This is, of course, the most familiar financial subject to
Christians. Nearly all of us are aware of the practice of tithing,
but very few actually realize its true significance. It was a commandment
of God to Israel that 10 percent of their first fruits
belonged to God. As I mentioned earlier, when God told me to
teach this subject for the first time, He led me to Deuteronomy 26
where He first introduced it to Israel. Let’s start with the first
verse and relate this to our role under the new covenant.

“And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it,
and dwellest therein.” How does this relate to the Christian? The
Word says in Colossians 1:13 that God has delivered us from
the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom
of His dear Son. We are living in the kingdom of God. We have
entered into our inheritance in Jesus Christ and possess it in
His Name. We have the title deed to this kingdom through faith
in Jesus Christ. The authority has been given to us, and God is
showing us how to exercise our tithing privileges in order to
maintain control efficiently in the financial world.

Verses 2-3, “That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of
the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God
giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place
which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there. And
thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days.” Who is
this priest? Hebrews 3:1 says that Jesus is our High Priest.
Hebrews 7:8, speaking of Jesus, says He receives our tithes
personally. Therefore, we are to go to Him with our tithes and
say to Him, “I profess this day unto the Lord God that I am
come into the inheritance which the Lord swore to give me.”
This is a very important point in the tithing procedure: Make a
confession before your High Priest.

Verse 4, “And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand,
and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God.” Can you see
where we have been missing it? We quickly drop our tithe
money into the offering plate as it passes by or stuff it into an
envelope without a thought. Instead, we are to present it to
Jesus, who, in turn, will set it before the altar of God.

Then in verses 5-10, the Lord builds Israel a confession telling
of His mighty work in their lives and of delivering them from
bondage in Egypt. At this point, we Christians need to switch to
our position under the New Testament. We were sinners in the
world, and our confession should be something like this: “I am
in the land which You have provided for me in Jesus Christ, the
kingdom of Almighty God. I was a sinner serving Satan. He was
my god. But I called upon the Name of Jesus, and You heard my
cry and delivered me from the power and authority of darkness
and translated me into the kingdom of Your dear Son. Jesus is my
Lord, and I bring the first fruits of my labors to Him as the High
Priest and worship You with it. We rejoice in all the good which
You have given to us and our household.”

Kenneth Copeland Ministries