Tithes Explained: The Garden

Invocation

The Lord is in His Holy Temple.

Let all the Earth keep silent before him.

I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the House of the Lord.

Our feet shall stand within Thy gates Oh Jerusalem.

Song- I Will Bless thee Oh Lord

With my hands lifted up, And my mouth filled with praise, With a heart of thanksgiving, I will bless thee oh Lord. I will bless thee oh Lord, I will bless thee oh Lord, With a heart of thanksgiving, I will bless thee oh lord.

Opening

Grace and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to say thank you to each and every one of you for your participation in our virtual Sunday Morning Service. For indeed, God has been good to Israel and while I may not know many things… this I do… that all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord and are the called according to his purpose. Amen. To everyone in their respective places, much honor, accolades, and esteem to each and everyone as Everybody is Somebody in God’s Kingdom. Amen.

This morning we will be starting a new series on Tithes and Offering that I believe will yield much fruit for everyone who elects to not only hear but listen to what we will be speaking about. All things considered, this series should last around 6 weeks by the end of which I believe we will all have a better understanding of tithing and will see the responsibility we have to tithe and the promises to God to honor the tithe. Amen. That said, I want to get into the Word of God.

Prayer

Give Series Title: Tithes Explained

Give Subject: The Garden

Read Scripture: Genesis 2:15-17

Genesis 2:15–17 KJV 1900

15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Introduction

In the world of theological study their is the concept of the Law of First Mention. The Law of First Mention is based on the principle of doing in-depth theological study where you trace a word, concept, or idea from the point of its first mention through the bible to establish its origin and basis. One example of the Law of First Mention we look at in the scripture quite frequently is Jesus the Christ who is first prophesied (More or less by name) in the book of Genesis when the Lord speaks forth the Son of Eve who shall bruise the head of the serpent. However, astute biblical students will know that the first mention of Jesus Christ is in Genesis when it says come Let US make man in our image. He then walks through 40 and 2 generations, as we often like to say until he appears in the volumes of the book as the Son of Mary born in a barn and lain in a manger.

And so, the Law of First Mention helps us to uncover new theological concepts. And in fact, many are theological concepts that you can find the start if in the book of Genesis (with varying degrees of specificity) that can each be followed throughout the Word of God to reach a conclusion or revelation. So when God laid it on my heart to do a study on tithing, I was unsure of where to begin because it is hard to preach to saved people about money, for a variety of reasons.

Some people resent the Church because they think we are money-hungry, greedy, and selfish- and some Churches are just that.

Others resent the Pastor because they think he/ or she is pocketing their money and getting rich off of your tithes/ or offering- and some Pastors are doing that.

Others pay their tithes under this idea that they will be cursed if they do not pay the tithe- a concept we will deal with and learn more about as we proceed.

Other people pay their tithes just because they think that God is required to bless them for it- another concept we will with and learn more about as we go on.

And while many Churches elect to ignore the concept of tithing, they do not understand that by doing so they are foregoing a piece of biblical teaching, but they are also missing an opportunity to provide sound teaching on finances and money.

With this understanding, it is important that each of us grasp the fact that tithing is about far more than you giving money to your local church or even to the overall Kingdom of God… but indeed tithing is about you taking advantage of a spiritual tool that God has given you for your own personal and spiritual edification. That is why we will not begin at the first mention of the tithe, but we instead will begin in an area that will help us to better understand the tithe. This takes me to the basic question…

What is a tithe?

When many of us think tithe we think of Tenth with minimal or no understanding of where that comes from.

The word Tithe comes from the Hebrew word Maa’ser which has been transliterated to the old English word we know today… Tithe.

The Word Tithe primary refers to the religious act of giving a tenth of something for a religious purpose.

Old Testament law speaks of a tithe which is governed according to the Mosaic law as a freewill gift, commanded by the law, given by the people in accordance with the custom and interpretation of the time (we will get a little into the specifics of the law later in the series).

We will take time to review the tithe in accordance with the law later but I want us to get a basic understanding of the concept of tithing before we get into the minutiae of tithing according to the law.

That said, it is the idea of the tithe that I want us to focus on the most this morning as many of us know what it means, we have our ideas about what scripture says, and we have our opinions on legitimacy… but we fail to look at tithing for what it truly is… We fail to see that a tithe primarily refers to a gift given in honor of God’s word and his sovereignty.

Many times in the household of faith, we like to quote 10% and say tenth when we talk about tithe, but we overlook the actual purpose.

And when you reference only the monetary or other value of the tithe, you limit its power and meaning because you have effectively given something of immeasurable value a finite limit.

Put another way, if someone buys you a gift and they only focus on the value of the gift rather than the meaning, then it takes away from the intention and minimizes the power of having received that gift.

This same thing is the reason many people, such as my mother, do not like simply giving monetary gifts because it takes away the meaning and thereby reduces the value.

In this same way, we minimize the meaning and thereby reduce the effectiveness of the tithe as a concept when we become so focused on the amount that we lose sight of the greater meaning.

To help us further understand this, I have a few questions I want you to think about over the coming weeks as our knowledge of tithing evolves and grows.

What is the purpose of the tithe?

Do we have a responsibility to tithe?

What is a tithe?

These questions lead me to my text.

Genesis 2:15-17

Here in the text, we see that the scripture is actually retelling the creation story, which had already been told in Genesis 1. Here in Genesis 2, the scripture provides us some purpose and intention behind the process that has been detailed to us in Chapter 1.

Put simply;

Chapter 1 establishes for us the order of creation with a timeline we can follow.

Chapter 2 reviews what was done in chapter 1 but provides us with more defined purposes and background behind what we already know at this point.

Another way to look at it which is equally true is;

Chapter 1 tells us of the creation of the entire Universe in simple terms.

Chapter 2 tells us exactly the thought God put into the creation of the Garden of Eden and that which belonged to it.

Knowing these things, it becomes important for us to fully dissect the text as we read It and seek to understand It.

So as we know, God created the heavens and the Earth over the course of 6 days.

Day One- God created the light and darkness to separate the two from each other

Day Two- He separated the water from the sky, creating the oceans on the surface and the atmosphere of the sky

Day Three- God then caused the land to appear and separate the water, and then made grass, fruit yielding trees, and herbs to come forth from the land

Day Four- He then made the universe (stars, planets, etc.) to appear in the sky; and called for the Sun and Moon to govern the day and night from day 1

Day Five- He gave rise to the animals of the sea and sky to rule over the waters of the ocean and the atmosphere he separated from one another in Day 2

Day Six- He made the animals of the land, risen from the water, appear and then made man (Adam) in his own image and pulled woman (Eve) from man

We learn these things in Chapter 1, which clearly defines WHEN God did WHAT God Did.

But we then learn in Chapter 2 a combination of HOW God did what he did and WHY God did what he did.

With this information we can now look at the text of chapter 2 with greater revelation.

In Genesis 1:29-31, the Bible tells us what God promised to Adam… which was provision of his every need in the garden.

In Genesis 2:15, the Bible tells us how God intended for that promise to be kept which was by the labor of Adam to keep up what God had given him.

In this sense, Adam’s situation in the garden becomes the blueprint for our lives each day and over any period of time.

God makes us promises, both through his Word and in our individual lives wherein he speaks to us concerning our needs and desires.

He may promise you a job, a car, a house, a marriage, a friendship, and a host of other things that are each meant to serve as a provision for you in the garden of your life.

But the secret to salvation is not simply God making you promises, but the beauty is in your submission to him while you serve as a caretaker of what he gave.

You work hard at your job, but he allows you to keep it.

You unlock the door to your house, but he gave you the money to buy it.

You drive your car everyday, but it is he who keeps you while you are behind the wheel.

This takes me to my three bullet points which I will give then I am done.

The first thing that the Garden shows us is that all provision comes from God.

We live in the western world, and we have become enamored with Americanized Christendom

As a consequence our relationship with God is often based on how much trouble we find ourselves in.

When your bills are in collections you talk to God more than you talk to people.

When the eviction sign is put on your door you and God are best friends.

And so you build relationship with God because you want him to bring you through.

Why, because we exercise in this belief that saved people never go through anything.

And if we go through something I need to talk to God so he can pull me through.

And scripture supports this God does not want to see you go through (although some things we bring on ourselves)

But the real danger comes in when we actually are doing well or we have something going for us.

When your bills are on autopay, you forget God even exists because you get comfortable.

When your health is right, with no problems, you have not thought about God’s healing power.

And our relationship with God becomes more about what he can do for us because when has done it… unless he is going to do something else then why bother.

That is why many times people need a cheerleader just to give God praise.

I can say he woke you up

Started you on your way

Put food on your table

Clothes on your back

And many of you would nod at me with a slight smile because… he has been good.

And do not let me a hit a just because he is God… you’ll clap and sit down.

But let me start prophesying increase, favor, anointing, and blessings.

If I say he going to open a door… you will get up and run.

If I say he going to give you unexpected income… one person will fall out.

If I say he going to bless that business… three people will rededicate their life to Christ.

If I say he is sending a husband… you’ll have a baptist fit.

Because you have gotten so comfortable in what you have… that you forget it was God that gave it to you in the first place.

And we need to be real careful that we do not become so entitled, so materialistic, so selfish, and so greedy that we miss the fact that God does not just supply the things beyond you… or the things you missed… or the things people took from you… BUT GOD PROVIDES ALL THINGS.

Colossians 1:16-17 says it this way...“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.”

My second point is that God will put you in a place of provision but you have to make good of it.

Genesis 2:15 says it very clearly “15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

So we know that God makes the provision, he orchestrates the provision, and this lets us know he gives the provision.

But he does not just hand you provision but he instead places you into a situation and all the provision is already there for you, because God is a business man.

In the world of Business we call this Systems Buying or another way to think about it a turn key situation...

Many times when we want to do something… we start thinking about all the stuff we will need for it to happen.

You want to buy a house… that house needs;

3 Bedrooms

2 Baths

Open Concept

2 Gar Garage

2 Stories

1 Story Master with en Suite… blah blah blah

Now you can buy that house and have to do some renovations;

Maybe you do not like the paint

The backsplash

The Tile

or the Flooring

But see System Buying would be when you buy a house and every piece of furniture is already in the house.

The fridge is stocked

The clothes are in the drawers to your size

The appliances are just what you want

And all you have to do is show up and turn the key to your new SYSTEM.

So not only does God make the provision but he builds a system for you and all you have to do is turn the key.

That is how you can tell if what people are doing is of God because everywhere they go, it should just look like a turned key.

You didn't apply for the job they called you.

You didn't pay for the building, they just gave it to you.

You didn't have to go through a startup phase, your business just took off.

WHY… because God builds a system and then he drops you down into the system… you just gotta work with the architect to learn the system.

Third, God always creates a piece he wants for himself but he leaves it to us whether we submit it to him.

This is where we take a look at the concept or notion of tithing as I draw to my close

Conclusion

As has been stated, to Tithe primary means or refers to the religious act of giving a tenth of something for a religious purpose.

This definition is theologically sound and scripturally sound… but I want to take it a part for a moment.

It means to give something for a religious purpose.

The something would, in this case, refer to one-tenth or 10%.

Now, lets forgo the second part… that 10%… and lets look at the giving of something.

Giving something to someone requires that you set it apart to be given to that person which takes us back into the Garden.

Watch me now… make no mistake the tree is not a tithe… but if you can understand the tree you can understand the tithe.

Lets look at the Garden first

God makes provision… a Garden.

God sets Adam in that provision

God gives Adam dominion, control, and authority over the provision

God only asks that Adam set aside one tree and abstain from eating the fruit of it

Now lets look your life

God makes provision… your resources (money, gifts, talents, abilities)

God sets you down in your provision

God gives you freedom and control in your own life and over your provision

God is only asking that you be willing to set aside part of the provision he gave to you

I want to be clear, so no one thinks I am being heretical or isogetical with the scripture. I am not saying the tree in the garden was a tithe… but the same way God gave Adam everything and asked for a piece of it.

God has given you everything and the tithe is his way of asking for a piece of it. So when we consider that fact, it lends itself to the fact that the tithe itself does not begin in the Garden but the mentality of giving back to God starts in the garden.

And so many of us, because we do not do proper study, we misunderstand the meaning or purpose of the tithe. So to understand the purpose of the tithe, I want us to first understand the concept of sacrifice. I want us to understand surrender. We need to grasp the idea of submission.

Then and only then can we understand the tithe and take advantage of the power of the tithe.