The Tithe – A Weapon Against The Armies Of Darkness
Study Text – Deuteronomy 12:1-7
1: These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the
land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days
that ye live upon the earth.
2: Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall
possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and
under every green tree:
3: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their
groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and
destroy the names of them out of that place.
4: Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
5: But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your
tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and
thither thou shalt come:
6: And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and
your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill
offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:
7: And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all
that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God
hath blessed thee.
The tithe has many spiritually significant purposes. This week we will see
how the tithe is a weapon against the armies of darkness. We will also see how
blessed the people of God are because they tithe and why they should continue.
(1) OCCUPY
As a tither you are entitled to wealth. Because we haven’t been taught it we
haven’t been experiencing it. But now, because of God’s revelation knowledge,
we know that all the wealth stolen from the body of Christ will now be returned
supernaturally to the righteous. As Proverbs 13:22 tells us, "the wealth
of the sinner is laid up for the just."
In our text Moses is giving the children of Israel the laws and decrees they
must follow after OCCUPYING the land that once belonged to the wicked. These
laws are very specific and tell the children of God what they must do to remain
blessed by God in their new homes so that His people may prosper and flourish.
(2) OBSERVE
In the 1st verse Moses tells the Israelites that the statues and judgement ye
SHALL OBSERVE in the land that the Lord has given you to possess AS LONG AS YOU
LIVE ON THE EARTH. The NIV text substitutes SHALL OBSERVE with "be careful
to follow." So this tells us that these commandments are vital and should
not be taken lightly. As we go on we will see why they are so important to
follow.
(3) OBLITERATE
As we move into the new land (Prosperity, New Positions etc.) the 2nd and 3rd
verses tell the Israelites (Us) to obliterate everything within the land
because everything there represented THEIR ENEMIES’ god(s).
"Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye
shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills,
and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break
their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the
graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that
place" (2nd & 3rd)
Now let’s not get silly here. Don’t you go into your new job breaking
windows and destroying computers talking about, "Baal is dead!!!!"
What we have to obliterate is that old "$10 in the collection plate"
tradition of not tithing and serving God. You see, God gave you that
position/money for a reason: to build His kingdom. Sure you can go to the mall
and enjoy it but there is a greater purpose.
(4) ORIGINATE
Now what comes after destruction? "A new beginning!" In this phase of
"God’s Hostile Take Over" we recognize Him blessing us by originating
a new covenant with Him in the new position/occupation. The 4th verse tells us,
"You must not worship the Lord your God in their [those who were
overtaken] ways." Remember, don’t fall into that "old way/no
way" of serving Him.
Also in this origination process, the 5th verse tells us God is going to
choose out of all your tribes (among my people declares the Lord) a place to
put His name there, even unto His habitation (his dwelling place) and there
thou shalt come. For the Israelites, this new place was actually a physical
place but it was also spiritual as well.
For us it could be physical, spiritual or both. On the spiritual side, your
church home may be on "Holy Ghost Fire" but you are struggling to
come out. If so, cast all your fears away and just praise Him to the highest.
Don’t worry about what you look like; God’s doing a new "thang" for
you so you do a new one for Him. On the physical side, you may be on fire but
you’re looking for a new physical church home to do your new "thang"
in. The only thing we can tell you is to seek your answer through prayer. The
Lord my lead you to shout that spirit of tradition right out of your church.
You never know; someone may be waiting on someone else to shout. It could end
up with a domino effect of everybody shouting and having a Hallelujah time.
(5) OBLIGATE
Now that you have gotten the wealth of the wicked, what’s next? Well you know
that there IS an obligation on your part. What is it? You know what it is – the
tithe. The 6th verse states:
"And tither [In the Lord’s dwelling place] ye shall bring your burnt
offerings, AND your sacrifices AND your tithes…." Now let’s take a look
at this closely. Bring to the Lord’s dwelling place your offerings AND
sacrifices AND tithes. Notice this text did not say OR which makes tithing
optional. It states AND which means you can not bring the offerings or
sacrifices without the tithe because it is the most basic element of giving.
How do we know this? Because Leviticus 27:32 tells us this: "And
concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth
under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord." So again, a tenth
of everything, right off the top, before Caesar (taxes) or anything else.
The 6th verse of our text concludes by stating, "And HEAVE offerings of
your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of
your herds and flocks." Let’s look at the word HEAVE. Whenever I read the
word HEAVE what comes to my mind is a picture of two or three guys pulling a
rope to lift a grand piano onto a truck or building. Now as they lift, one of
them calls a cadence and says, "ONE, TWO, THREE — HEAVE!!!!" Even
though your tithe might be small, just keep giving. As you are diligent and
faithful God will entrust you with more and more to tithe until you get to the
point where you have to HEAVE that big check with more zeros. So how do we know
that the Lord will bless us abundantly for faithfully giving back to him. We
could go to other scriptures in the Bible to confirm this (2 Chron. 31:5 &
Malachi 3:10); however we will go to the 7th verse for confirmation.
(6) OBTAIN
The 7th verse states: "And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God,
and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households,
wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee." Here we see that God is
allowing the tithers to consume their tithe. In other words, they were able to
get back what they had given. So how does this work in our day and age. Surely,
once you give up your tithe to your church you can’t go to the Reverend or
Pastor and say, "O.K., now is the time of the feast and I have to go to
Winn Dixie and get some groceries… Gimme my money back!" Don’t
"bug" the pastor/reverend. God will restore you beyond restoration.
Instead of giving you what you gave Him, He will give you even more. And the
more you give to Him the more He will give right back to you.
The reason the tithe is a weapon is because it destroys the works of the
armies of darkness by spreading the Gospel throughout the world. Also it keeps
the people of God blessed financially, strengthening their witness to Jesus
Christ. Once again, all I can tell you is my tithing testimony. Before I began
to tithe, my money wasn’t just funny — It was down right hilarious!!! Then at
the age of 25 I began to tithe. In less than six years my salary tripled. What
does this mean… Well it does mean nicer clothes and a nicer home, but more
importantly tithing means more money for the kingdom of God!!!!! It means that
God can operate fully within our checking and savings accounts. (He will drop a
little something, something in there too). It also means that He can cancel our
debts because we are under this covenant. So I pray that you Let Go the Tithe
and Let God bless you. I often look back and think of the 25 years that I
struggled because I didn’t know, but now that I do all I can say is this,
"There is no such thing as a 25 year-long coincidence."
