lw1-01

January, 2001

How to Tithe
By Pastor Pete Norris

A lot of people are tithing but they are not tithers. Tithing began in the garden. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was holy.

Genesis 14:18-20 – “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”

There is no recorded genealogy for Melchizedek. In Genesis Chapter 12, God told Abraham that he would be blessed. In Genesis Chapter 14, Abraham had just come out of a battle. He saw Melchizedek, who had bread and wine. We can never hear from the high priest (Jesus) until we commune with Him. We cannot tithe until we have communion with Him first.

The church has not learned how to tithe because people do not know they have a covenant, that they are of a royal priesthood, and have a high priest (Jesus) to tithe through.

Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had won in the battle. Melchizedek was a priest and was also Jesus. The tithe is no good unless it goes through Jesus.

Galatians 3:29 – “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Abraham tithed to the priest (Jesus).

Genesis 28:22 – “And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”

Jacob was tithing to the Lord.

Hebrews 7:1-11

These scriptures are referring to Jesus as Melchizedek. The priesthood was never going to end. We are priests ruling and reigning today. Abraham tithed to Melchizedek 430 years before the law came about. The tribe of Levi also tithed as did Abraham. Tithes were paid to the high priest so he could do the work of God. Abraham was a forerunner of the tithe of the priesthood. We do not just have Abraham’s covenant but we also have the priest of Abraham. We have the blessings of Abraham and also his position. Abraham received because he listened to the voice of God.

In Genesis Chapter 17, God spoke to Abraham that He was El Shaddai (more than enough). El Shaddai also means “one who is able to reverse or prolong natural laws.” Abraham had already paid his tithes before he found out who God was. We will never find out who God is until we first meet Jesus. No one goes to the Father without going through Jesus. The tithe is where the church is missing it.

In Genesis Chapter 12, Abraham had a word that he was going to be blessed. In Chapter 13, Abraham and Lot went separate ways and Abraham increased greatly. In Chapter 14, Abraham met Jesus, the high priest. Jesus has been here all the time. The Levitical priesthood had to come from a seed that was pure. This is what operated through Abraham, who was God’s man at that time. Abraham saw Melchizedek as the Son of God. If we are not willing to give everything, we will not know who He is.

Leviticus 27:30 – “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.”

Holy in the Hebrew is “qudash” and means “to consecrate, to dedicate, to hallow, to keep, to be holy, to prepare, to purify and to sanctify oneself wholly.” Wholly means spirit, soul and body. If we give a tenth of everything we have, we sanctify ourselves wholly. The only way to do this is to give our tithes consistently. If we do not tithe on all our income, we are not tithers but only givers. If we miss a time of tithing, we are to give 20% more.

If one suffers, the whole body suffers. We owe our tithes.

Genesis 14:20 – “And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”

Abraham tithed.

Genesis 28:22 – “And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”

Jacob tithed.

Hebrews 7:9 – “And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.”

Levi tithed.

II Chronicles 31:6 – “And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps.”

Hezekiah and Israel tithed.

Nehemiah 13:5 – “And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.”

Nehemiah and Israel tithed.

Exodus 25:2 – “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering; of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.”

The children of Israel brought offerings. If something is given willingly, God will accept it. If it is not given willingly, then it might as well be kept because it will do no good to give it. God told the children of Israel to give away the things they had brought from Egypt. When one gives, he sanctifies himself wholly.

The people gave gold (deity), silver (redemption), brass (suffering Savior). All that was given represented Jesus. When we sow, we are sowing into Jesus. It is by the blood that our tithes become alive and manifest. The covenant is cut with blood.

Numbers 18:21-24 – “And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.

But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.

But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit; therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.”

What we have is cursed if we do not tithe our firstfruits. When the people brought their offerings, the priests were able to get rid of their sins. Our sins have been forgiven through the blood of Jesus, but we have to do things to keep ourselves pure. The people brought the best they had. Tithing is our opportunity to receive. We will never receive if we are not willing to give. We owe our tithes.

There are three things that believers have.

(1) We have a covenant.

(2) We are a priest.

(3) We have a high priest.

The strongest covenant on the earth is a blood covenant. Jonathan gave David his coat. This represented that everything Jonathan had was David’s. Jonathan gave David his belt. This meant that anyone who came against David was coming against Jonathan. Anyone who comes against us is coming against God if we have paid our tithes.

Malachi 3:11 – “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.”

If we bring our tithes, God will rebuke the devourer for us. If God has to rebuke the devourer, then it means that we cannot. If we bring our tithes, God will open up the windows of heaven to us.

Malachi 3:8-9 – “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.”

We are cursed with a curse if we have not given our tithes and offerings. Not giving is robbery. Rob is “physical harm and injury.” Stealing is taking when a person is not present. Robbery is taking from someone who is present. When we keep our tithes from God, we are doing bodily harm and injury to Him.

The Greek word for curse is “shoot holes in the protective blanket around us.” The protection around us will be removed and the devourer can attack us if we have not paid our tithes. We bring the curse upon ourselves by robbing God.

Deuteronomy 30:19 – “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”

Galatians 3:29 – “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

We have a covenant. The priesthood of Levi paid tithes through Abraham. We want all Abraham had but we do not want to do what Abraham did. When we pay our tithes, the windows of heaven are open. If we do not pay them, the protection around us is removed.

I Peter 2:9 – “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Revelation 5:10 – “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.”

We are priests on this earth. Levi was the head of the tribe of the priesthood. We sow our tithes through Jesus straight to God and it opens up the heavens for everything we need in our lives.

Proverbs 3:9 – “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.”

Honor in the Hebrew is “kabed” and means “numerous, to make oneself many, to promote, to prevail, to be rich.” We sanctify ourselves holy by giving our firstfruits. Sanctify means “to set apart to God wholly -- spirit, soul and body.”

I Thessalonians 5:23 – “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God is trying to teach the church so the people can get ready for what He is about to do. We have to speak to our seed and we have to know that we have a covenant and a high priest. The preservation and protection around us is because we have been obedient to the voice of God.

Hebrews 5:5-10

Begotten means “first born.” Jesus is a priest just as Melchizedek was. The difference in Christ and Melchizedek is that Jesus is forever and Melchizedek was temporary. We are following after the royal priesthood of Jesus, which is forever.

A lot of people are saved but there are not many walking in salvation. Salvation includes preservation and protection. Everything follows the blood line. We, as believers, are in the blood line of Jesus.

The qualifications for the high priest:

(1) The high priest was chosen by God and not by man.

(2) The high priest had to come from the seed of Abraham. (Galatians 3:29)

We are brothers with Jesus and God is our Father. We are operating in a realm of royal priesthood because of the blood of Jesus. We have met all the qualifications.

(3) The priest always had to pay tithes through the high priest.

We can have the covenant and the position, but if we do not pay the tithes, the covenant is null and void and the position will not stand.

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. Satan is the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4) but not of the earth. Satan is the god of the kingdoms and the systems.

Deuteronomy 8:18 – “But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God; for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.”

Gold and silver come out of the earth. We are the gods of the earth. We are priests ruling and reigning here. Everything we need is in the earth. Satan is under our feet. We have a high priest who is trying to teach us how to produce the covenant of God. Satan cannot get our money unless we open up the door.

Romans 2:22 – “Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?”

To commit sacrilege means “to rob temples”. This is the same translation as Malachi 3:8-11. Paul knew the people were robbing and stealing in the church. In Joshua Chapter 7, the whole nation of Israel was cursed because Achan had taken what he was not supposed to. When there is a cursed thing in the camp, the whole camp will suffer. Our tithes should be the first thing we pay. If we do not, then we have robbed God.

Malachi 3:9 – “You are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.”

Cursed means “you have shot holes in your protective covering.” Curse means “to evoke evil toward one.” We give the evil spirits permission to come when we rob God with our tithes and offerings.

Hebrews 13:17 – “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you.”

We should obey those who have rule over us. It is no profit to us to learn something if we are not going to do anything with what we learn. The body of Christ has a lot of knowledge but without the leading of Holy Spirit, knowledge puffs us up. We have to take what we hear and put it into practice in our lives.