The Blessing Of Tithing – Part 3
4. It is a Part of God’s Economy
Tithing is a system created by God to supply the needs of the people, the church and the workers. In the Old Testament, the Levites did not receive any lands. Instead, the tithes given by the people became the inheritance of the priests. In Numbers 18:24, the Lord says, “Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I said concerning them: They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.”
However, the tithes given to the church and its workers are expected to be put to good works and to meet the needs of the people. In 1 Timothy 5:17-18, it tells us that “the elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scriptures say, “do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” There is such a thing as performance in God’s eyes. The workers of God are expected to perform and to direct God’s works excellently, even the tithes placed into their hands.
5. It is an Act of Sowing a Seed
I mentioned in Part 1 earlier, the size of your seed will determine the size of your harvest. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 that “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
When we tithe, the tithe should be seen as one portion. Don’t split your tithe into different portions and give to different ministries or organizations. Instead, we should bring our tithes to our storehouse/barn as a whole. The common question that Christians asked is to which organization they should tithe to. The word ‘storehouse’ or ‘barn’ means storage within your courtyard. In the land where you are, bring it to the local church where you find your fellowship and the feeding of God’s words. Therefore, bring your tithe as a whole portion and offer it to God through the local church where God has placed you.
We do not sow from the harvest but we sow towards a harvest. We do not stop sowing even if the economy is bad. Isaac is one good example. In Genesis 26, we see Isaac sowing even during a time of famine. He sowed in faith and he reaped a hundred folds because God was with him. God blesses obedience and not the methods of sowing (i.e. how to give, amount to give, who to give, how many to give).
If you give, hoping that God will bless you and give you a hundred folds back, then you are missing the point of giving. The receiving is just an outcome of your obedience. We tithe because we want to worship, it is a pleasure to be obedient to God, and an expression of our love. The outcome and blessing are the results of our hearts that tithe with the right attitudes and motives. It is obedience and not the methods.
2 Comments»
Stephen Davis
12. April 2008 | 19:22 h
Giving and tithing are not interchangable. New Testament era teachers use the Old Testament law to gain income. Do they do this by God’s will? That is the great question. Many would have you believe so. We worry for these teachers. Are they stumbling at a ’stumbling stone’? It appears God has placed it there for the purpose of testing His children. If you collect monetary tithes or pay them, you are failing the test.
“Feed the flock of God among you” says the scriptures. “The workman is worthy of his hire (wages).” “Those who exalt themselves shall be abased.” “We abased ourselves in preaching the Gospel without charge”. To preach the Gospel by receiving tithes (so called) is to exalt one’s self at the expence of those whom God has exalted to priesthood. This is opposite to what happened in the Old Testament when many fell in rebellion, thus only having one tribe as a class of priests. If you want to be great, teach free-will giving. You may suffer at the hands of the tithe obsessed, though. Who sit at the wellspring of cash…the monetary tithe.
Darrell Meeks
15. February 2009 | 04:55 h
God’s economy isn’t monetary, which is evidenced by the scripture that declares He owns cattle on a thousand hills.
As for sowing seed, well, the seed Jesus spoke of was His Gospel and His commands, not money. Seed-planting as a monetary reference is little more than a charismatic mantra that clearly qualifies as yet another of the many false teachings routinely lobbed from the many catapults of false teachings resident in that camp.
As with any other teaching, let’s see the scriptures IN CONTEXT. Those references in the article are, as is usually the case, taken out of context. A simple word study would suffice in showing the TRUE nature of what those verses are actually talking about.