“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house; and prove me now in this, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you, and pour out a blessing on you until it overflows” (Malachi 3:10)
On my way to work, I read this verse that I had already read on other occasions, but this time God opened my eyes to let me see a great truth. When I read “ALL the tithes,” I said to myself: But are there more tithes to give to the Lord, and not just money? In the same way, it caught my attention when it says: “… and prove me now in this,” and He puts His signature: “says the LORD of hosts.” God promises to open the windows of heaven and pour out so much blessing that it overflows, for those who tithe EVERYTHING. But the opposite will happen to the one who does not tithe; that is, the heavens will remain closed and there will be no blessing for those who have turned their backs. Therefore, the Holy Spirit moved me to search the Word until I found that treasure that He, in His great love and mercy, wanted to show me and that I share with you today.
We know that everything we have we have received from God (James 1:17). The tithe consists of returning to God ten percent of everything we have received from Him (Gen 28:22), and for this action, God Himself promises to open the heavens. The ABC of the gospel is to tithe both the tangible and the intangible, and to bring it to the place where we receive spiritual food, to the congregation where we receive the Word of God (Deut 14:22, 26). For example, from the salary we receive and from any extra money that comes to us—an inheritance, a bonus, etc.—as well as tithing from our time, praising and worshiping God, praying and reading His Word; all of this is part of the teaching we have received from the Word of God. But there is still more… below I will present, in the light of the Scriptures, the rhema for our lives.
In the Old Testament it tells us that giving the tithe of everything is a law: “You shall surely tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place which He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your wine and your oil, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always” (Deut 14:22-23). In the New Testament, we read that Christ came to fulfill the Law, and now He is the fulfillment of the law (Heb 8:7-13). Glory to God! In other words, Christ takes the place of the Law. In the Law, three things are “RETURNED” to God:
- Grain: This term is used in agriculture and refers to seed. In ancient times, the grain offering meant bringing from the fruit of the field, from what they had sown and harvested. But on the spiritual plane, the seed refers to the Word of God (Luke 8:11), and the Word is Jesus Christ, the presence of God in our lives (John 1:1-5). We have seen that everything that is tithed comes from Him, and what we do is return it (1 Chron 29:14). So, a person who has not been born again cannot tithe His Word, because he does not have it; but the one who has it, who has Jesus Christ, the presence of God, and does not return it to God by sowing it in the hearts of others, whether spoken or by testimony—EVERY DAY—is robbing God and failing the commandment that says: “Go therefore and make disciples…” (Matt 28:19). That being so, we become robbers of the Word of God (Mal 3:8-9). Oh, Holy One! I cannot imagine how much the fine would be for that offense here on earth, but the Bible tells us that thieves will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9-10). However, the one who sows it will not lack bread (the Word of God); it will be multiplied to him, and even more, it will increase the fruits of his righteousness (2 Cor 9:10). In other words, God swears by Himself when He said: “prove me” (in the imperative), “… if I will not OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN.” When the heavens are opened, we receive the revelation of His Word (John 6:58). Hallelujah!!
- Wine: Wine comes from the vine, and in the Word it represents joy (Acts 2:13). The true vine is Christ, and apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). Joy is also part of the fruit of the Spirit, and so it flows from love (Gal 5:22). God is love (1 John 4:8). Joy is not the absence of sadness; rather, it is an abundance of trust in God (Neh 8:10; Ps 28:7). That is, to have joy we must have love, who is Jesus Christ. The one who does not have love, and is not attached to the vine (Christ), cannot tithe joy, and therefore is not strengthened, because his trust is not in God, and so he becomes troubled. Nevertheless, both the one who does not have Jesus in his heart and those of us who have Him in our hearts are going to go through difficult situations of every kind, but we will remain strengthened in God. Although at times our faith wavers in the face of adversities, we must ask ourselves the following question: “In this situation I am going through, am I returning joy or am I stealing it?” It is thus illustrated that, when we lose focus on our trust, we are forgetting that He wants His joy back. Oh God, we are debtors! For us who have Christ, God is telling us to prove Him in this, not to be thieves of joy, and to return that fruit to Him by trusting fully in Him, every day, regardless of the circumstances we may be going through, whether the death of a beloved relative, any family member in prison, illness, perhaps betrayal by the one we least expect, being cold out on the streets, or insecurity about the future. He commands us in the imperative: “BE joyful always” (1 Thess 5:16-18). “COUNT it all joy…when you fall into various trials…” (James 1:2-4). Glory to God!! And may we prove Him in this, because He opens the WINDOWS OF HEAVEN on our behalf, and strengthens us. Blessed be God!
- Oil: The anointing oil was extracted from crushed olives (Lev 24:2), and in ancient times it was used to keep the lamps burning (Matt 25:3-4). The oil was also used for anointing (Exod 30:25). We read in the Word of God that Christ was the crushed olive (Matt 26:30), and His blood was shed to redeem us and to send us the Holy Spirit from heaven (1 Pet 1:11-12). So, a person who does not have the Holy Spirit has not been redeemed and therefore does not have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, nor does he know all things (Rom 8:9). That being so, such a person cannot please God or behave properly; but we, in whose bodies the Spirit of Truth dwells, have the anointing of the Holy One and know all things (1 John 2:20). The Holy Spirit and His anointing enable us to be faithful to the Lord in the midst of this corrupt system, because our vessel is full of the presence of the Lord (Ps 23:5), and we can return to Him His worship. Having done so, we tithe to God every day, with the help of the Holy Spirit, since it is a command: “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet 1:16-22). When we make the decision to be faithful (to worship, to reach maturity), God doubles the fullness of the Holy Spirit in us; we are clothed, covered to endure the trial; it seems like a spiritual anesthesia, and this makes us fix our eyes on heaven, and as a consequence, He opens the windows of heaven, shows Himself to us, accepts and receives our lives in worship, and takes us from the earth, as He did with Stephen (Acts 7:55-59). However, if we do not do what is good, knowing how to do it, we are thieves of the anointing, of His faithfulness. Oh my God, this is very holy!
For reflection:
The law refers to commandment. The Ten Commandments are summed up in two: a vertical relationship (with God the Father through Christ), and a horizontal relationship (with other people, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the other Comforter). When we tithe, we are showing both communions, and this attitude is called worship. That worship makes us wise, because we learn to fear the LORD every day (Prov 1:7; Matt 10:16-22). If the heavens are closed, it is because we have not returned the tithes of EVERYTHING, as Abraham did (Heb 7:2).
PRAYER:
Father, thank you for your mercies that are new every morning, and for Your goodness that has kept us from being consumed (Mal 3:6-9). We confess our sins; forgive us, cleanse us more and more from all wickedness, and purify us from our faults. Oh Father, restore our spiritual life so that we may be obedient to your Word every day, reach maturity, and worship you in Spirit and truth, in the name of Jesus (1 John 1:9; Neh 13:12).
Contribution by: Vianelli Ortiz
