Jesus:  the Spirit of the tithe revealed

Today we will look at what the tithe is, and how we observe the tithe in the New Covenant so we can see Jesus as the revelation of what the tithe was speaking of in the Old Testament.  We have understood correctly that the tithe speaks of our provision from God.  But, we have misdefined what the tithe is.  The tithe was a shadow of Jesus as our provision.  What we have done is said yes, the tithe is our provision, but we have made the tithe about how we provide for ourselves through some money we give to gain access to the favor and blessings of God in the area of finances & material wealth.  And in doing this, what we have said is I will not find life by feeding on The tithe, which is Jesus Christ, but I will find life by feeding on my ability to give some money as a tithe.

Over the last 2000 years the church has become very similar to Judaism.  We have turned our worshipping of God, and relationship with Him into nothing more than rule keeping & performing of carnal commandments and principles to be acceptable to God & gain His favor and blessing in our lives.  Where we take our ability to perform carnal commandments & principles and make it our food for life, by saying if I can do these things I will be acceptable in the sight of God.  And because I have become acceptable in His sight by performing these carnal commandments and principles He will pour out His favor and blessing in my life.  We have made our ability to perform carnal commandments and principles our tithe by looking to it as our provision and making it our food for life.  

Explain how Paul revealed Jesus in whatever law the people were under so they could see how it pointed to Jesus:

When I find a person, or a church that believes in a system of tithing some money to gain access to the provision of God in their lives, I reveal Jesus as the manifestation of what the tithe was speaking of all along.  So that when they can see Jesus as the revelation of God's provision in their lives they can repent from feeding on the works of their own hands to give 10% to be their provision; to be their food for life, and instead feed on the word of truth God has revealed in Christ and Him crucified as their provision; as their food for life.  And when they can feed on Jesus as the bread of life through the hearing of faith, it will purge their conscience from sin, and cause their hearts and minds to go to rest in who & what they are & God's view & opinion of them.  Because they can see in Jesus that God's heart & mind is at rest with them.  And in this they can see the provision of God to deliver them from a life dominated by the fruit of the flesh, and His provision to cause them to experience eternal life, or a life dominated by the fruit of the Spirit.

Explain Exodus 16:

Exodus 16:15-16  And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.  This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.

Exodus 16:32-36 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.  And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.  As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.  And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.    Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

God gave the children of Israel manna from heaven and instructed them to gather an omer, or a tenth of manna each day for their provision, for their food.  And then He told Moses to take an omer, or a tenth of the manna and put it in a pot to be laid up before the Testimony to be kept as a witness, or evidence that God was their provision and not the works of their own hands; and not the strength of the flesh.

Exodus 16:  connect manna to the tithe.  Gathered an omer(10th of an ephap) each day.  Placed an omer before the testimony.  

Testimony=a witness, evidence(of things).  Testimony was to be a witness to the people of something.  Omer(tenth) of manna placed with the Testimony to be a witness, or evidence to the people that God was their provision for He fed them with the bread from heaven.  

Explain things placed in ark represent things contained in Christ & His work.

Tables of the Ten Commandments; Aaron's rod that budded; omer of manna in Gold pot.

All these things were put into the ark of the covenant which represented Jesus in order to demonstrate that all these things were contained in Christ; were represented in Christ; find their fulfillment, or revealing of what they were pointing to all along in Christ.  The tenth, or tithe of the manna that Moses instructed Aaron to place in the Testimony, and that was later placed in the ark of the covenant was pointing to Jesus as the manifestation of God's provision, or the real bread from heaven.

The question becomes how do we partake of God's provision in Jesus?

Start off by explaining purpose or intent of the tithe in the Old Testament:

Deuteronomy 14:22-29  Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.  And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.  And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:    Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:    And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household.

Hebrew Tithe:  A primitive root (identical with H6238); to accumulate; but used only as denominative from H6235; to tithe, that is, take or give a tenth: -    X surely, give (take) the tenth, (have, take) tithe (-ing, -s), X truly.  Root:  A primitive root; properly to accumulate; chiefly (specifically) to grow (causatively make) rich: - be (-come, en-, make, make self, wax) rich, make [H1 Kings H22 : H48 margin]. 

The Hebrew word tithe comes from a root word that means to cause, or make rich.  The tithe is our provision to make us rich in God's quality of life.

Explain "Fear The Lord thy God always"

Moses says to take the tithe of all thy increase and tells them to eat the tithe before The Lord their God in the place which He shall choose to place His name so that they may learn to fear The Lord thy God always.  The word "fear" used hear does not mean to be afraid in the sense that we think of fear in our culture.  It is not speaking of the kind of fear that comes if someone is trying to kill you, or hurt you.  It means to worship God.  Moses says take the tithe, or tenth of all thy increase to the place that God will place His name in order that you may learn to worship God.  To worship someone means to believe on them, or to submit to their belief system; to submit to their wisdom.  The purpose of them taking all the tithe of their increase to the place where God would place His name and eat it was to teach, or remind the children of Israel that God was the source of their provision, not the works of their own hands.  It was to keep God and His grace before their face as the source of their provision, lest they think their provision was by the strength of their own hands. So by taking the tithe to the place where God placed His name and eating it before Him they were worshipping God, or believing on Him and His grace/strength as the source of their provision.  They were keeping their eyes on Him as their provision and not the works of their own hands.  The observance of the tithe, or the partaking of the tithe, or if you still want to call it the giving of the tithe represented the children of Israel believing on God and His grace as the source of their provision by eating His provision before Him.

Bring ye the tithes into the place where I will place my name that there might be meat in my house for you to eat, and in that the meat that you eat is in my house you can see your provision is of me and my grace, and not the works of your own hands.    

Explain in the place God has chosen to place His name:

the place God chooses to place His name means His habitation; for His dwelling.  In Malachi 3 the place that God has chosen to place His name is also called the storehouse.  

Explain conclusion of the purpose of the tithe in the old covenant:

The purpose of the tithe was never about some money, or anything else we gave to God in order to gain access to His provision.  It was never about if I give God this tithe then surely I will be blessed by God; favored by God.  It was about teaching the children of Israel to feed on God and His grace/strength and not the strength of their own hands for their provision.  The tithe in the old covenant was always about teaching the children of Israel to believe on God and His grace for their provision, and not the works of their own hands.  It was always about keeping God and His grace/strength before their faces as the source of their provision.  It was never about securing God's provision, or gaining access to God's provision by giving God something.  It was to acknowledge God & His grace as their only provision by eating their provision before Him.

Example:  Jesus came to the earth as the bread of life, and the water of salvation to be our provision.  Jesus is the manifestation of the provision of God. There is no greater provision than Jesus.  What is it we think we sowed, or tithed to God in order to get God to send Jesus?  God sent Jesus to be our provision without any offering from us because He found so much value in you and I that He said they are worthy of my life; they are worthy of my salvation; they are worthy of my provision.

Look up scripture in Deuteronomy:

I have given you this law lest when you enter the promised land and you have an abundance of fruit, you say it is by my strength.  The tithe was brought into the storehouse to be eaten before God so their fear might be before God & not the works of their own hands; the strength of the flesh.  God has given us Christ and Him crucified lest when we enter the promised land and we see fruit abounding we say it is by the strength of my own hand; which is what it means if you say this fruit that has abounded to my account is by some money I tithed.  We bring Jesus into the storehouse & eat His flesh & drink the cup of the new covenant so that our fear might be before God & His grace and not the strength of the flesh for our provision.  In order that we might believe on God and His grace & strength, which is manifested in Jesus, for our provision(freedom from sin, salvation from death, fruit of death; righteousness, glory, eternal life, fruit of the Spirit)

Explain observing tithe contained in carnal commandments & ordinances in the Old Testament because mankind was carnal sold under sin:

Gal 3:23    But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

The tithe was our schoolmaster pointing us to Christ as the true tithe we eat as our provision.  It was our schoolmaster teaching us to trust in God & His grace/strength & not the strength of the flesh; the works of our own hands until Christ came.  

Observing the tithe was a shadow of believing on Christ and Him crucified for provision.  Mankind was carnal sold under sin, so God gave carnal ordinances & commandments in the old covenant to teach the children of Israel to believe on Him and His grace/strength to be their sufficiency; to be their provision, in order to point them to Christ when he appeared.  The reality of what the tithe is was revealed in Christ as something that is of the Spirit and not carnal.  There is a spiritual observance of the tithe that was revealed in Christ that occurs through believing on Jesus as the only truth about your life, and continuing in Him as the only truth about your life. 

Explain letter of tithe and Spirit of tithe; explain carnal & spiritual ordinances:

Spirit:  the general or real meaning of something.  

Use Sabbath as example in Jer 17:

carnal=observe 7th day by doing no work
Spiritual=trust in the grace/strength of God for righteousness/life and not the strength of the flesh.  Jews looked on it carnally, Jesus looked on it spiritually.

Jesus is the revelation of the law of God.  He is the revelation of what the tithe is.  The preaching of the tithe is supposed to be the preaching of Jesus as our provision.  It's preaching that Jesus is our provision & not some money we give.

Explain how no longer look on the tithe, or the law of God carnally because at the cross we were crucified with Christ unto sin:

We were crucified with Christ unto the life & identity defined by the flesh.  We were crucified unto the existence where we know ourselves according to the flesh.  We were crucified with Christ unto the life where we find the definition of who and what we are and God's view and opinion of us in what we do; what we have; and what happens to us in this world.  And because of this we no longer seek to find life in the flesh, or seek relationship with God through the flesh.  Because we no longer seek to find life through the flesh we can never again look at the law of God as something that is carnal, as some kind of behavior modification, or as something we are to perform outwardly to be acceptable to God and gain access into His favor and blessings.  That would be to deny the cross.

And because Jesus was raised a life giving Spirit.  Or because God established the identity of man in the Spirit when He raised Jesus, and sat Him at His right hand we look at what the spirit of the tithe is communicating, or the spirit of the law of God, which will always point to believing on what God has done in Christ and Him crucified to be complete, and not what we do.

John 6:32-33   Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

John 6:47-57   Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.  I am that bread of life.  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

In these verses Jesus comes in and reveals Himself to be the bread from heaven.  He reveals that His flesh is meat indeed.  And in revealing Himself to be the bread from heaven, and His flesh to be meat indeed He is revealing Himself as the tithe, or God's provision for mankind.  And when He says whoever eats His flesh, and drinks His blood hath eternal life He reveals that the provision of God is eternal life, or God's quality of life and the fruit of His life.

Explain what provision of God is:

Provision, speaks of God's life & the fruit of His life(man does not live by bread alone but by every word of God).  In light of understanding this, if I am believing on God for my provision; to supply me with His life & the fruit of His life then to observe the tithe, or give the tithe, or partake of the tithe could only be to believe on Jesus.  For how can giving some money tithe provide for me eternal life?  How can giving some money tithe give me God's quality of life, or cause the fruit of the Spirit to manifest in my life?

Define provision; what provision are we seeking? 

When we correctly define provision as God's quality of life & the fruit of His life.  And we can see the manner in which He provides those things is by clothing us with His glory & a righteousness that is of Him, and not of the flesh.  It becomes much easier to see that Jesus is the only thing that the tithe can be; much easier to see believing on Jesus would be the revealing of the tithe system, for my fear, or my belief for provision; for righteousness; for the glory of God being revealed in me is in God & His grace & strength which has been made manifest in Jesus.  For how can giving some money bring forth the righteousness that is of God.  How can giving some money reveal the glory that God has in Himself in me.  And if giving some money cannot bring forth the righteousness that is of God, and reveal the glory God has in Himself in me, how can it provide for me God's quality of life and the fruit of His life?

Connect again1st Tim 6 seek eternal life; not riches in this world.  If seeking eternal life, then becomes clear God's provision for eternal life is the bread of life; Jesus.  And I observe the tithe, or partake of the tithe, or I give a tithe, or I eat the bread of life for my provision by believing on Christ & Him crucified; by believing on the word of truth God has declared about my life in Christ.  And this reveals the very glory God has in Himself in me, and it gives me a righteousness that is of God, and not the works of my own hands.  

When we seek earthly riches as the true riches, it causes us to look on the tithe carnally, for we define God's provision as money & material wealth.  I do believe God will always provide the things we need in this earth, but the provision of God speaks of something much greater than material wealth & possessions.  If we interpret the provision of God as some carnal thing, it will result in us seeking to gain His provision through the flesh.  For if we know the provision of God through the flesh we will inevitably seek to gain the provision of God through the flesh, or through the works of our own hands; by what we do.  

Explain does not mean it is wrong to ask God for things, or to desire to have things:

This does not mean that it is wrong to ask God for things.  But, we do not ask God for things in an attempt to try and satisfy our lust to prove, or believe we are the beloved Sons/Daughters of God; to satisfy our lust to prove; believe we are the blessed of God.  We do not seek things from a feeling of lack, but from the feeling of abundance found in the declaration of our Sonship in Christ.

Explain Jesus as the tithe:

Jesus as the tithe=Jesus as our provision for glory, honor; righteousness; eternal life; God's quality of life; the fruit of the Spirit.  To observe the tithe would be to feed on Jesus by believing on Him as the only truth about our life.  Believing on Him as our provision for righteousness, glory, honor, value, worth, fruit, blessings, sin debt paid.  

Explain Jesus as tithe provision for health & healing to all our flesh:

We feed on Jesus, or eat Jesus as the tithe by seeing ourselves crucified with Him unto the flesh.  By seeing ourselves crucified unto a life and identity defined by the flesh, and this is health and healing to all our flesh.  It is health and healing to all our flesh because it tells us we are dead to the wisdom that told us the report of who we are and God's view and opinion of us is found in the flesh, in what we do; what we have; what happens to us in this world.  And because I see I have died to the flesh I do not enlist the strength of the flesh to bring forth righteousness.  And if I do not enlist the strength of the flesh to have righteousness then I am not giving sin a chance to express itself through my flesh.  And this is how Jesus is the tithe I eat to provide health & healing to all my flesh.

We feed on Jesus as the tithe by seeing in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus as our representative we have been raised up from sin once for all time.  We have been raised up from our indebtedness to an existence where we are always laboring & toiling in an effort to establish a report about our life that can be good enough to give us confidence in the presence of God, and can bring peace, joy, love.  We feed on Jesus as the tithe by finding the report of who and what we are and God's view and opinion of us in Christ seated at His right hand, which testifies, or gives evidence to us of our righteousness, and this gives us eternal life; this causes the fruit of the Spirit to manifest in our lives.  And this is how Jesus is the tithe I eat to provide me with God's quality of life.

Explain in the place where God shall choose to place His name there:

Storehouse:  human bodies; family of descendants; descendants as organized body

All those that call upon the name of The Lord=to allow oneself to be surnamed.  The place God has chosen to place His name is mankind.  The place He has chosen to place His name is you and I.  And I allow Him to surname me by eating the tithe, or believing on Christ and Him crucified as the only truth about my life.  I bring the tithe to the place God has placed His name & eat it by believing on Jesus and continuing in Him as the only truth about my life for my provision.  And God pours out His blessing, or His Spirit, the likes of which my house cannot contain and because it cannot be contained the fruit of the Spirit comes forth from me.

Observing the tithe=calling upon the name of The Lord, allowing oneself to be surnamed by God; bring the tithe into the place where God has placed His name(mankind).  

If you need salvation from a life defined by the flesh, & dominated by the fruit of the flesh your tithe, or provision for salvation is Jesus.  Bring him into the storehouse, or the place where God has chosen to place His name, which is you & I, and eat the bread of life & drink of the cup of the new covenant.  If you need provision for fruit in your life, to experience the abundant life, your tithe, or provision is Jesus.  Bring Him to the storehouse, or the place where God has chosen to place His name.  And eat the bread of life & drink of the cup of the new covenant.  

Answer those that say by working this tithing money to get money principle I am demonstrating my trust in God:

If we say because we give some money to God we will gain His provision we are not trusting in His grace and strength to be our provision, rather we are trusting in our ability to perform the giving of some money to be our provision.  Which would be the very thing the tithe in the Old covenant was supposed to keep the children of Israel from doing.  Real trust in God when connected with giving some money, would be I give some money apart from any carnal system that says God will give me money because I gave some tithe to the church.

Communion; last supper is picture of our provision in Christ.