Tithes and offering
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The Principles of Tithing
The Principles of Tithing
What is tithes
What is tithes
The first mention of tithing is found in Genesis 14
14 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
15 He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
16 So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.
17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
After the defeat of his enemies, and gaining much spoil.
He gave tithes of all that he had to the priest of God Melichizedek
Something more is revealed in Genesis 28:20-22
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,
21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.
22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
Jacob knowing that LORD will become his God, he promised to give a tenth of all he possess to the Lord.
Key thing revealed: Jacob realisation that whatever income he has, comes from the Lord and therefore he will give back to him a tenth of it.
A clear defination of tithes is revealed.
Leviticus 27:30–33 (NKJV)
30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.
31 If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it. (leviticus 27:13)
32 And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.
33 He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.’ ”
The people lived of the land. The seed and the fruit of the land was their income or wages. Their cattle was their wages.
God therefore said that a tenth of all their wages ( the seed and the fruit of the tree of the land, cattle and herd) is holy to the LORD.
It is something that belongs to God. It is not to used.
13 Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.
14 When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?
15 Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.”
16 So they brought it. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
17 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at Him.
Just like there are things that belong to ceaser, there are things that belong to God, which is tithes.
Tithes is basically 1/10 of your source of income. It belongs to the Lord.
Understanding Titithing
Understanding Titithing
Basic Understanding that One needs to have that is foundational to Tithing is that all of one’s income is the Lord.
8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts.
11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,
12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them;
13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;
14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock;
16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—
17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
We have to be careful that we don’t ever fill like the wealth that we have ammassed (gathered together) is because of our strength or it is because it belonged to us.
We have to remeber God and honour him with what we posses. By giving him what belongs to him.
10 Therefore David blessed the Lord before all the assembly; and David said: “Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.
11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And You are exalted as head over all.
12 Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all.
13 “Now therefore, our God, We thank You And praise Your glorious name.
14 But who am I, and who are my people, That we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You.
So God’s people remebered God’s commandment by giving him what belonged to him, the tithes of all of their possession.
12 “When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year—the year of tithing—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled,
13 then you shall say before the Lord your God: ‘I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.
14 I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me.
15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’
The holy tithe was to be removed from their house.
They were not to eat of it nor use it in perilious time because it belonged to the Lord.
So when they ate what belonged to God, when they used their tithes they were commiting sin against God
What Sin
7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts;
12 And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the Lord of hosts.
God charged the whole nation of robbery of what belongs to him because they did not bring their tithes to God. As a result they were under a curse
The garden of Eden
He promised to open the windows of heaven and shower blessing upon them.
God tests our loyality to him through tithes.
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
God knows that money is a master, as God is also a master.
So to test one’s legience, if it is to money or God, he commands us to give a tenth of our income.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
where your money is, that is where your heart is.
Tithes and ministers of the Gospel
Tithes and ministers of the Gospel
Before we understand the New Testament ordinance we have to understand the Old Testament ordinance of tithes and to whom it was allocated.
20 Then the Lord said to Aaron: “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
21 “Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.
22 Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die.
23 But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
24 For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’ ”
The levites were to fully dedicate themsleves to the work of the tabernacle,as they do they partake of the fruits of the tabernacle.
The principle was set that as the Levites met and ministered to the spiritual needs of the people the people ministered to the physical needs of the poeple.
Abraham givin tithes to melchizedek
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
The bread and wine symbolise the spiritual food which Abraham received and Abraham gaves tithes to the priest. So basically As the priest met the spiritual need of Abraham, Abraham met the phyical need of the priest.
This principle goes beyond tithes and levites
26 For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.
27 It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.
New Testament Example.
6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working?
7 Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?
8 Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also?
9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about?
10 Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.
11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?
12 If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?
14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.
15 But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void.
The Apostle Paul did not write this things to be done to him but rather that they may understand the ordinance of God.
The oxe who plows and treashes, should do it in hope. That is as he devotes himslef fully to the work of the Lord and sowing spiritual things (eternal value) for people, he will one day reap material things from those whom he sowed.
27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
4 Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.
5 But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’
6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.
7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.
When they wen’t out, they did it by faith without any money or clothing and so forth, but as they devoted themsleves fully to the ministry and began to sow spiritual things in people’s lives, they began to reap the material things.
Offering
Offering
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Offering is an opportunity to receive.
When you give you are sowing
38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
The principle of sowing and reaping
The principle of sowing and reaping
The first principle that should guide our giving is revealed in the last two passages.
the principle of sowing and reaping. The measure you use is the measure that will be used for you
The principle of the King
The principle of the King
Numbers 28,29
Several offering that adds up to more than thousands of offerings
daily offerings
offerings of the sabbath
monthly offerings,
offerings at the passover,
the offering of the feast of weeks,
offering of the feast of trumpets
the offerings of the day of atonemnets
the offering of the feast of tabenarcle.
All the above offering did not include the vowed offerings and freewill offering
In the New Testamant he removed this requirement, and gave us the choise to honour him with our offering.
12 “But you profane it, In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled; And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’
13 You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,” Says the Lord of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?” Says the Lord.
14 “But cursed be the deceiver Who has in his flock a male, And takes a vow, But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished— For I am a great King,” Says the Lord of hosts, “And My name is to be feared among the nations.
We see here that the Lord was very displeased with his people because they were offering to him what was the worst.
Jesus is watching our offerings
41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much.
42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.
43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury;
44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”
Jesus looks not only at what you are offering but what you have.
i wonder how our giving will change if we actually saw Jesus sitting here.
Not coming before God empty handed
16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
The people of Israel gathered at the temple three times a year and the Lord expected them not to come empty handed.
The reason is, he is a King and he deserve to be honored by the gift of people.
When you go to visit somebody that is special to you, don’t you feel ashamed to go empty handed.
31 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
The queen of sheba first of came from a very far place just to hear the wisdom of solomon.
We come from far place to hear from Jesus, to hear his wisdom
1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.
12 Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
she came with great company and alot of things
The queen of sheba did not go empty handed
12 Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
she received more than what she had given solomon
If you want to receive more than what you give, honor God with your offering just like Queen sheba did to King Solomon.