Word of Encouragement (12/01/2022)
When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ (Deut. 26:12-15)
We saw that this prayer of prescribed by God to be recited when the Israelites brought in “the poor’ tithe” every third year. In this prayer, the Israelites had to pledge that they had lived in obedience to God’s commands and they were bringing these tithes in obedience to His law.
This prayer teaches us that our offerings to the Lord must not be merely a religious ritual that we mindlessly carry out; they must be given as an extension of their covenant faithfulness to the LORD in all areas of life. If they gave their offerings to appease God to win His favor, God did not take kindly to them. Why did God rebuke the Israelites through Isaiah? Because of the disconnect between the sinful lives they led and the sacrifices they offered: “Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me.... I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.... When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood” (Isa. 1:13, 15). For the Israelites to stain their hands with the blood of the innocent and to bring offerings to the LORD, thinking that God would bless them for those offerings, was abominable to Him! These tithes were not meant to be a bribe to God. How could they expect to bribe God when He had no need of them? They were for the needy in the land, not for God.
So, as the Israelites brought their tithes to the LORD, they had to recite this prayer. With this prayer, they had to pledge that they had kept God’s commands and brought these tithes in obedience to His law! By prescribing this prayer, God reminded His people of their covenant responsibility, not only to offer tithes and sacrifices but also to live in covenant faithfulness to God. The two were not to be separated. Tithes without obedience were detestable to God and they could not say they lived in obedience to God without offering tithes and sacrifices to the LORD.
How is your life in this regard? Is your life during the week properly harmonized with your worship and offerings on the Lord’s Day? We all fall short in this, don’t we? How can we expect our worship and offering to be accepted by God if it isn’t for Jesus Christ, who offered to God a life of perfect obedience and a perfect sacrifice on our behalf? He alone is qualified to pray this prayer to God’s satisfaction. His perfection covers our imperfections and makes our life and worship acceptable to God. Shouldn’t this motivate us to live as Christ did—living our lives as the outworking of our worship and worshipping God as the culmination of our lives?