Lesson 3, Part 7 (Video of this lesson follows the notes.)

Malachi 3:10–“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”

Let’s look at the first part of this verse. God tells Israel to bring in the tithes so there will be enough food in His temple. We need to remember here that the tithes were the main source of food for the Levites who worked in the temple.

The Levites had not been given a land grant as such. They had areas allotted for their living spaces. However, their primary work was not to farm or be herdsmen, but to assist the priests on duty each week in the offering of sacrifices. They ate the food that was left over from the sacrifices and tithes brought to the temple. If the people were not bringing in tithes properly, then the workers in the temple would have little to eat while on duty.

Let’s apply this concept of paying tithes to the modern Christian church. If those who attend worship services at a particular location fail to bring in offerings and tithes, then the physical needs of the local pastor, the widows and the orphans will go unmet.

Although the apostle Paul prided himself on not charging for his ministry where he journeyed, he wrote that those involved in ministry to a local body of believers should be supported by the members of the local church body. Allow me to repeat something I brought up in the last video–It is my opinion that if all the members of a local fellowship of followers of Jesus would tithe 10% of their income, the financial responsibilities of that fellowship would be met, with money left over, in all likelihood.

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