The Principle Of The Tithe

 

It is very remarkable that God actually revealed His financial plan for all ages in the Garden of Eden.

 

Here is the CONSTITUTION for all Gods financial plans and system in His Kingdom.

 

Genesis 2:17

But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

 

We ask why did God forbid the eating of the fruit of the tree in the mist of the garden?

 

• This establishes the very plain fact that God, even in the Garden of Eden, and even before sin had entered into this earth, RESERVED FOR HIMSELF a portion of the fruit-bearing trees of the Garden of Eden.
• This portion of the trees, God wanted absolutely for Himself ALONE.
• He did not want Adam and Eve to touch it.
• He strictly forbade it under great penalty. 
• It was God’s own portion, God’s Tenth, God’s tithe, which He had reserved for Himself.

 

Adam and Eve sinned against the clearest light, the highest knowledge, the greatest goodness, the dearest love by taking God’s portion called the first fruits.

 

The tithe is the tenth and when the income is in the form of crops, the tenth is called the first fruits.

 

The searching after the knowledge of unnecessary things, is a snare and unprofitable to us as we have seen with Adam and Eve.

 

The serpent tempted Eve with a question, Has God indeed said; you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

 

Genesis 3:2-5

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

 

The serpent lied knowing that the Lord God planted the garden eastward in Eden Genesis 2:8 and that the tree of knowledge was God’s own portion called the first-fruits of the garden He planted eastward in Eden.

 

Genesis 2:6

6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

 

It’s still true today, that God’s tithe or tenth appears more desirable to the carnal person than what the remaining nine/tenths bequest by God to us does. 

 

• God’s first-fruit is lush, extravagant, attractive to the eye, appealing to the appetite, and enticing to ambition.

 

It was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

In the first-fruits tithe there were blessings reserved for them and all their posterity had they not opened God’s storehouse of blessings.

 

Opening God’s pantry door they discovered volumes of blessings wrapped in prophetic parchment paper.

 

If they had left it alone as God’s portion they would have been given the knowledge of good, through perpetual blessings on their lives. 

 

But having used God’s portion as they did, they had an experimental knowledge of evil which now would befall all of their posterity.

 

 Genesis 3:7

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

 

When they did disobey God’s command, death began its mission, fulfilling the word: “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

 

God cursed the very fruits of the field. 

 

Genesis 3:17-19

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

 

This is the very thing that God said would happen to the person who will fail to bring in the tithe into the storehouse.

 

Malachi 3:10-12

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.

 

If they would bring the full tithe as required, divine blessing would be renewed. 

 

God would restore their agricultural abundance, remove pestilence, and increase the respect of the nations for His people.

 

God wants His portion.

 

If we touch it and use it for ourselves, and thus steal it from God, and rob Him of it, as the prophet Malachi calls it,

 

Malachi 3:8-9

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 says the Lord of hosts. 

9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

 

Then we too, will reap knowledge and an experience of evil, which we would never experience if we left God’s tenth alone. We began by robbing God, but in the end we rob ourselves.

 

We are often cursed with a curse as Malachi says, even with the curse of sickness in our bodies if we touch God’s tithe and use it for ourselves. You are cursed with a curse Malachi 3:9.

 

We must learn to be wise, contenting ourselves with the knowledge

I.              Of such things as God hath revealed in His Word, which belong to us

A.            Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. 

B.            The secret things refer to future events and motives of God that are not disclosed to man.

1.             The revealed things are sufficient to lead us into obedience.

2.             Being acquainted with the secret things of God is not necessary to know Him and to pledge allegiance to Him.

 

II.            The information that Jesus withheld from Peter about John’s future is a clear example of a need to know relationship established by God with humanity. 

A.            Let us look at the secret thing pertaining to John and his future that Peter inquired of.

B.            Peter, seeing him (John), said to Jesus, But Lord, what about this man? Jesus said to him, if I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?

III.          Knowledge that is profitable to edification both of others and ourselves is available to us. But what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4:29).

IV.          When the Apostles questioned Jesus,

A.            Acts 1:6-8

6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

 

The disciples’ question revived their political goals, an ideal they could never quite stifle. 

 

Throughout the gospels they wanted Jesus to remove the iron hand of Rome, tell the nation He was their Messiah, and set up the Kingdom.

 

We can’t criticize the disciples too much, however, because the Old Testament links Spirit Baptism with the coming Kingdom. 

 

Listening to His teaching about John baptizing with water, but how they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5) prompted an untimely response from the disciples: “will you at this time restore the Kingdom of Israel?” (Acts 1:6)

 

The Lord did not deny the Kingdom coming, but only warned the disciples that God’s schedule is none of their business. 

 

Reading the scriptures from the Old Testament will give us a better understanding of the thoughts occupying the minds of the disciples. 

 

• Remember the Old Testament was all they had to read at that time.

 

It was peerless times for Israel some were followers of the Sadducee party with its materialistic teachings.

 

They also rejected the traditions of the elders, denied the resurrection and the existence of angels and spirits (Mt. 3:7; 16:6; 22:23, 34; Acts 4:1; 5:17; 23:8). 

 

A more predominate party among the Jews, the Pharisees, which laid great stress upon the observance of rites and ceremonies.

 

They made a pretense of superior piety and separated themselves from the common people. 

 

They were believers in the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, and the existence of angels and spirits. (Mt. 3:7; 15:1; 16:1; 19:3; 23:2; Lu. 7:30; 18:10; Ac. 5:34; 23:6).

 

Then enters Jesus declaring:

 

Matthew 7:24-28

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: