ON TITHING
By: Pastor Jack Siame
*”The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of the law.”* Deuteronomy 29:29 ON TITHING
The economic problems which exasperate people are the issue of their deeper problem of estrangement from God’s word. For when man was at one with God, he had an abundance of everything. Prosperity, life and health were the ambiance and lifestyle of his environment. Eden was God’s perfect home for His dream man. He never made man for penury. He planned him for prosperity! ON TITHING
God never made man poor, nor for poverty. God made him rich, but through selfishness and greedy of gain, man-made himself poor. God told him to freely eat of every tree in the Garden, except for one tree. But Man, in his own wisdom decided to have everything to himself, including that which God had said belonged to Him. This is what made man poor. It is sad to observe, that while many are outraged at what Adam did, they repeat the same mistake and expect to escape the consequences (see, Malachi 3:10). They eat what belongs to God, and ague that God doesn’t expect them to tithe, but the Jews who were under the law. ON TITHING
They forget (or ignore the fact) that tithing was revealed by principle in Genesis, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a form of tithing, Abraham, and his descendants, who lived about 430 years before the law, knew about tithe and tithed. They tithed not because they were commanded, but because they had revelation. They knew what it signified. ON TITHING
After winning the battle against five kings with 318 trained slaves, he knew that this victory was not merely by human effort, but by divine assistance. And when He met a Priest of the Most High God, He found opportunity to acknowledge God through His tithe. *”And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”* (Genesis 14:20). ON TITHING
His grandson, Jacob, had the same understanding. He had seen how this thing worked with his Grandfather, and probably his father, and so he had to put it to the test. He, *”…vowed a vow, saying, if God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: AND ALL THAT THOU SHALT GIVE ME I WILL SURELY GIVE THE TENTH UNTO THEE.”* (Genesis 28:20-22). ON TITHING
He knew that if God does His part of providing for His life and keeping him safe and well, he will have to acknowledge Him in deeds and not in words only. He’d have to give Him His part. The tenth belongs to God as a test of trust. A test for Him to see if we would be able to handle more. He that is faithful in $20 has passed the test to handle $2000. ON TITHING
But if he fails to tithe from $2000, he has disqualified himself from $20,000. It may come into his hands, but it will not stay. *”He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much…and if you have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?”* (Luke 16:10,12). ON TITHING
If you haven’t been faithful in that which belongs to God, who will give you what belongs to you? Do you understand now why things are so slow in your life? Release what is God’s and yours too will be released.
*”And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it he that giveth thee power to get wealth…”* (Deuteronomy 8:17, 28). How do you remember Him? It’s not by saying “O God I remember you”, no! We remember Him the same way Abraham remembered Him when He realized that the victory he had won was not by his own power or by the might of his hand. We remember Him when like Jacob, we see that He is our provider. We remember Him through our tithes, praise and thanksgiving.
Abraham, and Jacob, didn’t tithe by commandment, they tithed by revelation and by faith. The law only shed more light on the principle, it didn’t originate it . And when it was revealed to the Jewish nation, because they were not a people of faith, the word lived outside them, they had to be commanded to tithe. *”…the law is not made for a righteous man…”* (1 Timothy 1:9). But we are not an unrighteous people that we should be commanded like the Jews.
We are the righteousness of God under grace. (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 6:14). We who are of faith are blessed together with faithful Abraham. (Galatians 3:9). We tithe not because we want to be blessed, we tithe because we are blessed. We tithe to acknowledge our Source and to demonstrate our love to Him. It is this act of love that casts out the fear of the devourer, and the wastage of the enemy. We keep ourselves under perfect love. We tithe not by commandment, but by faith and with revelation just like our father Abraham. We enjoy God’s abundance. Praise God!
Selfishness brought man into poverty, and selfishness has kept man poor. Until a man translates from selfish to love, he is not ready for God’s abundance.
Why would anyone argue against tithing? I am yet to meet a man God blessed who told others not to tithe. Be wise. Don’t let the world tell you how to use your money; let the word have its place.
Take your tithe to your church this month and watch the blessings of the Lord manifest like never before.
KALOS CHRISTIAN CHURCH (KCC) ON TITHING