Food in God’s House

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts … (Malachi 3:10a)

We love to speak, teach and preach about the tithe, especially the fact that it should be brought to the church that ‘feeds’ you.

That is not really a problem. My problem is the reason for bringing those tithes and offerings in that storehouse which is the second part of the verse. I am yet to see a preacher touching on that very simple and easily understandable thing. The temple had many stores whose main purpose was the storage of the tithe.

Overlooking that fact may be the reason for a lot of frustration on some who are faithfully tithing yet continuing to experience leanness in their lives. By leanness I am talking about lack of fulfillment and joy.

It is true that God expects us to tithe, and faithfully so.

Yet we need to ask the vital question, what is the purpose for the tithe? Could it be that we are tithing alright but displeasing God with it? Could it be that our tithing is not God directed? Could our tithing be a tithing that adds no value to the values God values?

What does the Bible mean when it talks of there being food in God’s house? Was there need for that food? Has that need expired with the times? What was the purpose of the tithe anyway?

We have been flooded with the doctrine that the tithe was for the Levites, and that today these are the pastors who double up as the managers of the storehouse. Are pastors the equivalent of the priests? Why or why not? Did the Bible have any other recipients for the tithes?

In the Bible, the tithe was a designated giving that was targeted at the people of faith. I see several different terms talking about the tithe. Among them you will find the tithe of your increase, the tithe of all your flock and herd, the tithe of your land, the tithe of the tithe, eating your tithe etc.

One of the things you notice when you do a study on tithing is that there were three distinct recipients of the tithe.

The first was the Levite, who in turn tithed to the priest.

The second was the disadvantaged; the poor, orphan, widow and the alien who was most probably a refugee.

The community who would keep a certain tithe to celebrate God’s goodness at the place God had designated.

Why was the Levite given the tithe? The primary reason was that ministry was his inheritance. When God gave land to the other tribes, He intentionally left out the Levites. They therefore did not have any agricultural land. The only land they received was cities and their pasturelands so that they could take care of the sacrificial animals. They therefore were dead apart from the tithe. That is why you see a lot of problems when the society is apostate as it will leave the Levite with no option but to hustle for food. But it also worked the other way too. The Levites’ key role was spiritual instruction and any laxity on their side brought the tithe down as the community saw no need for giving as they had lost their passion for the spiritual.

The Levites were the spiritual instructors and judges because they had been excluded from the things that contribute for societal conflict which is greed, ambition and envy. Their status made it possible for them to be unbiased because theirs was a lifestyle shielded from the ‘pressures’ of life. This required them to spend all their time studying the scriptures and teaching the same. Ezra 7: 10 summarizes the responsibilities of the Levites.

You will realize that most prophets were Levites. All the temple singers were also Levites as were the porters and storekeepers. Even the watchmen (gatekeepers) of the temple were Levites. Any spiritual responsibility belonged to the Levites. We can therefore understand why they had to be given the tithe.

The other group was the disadvantaged through no fault of theirs. God took care of them using the tithe. You will also realize as you read the Bible that apostasy really hit hard on this group since they had no place to turn to as the storehouse had been emptied and capitalism then reigned supreme.

Apostasy also affected religious celebrations for the same reason.

When did the house of God stop being the storehouse? When was it that the church stopped having food? In Acts, we can clearly see something of the Old Testament as we see people selling their lands and the proceeds are taken to the storehouse to cater for the needs of the congregation. In fact we see the apostles emphatically refusing to be brought anywhere near that storehouse as they had a different assignment. The deacons were chosen because there was food in the storehouse so that needs were effectively met.

‘As poor as a church mouse’ is a statement depicting the church as the place we do not expect any food. This may guide us to know how long ago we transformed the church from a storehouse to empty space, in some places called the vestry. This also tells us how long ago we started abusing the tithe. That is not about the time, but we can comfortably predict that by the time that statement gained currency the tithe had been abused for so long that many people had completely lost sight of the second part of Malachi 3: 10.

Another contributor is the changing the tithe into money or otherwise making people give their tithe in monetary terms. All tithes were in kind. A shepherd tithed his flock and herd. A farmer gave of his harvest. A perfumer gave from his perfumes. A dressmaker gave from his work. Remember Jesus talking of the Pharisees giving the tithe of perfumes that were dealt with in very small measures? I believe one reason the storehouse has disappeared is implying that all tithe must be converted into something mammon can corrupt. You see it is difficult to hoard cows or beans. Only money can remain ‘fresh’ for ten years and not rot unless the bank collapses, which is something all of us expect at the back of our minds. Christ also mentioned the same though to many it appears so far of as to be impossible.

Which pastor is willing to break out of mammon’s grip by challenging his flock to start bringing the tithe out of what they are doing? Then the storehouse will have clothes from the tailors, food from the farmers, insurance premiums from those traders, cars from the dealers, houses from the builders, transport from transporters … and it will be so much that no single person can keep for themselves. And that will not stop churches from being built because what we have talked about is the tithe.

One thing you will notice is that any revival brought back food in the storehouse, many times much more than the Levites and needy could handle. How are we comfortable talking about revival yet our storehouses are nonexistent? Where do we expect the revived to take their tithes when we don’t have a storehouse?

1 Corinthians 16: 2 we see Paul encouraging them to be consistently stocking the storehouse so that when the time came they would simply take what they needed to minister to other saints. I believe that is what made Christianity so attractive to outsiders.

Another product of a storehouse (we are talking about real food here) is that it is not easy to be stingy with a full storehouse. Food is easy to share. Money isn’t. Though we have stingy farmers, they normally look very ridiculous hoarding food instead of sharing it as it will eventually rot.

As I have been in ministry I have also realized that conmen will never seek to convince you to give them food. They will be targeting your pocket even when they are talking about hunger. Food is the solution to most of the evil which we are getting into with regard with what God has given us. I have realized that taking time to feed someone who confesses to being hungry very easily chases the crook. It also shows us the really needy. That is the route God used to get me to be involved with the needy.

Even begging will be decimated if we stocked the storehouse. You see the beggar wants to capitalize on your concern without wanting your involvement. And that is the reason we have beggars who are landlords and business magnates. If every church had a storehouse, that would die a natural death.

Let me also mention that most religions have storehouses which are managed by their priests. We even have needy members from churches who go to those religions to receive food which is a great shame to the church that should be the example to them. This because the food has already been offered to the gods worshipped there. I remember once leading a team to such a temple and we were offered so much food, very nicely made and presented, and we had not even requested! We declined but what would a hungry person do?

One part of worship is celebration where there is plenty to eat and that is not possible without a storehouse. Potluck is not the ideal when we are talking celebration. Outside catering also does not do it. There is the fellowship and bonding as people prepare food, get burns in the kitchen to gain experience and enjoy food made by many cooks. And that was the purpose of the third part of the tithe.

The storehouse has a capacity of bringing more converts to the church than the evangelistic thrusts we spend so much time and money on.

Even as I share this I remember a ministry recently launched in Kenya as a chapter of the one in Korea. The ministry concept is very simple. Pastors of small churches are supported to meet the needs of the poorest in their society. These are not members of the churches and the pastors do not even introduce themselves as such. They feed and care for them constantly. As a result the churches have really exploded as anything done in Christ’s name will draw people to Him. Churches that had problems supporting their operations are able to now take care of their needs with some even being able to support their pastors. They have taken the same to countries without the Christian witness and the results are the same.

We are trusting God to explore the same for Kenya.

But I believe this will be eased if we have a storehouse. Then it will be easy to simply cook food and either take it to the needy or invite them to eat. Then we won’t need loudspeakers to share the Gospel as we will have availed the same to the needy just by having a storehouse. And the reception is almost guaranteed. I don’t know whether you realize that most conversions come from crises and hunger is one such crisis.

What do you use your tithe for? Does your tithe provide food in God’s house? Does your tithe meet the needs of people God has called out of their ‘inheritance’ to His ministry? Does your tithe minister empowerment in your fellowship? Does your tithe enhance worship by providing for a time and food for bonding in celebration? Does your tithe contribute for the evangelization of your neighborhood by ministering to the needy unbelievers, especially the most vulnerable (aged, disabled, sick, orphans, widows, refugees)?

Do you abuse the tithe by using it to build structures and monuments at the expense of stocking the storehouse? Do you abuse it by focusing all of it on only one class of ‘Levite’ in that structure? Do you abuse it by ministering to people and structures that have the capacity to ‘revenge’? Do you abuse the tithe by organizing retreats and outings only for the fellowship of the ‘elite’?

Haggai 1 talks of the consequences of neglecting the building of God’s house. I believe there are consequences of neglecting, even abusing the storehouse in God’s house. I believe they are similar but not limited to only those mentioned by Haggai. Apart from blunting the edge of the Gospel by short circuiting our love to the nations, it brings about a discontent in the spirit as the fulfillment that proceeds from a heart in tune with his society is lacking.

Just as we are passionate about preaching about and bringing the tithes, may we be more careful to know the kind of storehouse it goes to and where it is expended.

But I think the main message is to the managers of the institutions that are receiving the tithes to examine the whole purpose of the tithe especially as it concerns the storehouse.

God bless you