ABOUT TITHING

Mal 3:7-12

⁷ Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

⁸ Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

⁹ Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

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.

There’s been a lot of “Hullabaloo” about tithing in today’s Church. I’ve tried as much as possible to stay out of it until now, I’ll share with you what the Holy Spirit shared with me.

Some say, it’s not necessary, some say it’s of the law and not of grace, some say it’s a necessity. I say none but I’ll tell you what the scripture says and hope that the Holy Spirit convinces you in the right direction.

I’ll start with Malachi. The book of Malachi was written to the Jews, mainly to the tribe of Levi but when you read through it was by extension to the all Jews. The Tribe of Levi was Special because they were the family of Priests and took care of the Temple of God and that was their only Portion in Israel. When Malachi was writing, God was sorely displeased with the Priests, The Levites and Jews as a whole (including Israel and Judah). Hence, He put to them questions, questions they answered with questions but in His mercy He answers them back with explanations not the way our African parents will answer a child that tries such nonsense.

Israel were in a covenant with God and a Covenant is two ways, it’s a contract that says if you do this I’ll do this. But Israel had totally forgotten their own part of the bargain, so did the Levites and the Priests but they expected God to keep his part of the bargain. But God was about to burst their bubble.

God made it clear to The Priests (the Levites) first that they had robbed Him, then said, Even this whole nation. So the priests were not the only guilty party but the whole nation of Israel as well.

So take this scripture and apply it to today’s church. You will see that God is talking to both Pastors and the entire church of God as well. He is saying we have robbed Him. The church has robbed Him by failing to pay tithes and offering, the pastors have also robbed Him by using the tithes and offering for purposes they were not supposed to and in many other ways i can't write here.

And from above it is obvious there is a blessing attached to tithing and a curse attached to robbing God.

Just to add a little more Flesh to what I have said.

We Christians are in a Covenant Relationship with God, but our covenant is a much more perfect covenant than Israel had. Now, If Israel which had an Old covenant which was a foreshadow of ours gave tithes and offering How much more our Covenant.

Paul sums it up, the best way possible, He says “Let everyone of you lay by Him in store as God hath Prospered Him” and in another place “Everyman according as He purposeth in His heart so let Him give, not grudgingly or of necessity; For God loveth a cheerful giver”.

So You see that if as a Christian you haven’t gotten to the point where your tithe and offering is not up for debate, then you still have some growing to do (we all have some grwing to do anyway), because you are to give not of necessity but cheerfully. 

I’ll use the analogy of a man who is in love, the woman does not ask for a gift but the man still wants to give, that’s what our tithe and offering ought to be. I’ll add this again, when Jesus was asked whether the Jews should pay tribute to Caeser, He said "Give to Caeser what is Caeser’s" (note that the same tribute Isreal paid to Rome was used to oppress the Jews) the same applies to tithing and offering. Give to the Church what is the Church’s and leave the pastor of that church to answer to God on wheteher He has robbed God or not.

Finallly, Sometimes as Christains we often forget the nature of our Covenant, The New testament. Yes God chose us and has given us all things in Christ but the same God who chose Isreal said to them “Prove me now”. We often forget that we have a part to play in this covenant and conditions we need to fulfil.

God wants us to Prove Him, He does not deal with us according to "quel sera sera", rather He takes our actions into account when we walk with Him. Yes our Salvation and justification does not take into account our actions because "while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" but there are riches and inheritance in Christ that depend on our actions, our dedication, our commitment, our service and sacrifice.

He is impresed when of our own freewill we take what He has given us and give it back to Him, He inhabits our praises, He is pleased when our attitude to Him always is What shall I render to thee oh Lord for your Love and for your wondrous works.

God Bless You.