What If Tithing Is More Covenant Than Cash

Transcript

Welcome And Sponsor Shoutouts

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Hello everybody, and welcome to today's episode of Walk With Me. I am your host, JJ. It's good to have each and every one of you here. I thank each and every one of you for watching, listening, downloading, sharing these episodes. I really do appreciate it. I appreciate you. And I'm here because I love you. And I just I can't thank you guys enough. And I thank God for each and every one of you. And before we get into today's episode, make sure you check out our sponsors, uh, TrueBars Lyricists, and as quiz the creations. She said she was getting out of the game, but she is not because she's still making t-shirts, and and I love watching her work. So you give a quick shout-out, even in the comments, uh, and true bars of lyricists as well. So, thank you all for joining each and every one of us, each and every week. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now, we are going to talk about now. I'm not sure before we get into today's episode. I'm not sure why this is such a big uh deal with a lot of people. Um, and and I'm not here. Well, let me just say this. Um, before we get started, I have to put out a little bit of a disclaimer. The disclaimer is I'm

Disclaimer And How To Read

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not your pastor, right? And this is kind of this is how I kind of slyly announce that I am a co-pastor now, but I am not your pastor. That being said, everything on this podcast, I encourage you to read your Bibles for yourself and speak to your pastor about it. If it's something that you agree with, if it's something that you disagree with, it it really doesn't matter to me because this is the word of God. All right, that being said, there is a rule to this podcast, and that rule of the podcast is we're gonna go through a lot of scripture, we're going to um lay things out, but I'm gonna try to do it in a more concise time. This is not a complete study, I think. Um, but so the rule is when we talk about a scripture, always read a verse or two above or verse or two below, but preferably the whole chapter, because the context is 100% key. I cannot stress that enough, Walkers. I can't. Context is key, all right, and because I can take a scripture out of context, and and this particular subject, the subject of tithing, is one of those subjects that people would take a scripture out of here and a scripture over there completely out of context and twist it into a whole new doctrine, all right. So, and so it is very, very, very, very important to understand the context in which each individual thought God gave us was written. We have to also understand that this Bible is the word of God, it doesn't matter what JJ thinks, it doesn't matter what you think, it doesn't matter what your uncle's grandmother thought, it doesn't matter, it's all about the word of God because at the end of the day, like we talked about in our end times prophecy over and over, the books are open and we are judged out of the things that are written in the books, not what you heard on JJ's podcast, not what my grandma said. It doesn't matter if if what I say to you can't is contrary to the word of God, it is invalid. Alright. And that being said, let me go to the next point. I am with this subject of ties, and I'm just gonna cut the devil off at the head here. I don't even I think on a lot of platforms there's a I think there's a way to donate, buy me a coffee or send a super thanks or something like that. I honestly don't even push that. Okay, so what we're gonna talk about today um financially benefits me in a zero amount, zero. All right, unless you decide, unless God leads you to donate, which I will appreciate. I'll love you, I'll love you, and everything, and and all the things. I'll thank you and I appreciate God and I look all the things, but this is this what we're talking about now about this tithes is not about me telling you to give me money. Let's get that straight. This is not about me telling you to give me money. So, first thing we have to do, we have to establish where tithing came from. And I realized that last week I kind of was a little bit help to skelter because I kind of threw the episode together last minute, and um I I really want to go into depth about it now

Why Tithing Sparks So Much Heat

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because there's so many misconceptions about what tithing is, what it isn't, why it is a thing, and why it shouldn't be a thing. Yes, why it shouldn't be a thing, because people have are really fighting this tithing thing, and I know why, but I don't want to verbalize it yet. So let's go into this thing about tithing. And for your reference, I, JJ, me personally, only use two translations. I use King James Version and the New Living Translation. If you've been following this podcast for any length of time, you've seen me kind of evolve into using the New Living Translation, and I like it because it's a thought-to-thought translation rather than a word-to-word translation. You get what I'm saying? So, but I always will base my entire walk with God out of the King James version, and we're not gonna talk about oh, this version, that version. King James NLT, that's the end of the story. You don't like me, unfollow the podcast. Sorry. So, um, here's the thing this thing about tithing is it is a basic concept, and it would actually surprise you to know, because it did surprise me, that tithing um is actually pre-law. Because a lot of people will say, and one of the

Tithing Starts Before The Law

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spiritual gymnastics I've had to deal with is people saying, Oh, that was for the law of Israel. No, no, no, no, no, no. Tithing is pre-law. In other words, before they came out of the the uh Israel, before the children of Israel came out of Egypt, there was tithing. Um before the Moses went up on a mountain and came down and broke the Ten Commandments in that great big Charlton Heston movie. There was tithing. In fact, there are tithing all the way up in through the New Testament, and there is never a command to stop tithing. So let's get into this. I know it's a big build-up, seven minutes. Oh my gosh, don't worry, I'm not gonna go over my allotted time. So that's why we're gonna have multiple episodes, all right? So let's get started. Now, the first time we even hear about tithing, it is not mentioned as tithing, it is mentioned as a tenth part, and that is gonna be in Genesis, and there's talk gonna be talking about Abraham when he gave a tithe to Melchizedek,

Abram Gives A Tenth To Melchizedek

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and at that time it was not called tithe, and what we will read in uh Genesis is when Abram did it. That's right, his name was Abram. He wasn't even Abraham then, he was Abram, and he gave a tenth of the spoils. No, okay, let me back up. So one of um Abram's kinsmen had got kidnapped. Uh matter of fact, it was his brother, and he took his servants and they went down and they they they took 300 men and and and freed his brother and freed all a bunch of other captives, and he brought back all the spoils of war, which is just clip that on your mind. The spoils he brought back spoils of war, just clip that on your mind, right? And he brought back uh Lot and uh a lot of other people that were actually kidnapped, and the women and the people he brought everybody back, and so um two kings came out to meet Abram, the king of Sodom, which we don't know who that is yet, and Melchazedek. But Melchazadech also brought forth bread and wine, and he was a priest of God. See, that part is where we really need to get to. So Melchizedek and the king of Sodom came out to meet Abram after Abram came back from fighting, and what Abraham did was receive a blessing from Melchazedek. It's important to have this in chronological order. Abraham received a blessing of Melchazedek, who was a priest of God. It says right there in Genesis 14. Matter of fact, let's read it. Um chapter 14, verse 19, and let's go down to about 22. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the most high God. So he was a king and a priest. Where have you heard that before? Okay, let's move on. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be the most high God, which have delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. Who is he? Abraham gave who Melchizedek. Tithes of all. And then the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the people and take the goods to yourself. And Abram says to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, I will not take a thread, take from a thread, even to a shoelatcher, that I will not take anything that is yours, lest thou say, I have made Abram rich. Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of men that have went with me, Anar, Eschel, Mamaran, and let them take their portion. So we can see right here, Abram, before he was even Abraham, understood that there was a such a thing that should be given a tithe to be given. And he gave the ten, he gave a tenth of everything he had to Melchazedec. And why was that? Because Melchazedek was a what king and a priest of the what most high God. So the offering and the tithes were linked together here. Alright. So what we have here is that Abraham or Abram, because he's not Abraham yet. This is I keep gonna keep hammering this in because I want you to get understand just how far back this whole thing about tithing goes, and you don't see any um any uh biblical story about Isaac tithing, but immediately you see Jacob tithing. Now, why is that important? Because that means that Abraham had to have taught Isaac, who had to have taught Jacob. Because Jacob tithed. When did Jacob tithe? You say? Oh, okay, I'll I'll I'll tell you. Maybe as early as uh Genesis 28. Um,

Jacob’s Vow After Meeting God

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and if you if you know Genesis 28, I'll summary I'll summarize it for you because we're already halfway through this episode. Alright, so Genesis 28 is right about that time that Jacob decided that he was gonna head back to meet Esau, right? And toward the end of that chapter, Jacob had an encounter, and we all talk about that encounter because this is where uh Jacob and Esau had met, and Esau ended up blessing Jacob in this, and read Genesis 28:6, it says Esau said Isaac had blessed Jacob to send him away and take a wife, and then we went down, and there was a spot where Jacob went and from Besheva and came to Herod, and he had traveled and he stayed there all night because there was a thing about you don't travel at night, and of course, back then they didn't have street lights, so that makes sense. And but this is where he had laid down and used a stone as a pillow. Rock stone is my pillow. So he used a stone as a pillow, and then that's when he saw the angels going up and down from a ladder. And God stood above and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. This is verse 13. To thee I will give all this land of your seed, and you thy sheed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread to the west and to the east and to the north and the south. In other words, this was right exactly where Jacob met God. Okay, so there we have now we have a tithe to a king and a priest, and now we have a situation where his grandson actually meets God, right? And he says, I am with thee, I will keep thee in all the places thou goest, and bring you against the land and will not leave you because I until I've done everything that I've spoken of. Jacob woke up and he said, Surely the Lord was here, right? Okay, so we have this now. He met God, God is here, and he rose up and he poured oil on the this pillar, right? And he said, If if God is with me, he'll give me bread to eat, and he'll give me clothes to put on, this stone is going to be God's pillar, and I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Oh, wait a minute. Where would Jacob have learned that? He would have to have learned that to from Isaac, even though, like I said, you don't see any situations where Isaac tithed, and I looked, trust me, I looked because everybody was coming at me about it because I Isaac didn't tithe, and I did not ever see where Isaac tithed, but you have Abram tithing before he was even Abraham, before he had, you know, as soon as he had left uh from idol worshiping, he started tithing, right? And now you have Jacob saying, You know what, God, you bless me, I'm going to tithe. So we have a precedent, and we're talking about this even before this is just Jacob, his name is not even Israel yet. His name is not Israel yet. So this thing about tithing goes way back, and God had always honored that. So before we start talking about Malachi chapter 3, before we start talking about Leviticus, before we go to Hebrews and the New Testament, where we're talking about tithing, it's very, very, very important to lay down the foundation of where tithing began and how God always viewed tithing. And and this is why eventually, when we get into the law, where God is gonna say, Hey, that's mine, you're gonna understand it because God had already taught Abram, Abraham, and and Abraham had taught Isaac, and Isaac had taught Jacob. And who is Jacob? Jacob is Israel, who is the father of what? Okay, good. So now that we've got that straight, got that straight. What happened between the time, why did it have to be put into law? Let's put it this way. Why did it have to be put into law? Because between the time of Jacob saying, I will surely give the tenth to thee, and Moses standing on the Mount

Why Tithing Enters The Law

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Sinai, something very serious had happened. One, the children of Israel, who were later to be Jacob's children, well, earlier were Jacob's children, had gone into slavery. They were not receiving any increase at that point. They were enslaved. They didn't start off as slaves. And so, you know what? Let me just stop here and say maybe that's why they ended up slaves. Because the Bible does not mention them tithing at all. None of the none of the Reuben and Gad and Issachar, not Levi, it doesn't mention any of them tithing. And so maybe, just maybe, and we're starting to see a pattern here is that if you don't tithe, maybe things begin to happen to you. And and the reason why I say that is because, and I will say this every single episode that we talk about this on. I anyone who tithes correctly, now I'm not talking about these people that talk come in and talking about give me a $200 seat for my ministry nonsense. I'm not I'm not talking about people who who know they have a light bill and and put a thousand dollar offering into plate. That that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people who tithe to correctly. Correctly. I have never seen them be financially destitute. And I'm gonna mention this every single episode because it's important, because this this thing is more of a covenant between you and God, because God is never, ever, ever gonna go back on his covenant. 10%. He gives you a dollar, he gives him a dime. And before we get into this, I'm also gonna mention this every single episode, too, because now I don't have enough time to go into the next thought. Um, there is a difference between grudgingly give and cheerful giving. And maybe that should be its own episode, but let's just talk about it here. There is a difference between saying, Oh, I have to pay tithes, and saying, Oh, you know what, God, you have blessed me so good. Here's just a little token. Just little token

Cheerful Giving Versus Paying A Bill

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that that you requested, 10 10. God will honor that beyond, oh my gosh. I I can't even put it into words. God will honor that beyond belief, beyond He even says, if you do this, I will pour out, open up windows of heaven, and pour out blessings that you can't even begin to accept or hold. And it's true, God has always been true to his word. So I'm not exactly sure um why we get into this thing where it's um paying tithes to some sort of chore. We're supposed to freely and and and joyfully give it because God didn't have to give us the 90%. You see how many poor and destitute people there are out there? And just a personal testimony, because I we do have a couple more minutes. Even when I was homeless, I was homeless and I didn't have a job, I was going to this church, uh, faith tabernacle, right? We weren't exactly homeless then. Let me let me back that up. If I did not have a job, I didn't have a job for like I would get a job for like 30 days, and then I would get fired for something stupid. So

When Tithing Met My Hard Times

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um I didn't like and and the rent was just crazy. And I said, Okay, God, you said I have to pay tithes. And at this time, this is where my mind was. I had just started and forgotten. So I just decided I was gonna start paying tithes, and and I put the little 10% in, it was like $12 or something like that. It was so stupid. And and the next thing I know, Walkers, people are coming with furniture that they was gonna get rid of. And oh, God told me to bring you this, and oh uh, God said that, oh, you know what, Brother Johnson, here's here's a bunch of food, and and I'm saying, like, I've never asked these people for anything. Brother Joe, I I God told me to um, you know, you might be a little short on your rent. Now, please understand, I I'm sort of proud when it comes to that. I'm not gonna be running around saying, hey, you know, I'm short on my rent. Um, could somebody help me? Can you can you I got a GoFundMe page? None none of that, none of that. Matter of fact, there wasn't even even such a thing as gofundme back then. This is in mid-90s. So, um, and God would bless us so much because this is what He told me to do, and I'm gonna do it. And because I at that time it was just hey, I don't want to go to hell over a die. I mean, I don't want to go to hell over a die. So that was that was my mentality, and the blessing that came behind it is was was spiritually insane, and I started noticing it that I've never ever seen anyone who was faithful with tithes, have never never, and I mean correctly faithful with tithes, never ever, ever, ever, ever been financially destitute. And you don't I have they gone through financial hard times? Oh, yeah, absolutely. Everybody goes through financial hard times. Oh, absolutely, but I'm talking about to the point where they have to um there's a difference between going through financial hard times and being destitute. Like, oh, you know what, we gotta tighten our belt a little bit for these couple months. Yeah, that's one thing. And and oh god, I haven't eaten in three days. I've never seen anyone had that happen. So that being said, we're gonna wrap this episode. But I love each and every one of you. We this is just the first of me. We're gonna go through it slow, just like the same way we did with um, the same way we did with the end times. I want to actually lay a foundation because, and by all means, y'all, please understand, again, I'm

Final Encouragement And Next Steps

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not asking for your tithes because I'm not your pastor. If you want to support me, you can that that's what we'll like to offer. I'm not offering, I'm I'm not even putting out the links. I think there's some links in some of these platforms. You do it, you you do what God tells you to do. How about that? Your tithes should be going to the church that you go to. All right. That being said, I'm gonna go ahead and call it a day this this time. I love each and every one of you. Thank you all so much. I'm praying for each and every one of you, all of you. That there's some in my social media groups. I I come off a little harsh on you guys sometimes, but please understand I only do it out of love. I love each and every one of you. I do. I do. Otherwise, I just would block you and call it a day. But I I love each and every one of you, all right? God bless you. See y'all on the next one.