God Thinking XLI - Start Believing Differently and You Will Get Different Results 4

"History of tithing:

Tithe is the word for tenth part of.

The first mention of the tithe is found in ,(Genesis 14:20) and was given by Abram to Melchizedek king of Salem, after he, (Abraham) gathered his servants together and made an army, overtook the foreign kings that had come into the city of his nephew (Lot) and stolen everything Lot and others had in that city, and took back all the people and all the goods.  

But this tithe has nothing to do with the tithe that God initiated for the Levitical priesthood.

Tithing was established to benefit the Levitical priesthood.  Of everything that the Israelite received, (money, land, cattle, food, crops), they were to give a tenth part of it into the Levitical priesthood. 

This tenth part was to be put into a fund that would provide, (the sanctuary, food, clothing, housing, land, and surplus) for all those who served as Levitical priest and their family. 

God taught His people through spiritual principles, through feast and through laws.  There was the Passover, the feast of tabernacles, the gift of males, the feasts of shelters, the feast of jubilee and many others. 

There was the law of the land, the law of cleanliness, the law of foods and many others. 

There was the principle of uncleanness, the principle of sanctification, the principle of the priesthood, the principle of tithing and many others.

The tithe was instituted in around 1491 BC.    

Leviticus 27:28, 30, 34

“Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed:  Every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD.

V30 And 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 unto the LORD.
V34 These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.”

Deuteronomy 14:22, 24, 25 (1451 BC)

“Be sure to save one-tenth of all your crops each year.
V24 But the place the LORD will choose to be worshiped might be too far away.  And He may have blessed you so much you cannot carry a tenth. 
V25 If so, exchange your one-tenth for silver.  Then take the silver with you to the place the LORD your God shall choose.”

Almost 1,100 years later, God deals with His people through Malachi. 

Malachi 3:7-10

"Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have kept them.  Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.  But ye said, wherein shall we return?

V8 Will a man rob God?  Yet ye have robbed Me.  But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee?  But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
V9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.
V10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in My house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, If I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

You need to know the truth about Malachi 3:7-10.  Malachi, which means “my messenger”, was written around 400 BC.  3,500 years of mankind had passed.

1,500 years since Abraham and
About 1,100 years since the institution of Levitical laws which included tithing.

This was a time when the Jewish people were plagued with moral decay.

The priests had become evil and stupid and the people began to follow other gods. 
Marriage had all but been abolished.
The Greeks had begun to overshadow the Israelites in power and prestige.
The people were divided in what they believed.
They had lost the art of tilling the land.
They had lost their zeal for the things of god.
They were entertaining other gods and other socio-religious philosophies. 

The moral standards had dropped to an all-time low.
The Jews had been cursed with a curse because they had not kept the temple pure and holy, nor were they at all concerned about it.

As a matter of fact, even when confronted by God Himself, they got their back up and answered back with disrespect and insolence.

The people had fallen to a level of hypocrisy so low, that even the gentile and the foreigner were living better than the Israelites.

The chosen people of God were representing God with contempt and disdain.   
These people had all but completely moved away from the holy and forgotten everything about being the people of God.

Just so you can get a sense of how bad things were, I want you to hear what God said to the priests at this time.   

It is found in Malachi 2:3, “Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts;...” 

I believe that just once in your life, you deserve to know the truth about the verse that has kept people under the law of tithing out of guilt, for centuries."

 

Excerpt from God thinking XLI - Start Believing Differently and You Will Get Different Results by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013