A few weeks ago in my Small Group for XL, I asked our group to try something new and you wont believe what happened next!!!
The bible says in Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
1. I threw out the challenge to Tithe- I went out on a limb and said if God didn't bless it I would pay the tithe back to them......Thank goodness God don't lie!!
2. One of our families did tithe for the month and low and behold.....$$$$ money showed up in the mailbox! It was over $200. That alone was more than the tithe they gave! The cool part was that God wasn't finished- He wanted to pour out his blessings on them so......he gave them an unexpected pay raise as well!
This New Year I am asking all of you to "Test God in this" Bring your tithe to XL or your church and watch God Bless you like crazy!! (remember blessings aren't always in the dollar form!! Make a journal entry of when you start tithing and journal every time you receive a blessing- This will be so cool to see our people blessed so much that they won't have enough room to store all his blessings!
Happy New Year!
Floyd
The bible says in Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
1. I threw out the challenge to Tithe- I went out on a limb and said if God didn't bless it I would pay the tithe back to them......Thank goodness God don't lie!!
2. One of our families did tithe for the month and low and behold.....$$$$ money showed up in the mailbox! It was over $200. That alone was more than the tithe they gave! The cool part was that God wasn't finished- He wanted to pour out his blessings on them so......he gave them an unexpected pay raise as well!
This New Year I am asking all of you to "Test God in this" Bring your tithe to XL or your church and watch God Bless you like crazy!! (remember blessings aren't always in the dollar form!! Make a journal entry of when you start tithing and journal every time you receive a blessing- This will be so cool to see our people blessed so much that they won't have enough room to store all his blessings!
Happy New Year!
Floyd
5 comments:
RELIGION NEWS SERVICE, March 7, 2007
Malachi 3:10 Has Been Misinterpreted
The “whole” tithe never was supposed to go to the Temple! According to Dr. Russell Earl Kelly in his book, Should the Church Teach Tithing?, the usual interpretation of Malachi 3:10’s “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse” is wrong for four reasons.
First, the Levitical cities must be included. God never told ordinary Israelites to bring the whole tithe to the Temple in Jerusalem. According to Nehemiah 10:38, that duty belonged to the Levites and priests. The Levites lived on borrowed land surrounding 48 cities. After the exile they lived in the 13 priestly cities in Judah such as Jericho and Hebron. Nehemiah 10:37b makes it clear that the people were to bring the tithes to those cities. Numb 18:21-24; 35 all; Josh 20, 21; 1st Chron 6:48-80; 2nd Chron 11:13, 14; 31:15-19; Neh 12:27-29; 13:10 and Mal 1:14.
Second, the correct interpretation of Malachi 3:10 must include the 24 courses of the Levites and priests. Only the older males ate tithes at the Temple and then normally only one week out of 24 weeks! Do the math! That is only 4% of the total work force! And with the wives and younger children staying at home it is only 2% of the total work force who needed to eat tithes in the Temple! 1 Chronicles, chapters 23-26; 28:13, 21; 2 Chron. 8:14; 23:8; 31:2, 15-19; 35:4, 5, 10; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 11:19, 30; 12:24; 13:9, 10; Luke 1:5.
Third, the word “you” of Malachi is referring to the dishonest priests and not the people: “Even this whole nation of you --priests.” In Nehemiah 13:5-10 the priests had clearly stolen the Levites’ portion of the tithe. Also, in Malachi 1:14 the priests had stolen that portion of the tithed animals which they had vowed to God from their herds. Read all of Malachi. God’s anger towards the priests and His curses on them are ignored by most interpreters (1:14; 2:2 and 3:2-4).
Fourth, the blessings and curses of tithing are identical to those of the entire Mosaic Law and cannot legitimately be separated from them. Read all of Deuteronomy 27 and 28, especially 28:12 “The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of your hand” and 28:23-24 “And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.” Compare this with Galatians 3:10 quoting 28:26 “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Trying to earn God’s blessings through tithing only brings curses for failure to keep all of the law. These were agreed to by Malachi’s audience in Nehemiah 10:29.
When the Levitical cities, the 24 courses, the nature of the blessings and curses and God’s anger towards the priests for stealing are considered, then Malachi 3:10 only makes sense when it only refers to priests who had stolen from God.
It makes no sense to tell the people to bring 100% of the tithe to the Temple when 98% of those who needed it for food were still in the Levitical cities.
It is strange that the 3:10 of Malachi is so important It is while the 3:10 of Galatians and 2nd Corinthians are ignored. Perhaps those wanting to enforce the 3:10 of Malachi should also enforce the 3:10 of Numbers. Wow! Now that would lose members.
Since every believer is a NT priest and since the NT Temple is the body of every believer, the purpose of OT tithing has disappeared. The Christian is never told to tithe. Many should give more than 10% but many of the poor cannot and God still accepts their freewill gift from the heart.
My friends- God said it, I did it, and He Blessed it.
The good news here is that my blog is sharing the good news of Jesus Christ!
I hope to see my blogger friend in Heaven on day!
The Bible says there is only one way to Heaven
Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John 14:6)
Good works cannot save you.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Trust Jesus Christ today! Here's what you must do:
Admit you are a sinner.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23)
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12)
"If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:10)
Be willing to turn from sin (repent).
Jesus said: "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5)
"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:" (Acts 17:30)
Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried, and rose from the dead.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9)
Through prayer, invite Jesus into your life to become your personal Saviour.
"For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:10)
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)
Dear God, I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I now invite Christ to come into my heart and life as my personal Saviour.
Please blog me and tell me about your salvation experience and what God is doing in your life today- Jesus Saves-
Floyd
Hey Floyd,
All I know is I'm glad you're putting it out there and challenging your Small Group like you are. God constantly blesses those that offer up part of what He has given them for the growth of His Kingdom. No matter how you interpret it, that facts are the facts. You are the man!
Hey Mark,
Happy New Year. God did something cool like that to us also, but $500 showed up in my student box and said, "a gift from Jesus". We got $200 worth of grocery store gift cards, and more food than we can handle for the next 2 months. We didn't know how we were going to afford Christmas gifts for the kids - you know being broke students - and God provided so much for us that the kids actually got bored opening the gifts. We have over half of the gifts in storage because there is no place for them so we will be using them in the new church in Medicine Hat. God is good!
That's great to hear Jason!
Keep up the good work!! You know I miss The Hat!
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