Dear brothers and sisters,
As we continue our study on the tithe, let me begin by saying that tithing is not giving. The tithe is the Lord’s. You cannot give God what already belongs to Him. You return it to Him but not as a gift. According to Malachi 3:8, to fail to tithe is to rob God.
When we tithe, we demonstrate our submission and obedience to Him. We know that God has given us dominion over the earth. (Gen. 1:26,28) This was delegated authority and it would work as long as man was in subjection to the Source of that authority and that is the Lord God Himself. Man was to subdue the earth or make it obey him. Dominion is not ownership. It works within the guidelines given. There is an authority to it and there is a requirement to it.
So man was not given “free reign.” If you read Genesis 2:15-17, you’ll see that God gave man very specific guidelines over the authority that He gave him. We know that man’s failure to follow those guidelines cost him dearly. He lost his glory and the Blessing that empowered him and made his dominion work. If the president of the country begins to err against the constitution, he’d lose the empowerment he got from the people and as a result lose his dominion. He had to swear to uphold that constitution and must do so.
The devil has to obey us but only when we’re submitted to God. So tithing positions you for consistent financial dominion. While some Bible scholars believe the tree of knowledge of good and evil was the tithe, whether they’re right or wrong, the fact is that the principles around it match those of the tithe. There is a great parallel to the tithe. God had reserved that tree for Himself in the midst of a garden that He had given them dominion over. God laid claim of some of what they were to tend and keep. What happened to Adam and Eve when they ate what God had said not to eat? The curse of disobedience fell on them. Thorns and bristles began to show up in the land. (See Genesis 2:15-17, 3:17-19.) What did God tell Israel would happen to them when they stole His tithe? They’d be cursed with a curse.
While Adam and Eve’s disobedience was much bigger than a mishandling of the tithe, the fact is they lost big when they disobeyed. They opened the door for the curse to work in their lives and they lost the anointing to dominate God’s earth. Their provision was now dependent on the sweat of their brows. They introduced the fear of lack to the earth. Once ruling, they were now reduced to a field worker. Without the Blessing, his authority would no longer work. Yes he still has the authority because the gifts of God are without repentance, but no anointing to use it.
However, every time God’s people would obey God through tithing, the Blessing would be pronounced back on them. The Blessing we know is a Spiritual empowerment that produces material things. Thank God for the age of grace we now live in. The Blessing causes our efforts to produce beyond man’s norm. While our approach to God has changed and we do not live under a law to tithe, the principle of the tithe is universally tied up to the nature of who God is as the owner of all things and He does not change. (Mal. 3:6) Nor does our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek change. (Heb. 13:8) The tithe is still the Lord’s and our High Priest is still the receiver of the tithe and the dispatcher of the Blessing over the tither. There are still serious consequences to disobedience!
