“Honor the LORD with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase” (Proverbs 3:9).
The word, “honor” in Hebrew is “kabad” (kaw-bad), which means “to be heavy” i.e., "numerous, rich, honorable; causatively, to make weighty, be rich.”
Honor is not something that can just be accomplished with words. You can say, “I honor you” to someone, but true honor has substance and must be manifested.
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is my honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear? said the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, that despise my name. And you say, Wherein have we despised your name?” (Malachi 1:6, AKJ, emphasis added).
We use Malachi 3:10 every Sunday morning to collect the tithe from the people in a church service. However, the book of Malachi was not written to saints; it was written to preachers! “And now, O you priests, this commandment is for you” (Malachi 2:1, emphasis added).
How is it that Abraham and Jacob understood the tithe, even before it was incorporated into the law? When Abraham returned from his battle with the kings in the valley of Siddim, the Scripture says that,
“…Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, …met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually. Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham. But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him” (Hebrews 7:1-10, emphasis added).
For countless years, the tithe has been not only misunderstood, but misplaced and often misapplied. Some people will randomly visit churches and decide that while they are there, they will pay their tithe. The problem with that is that there is no spiritual relationship there. The kingdom of God is governed by and through relationships.
The majority of believers think that their tithe goes into their local church, and out of the congregation’s tithes, a pre-determined portion or salary is to be given to the man of God who oversees the flock. The truth is that the Lord’s tithe was intended for the support of the ministry! “God set apart the tribe of Levi…to stand before him in the ministry…” (Duet. 10:8, DRB, emphasis added). The offerings of the people, not the tithes, were supposed to take care of the church property, etc.
People change churches today like they change their wardrobe. They go to one place for a while and then they go to another place for a while, and wherever they go, they tithe to that particular church. How can you reap a harvest if you are scattering your seed?
There is not one scriptural precedent for tithing to a Church or denomination! I reiterate, the Lord’s tithe was intended for the support of the ministry! The Levites were given the tithes of the people, and the Levites were to tithe to the ministering priests!
The bigger tragedy is that thousands of pastors today are tithing back into their own churches! That doesn’t even make any sense. It is like taking the money out of your left pocket and putting it into your right pocket. That is not tithing; that is re-investing.
Remember, the direction of our giving must always be “up.”
“…observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth” (Hebrews 7:4).
“…without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater” (Hebrews 7:7).
It is a misplacement of the Lord’s tithe, for pastors to tithe “down” into their congregation or to a denominational headquarters. Tithes belong to the apostolic headship that God has set in authority over them. Thereby, connection is made to the headship, so the anointing can flow downward, in due order.
The problem is compounded even more so, as statistics show that the majority of preachers do not tithe. For some uncanny reason, they believe that “the buck stops here” and they are “the end of the line.” However according to the Scripture, the blessing upon the tithing of the people in a congregation is totally contingent on the leader’s obedience in “tithing on the tithe.”
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe. And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress. And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation” (Numbers 18:25-31, emphasis added).
Millions of people around the world tithe to their local church on a weekly basis and yet wonder why they are not being blessed. It is because the pastors are not obeying Malachi 3:10. It is only when the pastor “tithes on the tithe,” that the Lord will count the people as having given ALL to Him! Simply put, if the pastor does not properly tithe on the tithes that he has received, the people will not be blessed!
We must understand apostolic authority in the kingdom of God. The high priest of the Old Testament is equivalent to apostleship in the New Testament. The author of Hebrews called Jesus "the Apostle and High Priest of our profession" (Heb. 3:1). Both of these terms denote an overseeing father in ministry. “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:19-20).
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man (mature manhood), to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we from now on be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16, emphasis added).
It is shocking to realize just how far removed we are from God’s original intention and purpose. Men have organized religion after corporations. They have substituted presidents for apostles, vice presidents for prophets, field representatives for evangelists, counselors for pastors and professors for teachers. We are two millenniums removed from the birth of the Church and we have still not fulfilled Jesus’ ultimate plan for the Church that He said He would build (Matthew 16:18) and that was for it to build the kingdom of God in the earth (Matthew 10:7)!
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing—life forever” (Psa. 133:1-4, NASB, emphasis added).
Impartation does not come by just hearing many different preachers say wonderful and powerful things in many diverse settings. Certainly we need the benefit of all of the five-faceted ministry for our maturation in the body of Christ. However, Elisha and Elijah demonstrate to us that true impartation of the anointing only comes by faithfully following a man of God (2 Kings 2:1-14) who is a “father” (2 Kings 2:12, emphasis added).
The apostle Paul said, “For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (I Cor. 4:15, emphasis added). Paul was a father in ministry to Timothy and Titus. Timothy was circumcised by Paul for the sake of the ministry. A true son in ministry will submit himself to the spiritual authority of and covenant himself with the man of God. Those with no fathers are bastards.
“But if you be without chastisement (discipline), whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons” (Hebrews 12:8).
Everyone in the kingdom is under authority. First and foremost, we are all under the authority of our King, Jesus. Secondarily, we are under and accountable to apostolic authority. There can be no maturation of ministry without it.
Find an apostolic ministry that you can submit to in the Spirit. When I say, "apostolic," I am not referring to a denomination or a particular belief system, but rather the nomenclature of the five-faceted ministry (Eph. 4:11). Be willing to let that ministry person speak truth and revelation into your life and, when necessary, even bring correction, or cut away (circumcise) your “flesh” so you may be holy, honorable and useable in the ministry. After carefully considering the maturity and longevity of that ministry, then give of your honor up to that ministry. That is how impartation works. The anointing always flows down from headship.
There is a terrible apperture in the household of God. Ministry fathers have not been given proper honor. There are those who say that I am their “father” in ministry. However, don’t call me your “father” unless you are willing to honor me and covenant yourself with me. Remember, honor has substance. It is more than just the mere expression of words or laudatory notice. I have spent a lifetime, raising up “sons” (a non-gender term) in ministry. I have prayed with them, wept with them and taught them powerful and glorious truth from the Word of God. I have even walked with some of them through dark and rocky places in their lives and relationships. Yet, only a very few of them show any honor today, and most, even sporadic at that. Many good men of God are suffering today in a breached order that does not give honor where honor is due.
“I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6, emphasis added).
