Malachi 3:6-15
6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
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.
13 Your words have been stout against me,
saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and
what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked
mournfully before the Lord of hosts?
15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they
that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
Nehemiah 13:10-12
10 And I perceived that the portions of the
Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the
work, were fled every one to his field.
11 Then contended I with the rulers, and said,
Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in
their place.
12 Then brought all Judah the tithe of the
corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries.
Deuteronomy 8: 11-20
11 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy
God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes,
which I command thee this day:
12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and
hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply,
and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou
forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt,
from the house of bondage;
15 Who led thee through that great and
terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought,
where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of
flint;
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna,
which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove
thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and
the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God:
for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his
covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget
the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them,
I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
20 As the nations which the Lord destroyeth
before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the
voice of the Lord your God.
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness
thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Psalm 50:7-14
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O
Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices
or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor
he goats out of thy folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and
the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and
the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee:
for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the
blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy
vows unto the most High:
Haggai 2: 8-9
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,
saith the Lord of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house shall be
greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I
give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
Mark 12:15-17
15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But
he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny,
that I may see it.
16 And they brought it. And he saith unto
them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.
17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render
to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.
And they marvelled at him.
1 Corinthians 4:7
7 For who maketh thee to differ from another?
and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
Colossians 1:16-21
8 Now ye are full,
now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did
reign, that we also might reign with you.
16 For by him were
all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:
all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all
things consist.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church:
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might
have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him
should all fulness dwell;
20 And, having made peace through the blood of
his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether
they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Hebrews 2:6-13
6 But one in a certain place testified,
saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou
visitest him?
7 Thou madest him a little lower than the
angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the
works of thy hands:
8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under
his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that
is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus,
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every
man.
10 For it became him, for whom are all things,
and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the
captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who
are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them
brethren,
12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my
brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And
again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.
There is a teaching in the modern church which I refer to as
sowing and reaping. The basic tenant is tied into not only the law of the tithe
but also above and beyond the support of men’s ministries with money but is it
a correct teaching. The scriptures that deal with sowing and reaping are not
financial lessons but lessons about the truth and life living in us.
If our foundation is Messiah we are the possession of YHWH
but still we must consider how we build our day to day living on that
foundation for all things are tried as with fire. Those things of YHWHs making
such as gold and silver and precious stones are either unharmed or made pure by
fire. If the things built there are of man’s making from the temporary things
such as wood and hay the same fire will burn them back down to the very
foundation. If our life and living are the building of YHWH we will dwell in beauty
and peace but if it is a work of our own making we will see destruction and
loss.
I once heard a man preach that He could find money in any
scripture but the scripture is a description and promise of YHWHs life not men’s
self-gain. This does not mean the bible does not speak about money it does but not
as gain.
Often it is said that the Old Testament saints and some say
new also owed YHWH ten percent of their increase. This is the 180 degree
thinking of the carnal man. All we are and all we have belong to Him the tenth
was for the care of priesthood who lived by the offerings to the temple. The
other ninety percent still belonged to YHWH but was for the men to steward over
to provide for family, or the poor in the land; therefor to claim it as being one’s
own is to rob YHWH of not only ninety percent of your increase but also to rob
Him of yourself. You are either His or yours but never both for no man can have
two masters.
If we understand these things then we can see that the question
of if we are to give ten percent under new covenant is the wrong question based
on a wrong foundation of personal possession. A more accurate question is in
what way are we to steward over what YHWH brings into our hands.
We submit ourselves to YHWH first trusting Him to work in us
to provide for both us and whomever He brings into our life. So it is by
direction of the Spirit that our giving is to be directed.
That said the Spirit is YHWH and YHWH does not change. If
you say you are not lead to give into others ministry work, especially neither
those who minister to you personally nor you say does He lead you to give to
those believers who lack then you testify against yourself that He is not living
in and through you.
The first followers of the way we are told in acts
considered all things in common. Do we think they were communist with all men
working for the common good? No for there is none good but YHWH and we are the
vessel by which He works. They had come to understand by the Spirit that YHWH
is one and as He is in the Son so He and the Son are in us.
Therefore we are one with each other. If my brother has a
need and I close my compassion to him I set myself as his enemy, as my brethren’s
enemy, as Messiahs enemy, as the Fathers enemy, and by such I cut myself off
from life and suffer death.
A desire to gain for self is not a desire for Messiah and a
fear of lack is not faith in Him.
