Exploring Tithing Part 1

Belief about Tithing “Out of the abundance of the heart the hands giveth” Once again, to whom much is given, much is required.   Audience: A Young person who has just accepted Christ. Aim: To teach them how to begin to prosper financially Style: Using Scriptures to take you on a journey Punchline: At the end   The word tithe means one tenth of a person’s increase and The earliest record of tithing in the old testament is in Genesis 14:18 – 20 when Abraham was returning from battle and gave one tenth of everything to The king of Salem and also a priest of God called Melchizedek. The next recorded instance of tithing is in Genesis 28:10-22 when Jacob dreamed of a stairway to heaven. God then promised to give the land to Jacob and His descendants. Jacob then vowed to give back a tenth of all the Lord would give Him. With these two instances, we see a voluntary act of giving back to God for His deliverance and blessings. We now on move to The Children of Israel who under the Laws of Moses tithing became a law. It was instituted because 11 of the 12 tribes of Israel received land as an inheritance except the tribe of Levi which were known as the Levitical priesthood and so the other tribes had to pay tithes to them to support them.  This was their inheritance and when you gave to them, you gave to God.  The Israelites were even accused of robbing God when they withheld their tithes and offerings. This is found in Malachi 3:8-12 NLT 8 “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. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 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! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease.[⁠a⁠] Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.   I now want to move onto some New testament Scriptures and see what The Lord Jesus had to say about tithing.   Matthew 23:23 NLT 23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,[⁠g⁠] but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.