Biblical Prosperity

When God first appeared to Abraham he made his intentions clear. He had chosen Abraham and his descendants to be his people and represent him on the earth. He made a relational agreement with them and then showed them how to become successful on the earth. He gave them principles that led to their success. Let’s look at the agreement given when God appeared to Abraham in Gen. 12:2-3:

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

These were not just empty words. Later we read in Gen. 13:2 that Abraham became “very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold”. But it did not stop with Abraham…no, it was extended to Isaac, Jacob and their descendants(the Hebrews). God said he would not abandon them. He would be their God and they would be his people, and they would be a blessing to the whole earth. He protected them but he also mentored them.

Sometimes Christians think it was just a spiritual blessing God gave to the Hebrews. But it was a physical agreement as well as a spiritual agreement. Of course the Hebrews were included in the line leading up to the birth of Jesus, but God’s blessing would have tangible, physical results as well. In the next blogs we will see how God mentored his people in practical ways, and showed them how to enjoy prosperity.

Think about this…we all went to a nice local restaurant for dinner and enjoyed a great meal. We had so much fun and enjoyed the community of people we were with for dinner. Then we decided to go for ice cream to a nearby ice cream shop. So we walked out of the restaurant without paying our bill and went to the ice cream shop expecting to pay our bill there. What? It doesn’t work that way does it?

Where do we give our tithes? Malachi 3:10a says, Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house…. Larry Kreider says it like this…”According to this scripture, all the tithes should be placed into the storehouse. The storehouse is where spiritual food is kept to bless those who lead us, feed us and equip us for ministry. In the Old Testament, the Levites and the priests were responsible to spiritually lead and feed God’s people. The tithe paid for the work of those who were set apart for the purpose of ministry to the Lord and to His people. The Levites were dependent upon the faithfulness of God’s people in giving tithes to support them.” So now in the New Testament period, we should tithe to the local church; the storehouse of our spiritual leaders because they are called by the Lord to minister the Word, encourage us, pray for us and look out for our souls.

Some people mistakenly give their tithes to para-church organizations, missionaries, evangelists, etc. But this is like paying for dinner at the ice cream shop. The tithe should go to the local church and generously offerings should go to these other places. These other ministries are not looking out for your soul; they have their own vision and mandate to follow. When we are obedient to tithe to the storehouse, the Lord promises a blessing (Malachi 3:10b). Amen.

Note: In all of these blogs about tithing I have relied heavily on the writings and books of Larry Kreider and give him credit. In the next weeks we will be looking more at economics and how Biblical worldview affects our finances.

Occasionally I will get in a discussion with someone who doesn’t believe in tithing. They seem to take the perspective that they are “free” to give as the Lord leads them, again mistakenly thinking that tithing is a “law” instead of principle for the Christian to apply. So I sometimes would ask them how much they give. Since they love to talk about their “freedom” to give, I would assume they give a lot more than 10% away. So I ask is it 13%? 15%? Or even 20%? The most common response is silence. Because the truth is in their “freedom”, they don’t even give 10%. Yup…just what I thought.

So…about the difference between tithing and giving. Tithes are the first 10% of our income given into the storehouse to provide finances to help support those who are equipping and giving spiritual leadership to the Christians in the local church. When we give, over and beyond our tithes, then we are giving an offering. We are responsible to give offerings to the poor and needy (Proverbs 28:27). Of course there are many worthy missionaries and ministries that we give to after our tithe. There it is…simple, easy to apply, practical and true.

Another common question is, “Should we tithe on the net (wages I receive after my taxes are paid) or the gross (wages I receive before the taxes are paid)?” I don’t honestly know which works better because we have always tithed on our gross income. As Christians, we should desire to give everything we possibly can back to God because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Tithing demonstrates God’s ownership of everything.

See…God does not need our tithe check or direct deposit. He is not nervously, laying off angels because we are not tithing. No…the tithe benefits us. It is a privilege to return to God what is already His, and man do we benefit. According to Malachi chapter 3:10, the tithe benefits us. The windows of heaven are opened on us to the point of overflow!

Sometimes Christians wrongly believe that tithing is simply an Old Testament doctrine leftover from the law. This is not a Biblical view. The tithe is a biblical principle found throughout the Bible. Abraham tithed before the law, it was included in the law and Jesus affirmed it after he replaced the law. Jesus confirmed the Old Testament principle of tithing in Matthew 23:23. However, He does not want us to tithe religously with the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees. Let’s read it.

The Lord sharply rebuked their attitudes about tithing. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

The religious Pharisees appeared spiritual and godly, but they were not in right standing with God. They tithed right down to the last tiny mint leaf, but their hearts were full of selfish ambition. Jesus specifically affirmed we should tithe today, but He is concerned about our attitudes as we give to Him. Since the New Testament, we should tithe because the Lord has changed our hearts. It is a privilege to return the tithe back to Him. We tithe as an act of love for our God and also from a place of faith. Tithe in faith that God will open the windows of heaven as he promised in Malachi.

My wife and I have tithed in faith all of our adult life. God’s finacial blessing has been on us. However occasionally it has seemed like the windows of heaven were not open and I have had to open the Bible to Malachi 3:8-12 and take up the Lord on his request to “test me in this”. So there I am with my Bible open, activating my faith in this Biblical principle of tithing, and praying “Father you said in your word we should test you in this, so here I am believing your word and expecting our tithes to open the windows of heaven as you have promised.” And sure enough the breakthrough soon follows in our finances. True story.

Some people say, “I can’t afford to tithe.” The truth is—they cannot afford to withhold the tithe. A tithe is money set apart for God. If we don’t give it to God, the devourer will consume it. Let’s read again what God says in His Word about rebuking the devourer when we give tithes and offerings into His storehouse. It is found in Malichi 3:10-11.

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. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the Lord Almighty. 

The Lord has promised us that if we obey Him and bring all of our tithes into the storehouse, He will open the windows of heaven, pour out a blessing on us, and “rebuke the devourer.” Many people are struggling financially because the devil has been robbing and devouring them. The enemy has not been rebuked by the Lord, because they are not paying tithes into the storehouse.

The word devour in the original Hebrew text means to eat, burn up or consume. During the days of Malachi, God’s people were experiencing famine, scarcity, unseasonable weather, and insects that ate up the fruits of the earth. According to the above scripture, the enemy will devour our blessings when we choose to not obey God’s principles.

Larry Kreider says, “I’ve known some people who have said when they initially began to tithe, the enemy attacked them, and they found themselves worse off financially than ever before. The enemy may test us when we obey the Word of God. When Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened, and the Lord said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” During the next forty days of His life, Jesus was tested by the enemy. Tests will always come; however, if we hold on, we will receive the financial blessing that comes from obedience. God’s promises always prove to be true!”

If we give God his 10%, the remaining 90% seems to be multiplied.

In Old Testament history, some of the Israelites were robbing God by selfishly holding onto money that belonged to God. They were required to give at least one/tenth of the livestock, the land’s produce and their income to the Lord. Malachi 3: 8-12 speaks to this…

Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, “How do we rob you?”

“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse-the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 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. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty (Malachi 3:8-12).

God cannot bless someone who is a robber! He is a God of covenant.

In Winds of Change, Rick Joyner says: Abraham the father of faith, paid tithes hundreds of years before the Law, which is noted in the New Testament (see Hebrews 7:8-9) because the writer of this book was reminding Christians of this…If this was not more clearly spelled out, it is only because it was so obvious that it did not need to be.

Bible teacher Jack Deere relates the story of how a local businessman in a church he once lead reacted to his teaching on tithing: First he went to every other pastor in the town (over 30 of them) and asked them if they believed that tithing was required by the New Testament. All thirty said that they did not believe that it was. This was more than a little curious to him, but being an astute businessman he noted that every one of these pastors and their churches were in financial trouble. This caused him to determine to at least try it. His net income from his business rose 75 percent the first year that he began tithing.

Harold Eberle relates that as a local church pastor he spent four weeks teaching every Sunday on the principle of tithing. He instructed everyone to write their current income inside their Bible cover. At the end of four months of tithing, 80% of the congregation saw an increase in their income or some kind of financial breakthrough.

Jerry Stoltzfoos is a friend who is an Assembly of God church planter and senior pastor from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He has planted multiple churches. He teaches on tithing and actually guarantees that the church will pay back a person’s tithe if the giver does not see a significant blessing or turn around in finances after starting to tithe. Gerry has been doing this for many years and has not paid back any tithes to date.

Simply stated, I am recommending that the number one building block of your personal financial budget should be the giving of a 10 percent tithe to God. The truth is 100% belongs to God. If you get involved in giving God 10 percent, he will get involved in multiplying the remaining 90 percent. There it is…Biblical, practical and true. The tithe is the doorway to prosperity and blessing.

Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe before the Old Testament law had ever been written. Abraham was honoring the Lord and Melchizedek as the priest of the Most High God with ten percent of that which the Lord had given to him.

At the end of every month a Christian will face a stack of bills they need to pay. One of these bills is their bill to God. It is called a tithe. This tithe reminds us that everything we have belongs to Him. We can joyfully return 10% to the Lord. After all, Jesus has given to us 100% of Himself through His death on the cross. We are eternally grateful!

The Lord gives us the responsibility to manage the resources He gives to us. He has set up a system to constantly remind us of His ownership in everything. This systematic way to give back to God is a first step to allowing our resources to be used for God’s kingdom. It is called the tithe. 

The word tithe is first mentioned in Genesis 14:18-20. Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 

Note that it was after a victory…after God had delivered Abram’s enemies in to his hands that he tithed. So pay attention if you want victory in your finances. Sometimes Christians think the tithe is an old testament legalism, but no, Abram tithed to Melchizedek before the law was instituted and Jesus affirmed tithing, even after he replace the law.  It is a biblical principle that will allow you to prosper.

This principle was included in the law. The Israelites were required to give one-tenth of all their income to the Lord. The Hebrew word for tithe means a tenth part. This tithe (10%) opens up a way for God to pour out His blessings on us. Every time we give our tithes, we are reminded that all of our money and earthly possessions belong to God. We are simply stewards responsible for what the Lord has given us.

Alan Vincent gives the example of someone who came to him saying, “I can’t afford to tithe and make my house payments. Alan told him to tithe in faith and if he couldn’t pay his house payment then Alan would cover it. The young man started to tithe and he never came back to Alan because he couldn’t make the payment. In fact, Alan observed that he received a promotion and a new car. God still wants us to tithe today.

Did you know God associates our ability to handle spiritual matters with our ability to handle money? One day Jesus made some amazing statements regarding this principle.

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money (Luke 16:10-13).

Money, in terms of true value, is a “little” thing. However, faithfulness in little things (money) indicates our faithfulness in big things (spiritual values). Jesus said that those who are not trustworthy in the use of their worldly wealth will be the same with spiritual things. Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters—God and materialism. It is impossible to hold allegiance to two masters at the same time. God has given us a responsibility as managers of His wealth. It all belongs to Him. We should stop thinking like owners, and start thinking like managers.

Everything belongs to God. First and foremost, we must realize that everything we have belongs to God. We are merely stewards (managers) of any material goods we possess. God owns everything we have, but He makes us managers of it.

Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. And what do you have that you did not receive…? (1 Corinthians 4:1-2,7b NKJ).

When I was elected to the Manheim Central School board, the money we were using was not our own; we were simply managing it. It belonged to the tax payers of the community. It is like someone who works at a bank. A bank teller understood that even though they handle massive amounts of money daily, the money is not theirs. It belongs to the bank. The teller understands they are a steward. I am a manager of the Lord’s money. In reality, the money in my wallet is not mine; it is God’s. Some Christians believe that ten percent of the money they receive is God’s and the other ninety percent belongs exclusively to them. They are mistaken. It all belongs to God.

We need to recognize His ownership in everything we have. This gives us a proper perspective on everything.