Honoring God With The Tithe

Gen 14:1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations, 2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). NKJ

Genesis 14 records how several kings banded their armies together to go against nearby cities including Sodom and Gomorrah. It so happened that Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family lived in Sodom and were taken captive along with all the people of the city, their food and supplies. One resident of Sodom managed to escape and brought the news to Abraham. When he heard of it he rounded up 318 of his trained servants to go hunt them down.

Gen 14:8 And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar — four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains. 11 Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. 12 They also took Lot, Abram's brother's son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram. 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.
NKJV

They recovered everything that was stolen, Lot, all his possessions and all the people from the city. While they were returning home, Melchizedek, King of Salem, met them with bread and wine and pronounced God’s blessing upon Abraham saying, “The God of heaven and earth has delivered the enemy into your hand.” Abraham gave a tenth part of the spoil as a tithe to Melchizedek being the priest of “The Most High God.”

Just then the king of Sodom showed up and told Abraham to keep all the supplies he had recovered for himself, just let the people return home. But Abraham refused to keep even one fragment of the spoils lest the king of Sodom would claim to have made Abraham rich. Abraham knew that it was God that had given them victory in battle and that his wealth and power were from God. He gave a tithe to Melchizedek the priest in honor of God. Abraham would not take even a sandal strap from the spoils of Sodom because he wanted to protect the reputation of being made rich and powerful by God alone. He would not allow an opportunity for anyone else to claim that they had made Abraham rich.

We also must never forget that it is God who gives us the power to get wealth as a confirmation of His covenant with us. We give tithes of all our increase into His storehouse in honor of Him, and as a result we will be blessed along with Abraham. Deuteronomy 8:18 says God confirms the covenant that was made with our forefathers (Abraham) by giving us the ability to obtain wealth. When God gives us victory over our enemies and we recover what has been stolen from us it will be because we have honored God as our source of power not our own wisdom or might. We must also be careful not to take spoil for ourselves that would leave even a shadow of doubt as to who made us rich.

Abraham was in covenant with his nephew as part of his family. A covenant meant that if one of the two parties was ever in trouble the other would do all in his power to fight for and recover all that was lost. Of course this covenant included God as one of the partners and that is where the supernatural power factored in.

Abraham gave tithe to Melchizedek to recognize and honor God as covenant partner. He had the confidence to go after armies likely numbering in the thousands with only three hundred and eighteen men because he trusted in God who was the initiator of the covenant. The king of Sodom’s offer to keep all the spoil would have been appealing to someone who did not know the source of all the things we need for this life.

On the flip side of the coin, the book of Daniel records the story of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who would not honor God as the source of might, wisdom and the power to gain wealth. Nebuchadnezzar thought everything revolved around him. He had a golden statue of himself made and set up. He ordered all to fall down and worship before the statue every time they herd the sound of the musical instruments. If anyone refused to bow down and worship the image of Nebuchadnezzar they would be thrown into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

God gave Nebuchadnezzar opportunity to repent of his evil ways. The three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to the image or worship any other god than the God who made all things and put breath within them. As a result they were taken, bound and thrown into the furnace. The God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego delivered them from death and not even the smell of smoke was upon them. Only the ropes that bond them were burned off. Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed with the way their God delivered them from death that he made a decree stating that anyone who says anything amiss concerning the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would be cut in pieces and their houses be made a dung hill.

Though Nebuchadnezzar was greatly impressed with their God he evidently was not willing himself to bow down and make Him his God. He continued on in pride and arrogance believing all the wealth and provision of his kingdom was a result of his own wisdom and might. He saw himself as the provider of all things as if the people of his kingdom were eating out of his hand. He failed to give glory to the God of heaven and earth, so God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream.

Daniel’s interpretation of the dream was that Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom would be taken from him and that his mentality would be reduced to that of a beast in the field. He would grow hair like eagle feathers and claws like a bird and would live off grass and vegetation. Seven years would pass before his reason and mentality would be restored. As Daniel completed the interpretation he gave the king some advice saying that if he would break free from his sinful way and begin to show mercy to the poor perhaps God would lengthen his days and continue to prosper his kingdom.

One year after Daniel interpreted his dream, Nebuchadnezzar was in his royal palace. He said to himself; “Is not this great kingdom of Babylon built by my own power and for the honor of my majesty?” No sooner than these words were out of his mouth a voice came from heaven declaring that the kingdom had departed from him. He was driven from among men and went into the fields to eat grass like an ox and his ability to reason was taken from him until seven years passed.

Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the hard way that his ability to reason, to be creative and prosperous is a gift from God. He learned the hard way not to steel the glory from his creator. In contrast to Abraham, Nebuchadnezzar could not honor and give glory to God. So God removed from him the very mentality and reason that made him different from all other creatures. The image and likeness of God was temporarily removed. God reduced him to the level of a cow grazing in the fields.

It would behoove us all to learn this lesson without having to go through a similar experience. Abraham gave a tenth part of all his increase to Melchizedek in honor of God. He knew without a doubt it was God given supernatural ability allowing 318 men to defeat armies. He knew also that it was by the power of God that they were able to recover all the spoil stolen from the city of Sodom. Abraham was very careful not to touch the glory while Nebuchadnezzar could not keep his hands off it.

In Roman 1, Paul describes people who failed to recognize and honor God with thankfulness.

Rom 1:21 for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools; 23 and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. NRSV

Those that Paul described, appear to have followed a similar path as Nebuchadnezzar. Their mentality diminished to the point that they lost sight of the one in whose image they were made. They exchanged the image of the immortal, eternal God for the mortal, corruptible image of self made man, or the beasts of the field.

We often overlook our natural talents and abilities as a gift of grace from God. He has given us our abilities, talents and the power to gain wealth. He has given us a mentality far greater than all other creatures and He has breathed life into us. Without Him we can do nothing. Tithing is honoring God for what He has given into our hands. It is recognizing and acknowledging the covenant we have with Him. Abraham gave tithes of all the spoils recovered in the battle yet in the end he kept nothing for himself. He knew the tithe was more about honoring God for the power to gain or recover wealth than for the wealth itself.

I believe the recovery of family and goods stolen by the enemy will result as we follow the example of Abraham in honoring God. As we remain in covenant with God as did Abraham our small bands of faithful warriors will be empowered to defeat armies of thousands. Though our battle today is not against flesh and blood the principal is the same. We rely on the promise of God to supernaturally cut off our enemies according to our covenant with Him. Giving God the tithe is our acknowledgement of covenant. We are partners with Him, and through that covenant relationship we are supernaturally empowered to defeat our enemies. If we fail to acknowledge God as covenant partner and take the glory for ourselves He has no responsibility to show Himself strong on our behalf.









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Lord, Increase our Faith

In Luke 17 Jesus taught His followers that they must forgive an offending brother seven times in one day if necessary. It is unlikely that anyone would offend seven times in a day, and Jesus was surely not limiting it to seven. In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asks the Lord how often he should forgive, until seven times? Jesus’ reply was not until seven times but seventy times seven. In other words we are to forgive without limit. This teaching obviously prompted the disciples to ask for an increase in faith. Operating in faith requires that we remove the limits from our thinking and actions.

Jesus’ reply to their request for an increase in faith was; “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” KJV

Jesus continues talking about a servant working in a field. It could appear as if He had gone on to another subject, but if you look closely, His comments were instructions for them to increase their faith. Many suppose Jesus was saying they needed nothing more than a speck of faith to command a tree to be uprooted and cast into the sea, but if that were so why did He rebuke His disciples for having so little faith on other occasions?

Jesus is introducing Kingdom thinking. A mustard seed is the smallest of seeds yet when planted, becomes a tree large enough for birds to take refuge in. (See Mark 4:31) A seed is not very impressive, and by itself is limited, but if it falls into the ground and dies, it sprouts up and becomes a tree that produces much. (becomes profitable) Those who are great in God’s Kingdom must become humble servants of all. God’s Kingdom on earth began as a seed that fell into the ground. Jesus was that seed. He humbled Himself, set aside His equality with God and became a servant even unto death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and has given Him a name above all other names.

The servant that came in from the field for lunch should not expect his master to prepare food, but just the opposite. He should serve his master and not expect a special reward for doing his duty. Jesus went on to tell His own followers that they should not expect to be rewarded for doing their duty. Their request for an increase in faith is compared to asking for a greater level of authority in His Kingdom. Jesus was showing them that increase occurs by our decrease. In order to be rewarded with a greater level of authority their service must exceed duty.

Here again Jesus is adjusting their thinking. Peter thought in limited terms when he asked how many times he was required to forgive. Until we break free from a duty or obligation mentality we remain limited in our thinking and lacking in faith. The very nature of faith is having no limits. God’s Kingdom does not come with observation. In other words it begins small, it is obscure or out of sight like a mustard seed when it is planted. Though it is an ever increasing Kingdom it cannot be measured or limited. Therefore those who operate in the authority of His Kingdom must be humble, obscure and small. Entrance into God’s Kingdom is through a very narrow passage like the eye of a needle, we must shrink to fit, but once inside all limits are gone.

The disciples understood their need for more faith to forgive without limits and Jesus instructed them in how to receive it. It is not a matter of Him just giving us more than we have now, but we increase our faith by taking the seed we have and planting it through humble service. A servant must exceed the requirements of duty and obligation in order to enter the realm of faith. Faith cannot operate within the limits of obligation.


This teaching ended on an interesting note. In Luke 17:10 Jesus said; So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things that were commanded you, say,
We are unprofitable servants: We have done that which was our duty to do. KJV

Something that is unprofitable costs more to own and maintain than it produces, at best the master breaks even on his investment. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 provides a good comparison between faithfulness and being unprofitable. The master was testing his servants to determine there faithfulness. We often think of faithfulness as being steady or never missing a beat, but in this parable it goes much deeper than that. The servants that were called faithful took interest in and added value to their master’s wealth as a project they were not required to do. I do not see any specific instructions given in how to look after the talents they received. The interpretation of that was evidently left up to them.

I am sure the master already knew his servants well, which explains why he only gave the third, one talent. The third servant saw his master in a different light than the others. While the first two were honored to be trusted with the wealth, the third had a suspicious attitude. He saw it as an added responsibility, not part of their original agreement and it exceeded his obligation. In his mind the master was just expecting more with no added benefit. Since his master gave no specific instructions, he decided to do nothing but hide the talent in a safe place. He totally misread his master. His true intent was to allow his servants to keep that which had been entrusted to them, but prejudice eliminated the reward. Since he was not faithful with his master’s possessions and did not treat them as if they were his own, they did not become his own. (See Luke 16:12) Because the two faithful servants took interest in and increased their master’s wealth, he in turn promoted them to a greater place of authority as rulers over cities.

If we want an increase in faith or to receive a promotion in God’s Kingdom, we must trust our Master and believe that He is good, that His intentions are for us to prosper and receive a place of honor. We must not have a slavery mentality that will only do what is required lest we forfeit our inheritance. We must become vulnerable and step outside the limitations of duty to which we are so accustom. We must trust that our master God will never expect anything of us that He will not also give us the grace to perform.