curg13

Can You Reach God

Lesson Thirteen: by turtle

Can you reach God through tithes and offerings?

Malachi 3:1-4 KJV
(1) Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom
ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
(2) But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a
refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
(3) And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge
them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
(4) Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old,
and as in former years.

God requires faith. Faith in the only begotten Son, faith in Him, and faith in tomorrow’s promises.
Tithe was offering to God that began with Abraham and continued in his son Jacob. Jacob promised
God a tenth if He bring him back home. A payment for protection to the Lord.

Genesis 28:21-22 KJV
(21) So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
(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.

A tithe is to take care of the church and minister. It was in the law of teh Old Testament

Deuteronomy 14:22 KJV
(22) Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.

Numbers 18:20-24 KJV
(20) And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou
have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
(21) 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.
(22) Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest
they bear sin, and die.
(23) But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their
iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they
have no inheritance.
(24) 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.

Heave offering is a gift. A gift offering is offering given freely without obligation. However under law a
Moses a tenth would be given to priest for their service and to the congregation. The priest and leaders
were what back in those days. Leaders of the community in the religious order, judging right from
wrong, as well as doctoring diseases. Today minister roles are different to some degree. They still
preach, counsel and do other things. Sometimes they even go beyond the call of duty.

However are gifts to God are away of reaching up to God, but it does not put us in contact with God.
No more so does me sending a gift to a stranger, makes me know them. When one receive Christ as
Savior we receive the gift of eternal life. The most we understand is God loved us and was willing to
sacrifice His Son for our sins. However in Hebrew 7 God speaks of Jesus being High Priest. Back in
lesson eleven we talked about Christ being High Priest in the order of Melchisedek. Need more
information please go back and read. Hebrews 7 speaks of paying tithes.

Hebrews 7:1-6 KJV
(1) For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning
from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
(2) To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness,
and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
(3) Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life;
but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
(4) Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of
the spoils.
(5) And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a
commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they
come out of the loins of Abraham:
(6) But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that
had the promises.

The next portion of scripture we will be looking at is concerning why not in the order of Aaron. Why in
the order of Melchisedek Was it only because He was before Aaron. No. Aaron was not a global
priesthood. In fact his priest line was for the Jews and those proselytes to Judaism.. Jesus priesthood
would be for the world. Just like Melchisedek.

Psalms 110:4-7 KJV
(4) The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of
Melchizedek.
(5) The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
(6) He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the
heads over many countries.
(7) He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

Jesus came for the whole world not just for part of the world.

Hebrews 7:11-14 KJV
(11) If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the
law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and
not be called after the order of Aaron?
(12) For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
(13) For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave
attendance at the altar.
(14) For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning
priesthood.

Moses never spake of priesthood for another tribe. Only for Israel. Did this mean that others did not
obey the law.

Romans 9:30-33 KJV
(30) What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained
to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
(31) But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of
righteousness.
(32) Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they
stumbled at that stumbling stone;
(33) As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and rock of offence: and whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Many do what is right. Even gentiles provided for the temple of the Lord. Read Ezra and Nehemiah
sometime. However what happened to the children of Israel was a lack of faith. They disobeyed the
law without faith. This happens even within the church. We disobey God’s law because of a lack of
faith. Example going back to the book we started in.

Malachi 3:7-18 KJV
(7) Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept
them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall
we return?
(8) Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes
and offerings.
(9) Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
(10) Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me
now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you
out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
(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.
(12) And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
(13) Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so
much against thee?
(14) Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and
that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
(15) And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that
tempt God are even delivered.
(16) Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and
heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that
thought upon his name.
(17) And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I
will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
(18) Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that
serveth God and him that serveth him not.

The truth is we need faith. Christ is the High Priest to the world. There is no other. He is the only one
that can atone for sin. For He died for the sins of the world. He made the payment. Melchisedek was a
High Priest in the form of the law. Meaning proof of a legal abiding law. Law that people paid tithes to
for protection as well as for justice being served. However Christ was more then judge and jury, He is
more then lawgiver, He is also the redeemer for those of us with sin. He is more then a judge and jury.
God is more then judgment. He is salvation. Jesus is salvation to those who believe.

Hebrews 7:15-22 KJV
(15) And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another
priest,
(16) Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
(17) For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
(18) For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and
unprofitableness thereof.
(19) For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw
nigh unto God.
(20) And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:
(21) (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him,
The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
(22) By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

See what Christ did was pay our payment to God for out sin. He is our protection money, as well as
our protector. He is our lawyer. He is our esquire. He carries our faith. He is our armor bearer. When
we can not seem to carry our armor or wear it at times, he carries it along behind us. Actually it more
like the footprints in the sand when Christ carries us. He doesn’t just carry the armor, but us as well.

Hebrews 7:23-28 KJV
(23) And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
(24) But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
(25) Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he
ever liveth to make intercession for them.
(26) For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and
made higher than the heavens;
(27) Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then
for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
(28) For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was
since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

Before Christ the High Priest would offer sacrifice for sin. We will be getting into more detail next few
lesson. However Christ is the only one that paid once and for all, so there would be no more need for
sacrifice. In other words we do not have to burn sacrifices any longer. Christ paid it when died and
rose again. No one but Christ can make this claim. Priesthood is no longer need to perform the
sacrificial laws. However the priesthood is still need to spread the gospel of Jesus, as well as others and
to be overseers of the body of Christ. Yet none of them are God. None of them are Jesus.