Biblical Prosperity in Perspective 23

Offerings, the Supernatural Power of Percentages, Part One

by Pastor John Hamel

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and OFFERINGS.  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” (Malachi 3:8,9)

I am not a negative Preacher because God is not a negative God and I represent Him.  However, sometimes things just need to be stated as they are.  God knows what He is talking about when He says that withholding tithes and offerings makes one a God robber.  

Almighty God has clearly stated in His Word that there is a curse upon God robbers.  God does not curse the God robber.  The God robber curses himself or herself by cooperating with Satan.  It is through the laws of sowing and reaping, which have been set in motion by the Almighty that the God robber comes under a curse. (Jeremiah 2:19)

Withholding tithes and offerings is not only stealing from God, it is stealing from the people of the world.  This is why the Lord told Israel, “…ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.” (Verse 9)  

When an individual refuses to pay tithes and offerings, they are refusing to participate in the evangelization of the world.  To withhold tithes and offerings is to rob the unsaved people of the world of Salvation and Eternal Life in Heaven.  Plain and simple fact.  God said that He gives us the power to obtain finances so that we can establish His Covenant in the Earth. (Deuteronomy 8:18)  

When we refuse to pay tithes and offerings on the finances He enables us to obtain, we obstruct the establishment of His Salvation-based Covenant in the Earth.  People die and go to Hell daily because the overwhelming majority of the Body of Christ has operated in fear concerning the paying of tithes and offerings.

However, as I stated in a recent lesson, things are changing.  God’s people are waking up to the reality of God’s Salvation-based Covenant.  God’s people are waking up to the importance of financing God’s Salvation-based Covenant through tithes and offerings.  

God’s people are receiving tremendous revelation concerning His desire to prosper them financially.  They’re waking up to the fact that wealth comes to seek and save the lost, to destroy the works of Satan and to live a life of abundance.  Abundance that is a testimony to the goodness of our great Father God.  Abundance that draws people into the Kingdom of God.

God’s people have been receiving tremendous revelation is the area of offerings in recent decades.  Our Father has made it clear that we want to be very watchful not to rob Him of either the tithe or the offering.

What Is an Offering?

We know that the tithe means “one-tenth” in both Greek and Hebrew.  

But what is an offering?

The Hebrew word for “offering” is “trumah.”  It means “a present, as offered up.”

It is pretty clear from this simple definition that an offering is a present to God or a gift.  It is a sacrificial gift that is over and above the tithe.  God has made Himself clear that a tithe is a tenth.  But nowhere in Scripture does He tell us how much the “trumah” or the “offering gift” will be.  He leaves that up to the generosity of our own hearts to determine.

Some of God’s children are of the misconception that they can simply pay tithes and God will prosper them.  Others wrongly believe that they can just give offerings and no tithes and that God will prosper them.  Both ways of thinking are erroneous, unscriptural and dangerous.

Because the offering is over and above the tithe, it is impossible to give God an offering until you have paid the tithe.  Because the offering is over and above the tithe, attempting to give offerings without tithing is actually just making payments on your tithes.  The individual who gives offerings and does not tithe is still a God robber, unfortunately.  The offering is to be given over and above the tithe, not in place of the tithe.

I am going to take it one step further and say that giving offerings in place of paying tithes actually puts a curse upon your offering.  I would not say this if it could not be proven from Scripture. (See Malachi 2:1-10.)

Someone once aptly described the difference between the tithe and the offering as follows.  “The tithe determines your obedience to God.  Over and above that, the offering determines your rate of return.”  How true this revelation is.  

Therefore, I would like to focus in this lesson on how God rewards us financially based on offerings over and above the tithe, not on the tithe.

God's Reward System Is Based upon the Size of the Offering

Tithing is actually not giving TO God.  Tithing is actually giving BACK to God that which rightfully belongs to Him.  

For example, I borrowed a vehicle from a friend one time.  When I was through with the vehicle, I had an obligation to return that vehicle to my friend.  I did so.  

In doing so, I was doing absolutely nothing that warranted a reward.  I was doing what was expected of me.  I was being honest and honorable.  Not for a reward, but simply because it was right to do so.  The vehicle did not belong to me.  It belonged to my friend.  I was doing what was expected of me when I returned the vehicle.  I was giving the vehicle BACK to my friend.  I was not giving the vehicle TO my friend. 

The same is true with paying tithes.  We are not giving tithes TO God.  We are giving tithes BACK to God.  We are showing Him that we can be trusted with that which belongs to Him.  This is why there is no real return promised on the tithe.  

It is our giving TO God, not our giving BACK to God that determines our rate of return.

I want to illustrate the point even more clearly at the risk of being redundant.  Barbara and I have a friend who is a farmer.  I could go to him and ask, “Brother, I’d like to borrow a fifty pound bag of seed.  I’ll return it to you as soon as I’m able.”  I am confident that this Brother would loan me the seed.  

When I finally do return the borrowed seed, will I get a harvest on what I returned to my trusting Brother?  Of course not.  There is no harvest on returning borrowed seed.  There is only a harvest promised for planted seed.  It is only possible to receive a harvest on seed that is planted, not seed that is returned.  

This is as true in the spirit realm even as it is in the natural realm.  This is as true with finances even as it is with grains and vegetables, etc.  Seed will indeed produce after its own kind, but planted seed only, not returned seed.  This is why it is true that the tithe determines our obedience only and the offering determines our financial rate of return or our harvest.

So it is very easy to see the importance of planting generous offerings, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, into the establishment of God’s Salvation-based Covenant in the Earth, but only once the tithe has been returned to Him.  The more offering seed that is planted, over and above the tithe, the greater the harvest will be, all according to whatever God's plan and purpose for your life might be.  

This is true with all natural things and it is even truer still with all spiritual things.  After all, the natural things of this world were birthed out of the world of the spirit. (Romans 1:20)  The lesser is always contained in the greater.  The spirit realm is greater than the natural realm and will therefore produce more proficiently.

Following the Rules as Prescribed by Jesus

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:38)

Notice that Jesus is talking about “giving” here not “giving back.”  Lots of Preachers and Teachers, including myself, have used this verse concerning giving the tithe back to God.  That is fine, as long as it is done with proper explanation.  God will honor our obedience to give the tithe back to Him, but only once we add the offering to it.

No matter how severe your financial situation might be today, you simply cannot cry or throw a fit of anger to get the help that you need.  It is vital that you follow the rules as prescribed by Jesus.  It simply is not possible to claim the promises of wealth or the blessings of prosperity without meeting Jesus’ prescribed criteria.

We are talking about spiritual mechanics here.  When something is wrong with your car, crying or anger is not going to repair it.  Things have to be done mechanically, as prescribed by the manufacturer, or you are going to be crying, throwing a fit and walking.  

When something is wrong with your finances, things have to be done mechanically, as prescribed by the Manufacturer, or you are going to be crying, throwing a fit and walking deeper and deeper into poverty, debt and lack. And when I say "mechanically," I mean it as an analogy only. All giving must be done by faith.

Jesus said if we would give generously that He would cause men and women to generously and supernaturally give into our bosom.  This is what He meant when He said, “For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”  

Somebody said, “How does something like that happen?”  To which I responded, “Frankly, it’s none of our business how He does it.  All we need to know is that He’ll do it honestly, Scripturally and honorably.  We do a little thing and plant seeds of generosity.  He’ll do a big thing and send forth a tremendous harvest.”

Even in the natural, science and agriculture still have no idea in the world how a seed germinates, multiplies and brings forth abundance.  There is a miracle step that occurs once a dead seed is planted that simply cannot be explained by the greatest human minds.  That same miracle process occurs when financial seed is planted over and above the tithe.  It must be accepted by faith even as the planting of natural seed requires faith.

The Smart Farmer Pre-Determines the Size of His Own Harvest

Any farmer who possesses brightness of mind realizes that if he or she plants a little bit of seed in the springtime, the end result is going to be a little harvest in the fall.  If the farmer plants an abundance of seed in the springtime, the end result is going to be an abundant harvest in the fall.  

Almighty God is not the only one Who determines what kind of a harvest a farmer is going to have.  The smart spiritual farmer pre-determines the size of his financial harvest months and even years before he reaps it by generous giving into the propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and by giving to the poor.

This is exactly what Jesus was saying when He said, “Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom…”  He was saying that anyone can pre-determine the size of their own harvest ahead of time by planting proportionately towards their expected harvest. 

In this I am not saying that individuals can pre-determine whether they are going to be multi-millionaires or not.  God has not called everyone to be multi-millionaires, but God has called everyone to prosper.  If one wants to prosper meagerly, they will give meager offerings.  If they want to prosper generously, they will give generous offerings.

"But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And 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: as it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; He hath given to the poor: His righteousness remaineth forever. Now He that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God." (2 Corinthians 9:6-11)   

The Apostle Paul got a hold of Jesus’ revelation in this area, too.  Paul had much to say about the importance of paying offerings over and above the tithe. 

Paul knew that he simply could not faith IN what he had not first faith-ed OUT, over and above his tithes!  He had much to say about giving proportionately towards your expected harvest. 

This will be the subject of our next lesson. 

Be blessed … John and Barbara Hamel

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