What is the Storehouse where the Tithes Go...Whatablessing Reports

[Evangelist Diana Jackson]

WHATABLESSING FINANCIAL MINISTRY REPORTS…..

What is the Storehouse where the Tithes Go?
Things in the Old Testament were given for us to have examples of what to do and what not to do. Paul shows us this.

1 Cor 10:6
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. (KJV)

1 Cor 10:11
11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (KJV)
Obviously Paul is reciting some of Israel's history for us to profit from their example. Much of the Old Testament is still for our examples today. For instance, Malachi records that God commanded for the tithes to be brought into the storehouse.

Mal 3:10
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. (KJV)

The first question about this for us Christians today is this. What is this "storehouse?" Again the Old Testament pattern will answer this for us.

"Storehouse" is not the only word used to describe what this "storehouse" means. In 1 Chronicles 26:20, the word used is "treasures." In Nehemiah 13: 13 the word used is "treasuries." In 2 Chronicles 31:11, Nehemiah 12:44 and 13:5 the word "chambers" is used to describe the concept behind "storehouse." Finally, in Nehemiah 10:38, both the words "chambers" and "treasure house" is used.

From the above, we can readily see that "storehouse" is a place for God's treasures of tithes. But what are these treasures to be used for. This is the second question for us Christians concerning bringing our tithes into the storehouse. Compare all the Scriptures given above. Without exception, the treasures, meat, prey and/or spoil brought into the storehouse were for the support of the ministry.

This includes both buildings and ministers. They were for the support of the Levites all the way down to the most humble servant. These ministers and their helpers were the recipients of the benefits of the storehouse treasures.

None, absolutely none, of the ministers and helpers were to be left out. All of them were to receive their part.

These two things, then, were to be cared for from the storehouse treasures: the buildings and equipment and those who ministered in them and with them.

Today, many wonder why they tithe and the large blessings promised to them in return, do not seem to come their way. Could it be the storehouse they use does not support every member of the ministry like the above Scriptures plainly show?
For instance, the Bible speaks of the five-fold ministry of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher. But so many, posing today as the "Storehouse," do not recognize at all the ministries of Apostle, Prophet and Evangelist. Consequently, they violate the above instructions concerning the support of all ministries...all ministries!

Many storehouses today simply don't recognize some God ordained ministries. They will recognize workers in their organization, but not some of those in the Scriptures. These storehouses will fail to generate the large blessings promised to the tithers.

But God gave us a way around this. He instructed us to support "every good work." To generate the return He wants us to have is the reason why God instructed us to abound to "every good work." "Abound" here translates a word that means "to make wealthy." We are to support God's "every good work" to the point of "making it wealthy."

In so doing, the promise of large blessings kicks in again for us. He said He would "abound" to us. He will also "make us wealthy." At the very least, He will meet our needs.

This is the "storehouse." This "storehouse" takes care of both buildings, ministers and contains the Malachi promise: "blessings so large there will not be room enough to receive it!" If your storehouse doesn't even recognize the Bible ministries, they surely will not support them. Consequently, your return will be slight.

One final thought! Your storehouse should be where you get fed. Does your storehouse feed you with spiritual food?

Revelation 3:18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Deuteronomy 14:25-26 (NIV)
Then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.

Genesis 13:2 (NIV)
Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
Haggai 2:8 (NIV)
‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.

For your Gold and Silver Join us at: http://whatablessing.net

[Joseph Gill]

Didn't Jesus affirm the practice of tithing in the following quote? "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others." [Mat. 23:23, NASB]

 

Don't think Paul wrote about tithing, though. And if we only had Peter's epistles to guide us, we wouldn't even know we had to give offerings.

[Joseph Gill]

Brother Watson,

When Jesus described how they tithed even herbs, he may have implicitely been critical of their focus on minutia; but he also clearly said "these things you should have done without neglecting the others." He could have easily said, "you should do the latter and ignore the former," but instead he told them to do both.

 

Maybe we can assert that Jesus wasn't speaking to the Church in this passage (I think that it is credible that tithing is not required for the New Testament believers), but I don't think we can deny that Jesus affirmed tithing.

[FreeIndeed]

Some churches today tell people that "God wants you to give 10% of your gross/net income to a local church, as an act of faith and obedience. And if you do, God will bless you. But if you don't, you are cursed with a curse." This distorted man-made tradition is falsely taught as "Biblical tithing." Yet it is not.

If one studies their Bible, you will see that Old Covenant [Biblical] tithing was VERY different from the distorted man-made tradition of "tithing" that is taught in some churches today.

The Old Covenant [Biblical] tithing laws were very specific - and God expected Israel to obey them accurately.

First of all, you had to be able to give the proper tithe: which was produce [i.e., grain, wine, oil, meat, etc]. Even though the Israelites had money [called "shekels"], God did not command them to tithe money - He commanded them to tithe produce ONLY.

You were allowed to redeem [or buy back] your tithe, but you were charged a fee for doing so.

Since the proper tithe that God desired was PRODUCE, not everyone was able to tithe. In other words, if you were not a farmer or involved with agriculture, you were not required to tithe because you did not have the proper resources to tithe from. Short and sweet, God did not expect you to give what you did not have. The only people who were expected to tithe were farmers or those involved in agriculture.

Also, if you were POOR [such as a widow, an orphan, or a stranger], you were exempt from tithing, because you did not have the means to do so - the poor RECEIVED tithes from the tithers. This would mean that Jesus did not tithe, because not only did He NOT work in the field of agriculture - He was POOR.

Secondly, the actual amount of the tithe was around 23%-29%. . . . . not 10%. And how is this? The tithers in Israel were commanded to give 3 tithes on an annual or yearly cycle: 1) The Levitical Tithe. 2) The Festival Tithe. 3) The Tithe For The Poor. These 3 tithes together equaled around 23%-29%. . . . not 10%.

The Levitical Tithe was for the Levite-priests, and this tithe was to be brought to the Levitical cities where they lived. The Levites received tithes because they were not paid a salary for ministry, did not own any land, and had no earthly monetary inheritance. So of course, they needed the support of the people. And the Levitical Tithe met that need.

The Festival Tithe was meant to provide food, meat, wine, etc for the festivals held in Jerusalem at the temple. The tithers were suppose to bring this tithe to the temple in Jerusalem, where the Levite-priests would collect the tithe, and put it in the storehouse so that there would be meat in God's house. When Israel come together for festivals in Jerusalem at the temple, they ate/drank their Festival Tithe. The book of Malachi was not written for Christians who do not "tithe." It was written because the Levite-priests became greedy and kept the tithe for themselves, instead of putting it in the storehouse. Therefore God cursed them with a curse.

The Poor Tithe was to be brought to the poor at the gates of your city, and the poor [including the Levite-priests] ate/drank it.

*During the Old Covenant, Israel had a Sabbatical Year [or a "Year of Rest"] every 7 years. And as the name of this special year implies, it was a time for the ground in Israel to rest. You were not allowed to sow or reap during the Sabbatical Year, and because no sowing/reaping were allowed - the tithers were not able to tithe. Do pro-tithing leaders give you a rest/break from tithing every 7 years? Hmmm. . . . . .

Thirdly, as stated above, the Levite-priests were commanded to receive the tithe. This was stated in the book of Hebrews. You were not allowed to bring your tithe to a local synagogue or to any religious leader in Israel. Only the Levite-priests were allowed to collect the tithe. And pls do not try to say that your "pastor" is a modern-day Levite-priest. He is not. The Levitical Priesthood was done away with by Jesus Christ, whose High Priesthood is greater than the priesthood of Aaron. Jesus is our High Priest, and we [the entire body of Christ] are a holy royal priesthood under the Lord (1 Peter 2:5).

In conclusion, it is impossible for Christians to keep the Old Covenant Biblical tithing laws, because Jesus did away with the Old Covenant and instituted a better Covenant [the NEW Covenant] based on better promises. The book of Hebrews was written to explain all of this.

By ushering in a New Covenant and New Law. . . .  Jesus did away with 1) the Levitical Priesthood [who collected the tithe]. 2) The tithing laws themselves. 3) In 70 A.D. God used the Romans to destroy the physical temple in Jerusalem [where tithes were stored], because a better temple had already come [the body of Christ, who are the Temple of God].

Many Christians do not understand what God has wrought through Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, God has created a NEW TYPE of Believer. The New Testament calls us a "new creation." We have a new HEART, regenerated and circumcised by the Holy Spirit. We have a new MIND, the mind of Christ. And we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is the anointing of Jesus, personally living within us. And because of this, no one needs to command us to give 10%, 20%, or 30%. We have a personal relationship with God, and He personally shows us who to give to and how much to give ["for those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, Romans 8:14]. That might be $10, $1,000, the jacket off our back, an extra car that we own, taking someone in our home, taking someone grocery shopping, or even laying down our very own life if it's required. This type of giving is SPIRIT-LED, sacrificial, and wholly based on faith, love, and the example of Jesus Christ. It demonstrates the NEW Law [the Law of Christ] that we are under, which says "you shall love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:12) This is the Law that the early church demonstrated in Acts 2, when they sold their belongings and distributed the financial profits among one another, as anyone had need.

But how sad, today's so-called "New Covenant" church has gone back to the shadows of the Old Covenant and re-instituted an out-dated bootleg version of "tithing." How does this glorify Jesus and testify of the NEW Covenant He ushered in? Does it show FAITH and OBEDIENCE to God when ppl keep distorted man-made traditions? Not at all. . . . but instead, Jesus said that by keeping false traditions we render the Word of God of NONE EFFECT. Woe unto the man who closes his heart to this truth, and continues full steam ahead in disobedience. This is rebellion, which is like the spirit of witchcraft. For God desires obedience over sacrifice. And double woe unto the leaders who hear this truth, yet continue to teach a commandment of men as a doctrine of God, because they willfully teach a lie as the truth and cause many to stumble. Remember leaders, to whom much is given, much is required. And those who teach will receive a stricter judgment (James 3:1).

Speaking the truth in love,

Be-Ye-Holy