Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test 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 a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts. “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 3:10-12.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
Most people fail to understand Scripture and My power. Jesus found this to be the problem even with the religious leaders of His day who memorized and “knew” the Scriptures quite well but they never UNDERSTOOD them. And consequently the people they taught did not either and so it perpetrated, even to this day, because a student becomes like his teacher.
They did not understand that My power is in the seed of My Word. And I gave seed to mankind to take dominion over, subdue, and replenish the earth and his own life as well. Listen to what I am telling you and you will prosper in every area of your life and trials will not take you down but you will face them with joy. James 1:2. Why? Because you have the solution to knock every one of them out of the way. And it is not up in Heaven that you have to bring Me down or down in the nether world that you have to bring Christ up all over again, no, the WORD is very near you, in IN YOUR MOUTH and in your heart. Romans 10:6-8. I HAVE PUT MY WORDS IN YOUR MOUTH. And I send My Word to heal you and deliver you from your destructions. Psalm 107:20. But you have to put it to work for it to be released in your life. But I have given it to you. I have put My Words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to plant Heaven and establish it in the earth. Isaiah 51:16. Your speaking My Words with faith brings My hand down to perform them for you. My hand is not too short to save. As for Me, this is My covenant with you: My Spirit which is upon you, and My Words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring from now and forever. Isaiah 59:21. So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. Deuteronomy 29:9.
Moses was the first one who actually wrote My Words down and what I gave him in vision and word came to form the first five books of the Bible. And it just kept being written after that by inspiration of My Spirit. And what did I tell him? “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” Exodus 34:27. And I have remembered My covenant forever, the Word which I commanded to a thousand generations. Psalm 105:8.
So what am I telling you? I am instructing you how to profit and the way you should go. I have given you ALL you need for life and godliness in My Word, you have to put it to work in your life. A farmer knows this and that is the first parable My Son told. A seed is just a seed unless you plant it, cultivate it, and harvest it. And you have to do that with My Word. If you have sickness, pain, financial lack, weakness, enemies or any other evil thing attack you, you do not sit and beg Me to come and take it away. I did already in Jesus and I have given Him to you that you might not perish but have eternal life. He bore your sins, pains, poverty, sickness, and a host of other ills and evils, I have redeemed you from the curse. It is finished and done. You have it. Stop begging for healing and peace and mercy. Thank Me that I already gave you all I have, it has even pleased Me to give you the Kingdom! So get busy and use the Word I have given you that addresses that evil and take it down with the Sword of the Spirit, which is My Word. Why do you sit back and get run over illegally by the devil when you have the victory already, all you have to do is enforce it by seeing as I see, speaking as I speak, and standing on it until it comes to pass. And it will. If you submit to My Words above his lies about you and others, and resist him with My Word, he has to flee FROM YOU. Not Me, YOU. Why? Because when you use My Word and act upon it you become like Me. You are clothed in power from on High and you are clothed in Christ, take advantage of your power of attorney.
As we continue My instructions on how to prosper and increase, we are going to look at a promise I make you in the Bible, and it is impossible for Me to lie, which is established forever in Heaven, and has been from the beginning, that guarantees prosperity to those who do it. It is called the tithe. And that is today’s Life Lesson, which is Life Lesson No. 4: Tithe. And in Hebrew the number 4 is the letter dalet (ד), and its pictogram is a door and in Hebrew it is the word for door. Tithing and offerings open the windows of Heaven, the very door.
People, if they understood My Word, would be very excited to tithe and give offerings. These bring you a guaranteed promise of prosperity and the power to gain wealth. The offering should be one of the most exciting moments of your gathering together as the Church, the Body of Christ. If you have neglected the importance of tithes and offerings, that may be the reason you are not prospering as you desire. Let us look at where I actually addressed this.
The people of Israel had stopped tithing and giving offerings. They were saying that it was vain to do so and there was no profit in keeping My charge, that wicked and arrogant people who did not keep My Words were getting blessed. I called this speaking against Me, that their words were strongly adverse and arrogant to Mine. Malachi 3:13-15. And I asked them a question, “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!” And their response was, “How have we robbed You?” And My answer may surprise you but the way they were robbing Me, and you should examine yourself in this too, “In tithes and offerings.” Malachi 3:8. And the remedy? “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows so that you cannot contain it. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes. All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land.” Malachi 3:10-12. This is a promise of prosperity, increase, and protection from loss, all for the act of tithing.
Tithing is setting aside and giving to Me a portion, one tenth, of what you take in. You do not use it for your own individual needs, you totally give it to Me. From the beginning when My people tithed they burnt up the offering, that is, if it were a lamb, they killed and burned it to ashes. Later, when I established My tabernacle as the place to bring their tithes, My house, My people were to bring them there and not all were burnt offerings, but there were also grain offerings, peace offerings, free-will thanksgiving offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings that I gave to the Levites who took care of My house for their support and to repair and keep up My house. Now, most often, your tithe is from income such as wages, gifts, royalties, commissions, tips, or inheritance. I explained to Moses for an agricultural society, “Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s; it is holy to the LORD. For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD. He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy.” Leviticus 27:30-33. You are to remove this sacred portion from your house and give it to My house. Deuteronomy 26:13. And you do this first when your income comes in. Deuteronomy 26:1. Solomon too understood the power of the tithe and offerings, he wrote for your edification, “Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.” Proverbs 3:9-10.
Jacob, who learned from his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham, gave you the reason behind the tithe and defined it at the place he named “Bethel” (the House of God), “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” Genesis 28:22. And what was his motivation in promising that? My care and provision for him motivated him to take Me as his God and give Me a tenth of all I gave him. A marriage, a covenant, a promise. I will make My dwelling among you, and I will not reject you. John 6:37. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out the slavery of sin and death by the blood of My Son, I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. Leviticus 26:11-13; Ephesians 1:7; Romans 8:1. I look after you to provide, prosper and increase you and you show your trust, honor, and dedication to Me by tithes and free-will offerings from all that I give you. You do not fear to give to Me because you know that I will give to you and supply all you need. Jacob had very little other than his staff when he made that vow, but I prospered him and he became a very prosperous man in every aspect of his life. Genesis 32:10 (“I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.”)
And I want to show you what that decision to tithe opened to him, it opened the windows of Heaven so he had access to creative ideas and solutions to get wealth. I give you power to make wealth, that I may confirm My covenant which I swore to Abraham, as it is to this day. Deuteronomy 8:18.
When Jacob got to the land of Abraham’s kinfolk and found Laban’s daughters as his brides, Laban had him labor to earn them by shepherding his sheep. My blessing on Jacob prospered Laban. But Laban cheated Jacob of his wages so he was not prospering while Laban was. But I gave Jacob a supernatural means to prosper and gain wealth. Laban had changed Jacob’s wages again and he agreed that for his wages Jacob could have the speckled and spotted sheep and goats, but then he removed them all from the flock and gave them to his sons so that no such sheep or goats would be reproduced in the flock Jacob took care of. But when he lifted up his eyes to Me, I showed him a plan that involved taking fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeling white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods, and then setting such rods by and in the watering troughs where the flocks mated when the stronger ones came to mate. And the flocks mated by the rods brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted, which Jacob then separated from Laban’s flock as his own. So Jacob became exceedingly prosperous and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys. Genesis 30:37-43. And what had My angel told Jacob in the dream I gave him? “Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me.” Genesis 31:8-13. Do you remember that vow he made? It was to tithe. I take tithing seriously. It opens for you the windows of Heaven to pour out blessings. I don’t pour out money, goods, etc. as dropping from the sky, I pour out the power to make it and for the heavenly host to bring it. If you read when I give you the guarantee of the tithe you will see I state it as the LORD of Hosts. The angels. They are ministers who serve the heirs of salvation in numerous ways.
And the same happened to Abraham. You see him offering Me burnt offerings and animal sacrifices but something amazing foreshadowing your way of tithing today took place. For you must remember that I preached the Gospel to Abraham ahead of time. Galatians 3:8. He saw the day of Jesus and rejoiced. John 8:56. Sometime after Abraham and Lot had parted ways and Lot chose to live in Sodom, a battle of kings took place and a group of four kings who banded together overcame a group of five kings that had banded together and defeated them. The four kings took all the people and goods of Sodom as spoil. A fugitive brought Abraham word of it, so Abraham took the servants raised in his house, 318 of them, and pursued the kings, defeated them, and got everything back, including Lot and all his possessions. Then after his return from the defeat of the kings, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. I tell you that Melchizedek was a priest of Mine. And he blessed Abraham and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of all. Genesis 14:17-20.
And right after this I opened the windows of Heaven to Abraham in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.” And then showed him My promise of a son and his numerous descendants. And if this was not enough, I made covenant with him to give him the land that would later be Israel. Genesis 15:1-7. And I gave him the promise that his descendants would come out of Egypt with great wealth. Genesis 15:14. All after he paid his tithe to My priest Melchizedek. And today you too bring your tithes to the great High Priest of the Order of Melchizedek.
This is the first time you see Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, mentioned in My Word. He blessed Abraham and Abraham apportioned to Melchizedek a tenth part of all the spoils. In Hebrew, Melchizedek means “king of righteousness, and Melchizedek was also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like My Son, he remains a priest perpetually. Hebrews 7:1-3. And He gave Abraham the new covenant communion of bread and wine.
Later the sons of Levi, because of their zeal for My Name, received from Me the priest’s office and I commanded the tithe was to be their portion because their assignment in life was the work of the ministry. They collected a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham. But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected [d]a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. With the Levite ministers, mortal men received tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that He lives on. Hebrews 7:4-8.
I made Jesus your great High Priest by solemn oath, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” And He has become so according to the power of an indestructible life. Hebrews 7:16. The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, 24 but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore He is able also to save [i]forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:23-25.
Today when you tithe you are tithing to your High Priest, Jesus, and who is He? The head of His body the Church. And what is the work of ministry today? Just what Jesus did, preaching and teaching the good news of salvation and of the Kingdom, healing the sick, setting the captives free, giving sight to the blind, and declaring a year of favor (grace) from Me. Turning you all into living stones, filled with the Spirit, being built together into the amazing edifice of the Church upon earth. And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of believers for the work of the ministry, to the building up of the body of Christ; until all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of My Son, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. To take the good news to all the nations.
When you take communion, you are proclaiming the death of Jesus until He comes for your healing and cleansing from sin, but when you tithe and make offerings you are proclaiming that He lives forever, your risen Lord, who is Head of the Church.
So where do you tithe and make offerings today? To My Church, to the work of the ministry, to the building up of the Body of Christ. The fellowship you attend and from whatever ministry you are fed by My Word. I do not see denominations; I see one glorious Church cleansed by the Blood and by the Word. I show you this in the letter of Paul to the Philippians. The church in Philippi had sent him tithes and offerings to help him continue his work of the ministry and what was his reply? He told them that their offerings for his ministry were well pleasing to Me and that “my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19. I will open for you the windows of Heaven, all riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
I love you and that is why I give you the tithe and offerings, so you can prosper and know how to obtain wealth for the sake of the Covenant. It actually is one of My ways of providing for you. You authorize Me to pour out blessings on you by your offering to Me. When Abraham offered Me his son, I gave his line My Son.