Giving and Tithing
When it comes to our money, which is our livelihood, it’s very difficult, especially for a young family to start giving their money away. The difficulty arises when we only have so much money, but we still have an enormous amount of bills that need to be paid. This may be an indication, although not always, that we are living beyond our means.
But God is very clear about giving, we need to wrap our minds and our faith around the scriptural idea that God provides. There are numerous places in the Gospels where Jesus talks about God providing because He knows what we need before we ask. He knows what we need and what we don’t need. So prayer is essential for our giving. Please don’t let people tell you what you need to be giving, ask God in prayer and He will tell you.
Each time we receive our increase we need to ask God what He wants us to do with it. For a young family that is barely making ends meet they still need to give something, even if it’s just one dollar, but God will increase that dollar exponentially back to you. I know that is hard. At one time I was young, but God said give, so we did, and God provided for us because He said He would. He has always provided even under the most trying of times. It may take a year or two or more but God will multiply it back to us. A farmer does not put a seed in the ground and look for harvest the next day and so it is with sowing and reaping with our giving.
Please understand that giving is not always money. Sometimes we give of our talents, our time and our knowledge. God blesses us in all these things and multiplies it back to us in ways we don’t always see, or understand, but He does it. After all is said and done we look back at it and we can see where God provided. That is a time when we rejoice and it builds our faith to be able to continue giving. We can never out give God and if we will settle that in our heart, it will make it easier to continue giving.
Please understand my motive for writing this is for each person to grow in the Lord Jesus, I’m not writing this so people will get into bondage. I want people to be set free from the thinking of giving as being an obligation, saying, “it’s something that I have to do, to please God”. When that’s not the case at all, He doesn’t need your money. He wants you to sow it so that He might bless you. God wants you to give as it is in your heart to give, so that He can bless you.
Each person grows at their own rate, and God knows what to say to you and when to say it to you as you grow in Him. I don’t write these articles to make people think they have to line up with what I’m saying the Bible says. I’m writing them so that you can grow in our Lord Jesus Christ, and to know Him and the power of His resurrection. So that you can pray, so that you can see what God is telling you to do. I want you to be free in Jesus to live your life for Him. Just like 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom”.
17. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
God will never ask you to do something if He’s not going to provide the means for you to do it, please remember that. These verses in 2 Corinthians 9:5-7 and Philippians 4:14-20 are a good place for you to model your giving after. Verses 6 and 7 of second Corinthians are pivotal verses that says God loves a cheerful giver. God wants you to enjoy giving, if you feel like you’re giving it under compulsion or reluctantly put it back in your pocket, God won’t bless that kind of giving. He wants a cheerful, giver, so that He might bless the person that gives. God doesn’t need your money, He wants you to give so that He might bless you. It’s hard for God to bless giving under obligation, for you’re not doing it freely with your heart.
2 Corinthians 9:5-7 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
5. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. 6.The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Philippians 4:14-20 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
14. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. 15. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. 18. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Verse 19 is God speaking to all His children to let us know that He will provide everything we need. But the versus before that shows that they were givers. And then Paul says in verse 19, “God will supply all your needs according to his richest in glory in Christ Jesus”. God would like to see all His children blessed as He wants to bless them. But He expects something from us also, to be a giver. As you read those verses, it’s clear that when we lineup with God’s word and do what He wants, He is free to bless us beyond our wildest dreams. But we must keep our motives clear of the love of money, because that becomes the root of all evil. 1 Timothy 6:10
We will now look at a few verses that are speaking about tithing. The only verses in the New Testament that speaks of tithing is found in Hebrews 7:1-2. Where Abraham after defeating the kings was going back home and met the priest Melchizedek. And Abraham gave him a 10th of the plunder that he took from the kings that he defeated. This is recorded in Genesis 14:17-23.
(Side note; some will say that the Gospels speak about tithing, but I believe and have written an article about the Gospels are Old Testament. The new Testament started after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection from the dead. The book of Acts is actually the starting of the New Covenant or New Testament. That article is “The Start of the New Testament” please read it to understand my reasoning. Jesus was speaking to the Jews under the law of Moses in the Gospels.)
Hebrews 7:1-2 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
1. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2. and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.
Genesis 14:17-23 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
17. After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19. And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20. and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 21. And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” 22. But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23. that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
This is the only record that we have of Abram giving away 10% of what he had. But it also says that Abram did not keep any of the spoil that he had gained. He let the other people that went with him keep that to themselves. But Hebrews 7 says that Abram gave 10% to Melchizedek as a tithe.
Then we have in Genesis 28 where Jacob makes a vow to God to give Him 10% of what he will earn when he goes to the land where he was fleeing to. When he comes back to the promised land, he gives his brother Esau (Genesis 33:11), a lot of what he was bringing with him. It does not say how much he gave him percentage wise, but it was quite a bit of what he had earned in Paddan-aram. In both of these cases, it seems that it is the only time that is recorded where Abram or Isaac gave away at least 10% or more of what they had earned. We don’t have any record of them doing this at any other time or of who they may have given anything to.
Genesis 28:20-22 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
20. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21. so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22. and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”
As Jacob returns back to the promised land, we find this verse in Genesis 33:11 that he gave a lot of livestock to his brother, and his brother took it. Could this be the 10% that he had promised to give to God in Genesis 28:22? The Bible doesn’t specifically say so, but it is possible that this fulfills Genesis 28:22. This is the only record of Jacob giving that we have. Surely his assets were multiplied to him after this.
Genesis 33:11 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
11. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.
Both Abram and Jacob are seen giving away at least 10%, but we have no record of them, giving a tithe after that. (In Genesis 21:27-30 Abraham made a covenant and gave live stock to Abimelech but it was not a tithe). Both their assets multiplied even more during their remaining years. But there is no record of them giving of those assets as a tithe, that I am aware of. Now let’s turn to what the law of Moses says about the tithe.
Leviticus 27:30-31(ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
30. “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. 31. If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it.
Deuteronomy 14:22-29 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
22. “You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. 23. And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24. And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, 25. then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses 26. and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27. And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.
28. “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
Deuteronomy 26:12 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
12 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled,
These verses show us how God cares for everyone. The giving of the tithe was so that the poor would have something to eat. Also the tithes were for the Levites who attended the spiritual needs of the people, and the fatherless, the widow. and for the sojourners that were among them. As the people of God moved away from Him in their hearts they quit giving of their tithes and offerings. That’s why it’s written in Malachi chapter 3 where God asks them “will a man rob God?”.
Malachi 3:6-10 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
6. “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8. Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
God has always expected His people to be givers, and that’s why the Bible says, as you sow, so shall you also reap. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 9. If we are making minimum wage God does not expect us to give like those making the big bucks, just give according to our means.
God does not change, He has always asked His people to give so that it may help those that are less fortunate than we are.
It says in 1 Timothy 5:17-18 to reward those that work in the word with double honor. Verse 18 is speaking to blessing our spiritual leaders with our finances, and again, only according to our means.
1 Timothy 5:17-18 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
17. Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
But God wants us to be a cheerful giver and not to give because we feel like we have to. He wants us to give according to the means that He has given us, so that He may bless us in the future.
I haven’t written this so that you may give to me, I don’t ask for anything, nor do I want anything. I have learned over the years that God supplies my needs according to His richest in glory. I don’t have a gift button on this website or my other website www.todayinprophecy.com, because I do not want you giving to me. Give to God and Him alone where He tells you to give. Freely from your heart and He promises to bless you. May God bless you in your giving.
Proverbs 11:24 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)
24. One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.