FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16
Scripture: Numbers 8:14-16, Malachi 2:1-8

Numbers 8:14-16 says, “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and offer them like a wave offering. For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them for Myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel.” The purpose of the tithe was so the Levites could be wholly separated to God, given and taken by Him, for His purpose. They were not to please man, but without compromise, to represent God! They had to be independently financed in order not to diminish the Word that God had them bring. So if they were in any way dependent on anyone but God, compromise would be a temptation. The only way they could be wholly given over to God was to walk by faith and expect the people who were obedient to the Lord to tithe and fund their assigned work. That gave them the freedom to be able to speak and say what God said. Without that, a church is not a church and a ministry is not a ministry. Malachi 2 makes it really clear that the covenant of the tithe has never been done away with when it says in verses 1-8, “‘And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name,’ Says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces, The refuse of your solemn feasts; And one will take you away with it. Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, That My covenant with Levi may continue,’ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,’ Says the Lord of hosts.” That is what we have in America today. We have churches that approve of what God does not. The last thing we ever want to do is go into a time of economic uncertainty because of potential judgment on the nation and not be participating in the covenant of the tithe. Those who are participating in the covenant of the tithe hopefully have enough salt to change the judgments being prophesied against the land. I trust that the pool of believers walking in this covenant is large enough to pray the judgment necessary to save the nation from fullness of iniquity until we get a harvest from every people group. But it all starts in choosing to walk in God’s revealed covenants.