Table of Contents

Tithing

Final Thoughts

About the Author

Connect with Russell

Bonus Chapter: The Plan of God for His Friends

The Truth About Tithing

The Tithe According to the New Covenant

Russell M. Stendal

Click this link to listen to Wrestling With God podcast interview with Russell

Tithing

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, In what have we robbed thee? In the tithes and the offerings.

9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye, even this whole nation, have robbed me.

10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, and there shall be food in my house, and prove me now in this, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

11 And I will reprehend the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of the ground; neither shall the vine in the field abort, said the LORD of hosts.

12 And all the Gentiles shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, said the LORD of hosts (Malachi 3:8-12).

We are all familiar with the above Scripture. Verse 10 is cited with great frequency (just before the offering) in many church services. Yet, exactly what is referred to here by the phrase all the tithes? What is the storehouse? Why do so many ministers of the gospel tell us one minute that we are not under the law, but under grace and in the next minute insist on a legal application of tithing?

Some would answer by saying that Abraham was an example of the practice of tithing before the giving of the Law, when he gave the tithe of the spoils of battle to Melchisedec after the slaughter of the kings. But if this justifies Old Testament tithing in the New Covenant, then what about Old Testament circumcision which was also instituted by Abraham before the giving of the Law? Paul makes it very clear that the circumcision of the New Covenant is the circumcision of the heart, and he warns against those who would force the Gentiles to submit to a legalistic Old Testament application of this truth (Romans 2:26-28; 4:9-12; 1 Corinthians 7:19; Galatians 5:6; Philippians 3:2-3; Colossians 2:11; Titus 1:10).

There are only seven references to tithes in the New Testament (Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42; 18:12; Hebrews 7:5-6, 8-9). All of these refer to the Old Covenant and not directly to the New Covenant. The three references in the Gospels all coincide in pointing out that the giving of tithes does not qualify a person for the blessing of the New Covenant.

The four verses in Hebrews 7 point out that the Levitical priesthood that received the tithes has been changed to the Melchisedec order of the priesthood of all believers in Christ under the Lord Jesus, and that a change in the priesthood also means a change in the law. Therefore, anyone wishing to implement a legal application of tithing in the church is forced to use Old Testament Scriptures (such as Malachi 3:10) because the New Testament Scriptures focus on tithing from an entirely different angle. There are no recorded examples of tithing (Old Testament style) in the New Testament church in Scripture.

In the King James Bible, the word tithe or tithes is used in thirty-two verses (twenty-five in the Old Testament and seven in the New Testament). The word firstfruits is also used in thirty-two verses (twenty-four in the Old Testament and eight in the New Testament). In the Old Testament, the firstfruits are part of the tithe. The words firstfruits and tithe are related or equivalent in many passages (check this out).

In the Old Testament, for two years the tithe was to be taken before the Lord in Jerusalem and:

28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year and shalt lay it up within thy gates: (Deuteronomy 14:28).

12 When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thy fruits the third year, which is the year of tithing and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled (Deuteronomy 26:12).

I have never heard any of our modern-day clergy teach that every third year each individual should store up their tithe within their own gates and share it with the stranger (the unsaved), the fatherless, and the widow, as well as with the Levite. Also, according to 1 Chronicles 29:5-9, the temple was not constructed with tithe money but with freewill offerings. There is no precedent of any sort in the Old Testament for using tithe money for constructing buildings. And under the New Covenant, there is no example or reference to material buildings at all, period. In the New Covenant we are the temple of the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16).

In the New Testament, we are the firstfruits; we are part of the tithe that belongs to the LORD (1 Corinthians 7:23).

16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

18 He, of his own will, has begotten us with the word of truth, that we should be the firstfruits of his creatures

(James 1:16-18).

3 and they sang as it were a new song before the throne and before the four animals and the elders; and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth.

4 These are those who are not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These are redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

5 And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without blemish before the throne of God (Revelation 14:3-5).

Under the Old Covenant, we were taught that thou shalt not kill. Under the New Covenant, we are taught that whosoever is angry with his brother out of control shall be in danger of the judgment.

Under the Old Covenant, we were taught that thou shalt not commit adultery. Under the New Covenant, we are taught that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Under the Old Covenant, we were taught to Remember the sabbath day, to sanctify it. Under the New Covenant, we are to enter into His rest every day and desist from our own works. Therefore, Paul writes that we are to let no one therefore judge you in food or in drink or in respect of a feast day or of the new moon or of the sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come (Colossians 2:16-3:5).

Under the Old Covenant we were to give a tithe. Under the New Covenant we are to give ourselves.

Let us take another look at the full context of Malachi 3 in the light of the New Covenant.

17 Ye [the modern day church of the Laodiceans] have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, In what have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that does evil pleases the LORD, and he delights in them; or, Where is the God of judgment [when you trust doctrines and traditions of men rather than the Word of God]?

1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple [His people], and the angel of the covenant, whom ye desire: behold, he comes, saith the LORD of the hosts. [The second coming of the LORD is at hand.]

2 But who may abide the time of his coming [the day of the LORD]? and who shall stand when he appears? for he shall be like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap [(2 Peter 3)]:

3 And he shall sit to refine and to purify the silver: for he shall purify the sons of Levi [the New Covenant is the priesthood of all believers, a kingdom of priests] and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

4 Then the offering of Judah [those who praise God] and Jerusalem [the city of peace] shall be pleasant unto the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years [as in the early church].

5 And I will come near unto you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers [against the false prophets with religious spirits in the church who build their own kingdoms with tithes and offerings] and against the adulterers [those who make promiscuous use of the name of the Lord] and against false swearers [those who take the name of the Lord in vain] and against those [who run the church like a business franchise] that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger [the unbeliever] from his right [to hear a pure message], and do not fear me, saith the LORD of the hosts. [The fear of the LORD is sadly lacking in most of the churches today.]

6 For I am the LORD, I have not changed; therefore, ye sons of Jacob [Jacob is an unconverted Israel trying to get the inheritance of the kingdom by his own astuteness] have not been consumed.

7 Even from the days of your fathers, ye had departed from my ordinances [from God’s way of doing things] and had never kept them. Return unto me [like Jacob did at Peniel when the Angel of God crippled his natural walk in the flesh], and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of the hosts. But ye said, In what shall we return?

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, In what have we robbed thee? In the tithes and the offerings. [The modern day church has taken the people of God (who are the tithes which are to be offered unto God under the New Covenant) and enslaved them in the kingdoms of man instead of releasing them into the liberty of the sons of God.]

9 Ye [the church] are cursed with a curse: for ye, even this whole nation, have robbed me [even every denomination].

10 Bring ye all the tithes [all those who are firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb] into the storehouse [of a vital, nourishing, personal, hearing relationship with God], and there shall be food in my house [Jesus, the bread of life, wants to make us like Himself so that we can be food for the nations], and prove me now in this, saith the LORD of the hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

11 And I will reprehend the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of the ground [of the church]; neither shall the vine in the field abort [the fruit shall come to maturity], said the LORD of the hosts.

12 And all the Gentiles [the unconverted] shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land [of people overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit], said the LORD of the hosts.

13 Your words have prevailed against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken against thee?

14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his law and that we walk mournfully before the LORD of the hosts?

15 We say, therefore, now, that blessed are the proud and even that those that work wickedness are prospered; those that tempted God have escaped. [Those ministers and ministries who have little or no fear of the Lord seem to have obtained great prosperity in the eyes of the world and of much of the church.]

16 Then those that feared the LORD spoke one to another, and the LORD hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for those that feared the LORD and for those that think in his name.

17 And they shall be mine, said the LORD of the hosts, in that day [the day of the LORD] when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him.

18 Therefore become ye converted, and he shall make a difference between the just and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that did not serve him.

1 For, behold, the day comes [the day of the LORD is upon us] that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble; and the day that comes shall burn them up, said the LORD of the hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. [The judgment that begins in the house of the Lord shall leave a clean, purified church without spot or wrinkle ready for the return of our Lord.] (Malachi 2:17-4:1).

It is sad and ironic that many of the very ministers and ministries that zealously preach tithing by laying a religious guilt trip on the people are themselves guilty in God’s eyes of the very thing they are warning others about! They warn others about the consequences of robbing God of His tithes and offerings, while they themselves are busy taking the people of God, who are the firstfruits under the New Covenant (the first of the tithe that belongs to God), to themselves for the purpose of building their own kingdoms in God’s name.

They make proud and arrogant statements such as, “What do you prefer? Ninety percent (of your income) with blessing or one hundred percent with a curse?” We can’t bribe God. He isn’t interested in ten percent of our money. He wants us, and if He were to require all of our money, we should give it. But Jesus didn’t want the rich young ruler’s money for Himself. He told him to give it to the poor. Jesus wanted the rich young ruler himself, who first needed to be delivered from being rich and from being a ruler so he might learn to depend upon God and become a servant.

When someone comes in with a desperate need and the pastor asks the person if they are tithing their income to the church, some pastors refuse to pray for the person if the answer is no. One minister replied and said, “How can I pray for you if you don’t tithe to the church? I’m not so anointed that I can bless what God has cursed.”

I believe that this dedicated minister is sincerely mistaken. Contrast his statement with Samuel’s reply to the people when they became unsure of themselves after they had asked for (and received) King Saul (in the midst of their rebellion against God).

23 Moreover as for me, in no wise should I sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you, but I will teach you the good and the right way (1 Samuel 12:23).

The good and the right way refers to the LORD alone leading His people (Deuteronomy 32:12). Under the New Covenant, we are to be led by the Spirit of God. Ministry is set in place by God for the purpose of joining the individual to God and diligently watching to make sure that the individual remains joined to the Lord to edify the body of Christ.

The very authority and autonomy of the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit is the vicar of Christ) is challenged and rebelled against by those who would have the individual blindly pay a tithe into the coffers of their ministry or church instead of encouraging the individual to hear from God on a personal basis in all things including finances. When we hear from God for ourselves, the voice of God, then the personal word of the Lord to us becomes a creative word and enables us to do whatever He tells us if we receive the word with faith. The spoken word of the Lord contains all of the grace, power, and provision necessary for us to victoriously comply with what He says and resist the wiles of the enemy. For Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

When the carnal desire to have a king like the other denomi-nations sets in and men begin to yield to the temptation to make us a name, lest we be scattered, God has chosen time and time again to yield to the desires of the people while at the same time He admonishes that:

11 This will be the right of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for himself [he will “father” your sons], for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariot.

12 And he will appoint captains over thousands and captains over fifties [human organization and bureaucracy will set in] and will set them to plough his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and munitions of his chariots. [Man sends forth the workers and warriors instead of God sending them forth into the field of evangelism and into the spiritual battles.]

13 And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries and to be cooks and to be bakers. [Man sets up Bible schools and seminaries to cook up all sorts of doctrine inspired by the soul of man.]

14 And he will take your fields and your vineyards and your good oliveyards and give them to his servants. [Man distributes the leadership and authority in the churches as if he were running a business franchise.]

15 And he will take the tenth [the tithe] of your seed and of your vineyards to give to his officers and to his servants.

16 And he will take your menservants and your maidservants and your good young men and your asses and do his work with them [instead of God’s work].

17 He will also take the tenth [the tithe] of your sheep, and finally ye shall be his servants [slaves].

18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you, and the LORD will not hear you in that day [of unanswered prayers].

19 Nevertheless, the people refused to hear the voice of Samuel, and they said, No, but we will have a king over us

20 that we also may be like all the Gentiles and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.

21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.

22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and place a king over them. Then Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go each one unto his city (1 Samuel 8:11-22).

When man is king, every man ends up in his own religious city (kingdom). When God is the King, we come into the City of God.

The kingdom of Saul has had its day in the church. The day of man’s control is almost over. The day of the Lord is at hand, and the New Covenant will be fulfilled in and through a people who have fully entered into the new priesthood in Christ. Let us look at this in the book of Hebrews:

13 For when God promised unto Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,

14 saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee. [How can we tap into this blessing?]

19 which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters even into that which is within the veil [directly into the presence of God].

20 where our precursor, Jesus, has entered for us and is made high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec (Hebrews 6:13-14, 19-20).

1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings [after delivering Lot and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah] and blessed him,

2 to whom Abraham also gave a tenth part of all [the goods of Lot and of all that belonged to the kings and to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah]; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is King of peace [the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who fits this description];

3 without father, without mother, without lineage, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God; abides a priest continually.

4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

5 And verily those that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they have come out of the loins of Abraham;

6 but he whose descent is not counted in those took tithes from Abraham and blessed him that had the promises.

7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.

8 In the same manner, here men that die take tithes; but there he received them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.

9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who received tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. [It is important to note that Abraham did not receive the tithes; Melchisedec did. Abraham took nothing for himself and waited, a pilgrim and a stranger in the land, for a yet future promise because he had a vision of a city whose builder and maker is God (Genesis 14:22-15:1; Hebrews 11)].

10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.

11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec and not be called after the order of Aaron? [Abraham was perfected by grace through faith, not through law.]

12 For the priesthood being transposed, there is made of necessity a translation also of the law [from the law of sin and death to the law of the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2), that we might be judged by the law of liberty (James 1:25; 2:12)].

13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertains to another tribe, of which no one presided at the altar.

14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

15 And it is yet far more manifest: if there arises another priest who is like unto Melchisedec,

16 who is not made according to the law of a carnal commandment, but by the power of an indissoluble [or eternal] life;

17 for the testimony is of this manner, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before [including the Old Testament tithe] for the weakness and unprofitableness of it;

19 for the law made nothing perfect [Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42 and 18:12 make it clear that tithing under law could not bring anyone into the blessing of the New Covenant], but the bringing in of a better hope did, by which we draw near unto God [if we offer ourselves unto God – through the high priestly ministration of the Lord Jesus Christ – we can draw nigh boldly unto the throne of grace].

20 And even more, inasmuch as it is not without an oath

21 (for the others indeed without an oath were made priests, but this one with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord swore and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec);

22 by so much better testament [under which we are the firstfruits or the first part of the tithe that is to be given unto Him] is Jesus made surety.

23 And the others, truly, were many priests because they were not able to continue by reason of death:

24 but this man, because he continues forever, has the intransmissible priesthood.

25 Therefore he is able also to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.

26 For it was expedient that we have such a high priest, who is holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens,

27 who needs not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then for the people’s; for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

28 For the law makes men high priests who have weakness; but the word of the oath, which was after the law, has made perfect a Son forever (Hebrews 7:1-28).

1 Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum: We have such a high priest who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

2 a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man [take note that there is a true house and an imitation house].

3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, it is also necessary that this one have somewhat also to offer.

4 For if he were on earth, he should not even be a priest, being present still the other priests that offer gifts according to the law,

5 (who serve as an example and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed unto thee in the mount);

6 but now a more excellent ministry is his, in that he is the mediator of a better testament, which was established upon better promises.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place should have been sought for the second.

8 For finding fault with them [with those under the law], he said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new testament with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

9 not according to the testament that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my testament, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

10 For this is the testament that I will ordain to the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my laws into their soul and write them upon their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

11 and no one shall teach his neighbour nor anyone his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest [and this is still not the case].

12 For I will reconcile their iniquities and their sins, and their iniquities I will remember no more.

13 In that he says, New, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:1-13).

Throughout this present age of the church, man has clung tenaciously to elements of the decayed Old Covenant and has not allowed them to vanish away. Man has divided the priesthood of all believers into clergy and laity. In many cases, the clergy have come between the people and God, interrupting and even usurping the role of the Holy Spirit who is the vicar of Christ on the earth (John 14:15-18; 16:12-15). Therefore, the promise of verse 11 above has not yet become a reality in the church. When man usurps the leadership of God, man invariably focuses on money instead of on mercy (verse 12).

Paul wrote Timothy that the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:6-12). When the love of money begins to infiltrate the ministry under the guise of “Think of the wonderful outreach we could have if we could only get these people to tithe,” or “For every ten tithers we can support a full-time minister or missionary,” or “If our people would only tithe, we could build a larger sanctuary (storehouse),” then the root of all evil gets mixed in with all the seemingly noble intentions. Within a few years (or a generation at most), those who go this route invariably find themselves alienated from the mercy of God in a church that is now spiritually dead or dying even in the midst of financial prosperity.

The love of money, which is the root of all evil and which insidiously refuses to relinquish the Old Testament doctrine of Levitical tithing, is diametrically opposed to the fear of the LORD which is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the LORD is the only thing that will restore the true blessing of God to His people instead of the curse described in Malachi 3:9 (the actual state of most of the church). For the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon those that fear him (Psalm 103:11, 13, 17).

When we understand that we are the tithe, the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb, then it follows that everything that belongs to us must be put at the feet of the Lord and administered according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Instead of ten tithers supporting one full-time minister Old Testament style, under the New Covenant, one [could] chase a thousand, and two put ten thousands to flight! (Deuteronomy 32:30).

The promises of the New Covenant have been delayed in their fulfillment due to man’s pride and arrogance, but they shall be fulfilled because the Word of the Lord shall not return void. It is important that we understand that God’s promises are conditional and that the blessings of the New Covenant will not be released by fulfilling the conditions of the Old Covenant. Under the New Testament, sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ, it is not a tithe of our worldly goods that qualifies us for the blessing, but rather we must be crucified with Christ if we are to enter into the blessing of the life of faith (Galatians 2:20). We must place ourselves on the altar of God and remain there as living sacrifices if we are to be transformed by the power of God (Romans 12:1-2).

God knew that man would always prefer to remain under a covenant of law instead of under one of grace, so he made provision for the time of the end:

28 when the consumption comes to an end, righteousness shall overflow, because a short sentence will the Lord execute upon the earth (Romans 9:28).

Here Paul is actually quoting Isaiah 10:22 (the translation here, via Greek into English, comes out slightly different than the original). Isaiah 10 starts out like this:

1 Woe unto those that establish unrighteous laws and that willfully prescribe tyranny [woe unto them who turn the covenant of grace into one of law (Matthew 23)].

2 to turn aside the poor from right judgment and to take away the right from the afflicted of my people that widows may be their prey and that they may rob the fatherless!

3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation and in the desolation which shall come from far? To whom will ye flee for help and where will ye leave your glory? (Isaiah 10:1-3).

Under the Old Covenant, the tithes were to feed the needy, the widows, the fatherless, and the stranger, in addition to the Levites. Under the New Covenant, we are the provision of God for the needy of the world. The idea that we can pay one-tenth of our income to the church of our choice and then spend the remaining ninety percent any fool way we please is from the enemy.

If we can be lured back under the law of sin and death, the Devil is the clear beneficiary. The New Covenant is a TOTAL commitment so that we might enter into the law of the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2), that we might be judged by the law of liberty (James 1:25; 2:12).

In the early church, they sold their possessions and gave everything. One exception to this is mentioned for our edification: Ananias and Sapphira sold some property and pretended to give all, while they secretly kept a little bit back for themselves. Maybe they gave ninety percent and kept ten percent. After they both fell down dead before Peter for attempting to deceive the Holy Spirit, the Scripture says that great fear of the LORD fell on the entire church and on everyone who heard the story (Acts 5:1-11).

Isaiah 10 prophesies this same sort of thing for the day of the Lord at the time of the end. Here is the context regarding the portion that Paul quoted in Romans 9:28:

21 The remnant shall become converted, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea [Abraham was promised two kinds of descendants, natural ones as the sands of the sea and spiritual ones as the stars of the heaven (Genesis 15:5; 22:17; 26:4; 32:12)], yet the remnant of them shall become converted; when the consumption comes to an end, righteousness shall overflow [the judgment of God is upon the natural man that He might bring forth the spiritual man].

23 For the Lord GOD of the hosts shall make a consumption [total judgment] and an end in the midst of all the land [the people of God] (Isaiah 10:21-23).

The judgment that begins in the house of the LORD is clarified even more in Isaiah 28.

1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim [Ephraim means double fruitfulness, here applied to those mentioned in Malachi 3:15] and to the open flower of the beauty of their glory [Isaiah 40:6-8; 2 Peter 1:17-21] which is upon the head of the fertile valley of those that are overcome with wine [drunk on the power that they wield over the people of God]!

2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one [the true body of Christ of which the Lord Jesus is the head] who as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing shall cast down to the earth with the hand. [Up until now in the age of grace, the age of Pentecost, the Word has fallen as the rain, the early rain and the latter rain which waters (prospers) all the seeds of the garden (good or bad). Now, at the beginning of the day of the Lord, the Word will fall like hail and lightning (Exodus 9:18-26; Revelation 8:7)].

3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

4 And the fading flower of the beauty of their glory, which is upon the head of the fertile valley, shall be as the early fig, which comes first before the other fruits of the summer; which when he that looks upon it sees it; as soon as he has it is in his hand, he eats it up.

5 In that day the LORD of the hosts shall be for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people,

6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sits upon the throne of judgment, and for strength to those that turn the battle to the gate.

7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. [The headiness of the kingdoms of man within the church has taken its toll among the “priests” and the “prophets,” producing a terrible hangover in the end.]

8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. [This is what the kingdoms of man with all the ornate cathedrals, chapels, ministries, installations, and institutions look like now in the eyes of God.]

9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Those that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts.

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little [we must be weaned from the church of man if we are to mature in the Lord]:

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue he will speak to this people [in the language of the Spirit (1 John 2:27)].

12 To whom he said, This is the rest with which ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. [He is the rest, and He is the refreshing, and He remains outside the door of the church of the Laodiceans knocking to see if they will let Him in (Revelation 3:14-22).]

13 But the word of the LORD shall be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken. [Judas fell over backwards at the presence of the Lord; John fell on his face as though dead. Today both options are still viable.]

14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that have taken rule over this people which is in Jerusalem.

15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement [those who think that their doctrine will save them]; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: [Our doctrine cannot save us even if it is true, much less if it is false. Only Jesus Christ as sovereign Lord can save us.]

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: [Jesus Christ as the only LORD and MASTER is that cornerstone and woe to those who reject Him by placing doctrines or traditions in His place] he that believes [in total commitment] shall not make hast. [He shall stand firm and victorious and not have to flee from anyone or anything in the evil day.]

17 Judgment also will I lay to the line and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail [of the true Word] shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters [of judgment] shall overflow the hiding place.

18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

19 From the time that it goes forth, it shall take you: for it shall come suddenly, by day and by night: and it shall be that the terror only causes one to understand the report.

20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it [there is no peace for the wicked]: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. [Woe to the sons that leave, saith the LORD, to make counsel, but not of me; to cover themselves with a covering, and not by my spirit, adding sin unto sin (Isaiah 30:1).]

21 For the LORD shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act [as when Joshua commanded the sun to stand still.]

22 Now therefore be ye not mockers lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of the hosts that consumption and destruction are determined upon the whole earth (Isaiah 28:1-22).

It is interesting to note that the very first time that the word tenth (the root for the word tithe) is used in Scripture, it is at the end of the judgment of the world by the flood.

5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen (Genesis 8:5).

The tithe, or firstfruits unto the Lord, is represented by the use of the word tenth throughout Scripture. Here the tops of the mountains are the first thing seen after the judgment. They are seen in the tenth month. This is prophetic also of the judgment by fire at the time of the end, during which the first thing that is seen are one hundred and forty-four thousand standing with the Lamb on Mount Sion, having the Father’s name written on their foreheads. The tenth or tithe is prophetic of the true remnant of the redeemed all through the Bible.

The word tithe is used in thirty-two verses in the King James Bible, and the word tenth is used in sixty-eight verses (one hundred verses all together, which is symbolic of the plan of God). The word firstfruits is also used in thirty-two verses in Scripture, and the firstfruits are part of the tithe. The meanings of the two words overlap somewhat.

If we add up the occurrences of all three words (tithe, tenth, and firstfruits), the total is one hundred thirty-two or two times sixty-six. Sixty-six is the number that is symbolic of the Word of God (there are sixty-six books in the Bible), and two speaks of a corporate body separated unto God. One hundred thirty-two, therefore, is symbolic of the Word of God becoming a reality in a corporate body (the body of Christ). This is the bottom line. This is the true meaning of the tithe under the New Covenant: That we might be redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb (Revelation 14:4).

The sixty-seventh verse in the Bible to use the word tenth is found in Revelation.

13 And in the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell [this is the tithe, or remnant that belongs to the Lord and is taken by Him], and in the earthquake were slain the names of seven thousand men; [The original literally says that the personal names of seven thousand were slain. This is the prophetic fulfillment of the seven thousand in 1 Kings 19:18 that did not bow the knee to Baal.] and the others were frightened and [the fear of the Lord is returned to the city of God so that they] gave glory to the God of heaven [instead of taking it for themselves like so many in our modern church of the Laodiceans] (Revelation 11:13).

A name is equivalent to nature in Scripture. From the beginning, everything was named according to its nature. If we are to come forth in the name (nature) of God, then our own name (our old nature) has to die. When we become the tithe that is given completely over unto God, when we become the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb, then He can eradicate our old nature and write the name of God upon our foreheads so we can stand on Mount Sion with the Lamb.

Final Thoughts

Abraham and Lot are also types and shadows of that which is spiritually represented by firstfruits and tithes (Genesis 14-19). After the separation of Abraham and Lot, when Abraham chose the high ground, and Lot chose the low, fertile valley of the cities of Sodom (Genesis 13:10-13), Lot (along with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah) was taken captive by four kings.

Abraham, with his 318 servants, came to the rescue and saved Lot and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, recovering all of their goods (Genesis 14:14-16). Next, the king of Sodom came out to meet Abraham, and in the context of this meeting, Melchisedec appears in the scene and blesses Abraham (he was called Abram at that time). After receiving the blessing, Abraham gave him [Melchisedec] tithes of all (Genesis 14:20).

Note here that the blessing came before the tithes were given. Note that the tithes were not paid; they were given (reflecting free will or grace instead of law). Also note that the tithes were of the spoils of battle that in reality were the goods of Lot and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The end result of all of this was that Lot and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were saved by God through Abraham (Genesis 14:19-20), and the tithes of all the goods of Lot and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were voluntarily given by Abraham to Melchisedec (who is the Lord Jesus Christ according to Hebrews 7) after Abraham received the blessing.

The salvation that God ministered unto the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (who are symbolic of the religious world) through Abraham did not last very long because they failed to walk in it. Only Lot, in his righteous heart, felt bad as he witnessed their sin and perversion. Sodom, the home of Lot, is equated in typology with religious Jerusalem: the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified (Revelation 11:8).

Right about the time that Isaac, the promised manchild, was conceived, the judgment of Sodom was in progress (Genesis 18). Abraham interceded for Sodom and convinced the LORD to spare the city if He found ten righteous men in it (Genesis 18:32). When God visited the city, He only found one man with a righteous heart, Lot. God only found a tithe of what would have been required to save the city. He only found Lot instead of the ten righteous men that Abraham was confident were there. Lot became the tithe that was taken by the LORD from the city of Sodom just before it was totally and eternally destroyed by the judgment of God (in type and shadow this lines up with Revelation 11:13 regarding the judgment of the city of religion).

The fact that the men of Sodom had been saved by God on a previous occasion and had paid the tithe of all their material goods (through the ministry of Abraham) unto Melchisedec (Christ), still did not save them from being consumed in the judgment of God when the time came for God Himself to visit their city. Their conduct toward the angels of God was clearly evil (Genesis 19:5). This same scene was repeated in substance during the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to Jerusalem (resulting in the total destruction of the city in AD 70) and could be repeated regarding the entire world at the time of the second coming which is very near. The outcome of this is still to be determined (Malachi 4:6).

Looking at all of this from a slightly different angle, if Sodom also represents the natural man (the man of sin) which must be completely destroyed by the appearing of the Lord, then Lot would represent the soul that God wants to save. Even so, the soul must be brought into submission to the LORD and dealt with. It must be restored and brought to maturity by the Holy Spirit in the New Man (Christ) if it is to become fruitful and multiply and inherit the promise to reign and rule with Him.

At the time of the end, God will use a firstfruits company for the ministry of deliverance and intercession just as He used Abraham in the example cited above. God will also take His tithe unto Himself (of all that are truly His) out of the city of religion as the final judgment falls on our present-day, apostate church, just as He removed righteous Lot from Sodom.

There is another major difference between Abraham and Lot that is not readily apparent. The seed of Abraham (Christ) is to inherit the promise. This seed (the many-membered body of Christ with the Lord Jesus as the head) is to be as the stars of the heaven. These are the meek that shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

On the other hand, the seed of the sons of Lot are not to enter into the congregation of the Lord even unto the tenth generation.

2 A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.

3 An Ammonite or Moabite [descendants of the sons of the incestuous daughters of Lot] shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever (Deuteronomy 23:2-3).

There are many today who claim the church as their mother, but God is not their father. The daughters of Lot provided their own father instead of trusting God to replace their husbands who perished in the destruction of Sodom (the young men who thought Lot and the angels were joking when they tried to warn them).

There are many in the church today who have been fathered by righteous men, who have been separated unto God and delivered from the city of religion, even as Lot was separated and delivered from Sodom. Yet this will not fully qualify them to enter into the true congregation of the Lord. Those who are truly fathered by God must be disciplined, corrected, and chastised directly by God (see Hebrews 12:6-7). Ezekiel writes about a Levitical priesthood that will not be allowed to come into the presence of God. Only the sons of Zadok of the order of Mel-chisedec (in Hebrew sedec is the same as Zadoc) will be allowed to minister unto the Lord.

4 Then brought he me toward the north gate in front of the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD; and I fell upon my face [the glory of the LORD is about to be restored to His true house and this will cause His true servants to fall on their faces before Him].

5 And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, pay attention, and behold with thine eyes and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD [the ways of the LORD] and all its laws; and pay attention to the entering in of the house and to every going forth from the sanctuary [learn to walk in the Spirit].

6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus hath the Lord GOD said: O ye house of Israel, let all your abominations cease.

7 In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh to be in my sanctuary to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations [you have changed the New Covenant into another Old Covenant, bringing the curse of the law upon the church instead of the blessing of Abraham].

8 And ye have not kept the charge of my holy things; but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves [taking tithes and offerings unto yourselves].

9 Thus hath the Lord GOD said; No son of a stranger, uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh shall enter into my sanctuary, of any sons of strangers that are among the children of Israel. [No one still under the control of the flesh or of the soul shall enter into the true spiritual sanctuary of the restored house.]

10 And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity [they must die to their own ways].

11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, gatekeepers at the gates of the house, and servants in the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to serve them. [This is similar to the Gibeonites, the Nethinims (Joshua 9; 1 Chronicles 9:2) who started out with deception and became the woodcutters and water bearers for the tabernacle and later the temple.]

12 Because they served them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore I have lifted up my hand regarding them, saith the Lord GOD, that they shall bear their iniquity [they must die to their own soulish ways and desires].

13 And they shall not come near unto me, to serve me as priests, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to my most holy things: but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

14 But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house for all the service thereof and for all that shall be done therein [they shall do the menial labor].

15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok [meaning righteousness; from the same root as Melchi-sedec], that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from me [when the people of God went after the prosperity of this world like Lot], they [of the Melchisedec order] shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:

16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge (Ezekiel 44:4-16).

Ministry is a serious responsibility. Those who have been placed in ministry by God and are allowed to touch the tithes and offerings of the LORD are responsible before Him to be faithful (many of the parables of the Lord Jesus relate to this). Consider the case of righteous Lot and of the Levites (ordained by God into the ministry) who did not qualify to inherit the promise. And if the righteous are saved with difficulty, where shall the unfaithful and the sinner appear? (1 Peter 4:18). What about those who are soliciting tithes and offerings and have been placed in the ministry by man instead of by God?

30 And all the tithes of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holiness unto the LORD (Leviticus 27:30).

The fear of the LORD is sadly lacking today among most of the people of God, but it is about to be restored. A small remnant is being dealt with and perfected that they might be an example and a ministry unto the rest of the people of God. Yes, God is restoring His house and it will be glorious.

6 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.

7 And he said unto me, Son of man, this is the place of my throne [or authority], and the place of the soles of my feet [of those whom I have truly sent], in which I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel for ever, and my holy name, the house of Israel [those who are called by My name] shall no longer defile, neither they, nor their kings [their self-rule], by their whoredom [promiscuous use of My name, gifts, and revelation to build their own kingdoms], nor by the carcasses of their kings [dead works and abominations of self] in their altars [in the kingdoms they have erected where they call the people to worship in My name but according to their own ways].

8 In their setting of their threshold by my threshold [they make the people think they are entering My kingdom when in reality they are entering a man-made kingdom], and their post by my post [God’s posts or columns are called Jaquim (the LORD establishes) and Boaz (only in Him is there strength); man’s posts are called “we will establish” and “in us is strength” (2 Chronicles 3:17)], and a wall between me and them [there is an insurmountable wall between these two positions], they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed [by using the gifts of power and revelation from God in such a promiscuous manner according to the whims of self, that it has brought great dishonor to His name even before the heathen]; therefore I have consumed them in my anger.

9 Now let them put away their whoredom [no man can serve two masters], and the carcasses of their kings [the dead works of their selfish abominations], far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever [note that this verse is conditional].

10 Thou son of man, show this [true and undefiled] house to the [defiled] house of [spiritual] Israel [that man has built in My name calling it My church] that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them understand the pattern [Jesus Christ as sovereign LORD is that pattern].

11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, show them the form of the house [how God joins His true people together], and its pattern [God’s purpose for mankind], and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof [the true liberty and freedom of being dead to sin and alive in Christ], and all its figures [everything that has to be dealt with in us so that we can truly be free in Christ], and all its descriptions [God’s way of doing things], and all its paintings, [all the aspects of walking in the glorious inheritance of the sons of God], and all its laws [the law of the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2); the law of liberty (James 1:25; 2:12)]: and write it in their sight that they may keep the whole form thereof [that they may be patterned after Jesus Christ] and all the ordinances thereof [that they may learn His ways] and do them (Ezekiel 43:6-11).

About the Author

Russell Stendal was born in Minneapolis and raised on the mission field in Colombia, South America. He became a missionary jungle pilot at age nineteen. Almost ten years later in 1983, he was kidnapped by Marxist rebels and held hostage for five months. His book, Rescue the Captors, relates his experience, including how God worked in the hearts of the rebels.

Russell has written many other books, produced videos, and edited two Bible translations, the Spanish Reina-Valera 2000 and the Jubilee Bible in English.

Russell heads up the work of Colombia Para Cristo, which operates twelve radio stations involving more than one hundred staff and coworkers and covering much of Latin America with the Gospel. A thriving underground church has developed in remote jungle areas of Colombia. New high-gain antennas are now beaming the gospel message deep into areas of increasing crisis across the borders of Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil, as well as throughout Colombia.

Russell and his son Dylan recently wrote a letter to their school concerning issues needing to be addressed. This letter will help any Christian parents or teachers in the United States as well. You can read the letter at: www.scribd.com/doc/146065211/Letter-to-School-Russell-Stendal

www.lamontana.us

Watch the La Montana trailer, a film based on a true Stendal event

Connect with Russell

Email: kiu900@me.com

This book is available from www.lifesentencepublishing.com and amazon.com

Tell others about this book on Facebook

To order more books:

www.lifesentencepublishing.com/Stendal Books

715-223-3013

info@lifesentencepublishing.com

www.lifesentencepublishing.com

Like us on Facebook

The Truth About Tithing – Russell M. Stendal

Copyright © 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Scripture taken from the Jubilee Bible®. Copyright © 2000 by LIFE SENTENCE Publishing. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

First edition published 2013

LIFE SENTENCE Publishing books are available at discounted prices for ministries and other outreach. Find out more by contacting info@lifesentencepublishing.com

LIFE SENTENCE Publishing and its logo are trademarks of

LIFE SENTENCE Publishing, LLCP.O. BOX 652Abbotsford, WI 54405

ISBN: 978-1-62245-074-9

More Stendal books available from: www.lifesentencepublishing.com, www.amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and your local Christian Bookstore

Editor: Ruth Z. and Sheila W.

Bonus Chapter: The Plan of God for His Friends

Every time this place fills up I think we will need a bigger place to hold the meetings. Then the Lord takes some of the people to another place, and we get some of our space back so that we can fill it again. And who would have thought that the messages that leave this place have been heard all over Colombia and Latin America via the radio and people, who have distributed them on cassette and compact disk. This can only happen if there is a concerted effort made by all. This is different from preaching alone before a microphone in a cold sound studio.

When the majority of the audience members are good Christians, people with clean hearts, the Lord can bless us with good messages. Our intention here is not to tie anyone down; we are not trying to form another sect or denomination; we are not trying to control people’s lives in manipulating them by means of their tithes. We only want you to walk circumspect before God and man.

I don’t even think that going to church is an indispensable part of the Christian life, because there have been large portions of history when Christians were not able to congregate. Up until fifteen hundred years ago, we didn’t even have printed Bibles, and the majority of the common people didn’t know how to read.

Today, most of the things that seem central to religion don’t have much in common with the true religion that our Lord taught us. Our Lord taught that real religion is to accompany the widow and the orphan in their afflictions and not let ourselves be tainted by the world (James 1:27).

This means we may have to endure hardships because we will accompany widows and orphans and share what we have with them, to the point that we also feel the hardships that they are experiencing. Why? Because we are helping them to the point that we also start to feel the pinch. This is contrary to greed and avarice. If a small portion of the people, especially the leaders of Colombia’s privileged class, understood what the Bible says about true religion, there would not be so many poor people in need.

To not be contaminated by the world means that we don’t do things the way the world does them. The world is full of corruption and if one negotiates, has a place of importance, or does anything in this world, unjust and unseemly things will happen. So, real religion in the words of our Lord does not even mention paying tithes, going to church, crying, or screaming. It doesn’t even mention reading the Bible.

True religion, according to the Lord, pertains to a different behavior in the measure of how the heart has been changed. I dare say that the people who read the Bible and go to religious services with their hearts full of corruption, not only find that these things avail them nothing, but could also find that these things put them in a worse condition than if they did nothing. Corruption in the spiritual realm is the worst form of corruption, because the people who say they represent God are in fact doing the opposite.

We know that corruption has permeated our society in economic and political areas, but the corruption that exists in the religious part of our society is more serious and disastrous, because religious people are the ones who are forming the next generation. If these people are teaching things in the name of God and are not clean (even if they are teaching good things), they transmit more of their attitude and corruption than the message that comes out of their mouths. One generation then passes this on to the next, generation after generation.

The same thing can happen to children in schools. They are taught a subject called religion, but most of them don’t even pay attention to what they are being taught if they see that the teacher is a liar and full of greed. So they learn to behave as their teacher behaves, or they reject everything the teacher says. Consequently, either more religious people are formed who are even worse hypocrites, or more rebellious people are formed who don’t want to know anything about God. Good men and women cannot be formed unless there is a cleansing.

A good friend of mine was a sled dog champion in Canada. Some races lasted for as long as eight days in extreme freezing temperatures. Imagine a sled dog race that was fifteen hundred kilometers long. The participants in this sport learned that in order to compete they must have hybrid dogs, so they started mixing up the breeds. Then they learned that to have an extra edge they had to mix in some wolf blood, so they did. The only problem is that wolves by nature are very wild and are not the same as domestic dogs. So in a bad situation, some people found out that they could be attacked and maybe even killed by their own sled dogs.

When I visited my friend, his dogs always seemed tame, even though they were also crossed with wolves, so I really didn’t trust them. One day I asked him, “Why do you have such tame dogs, when others have savage dogs that will even kill their owner?”

He answered me, “Very simple. When a puppy first opens its eyes, what it sees is imprinted onto its personality and spirit. If its mother is a savage wolf, the puppy grows up to become the same by instinct and nature. To avoid this, when the puppies first open their eyes, I take them into the house and have them play with my children, so what is imprinted on my sled dogs is my children. These puppies are tame all their lives and have a different personality than other wild dogs.”

His dogs won the races because they put their whole hearts into pleasing their owner. This was clearly seen in his lead dog (the one that motivated the other dogs) who, when he was old, had a permanent leaning of his head to one side, and his ears pulled back to the same side, because he had spent all his life leaning his head and pulling his ears to that side in order to hear his master’s voice behind him. These dogs, instead of being controlled by harnesses and reins, were controlled only by their master’s voice commands. The master would issue a command, and they would obey whatever it was.

I remember the time I was in Canada, and it was minus thirty degrees. My friend had his fifteen dogs hitched to the sled, and the sled was tied to a water pipe that was staked into the ground and served as a brake. A Colombian friend who was with me had never been in Canada before, so I passed him the camera and told him to get in front of the sled to take our picture when the sled took off.

Who would have imagined what was going to happen next! The traditional Inuit word for the dogs to start racing is mush. Imagine a race where everyone has a whole bunch of sled dogs programmed for this word, and someone carelessly says mush. So my Canadian friend had decided to program his dogs to start on the word okay instead.

My friend did all right and took three pictures and then said, “Okay, Russ, I took the pictures.” Those dogs took off like lightning, bending the three-quarter-inch galvanized water pipe they were tied to like it was butter. They caught my Canadian friend off guard and threw him from the sled into the snow. I was left alone on this sled, not knowing how to control the dogs.

My friend saved the day when he screamed at the top of his lungs for the dogs to veer to one side, and since he was in an agitated state, the dogs obeyed immediately, turning over the sled in the process. I ended up under the sled with one of my boots caught, being dragged around in the snow until I could unhook my boot. Even after my friend had caught up with the dogs and managed to control them, I still had to run as fast as I could to throw myself onto the sled.

This was the experience of a lifetime, but can you imagine God’s problem with us when we won’t obey His commands? And to make matters worse, His commands are voluntary. The people who obey God’s commands are those who want to walk in His ways; they are the ones who don’t want to be free to go their own ways, even though those ways might seem better at times.

Buy the rest of What About the Church online