The Blessed Life
We are not supposed to test God; however, when it comes to tithing, God says, “Try me now in this.” God desires His children to bring their tithes and offerings into the storehouse of the church. When we do this, God says He will pour out His blessings upon us, and He will rebuke the devourer for our sakes. Tithing is a test of the heart.
“I am the Lord , and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’ “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Malachi 3:6-12 NLT
What test?
Tithing is a test.
The word tithe means a “tenth part.” Throughout Scripture the number ten
represents testing. God tests our hearts through the tithe, and tithing is
the only area where God says we can test Him too. If we tithe, we are
under blessing. If we don’t tithe, we are under a curse.
And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.
Genesis 14:18-20 NLT
Tithing is biblical.
Leviticus 27:30 says, “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the
land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.” Moses
said: I have removed the holy tithe from my house and taken it to the
place where You have chosen to make Your Name abide. Jesus takes it
further by scolding the Pharisees and saying they should do more than
just tithe; they should show mercy, justice, and faith.
“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession and you have conquered it and settled there, put some of the first produce from each crop you harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored. Then you must declare in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘I have taken the sacred gift from my house and have given it to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, just as you commanded me. I have not violated or forgotten any of your commands. I have not eaten any of it while in mourning; I have not handled it while I was ceremonially unclean; and I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God and have done everything you commanded me. Now look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you swore to our ancestors to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
Deuteronomy 26:1-2, 13-15 NLT
Tithing is a blessing.
God gave the command that all His people are to tithe; however, with our
obedience comes a blessing. The believer’s tithe helps support the work of the church, the priest, and the ministry to people. The place where we receive our “spiritual food” is the place where we are to pay our tithes.
Obeying God’s word through tithing breaks the curse and invites God’s
blessings and provision for our lives and finances.
In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring a portion of their goods to the priests and Levites, so they could devote themselves fully to the Law of the Lord . When the people of Israel heard these requirements, they responded generously by bringing the first share of their grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a large quantity—a tithe of all they produced. The people who had moved to Judah from Israel, and the people of Judah themselves, brought in the tithes of their cattle, sheep, and goats and a tithe of the things that had been dedicated to the Lord their God, and they piled them up in great heaps. They began piling them up in late spring, and the heaps continued to grow until early autumn. When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw these huge piles, they thanked the Lord and his people Israel! “Where did all this come from?” Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites. And Azariah the high priest, from the family of Zadok, replied, “Since the people began bringing their gifts to the Lord ’s Temple, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare. The Lord has blessed his people, and all this is left over.”
2 Chronicles 31:4-10 NLT
My Beginning. My Forever. 