The LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7 Thus saith The LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith The LORD.
9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of Mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.
In Haggai 1:5 and 1:7 The Lord tells the Children of Israel to “consider their ways.” Why? Upon reading the verses, we see the Children of Israel are toiling and laboring in every area of their lives only to see their work devoured. Aren’t these the Children of Abraham who have a blood covenant struck between God and Jesus that is given to them which states they and everything they touch is blessed? In reading these verses, it certainly doesn’t seem like the Children of Israel are blessed. What is the problem? God instructed them to rebuild the temple after returning from exile in Babylon. Haggai, moved by The Holy Spirit, is rebuking the Children of Israel for taking care of themselves and ignoring God. In verse 9 God says through Haggai, “you are building your own homes and ignoring My temple. Therefore, I have no choice but to remove My hand of protection and blessing from you.” Very simply, the Children of Israel were keeping the tithe, which belongs to The Lord, to themselves for their own pleasure and uses, and ignoring God’s commandment – which started with Adam and Eve – resulting in what we can read in Malachi 3:7-12. The Children were robbing God in the tithes and offerings. What happens when we do this? The windows of Heaven are shut unto us and the blessings of Deuteronomy 28:1-14 are stayed from us, the devourer cannot be restrained from destroying the fruits of your ground, your vines, or the fruit of the vines. And people will see this and shall not call you blessed or delightsome. This is not Larry’s word; it is God’s Word. I will sum it up in simple farmer-in-the-field logic: “hold and fold or bring and spring.” Hold from God and watch everything fold in, or implode, on you or bring to God and watch everything spring forth from the Living Waters.
The good news is the Children of Israel did heed God’s Word through Haggai the prophet as we see in Haggai 2:15-19.
Haggai 2:15-19
15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of The LORD:
16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labors of your hands; yet ye turned not to Me, saith The LORD.
18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of The LORD’S temple was laid, consider it.
19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
In verse 15 and verse 18, God tells the Children of Israel to consider or to remember this day forever. God tells them to consider the condition of things before they began rebuilding the temple of God and now to consider things since they began rebuilding the temple of God. In verse 19 God tells the Children of Israel, “from this day, the day you started rebuilding My temple, the day you brought the tithes and offerings, I will bless you.”
In Haggai 2:17, it says, “I smote you……., saith The Lord.” I’ve written about this extensively in past messages. God did not, Himself, smite the Children of Israel. The Word did. To Whom does God answer to or to Whom is He responsible? Yes, The Word. Psalm 138:2 makes this clear. God answers to His Word. When we disobey God, for instance in the tithe, it is not God Who allows the curse and the devourer. It is The Word. Why? Because The Word is The Law. And God answers to His Law.
Sisters and Brothers in Christ, if you want the Blessing of God to pour out upon your family and you, then give God the legal authority, according to His Word, to bless and prosper you. To withhold from God is to suffer needlessly. God instituted the tithe to bless us and to give us a way around satan and his control of the wealth of the earth. God has called us to be a blessing to others, to all the families of the earth, Spiritually and physically. Jesus did both as well, blessed whom He encountered with Spiritual and physical blessings, according as their faith would allow. This is God’s will for our lives. He Who will minister seed to you, the sower, will also minister bread for your food and multiply your seed sown. It all starts with the tithe. Else, The Word judges us, and we suffer lack, which is not God’s will for our lives.
In Christ,
Larry