Mal. 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Mal. 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Do we understand the principle and the need for tithing? Tithing is taking 10% of one's income, all income, and putting it into the Lord's work. As Christians we realize that whatever income we receive is a blessing from the Lord, and He therefore deserves not only our obedience, but our thanks and appreciation. We show this by obeying the commandment to tithe which was initiated in the Old Testament and was never rescinded.
Some may ask, What does God need with part of our income? He doesn't. But his work, his people, and the world, do. We need it because, by giving it, we draw nearer to Him and pave the way for untold blessings from Him. The world needs it because it can only come to know Him through his work, which is the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the compassionate help, in his Name, for those in need. To do and support all such work is the duty of every Christian, not only with the tithe, but also with personal contributions, or offerings, whenever possible. We say whenever possible because we are not required to give more than we are able... II Corinthians 8:11 and 12
The doing of God's work always entails costs. Books, buildings, air time, travel. and the care and sustaining of the teachers, preachers, etc. all costs money. This is exactly why the Lord assigned the tribe of Levi to the maintenance and operation of his temple. The Levites could do no work except for this assignment. Therefore, the other tribes were required to give a tithe...one tenth of their incomes... in order to provide for the needs of the Levites. This need did not stop with the advent of the New Testament. It did just the opposite...it became ever greater... because now God's church must reach an entire world.
Every Christian teacher, preacher, broadcaster, builder, singer, etc., is a type of Levite in this modern day world. In the same manner then, all the rest of us are a type of the remaining tribes of Israel...the tribes which are required to support the workers of God's church through tithes and offerings.
We must also realize that God's work is not limited to the support of the church, but also to the helping of the poor, the sick and all who are in need. In fact His Word describes the aid of all these as "pure religion and undefiled ... James 1:27 ". It is apparent, then, that we are required to give, help, and work with all the Lord has given us in order to draw others unto Him.
How then do we rob God? We are robbing Him if we ignore our requirement to tithe on what He has given us, and if we neglect to help and support, in the name of Jesus, all those who are in need and all those who are working to spread the Gospel and teach the TRUTH in all the world. So put that tithe and that offering wherever the truth is being taught and practiced, and wherever help can be given in the name of Jesus.
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Robbing God
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