170806 Remember the Source

Deuteronomy 6:10-15 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, ¹¹ and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, ¹² then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹³ It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. ¹⁴ You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— ¹⁵ for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

The book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ last message to his people before he was taken up into heaven. He was concerned that Israel would forget who provided for them. He was especially concerned that the people would begin to believe their material wealth came from their own hand. As God’s Holy Spirit guided Moses he warned his people about turning away from God. The negative consequences of such a decision include much suffering, a return to slavery, and even death.

It is hard for me to imagine how the Hebrew people could forget all that they had seen. The ones that Moses were writing to where the children of the ones who came out of Egypt. Many of them might have witnessed the events in Egypt as children. After they came into the desert they found God was able to take care of them in every way. If they needed to take care -- who had seen with their own eyes that God could supply their needs -- we are certainly in danger. By our lifestyles we seem to be saying that God is not capable of taking care of us. Since Moses was deeply concerned for the future safety of his people…

The warning is issued a second time. Let’s move on to Deuteronomy 8:11-14. “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, ¹² lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,

Take care! You must not forget that God is your supply. How would they forget him? By failing to keep his commandments, his rules, and his laws. Going from the desert into the land of Canaan would change them from a very poor nation to an exceptionally wealthy one. When God drove the people out of the land there would be left behind houses, herds, flocks as well as much material wealth. These people might very well forget that they did not earn any of this but they received it as a gift.

Folks! The possibility put forth by Moses is a very real possibility today. People who obey God in financial matters will always be blessed financially as well as spiritually. It is an easy thing to fall into Satan’s trap. It is easy to begin to think that we have earned it. Remember anything that we have we have because of God’s goodness toward us. We must never forget! James, our Lord’s brother, said, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸ Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” James 1:17

It was God who led them through the desert. It was God who delivered them from the serpents and scorpions. It was God who took them through a dry and thirsty desert. It was God who provided for them meat to eat when they complained. It was God who provided the bread of angels (Psalm 78:25). So as Moses goes ahead. He issued one warning and then a second…

And a third time with harsher consequences. That’s look as God raises the stakes Deuteronomy 8:18-20. You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. ¹⁹ And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. ²⁰ Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

They are warned again against forgetting God. If Israel forgot God they faced the possibility that they would be put back into slavery.

Moses wanted them to understand the danger they were in. Not only might they face losing many of the material things that they would receive. Not only would they suffer sickness and disease, even death! If they did not walk with God he would return them to slavery. He had waited 400 years for the iniquity of the Amorites to be complete before he would consider removing them from the land. If Israel should choose to forget God they would equally be removed from the land. How were they to avoid the traps that lay ahead of them?

Israel knew that God owned all things. Let’s look at Leviticus 27:30-31.  “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. ³¹ If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it.

The tithe was not a tax on the people it was the evidence that God owned everything. Returning the tithe to God was an acknowledgment that God owned all. Certainly God did not need their money nor does he need ours! We need to give evidence that everything we have belongs to God. We have to be careful, just as they did, to remember that God is in charge. We need to give God the tithe and then some more because we are under grace not under the law.

God had given them the command to tithe while they were in the wilderness and instructed them to teach their children what this is all about (Deuteronomy 6:7). Time and again Israel failed to fulfill the basic obligation of teaching their children. The people of Israel did not faithfully follow the book that Moses gave them. In fact, we are told that during the reign of Josiah they found the Book that apparently have been lost for generations. Restoring the Book to its proper place led to a revival. If we will do the same in our lives God will bless us with a revival.

They had the law of God…

Yet, they were unfaithful. Let’s turn to Malachi 3:8-11. Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. ⁹ You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ¹⁰ Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ¹¹ I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.

The Old Testament wraps up with the words of the prophet Malachi. Soon after the Temple was rebuilt Malachi called the people to repentance. He saw that the priests were offering polluted sacrifices. He called for repentance. Malachi points out the need for godly instruction and encouraged the priests to move in that direction. He called on the people to have strong marriages with the husband loving his wife. And then he pointed out that they have been robbing God. Apparently they were complaining that God was not blessing them properly. And so he wanted them to know that God does not change. If they were not sensing God in their life it was their problem not God’s.

He called on the people to “Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.” Then he goes into the passage I have just read. The people were robbing God they had departed from him in their lack of giving. God challenges the people to test him and see if he would not open the windows of heaven and pour down on them a blessing that would fill their baskets to overflowing.

Over 400 years later, Jesus said these words “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38) the length of time between these two quotes illustrates the truth that…

God is patient. Let’s see what Peter had to say in 2 Peter 3:8-9. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Folks, this is not a math problem! This is simply evidence that God is unconcerned about the passage of time. From the time of Abraham to Moses God was patiently waiting on the iniquity of the Amorites to be full so that he could bring his people into occupation of the Holy Land. During the 40 years in the desert God patiently waited on his people to come to the place where they could occupy the land. During hundreds of years between Moses and David God patiently waited on the time to give Israel a king. Then God patiently cared for his people from King David to carrying away to Babylon…

After hundreds of years. Let’s look at 2 Chronicles 36:20-21. He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹ to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

Israel went into captivity for 70 years in order to allow the land to experience its Sabbaths. Part of the law of the Old Testament said that the land should be allowed to rest every seventh year. This had not been adhered to by the people of Israel and their captivity in Babylon allowed the land to enjoy its Sabbaths. The disobedience of the people of Israel included the truth that they had robbed a God in many ways. However, many people say that tithing is all about the Old Testament. Some would say that it has nothing to do with the New Testament. Well, let’s take a look and see…

What about the New Testament? What better source than the words of Jesus? Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

This passage is often used to argue that the tithe is not important. It actually teaches the exact opposite! Jesus comes down hard on the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. How were they hypocrites? They were neglecting the very heavy matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness, while at the same time they tithed the herbs in their garden. Jesus did not hesitate say that they should have given the tithe of everything. After all, God is the source of everything for them.

In the same manner…

God is our source and supply. Let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 9:6-8. The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Paul has been encouraging the Corinthians to help meet the needs of other Christians. To do so he used the example of the Macedonian church. Those believers, coming from a poorer part of the world, gave themselves first to the Lord and then pleaded with Paul to allow them to take part in the offering he was taking (2 Corinthians 8:1-7). I can seriously say that I have never had anyone plead with me to participate in an offering! But I do remember a time that may seem to be less important. I was about eight or nine years old, and had just become a Christian, I came to church with a nickel that I wanted to put in the offering plate. I sat on the back row in the church holding the nickel. When the offering plate was passed it was not sent by me because no one expected me to give.

I can honestly say that my heart was broken by the simple act of being ignored in the offering. We need to remember that giving is an important part of the Christian life.

Yes, God loves a cheerful giver. Jesus commended the Pharisees for tithing their garden herbs. At the same time he reprimanded them for overlooking the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness. For those who lived under the law tithing was their standard. I believe that since we live under grace tithing is a good beginning. God has given us all things that we have and we should be generous with what he has given us. I have always been hesitant to say too much about money. I never want the world around, or our people, to believe that the church is all about money! However, the material things God has supplied have a purpose. The greatest gift of God is Jesus Christ our Lord. The least we can do is return to him a portion of what he has given us. Are you doing what God would have you give financially? If not, why should you expect God to continue to bless you?

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.