Tithes and Giving

The truth about the promises and blessings pertaining to tithing and giving and its implementation will change your world!

We as Christians want God to bless us. Who wants to worship a God that does nothing for you? God makes lots of promises in His Word to prosper His people; not only financially but in many other ways as well.

There are many prosperity theories in The Word. I want to inform the reader about the prosperity promises that pertain ONLY to tithing and giving.

I have seen and met many Christians who love to give and give a tenth of their income to their church. They are good people and love The Lord but they are struggling financially to make ends meet and their cup is definitely not overflowing. I used to be one of them.

God is very clear in His Word about tithing and when He will bless you and what you have to do in order to receive the promise of the Tithing Blessing.

OLD TESTAMENT

Gen 14:17-23

In the Old Testament, Abraham was victorious in battle against his enemies. The King of Salem, Melchizedek (a Priest of the Most High God) visited Abraham, gave Abraham bread and wine (symbolic of communion) and then Blessed Abraham. Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered (not of his own possessions) AFTER Melchizedek had spoken a Blessing over Abrahams life. Abraham made it very clear, even solemnly swearing to God Most High, that he will not take anything that belongs to Melchizedek, otherwise he could say that he had made Abraham rich.

The Most High God at no point made any kind of promise to Abraham that He would open the windows of heaven and pour out a Blessing upon Abraham because Abraham tithed of the SPOILS to Melchizedek.

1.       Melchizedek is NOT Lord Jesus.

2.       The only importance is the BREAD and WINE. (Symbolic of communion)

3.       Lord Jesus is The Son of The Most High God.

Malachi 3: 8-12

God speaks to the people of Israel and is angry for they have neglected offerings and tithing to God. God make a serious PROMISE to the people of Israel that if they will start tithing, they can go as far as TEST HIM (The Most High God – Lord of Heaven’s Armies) on His PROMISE.

Deuteronomy 14: 22-29

Moses clearly explains what God requires from the Israelites pertaining to their giving of tithes. Israelites were mostly farmers.

In Malachi 3, God tells the people of Israel that they have robbed Him of the Tithes and that they should bring their tithes to the storehouse so that there can be food in His House. (Not Money in His house)

WHAT IS TITHING

Firstly, it discusses that you have to set aside a tenth of your produce (crops, fruit and animals). Then the Israelites had to take this sacred tithe to the designated place of worship, a place God chose where He wanted His Name to be honoured, and there they had to eat the tithe in His presence. The Israelites would tithe in order to make the rest of their produce fit for consumption. THEY WOULD HAVE A FEAST with the sacred tithe. A feast where God is the Guest of Honor. God enjoys seeing people eat and drink and enjoying the fruit of their hard work and it is pleasing to God to see people happy and praising Him for what He has done for them. Doing this, THE WORD SAYS, will teach you to always FEAR the Lord your God. Fear there means LOVE the Lord your God.

Secondly, if God blessed you with a good harvest, the Lord your God might choose a place of worship, which He chose for His name to be Honoured, which was too far for you to bring the tithe, if so, you are to sell the tithe portion of your crops, put the MONEY in YOUR POUCH, and travel to the place the Lord your God has chosen (to be HONORED).When you arrive at this place you are allowed to buy any kind of food you want! Meat, wine and other alcoholic drink. Then feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and celebrate with your household and the poor.  Do not neglect the Levites in your town, for they will not receive allotment of land among you.

Why does God want us to FEAST with our tithing?

Everything on earth belongs to God. All the gold, silver, precious stones, animals, plants, people and earthly stuff is not what God wants from you, because He already owns it. He wants to be Worshiped and Honoured!!!! So therefore God says that you must take one tenth  of your income and Honour and Worship Him with the money you have earned, God is very specific in how He wants to be Worshiped and Honoured!!! You and your household (which will include your staff and the poor, widows and orphans within your gates and do not forget the Levite) have to feast in His presence where He is the guest of Honour.

THE WORD SAYS, this will teach you to always FEAR the Lord your God. Fear there means LOVE the Lord your God.

Compare it to your wedding day; you pay for everything, food, drinks and more. You invite people you love to share this day with you. You are the guest of Honour and people feast in your presence. How does it make you feel?

The same way God feels when He is the guest of honour at the tithing feasts. God does NOT operate in the world system of money, money belongs to the kingdom of darkness, the sinful world and he does not want your money. God wants your Love and admiration and your thanksgiving for Him being good to you and for Blessing you. God operates in the unseen spiritual realm. For instance, Love, joy, happiness, kindness, faith, hope, giving, sharing, and spiritual things is where you find God.

Psalm 50:14

A banquet of praised and a feast of kept promises – that is what God wants.

Thirdly, at the end of every third year, bring the entire tithe of that year’s harvest and store it in the nearest town. Then you give it to 1. The Levites, who will not receive any allotment of land among you, 2, the foreigners living among you, 3. The orphans in your town, 4. The widows in your town, so that they can EAT and be satisfied.

          THEN THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL BLESS YOU IN ALL YOUR WORK!

THEN YOU WILL RECEIVE THE PROMISE IN Malachi 3: 8-12.

THE PROMISE

If you do this (tithe), God Himself will open the windows of heaven for you, God Himself will pour out a Blessing so GREAT that you won’t have enough room to take it all in. Your crops (business) will be abundant and God Himself will guard your crops (business)from insects and disease (anything that could possibly harm your business). Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe (you will not lose anything in your business (like clients, revenue and contracts) that could lessen your prosperous result). Then all the nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight. People will look at you and see that you are blessed.

This is the only instruction in the Old Testament explaining very clearly how to tithe.

GIVINGS TO THE POOR.

The Commandment and Promise

Deuteronomy 15:10-11

Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will Bless you in everything you do.

There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I, the Lord your God, am COMMANDING you to share freely with the poor and with other people in need.

Psalm 41:1-3   PROMISE

The joys of those who are kind to the poor, the Lord will rescue them when they are in trouble. He protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity and rescues them from their enemies. The Lord nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health.

THE NEW TESTAMENT “LIVING UNDER GRACE”

Lord Jesus in the New Testament only talks about giving and simply mentions tithing in passing. Lord Jesus instructions concerning giving are very clear. Lord Jesus also states as a fact that you will be blessed and be rewarded if you obey His principles of giving.

In Luke 6 the Lord speaks about how to show love to your enemies and all mankind. It is very clear in Luke 6 that there is no promise of a great reward if you give to your friends and family or to people who are not in need or to those you expect a return from. This promise of receiving in return only pertains to giving to people who do not deserve it, are your enemies, or are poor people or Christian people that are in need of help. Verse 32 says, “If you love people who love you, why should you get credit for that?” If you do good to people who do good to you, why should you get credit for that? So it is clear that the promise of a great Blessing from the Lord pertaining to giving is clearly the people who we look down at, feel sorry for or even intensely dislike and criticise. 

Luke 6: 30/35/38

1.       “Give to anyone who asks, and when things are taken away from you, do not try and get them back”.

2.       Lend to them without expecting to be repaid.

PROMISE

Give and you will receive. Your gift will return to you full- pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.

In Mark 9:41

The Lord also said if anyone helps you in (time of need) because you belong to the Messiah, that person will surely be rewarded.

If you help a fellow Christian who is in need, God will meet your needs too.

Therefore if you can help and assist fellow Christians who are struggling and desperate, The Lord Himself said that He will see to it that you will be rewarded through your needs will then be met.

In Luke 12:30

If you sell your possessions and give to those in need…

PROMISE

This will store up treasures IN HEAVEN

TREASURES IN HEAVEN- TREASURY IN HEAVEN – meaning that if you give to the poor a purse will be opened for you in heaven which God will use to sustain you when you are in need!

Luke 14: 12-14

When you put on a luncheon or a banquet, do not invite your friends, brothers, relatives and rich neighbours- For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward.

Instead, invite the poor, the cripple, the lame and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.

Paul talks about giving and sharing with spiritual leaders and giving to other POOR, less fortunate CHRISTIANS.

Gal 6:6-10
Paul talks about sharing your goods with your spiritual leaders. If you’re spiritual leaders are in need you should help to provide, and sharing all good things with them. Your Spiritual leaders are appointed by God (ROM 13) and they are responsible for you spiritually and therefore you have an obligation to share your earnings with them. They share their gifts of wisdom and knowledge with you and take responsibility for you. How much, is not discussed. 

Paul discusses the collection plate (1 Cor 16:1-2) passed around on the first day of the week- this collection plate is money collected for other Christian churches that are struggling and in need. The money collected is described as a “gift to the believers”. Money collected in churches is not meant for Non-believers.

Romans 15: 24-33

2 Cor 8:1-15. Paul discusses giving as generously as you can but not of your necessities. The word necessities mean the money that is required every month to support your household. You can NOT borrow money or take food from your family’s mouths to give. Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it cheerfully. Paul does NOT make any promises.

2 Cor 9:7-14 Paul ask for “free will offering” (no force and no tithing) to poor Christian people.

Paul NEVER instructs Christians to tithe. In fact, Paul says the opposite in Hebrews 7:1-14, he says the old system where the Levites had a right to collect a tenth from the Israelites has fallen away. He says that old system did not work, it could not achieve the perfection God intended and had to be change (Hebrews 9:10).

The old system was only in effect until a better system could be established.

1. The New System is based on LOVE.

2. GIVE generously to poor people and you will receive great Blessings – a Major Promise from The LORD Himself

3. Church collecting money to give to the poor- the Church receives the Blessings.

4. Sharing with your Spiritual leaders – You Reap a harvest of Blessings

5. Church collecting money for helping other Christians in need -the Church receives the Blessings.

6. YOU helping other Christians in need - Major Reward from The LORD Himself

It is very clear in The Word of God that the one who gives to the poor gets the GREATEST PROMISE OF BLESSINGS!

If you give to the poor, you will receive the promised Blessings. If you give your money to the Church, the Church receives the Blessings. The one that gives is the one who receives the Blessings. That is why the Lord instructed people to directly themselves give to the poor, even sell of your stuff if you are rich to give to the poor in order for you to be BLESSED by GOD.

You yourself should also help fellow Christians in need, in order to receive a REWARD.

There is nowhere in The New Testament any instruction to tithe to your church.

REMEMBER the Church is THE BODY of CHRIST. You are the TEMPLE OF GOD and The HOLY SPIRIT DWELLS WITHIN YOU.

SUMMARY

Tithing is part of the old law. The only person able to fulfil the old law (and the prophets) is JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD (Mat 5:17) who, by so doing, freed us from the bondage of the law and sin thus allowing us to be FREE justified by faith (Rom 5:1) and living in Grace.

Unfortunately, should you attempt to be justified by the law of tithing then you shall fall from grace (Gal 5:4).

However, a Christian does good and is willing to share (Hbr 13:16).

She knows she will be abundantly rewarded by GOD by giving alms (Isa 58:7-11) and sharing with her minister (Gal 6:6) cheerfully (2 Cr 9:7) and in secret (Mat 6:2-3). In this way the Christian is also seen to be walking in LOVE – the ROYAL COMMANDMENT