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Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Have you seen the cute but effective T.V. commercial that begins with a little boy and a giant popsicle? The commercial opens with the boy, who appears to be around 7 o r8 years old, standing in front of his front porch holding a huge multi-colored popsicle and his face smudged with the sticky evidence that he has been working on the frozen treat for some time.
His father steps out on the porch and says, “Hey bud, where’s your bike?”
The boys feigns ignorance and says, “Huh?”
“Where’s your bike?” his Dad repeats.
“I traded it,” the boy says rather softly.
“Traded it? For what?” Dad says.
Then the boy sheepishly holds up the giant, half-eaten popsicle.
At that moment, the father looks down at the newspaper that is lying on the porch and notices a headline that reads, “Need to teach your kids the value of money?”
I love that little commercial – but I always think to myself that the better question might be, “Need to teach your kids the value of a popsicle?”
While the Bible doesn’t provide direct answers to either of those questions, it does help us answer an even more significant question: “What is the purpose of wealth?”
The writer of Proverbs says:
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops…
The Bible is very clear; the first and greatest purpose of wealth is to honor God. And the first and greatest way to honor God with our wealth is to return a portion of that wealth to him as an offering of thanksgiving and worship.
The word “firstfruits” here refers to the Old Testament practice of the “tithe” – the giving of the first tenth of all crops and income to God as an act of obedience and worship. Notice that the instruction about the tithe is followed by a promise. The writer points to the blessings that God will pour out on those who honor him:
…then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
I believe there are two ways to understand this promise. The first is simply that God chooses to bless those who are faithful to offer him a tithe of their wealth. Now this sounds a little like “magic” to many; or like a version of the so-called “prosperity gospel” that promises material wealth to those who give money to God through particular ministries. I do not believe God is necessarily promising a “quid pro quo” return on our giving as if we were investing in some kind of pyramid scheme. I believe the Bible is simply teaching that the place of God’s blessing is the place of obedience. The “barns” and “new wine” referred to in the Proverbs could be metaphorical references to the spiritual blessings that are ours when we live in obedience to God and his will – not just to the promise of material wealth.
The second way this promise could be understood is a very practical one – having to do with what I would call the “disciplines of wealth.” I have found, as have many others I have talked to over the years, that when I give first – that is when I make giving to God a priority in my financial planning (we do that by giving through FBCG’s on-line giving program) – I also tend to be more disciplined in other areas of my financial life. I think the ancient writer may be referring to the result of this kind of discipline when he writes, “…then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
The questions we ask most often about our wealth have to do with whether or not we have enough; or how we might gain more. But the best question we can ask is, “Have we honored God with our wealth?”
To put it simply, when we honor God with our wealth he promises blessing in return.
Pastor Brian Coffey
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3 comments:
I struggled quite a bit with what you’ve written about the tithe and that’s because it just did not seem to marry up with scriptures including the ones you provided.
Proverbs 3: 9 -10 makes no mention of tithing at all. So am a little baffled at your assertion that the mention of firstfruits refers to the tithe- “giving of the first ten”. Searching scriptures, it is very clear that there is a world of difference between firstfruits and tithes.
Firstfruits, as the name implies refers to the first crops that ripen at the harvest. Nowhere in the bible do we find a quantity of 10 attributed to this. It never referred to money because it was given on crops alone.
The tithe on the other hand meant the tenth. This is translated from the Hebrew world “Ma’asher “which in turn is gotten for the root word “Asher” which means ten. In other words, the tithe was the tenth in a group of ten. Again this concept never extended to money but was reserved for crops and livestock alone. The tithe on crops and livestock was determined by grouping these items into tens and separating every tenth as the tithe. So if for instance a farmer had 35 sheep, his tithe would be the tenth, twentieth and thirtieth alone. He could not tithe on the remaining 5 because they were not up to ten.
No portion of scripture ever commands a tithe of money and the children of Israel where never commanded to tithe money even though money was present during this time. Proof of this is abundant in scriptures. The children of Israel could buy back their tithe by paying its monetary value plus 20%. This would seem rather ridiculous if money could be tithed. Those who lived far away from the tithing banquet venue were also encouraged to convert their tithes into money for easy transportation. Again this would seem quite silly if money could be tithed – why convert money back into money?
The long and short is, proverbs 3: 9 – 10 does not build any case for tithing both in the OT and the NT. Also, the NT believer has not been given any command to tithe instead we are encouraged to give anything we can afford and it will be accepted as long as it has been given willingly and cheerfully.
God bless.
Thank you for the clarification "Saved by Grace"! I didn't take the time to clarify the relationship between the "first fruits" and the "tithe" (actually several forms of the tithe in the Old Testament) and perhaps I should have. I was simply wanting to emphasize the consistent OT teaching that our first concern is to "honor the Lord with out wealth" - whether that be the OT tithe, the OT first fruits offering, or the NT encouragement to "give generously." I will be sure to be more clear the net time we deal with the subject in a sermon - thanks again for the clarification and correction!
Pastor Brian
I too have wondered about the tithe. Honoring the Lord with our wealth includes many things, including providing for our families and giving generously. I have often wondered if that 10% to charity only means to a particular church, or if it means I can and should personally choose how to give that money. Maybe say 5% to my church, 1% to a credible international agency providing clean water, and 4% to a homeless shelter. Does this count in God's economy? I would think yes.
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