Many people feel ill at ease with the times we live in.  Bad news is on every TV station day in and day out.  People are worrying about our declining economy, and it’s hard to make ends meet with the cost of living increasing week after week.  But God has an economic system that He promises won’t fail.  Genesis 26:1-4 Amplified, teaches us that Issac prospered during famine.

 
“And there was a famine in the land, other than the former famine that was in the days of Abraham.  And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.  And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land, and I will be with you and will favor you with blessings; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.”

 
Gen. 26:12, “Then Issac sowed seed in that land and received in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted and the Lord favored him with blessings.”

 
God has a plan for taking care of us in famine.  He promises to be our provider.   Scripture shows us that God took care of Isaac because of his obedience and the obedience of his father Abraham.

 
Gen. 26: 4-5, “And I will make your descendants to multiply as the stars of the heavens, and I will give to your posterity all these lands (kingdoms), and by your Offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, or by Him bless themselves. (Gen. 22:18; Acts 3:25; Gal. 3:16).  For Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and kept charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws. (Verse 6), And Issac dwelt in Gerar.”

 
God kept His promise to Abraham and blessed Issac because of obedience.  God told Issac to stay in Gerar, so Isaac stayed there and trusted God to take care of his needs in spite of the famine.  God’s provision is always contingent upon our obedience in doing what He tells us to do.

 
Many prophetic words have come forth in the past few years saying we, the church, are crossing over our Jordan.  But what does that really mean?
  
God wants us to receive all He has for us but we must fight to receive it and we must do things God’s way.  All blessings from God come to us through the covenant God made with us.  They can only be received by us through covenant because God always acts through covenant.  It is the language of God.  The covenant requires that we fulfill our part of the agreement.

 
The Scripture references in Malachi 3:8-10, allude to the foundation of our covenant with God pertaining to our finances.  These are the Scriptures most often used in teaching about giving.  They promise blessing for those that tithe and teach us that those who aren’t tithing are cursed with a curse from God.  If these Scriptures are truth from God why aren’t Christians who tithe being blessed as the Scripture teaches they will be?   Doesn’t the word say, “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 for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”

 
Since God cannot lie, why are so many Christians struggling?  Do you know many Christians who have received such a blessing that there was not room to contain it?  There are many reasons why God may allow a dry season, or allow us to go through  trials.  When we find ourselves struggling financially and we don’t know the reason, it’s always a good idea to dig into the word and see if we are out of God’s order in any way.

 
The word of God teaches us that we will go through trials, tribulations, and many challenges in this life.  Going through the challenges I’ve faced has been very difficult bit God has brought me through them, and in the end I’ve come out a much more resilient person.  I don’t know if I’d have learned to war with the truth of God’s word so effectively if I hadn’t been literally forced to by difficult situations.

 
I’d like to explore some possibilities for financial difficulty today because the Scriptures also say, God wants to bless us and if we aren’t blessed let’s ask God why, and see what we can do about it.

 
Jesus spoke about the tithe in Matthew 23, and said, “Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of your mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law; justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

 
Jesus told the leaders of the synagogue they had emphasized the tithe and ignored all the other principles that affect the tithe.  They left the people impoverished while they hypocritically paid their tithe, thinking that was all that was required of them.

 
I want to dig a little deeper into the Scriptures and talk about this principle:  God does not bless a sacrifice that’s offered on an unclean altar.  We find many accounts of people who had impure altars in the Bible and many different reasons for their defilement.  But one consistent thing throughout the Scriptures is the principle that when an altar is unclean, God does not accept the sacrifice on that altar.

 
If our tithe and offerings are given to a church with an unclean altar the same holds true today.  God is not going to multiply and bless your tithe and offerings if they are given to a church with an unclean altar.

 
One example of a defiled altar is found in First Kings 12:25-30,  where Jeroboam departs from God’s plan and appoints priests who are not Levites.

 
 “He (Jeroboam) made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.  Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar.  So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made.  And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made.”

 
Jeroboam duplicated the same form of worship the Levites had instituted.  He even  worshipped on the same meeting days, but he did not follow God’s plan.  He deviated from God’s plan and created his own plan when he appointed priests from those who were not Levites.

 
First Kings 13:1-2 “And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.  Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord:  Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.”

 
Jeroboam would die on the altar he created as God’s judgment fell upon him.   Instead of God’s fire falling and consuming the sacrifice, being a sweet aroma to God, the ashes on the unclean altar just burned down or they were poured out.  They were not accepted by God and instead of blessing, the unclean altar brought death.

 
Where we give our tithe and offerings identifies us with that alter.  If the altar is clean and made by God then the offerings are blessed.  If it’s unclean they will not be blessed.  Matthew 10:41, “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward.”  If we’re giving to an impure ministry, that impurity will come upon us, and if we’re giving to a pure altar, that purity will come upon us.  Those in authority over you must maintain clean hands and a pure heart.

 
The reason for bringing the tithe and offerings into the storehouse was so there would be “food” in God’s house.  The tithe was set apart to be support for the Levites.  In New Testament times the Levites are those who are called by God to the five fold ministry.  New Testament ministries listed in Ephesians 4 are among those who qualify as Levites today.  They are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

 
Sadly, most churches today give a portion of the tithe to the pastor.  The pastor gets paid and the church bills get paid, but to often the apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers give sacrificially of their time and don’t receive anything for it.  Many times this practice causes those who have a calling to take care of God’s house to become impoverished and set aside ministry so they can feed their families.  The churches then suffer as they don’t have all the leadership gifts needed to equip and release the body.  This kind of activity makes a church out of order.  Some churches, when the funds are low, pay the church bills and the pastors end up getting nothing or very little because there’s not enough to go around.  This practice brings no honor to the pastors and also makes a church out of order.  I believe the Lord would release His supply into hands of those He’s called to service if the leaders would take a look at His design and duplicate what He says to do in the Scriptures.

 
The message being preached in most churches today is, “Bring the whole tithe and offerings into the storehouse.”  Which for years has been taught is the local church, but the whole truth has not been taught.  In Old Testament times the tithe went to support the Levites and offerings went to build the sanctuary or temple.  God is consistent, and in His plan the meeting place was built and maintained by offerings, while the Levites were supported by tithes.

 
Many of today’s modern teachers say that the tithe was Old Testament and therefore is not applicable for the New Testament church because we are not under the law.  In actuality the tithe was instituted 400 years earlier than the law.  Hebrews 7 teaches us,  Jesus still receives tithes.  “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God met Abraham as he returned from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.  And Abraham gave to him a tenth portion of all (the spoil).  He is, as his name when translated indicates, king of righteousness, and also means king of peace.”  Without (record of) father or mother, or ancestral line, neither with beginning of days nor ending of life, but resembling the Son of God, he continues to be a priest without interruption and without successor.  Now observe, and consider how great (a personage) this was to whom even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth (the topmost of the pick of the heap) of the spoils.

 
And it is true that those descendants of Levi who are charged with the priestly office are commanded in the Law to take tithes from the people-which means from their brethren-from these descended from Abraham.  But this person who has not their Levitical ancestry received tithes from Abraham (himself) and blessed him who possessed the promises (of God).

 
In Deuteronomy 26:12, God holds the individual responsible for the distribution of his tithe.  God always intended man to give his tithe and offerings out of relationship with Him.  All Christians should be praying and asking God where the tithe is supposed to go.

 
He will show us who the Levites are by the leading of the Spirit.  The New Testament believers are the church of Jesus Christ and not a building.  The Levites are those who are called of God to do His work, they are referred to as the five fold ministry gifts to the body.  Remember, they are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.  God will show His children where to go to church and where to put their tithe and offerings.

 
Deuteronomy 12:5, “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His habitation:  And there you shall go.  Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see.”

 
After the people had given their tithe God expected the people to look to heaven and command a blessing.  Deuteronomy 26:15, “Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

 
The pre-requisite for commanding the blessing of God was obedience to His word.  In order to receive His promises we must be obedient to do whatever he has told us to do.  When we have done everything He’s asked of us, then we can stand before Him, and ask for the blessing He has already promised to give.

 
I’d like to suggest that everyone who has been struggling with financial challenges spend a few moments of their time and ask God if their tithe and offerings have been given to those with clean altars.

 
The following declaration prayer is a suggested for commanding your blessing from God:

 
Declaration Prayer:

 
Father God, I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, and ask you to release into my life the blessings you have promised in your word.  I have given my tithe and offerings in accordance to your word and you said that if I bring my tithe and offerings to you, that you would pour out a blessing on my life that there would not be room enough to contain it.  So as I come before you today Lord, I am believing you will bring forth:
          Jobs and better jobs
          Raises, bonuses and promotions
          Benefits
          Sales and commissions
          Favorable settlements
          Estates and inheritances
          Interest, income and investments
          Rebates, refunds and returns
          Checks in the mail
          Gifts and surprises
          Finding things of value and money
          Debts paid off
          Expenses decreased and cost of living decreases
          Blessings and increase

 
Thank you Lord for meeting all of my financial needs that I may have more than enough to give into the Kingdom of God and promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

 
Hallelujah!