During our Bible time with the children today, the LORD was highlighting Isaiah 30 again. Last week it was Nehemiah 9 and Ezra 10. This week it’s Isaiah 30. I’m a little dense at times and it takes a few re-runs to get the full picture. Isn’t God awesome that He patiently teaches us His ways? The question is, will we continue to go back and sit at His feet for deeper understanding, even when it turns our theology on its head and shakes all the loose nuts out?
Isaiah 30:6 – This message came to me concerning the animals in the Negev:
The caravan moves slowly
across the terrible desert to Egypt—
donkeys weighed down with riches
and camels loaded with treasure—
all to pay for Egypt’s PROTECTION.
They travel through the wilderness,
a place of lionesses and lions,
a place where vipers and poisonous snakes live.
All this, and Egypt WILL GIVE YOU NOTHING IN RETURN.
Lately, God has been highlighting how the modern day church STRUCTURE is infected with a Pharaoh spirit. Anyone who drinks sour milk out of an outdated carton will get a bad tummy. Apparently, I’m not the first person to get this. *sigh…my bubble has been popped.* Based on what’s out on the internet, this is old news but from what I see, the body of Christ still haven’t done much to confront it. Pharisees love it when people tithe and loudly promote it; however, Jesus rebuked them for HOW they did it.
As I read Isaiah 30 to the children, I heard in my spirit, “Pharaoh’s tribute”. We have been taught to pay our tithes to church buildings in order to unlock the blessings from heaven. I FULLY agree with tithing a minimum of 10%. Anyone who has heard our testimony knows God disciplined us painfully for failing to obey His command to grow up and transition from tithing on our net to tithing on our gross when He asked us to. (Tithing on your net is actually idolatry of the government because THEY get your first 10% (or more!) in taxes and God gets 10% of the leftovers.)
But I challenge you to ask, “How’s that working for you?” How many people faithfully pay tithes into the church business and actually see God’s promised blessings flow back into their lives? Not many. Most churches are set up as non-profit organizations, which are businesses with limitations & procedures set by the secular government in order to control them. Is it POSSIBLE that we have this whole concept of tithing mixed up? Is it possible that we have been duped into bringing our tithes into the wrong storehouse?
What is a tribute? As per Dictionary.com, the fitting definition is “payment made periodically by one state or ruler to another, especially as a sign of dependence.” Every church membership that I have been a part of or read has had in there that paying your tithes to that church was part of the agreement. If they give you membership, you give them your tithes. They promise to be your covering, which the way it’s done in most churches actually promotes a lack of responsibility and maturity in its members. That sounds like tribute to me. It’s mandatory, not voluntary or cheerfully as the Holy Spirit directs. It can very quickly turn into a rote religious act instead of an act of loving obedience. (On a side note, remember Isaiah 30:1 – Woe to you who cover with a covering but not of my Spirit.)
How many of you have heard, “Give God your seed and He’ll give you 30, 60, 100 fold return!” “Bring your tithes into THIS storehouse, and God will pour out upon you a blessing that you cannot contain.” Sorry folks, but that is financial manipulation, appealing to your flesh to give in order to get. If you’ve been reading my articles, you’ll already know that witchcraft = rebellion, manipulation, and control. (Derek Prince taught that, by the way.) It’s scripture twisted out of context, a favourite tactic used by the spirit of Leviathan. Pharaoh apparently had storehouses, too! Imagine that! The devil knows how to counterfeit! Exodus 1:11. For all those prophetic people out there, notice that 1:11 isn’t JUST Deuteronomy 1:11.
God clearly commands us to give cheerfully. He commands us to give double honor (financially) to those who labour in the word. He commands us to not muzzle an ox that is treading out the grain. He informs us that those who sow spiritually into us deserve to reap a financial reward. He warns us that we reap what we sow and whatever measure we give will be measured back to us. Giving is very scriptural and isn’t my beef. But I challenge you to THINK instead of being a lemming to traditions of men. Don’t get offended, just start using the spirit joined with God to question the status quo in regards to HOW and WHO you give to and give INTENTIONALLY, in order to possess God’s promises. If you don’t think, the government and those who love control will gladly do it for you.
Some questions to challenge you to think outside of the church building box:
– Does everyone who feeds you spiritually come from the church building? If not, why does all your tithe go there? If you are fed 4 hrs a month by a pastor preaching from a pulpit in a generalized sermon that may or may not have anything to do with where God is chiseling you in this season and 8 hrs from your small group leader that invests specifically into YOUR spiritual growth, would it be erroneous to give 33% of your tithe to your pastor and 66% to your small group leader? Isn’t the labourer worthy of his hire and the worker his reward?
– Do you give double honor to all those who labour in the word and feed you spiritually? You must first honor others as per the scriptures before you will receive your own reward.
– Are you being spiritually fed by your pastor? Are they feeding someone else but not you? Is their food producing spiritual growth IN YOU or simply tickling your ears? Are they teaching you to grow up and feed yourself and others or are they creating a dependence to make you think you still need to be spoon-feed at 20, 40, or even 80 years old? Are they teaching you to hear God’s voice for yourself? Are they more mature than yourself? A companion of fools suffers harm but walk with the wise and you’ll grow wise. (*Note, they should be operating in Godly wisdom birthed out of the fear of the LORD, not worldly wisdom. Do they know the difference and have they taught you to know it, also?)
– Who are the priests in your life? The ones who teach you to understand and apply God’s commandments, like Ezra taught the remnant that came out of Babylon? The ones who have a personal relationship with you and speak into your life in a way that produces maturity and fruit? The ones who hand you the knife to slaughter your sacred cows, standing by you in the bloody process as you confess your sins and still love you after the fact? The ones who, like an ox, trample your wheat to knock your chaff off, enabling you to see the hidden treasure that was always inside of you? The ones who intercede on your behalf in the secret place? The ones who are sanctified and model the benefits of purity? The ones who never let the fire of the LORD go out, ensuring the ashes are swept out daily? The ones who have the legal right to carry God’s holy presence wherever they go? It is to these priests and their storehouse that the tithes and offerings should be brought to, that there may be enough food in God’s temple. We are the temple of the LORD, not a building. A building is neutral, much like money. It’s what is done with it that determines whether it is holy or profane, whether it is an asset to God’s kingdom or has become an idol that needs to be destroyed.
– Are you honoring the prophets and a righteous men in your life in the name of a prophet / righteous man so that you may receive their reward? Or are you simply going to honor the church business and receive their reward of an income tax deduction and all their social club programs?
– Is it possible that we have a massive void of wise mentors and spiritual mothers and fathers in the body of Christ because we have failed to honor them, all in the name of tithing to the church business that fails to recognize the value of those who “haven’t been to Bible College” and have man’s stamp of approval?
As you can see by those questions, some people tithing to the church business are doing so with the right heart attitude of honor and obedience, because their feeders and priests are inside that building and on the payroll. For others, tithing to the church business has become a form of tribute that gives you nothing in return because there is no relationship nor accountability.
The sign of maturity is to honor those who have invested into your life, to bring about your maturity and identity as a grown-up adopted son of God in your own unique gifting and calling that is capable of reproducing another generation of responsible, fruitful sons. Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight whom you have neglected to honor and how He would have you honor them then go DO it.
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