Tithes and Offerings
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now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of
the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s
temple was laid, ... from this day will I bless you.”
Verses 18, 19
.
Says the wise man, “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth;
and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to
poverty.”
Proverbs 11:24
. And the same lesson is taught in the New
Testament by the apostle Paul: “He which soweth sparingly shall
reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also
bountifully.” “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that
ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every
good work.”
2 Corinthians 9:6, 8
.
God intended that His people Israel should be light bearers to all the
inhabitants of the earth. In maintaining His public worship they were
bearing a testimony to the existence and sovereignty of the living God.
And this worship it was their privilege to sustain, as an expression of
their loyalty and their love to Him. The Lord has ordained that the
diffusion of light and truth in the earth shall be dependent upon the
efforts and offerings of those who are partakers of the heavenly gift.
He might have made angels the ambassadors of His truth; He might
have made known His will, as He proclaimed the law from Sinai, with
His own voice; but in His infinite love and wisdom He called men to
become colaborers with Himself, by choosing them to do this work.
In the days of Israel the tithe and freewill offerings were needed to
maintain the ordinances of divine service. Should the people of God
give less in this age? The principle laid down by Christ is that our
offerings to God should be in proportion to the light and privileges
enjoyed. “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much
required.”
Luke 12:48
. Said the Saviour to His disciples as He sent
them forth, “Freely ye have received, freely give.”
Matthew 10:8
. As
our blessings and privileges are increased—above all, as we have
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before us the unparalleled sacrifice of the glorious Son of God—
should not our gratitude find expression in more abundant gifts to
extend to others the message of salvation? The work of the gospel, as
it widens, requires greater provision to sustain it than was called for
anciently; and this makes the law of tithes and offerings of even more
urgent necessity now than under the Hebrew economy. If His people
were liberally to sustain His cause by their voluntary gifts, instead of