Now let me sum up a few points from that. First of all, for more than one thousand years, God kept a record of Israel’s giving. He had required them to give the tithe to Him more than a thousand years earlier and then at a certain point He comes up and says, “I’ve kept a record. You’ve been robbing Me.” So, remember, God keeps a record.

Second, keeping back God’s portion is robbery—not robbery of man, but robbery of God. And it brings a curse upon those who do it.

On the other hand, the third point, faithful complete tithing brings a blessing and through the results God is glorified in the blessing that comes on His people.

And fourth, it is a test of our faith and of God’s faithfulness. Note: It has to be done in faith.

Now, God says, “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse.” Let’s consider, for a moment, what is the storehouse and I want to illustrate this from the natural. In the natural, what is the storehouse? I want to suggest to you it’s two things: it’s the place where we get the food we eat and it’s the place from which we obtain seed to sow in the lives of others. Now you, as a Christian, receive your spiritual food from certain source or sources and you receive what you need to sow in the lives of others probably from the same source. So wherever that source is, that’s your storehouse, that’s where you need to bring your tithe. Now, if you belong to a local church which meets those needs, then by all means that’s your storehouse. Be faithful to tithe there. But there are many, many Christians today who are not privileged that way. And you have to consider what is the source of your food and the seed that you sow.

And let me close with a little parable, which I won’t seek to interpret. Normally, you don’t eat in the Holiday Inn and pay your bill at Howard Johnson.

Now, I must go on to point out that tithing is not the end of giving to God, it’s the beginning. It lays a foundation for our systematic, continual giving to God. The Bible also speaks of things in two other main categories: offerings and alms. We really don’t offer our tithe to God because it’s His legal portion. But above our tithe, that which we give is offerings. Look at all the options Israel had and they are stated in Deuteronomy 12:6. God says:

“...bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.”

So, there are tithes plus six specific kinds of offerings. Let me just point them out to you: burnt offerings, sacrifices, special gifts, what you have vowed, freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. In other words, there’s a very wide range of different kinds of offerings that we can give to God. But we don’t offer our tithe, we simply return to God that which is His scriptural portion.

And then, in addition, there are what the Bible calls “alms,” or what is probably called in most places today, “charity.” That is not what we give to God, that is what we give to men who are in need—to the poor and to the afflicted. The Bible has a lot to say about that, a lot more than many Christians have heard. This is what Jesus says in Luke 12:32–34:

“Do not be afraid, little

God’s Plan For Your Money

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