TITHING
AND THE REMNANT BRIDE
CONT., page 4
WARNINGS AND WITNESSES
You will find that the
Scriptures give many warnings concerning one’s failure to be faithful in
these last days before Yahshua’s return. Yahweh’s word tends to be
this way – laying out His warnings. So as we address what the Scriptures
reveal, many of the accounts here will indeed present this message.
These last-days warnings
afford a serious call and weighty responsibility, particularly for a generation
saturated in wealth, ease, and pleasure – all the dooming elements of
Sodom and Gomorrah. In Ezekiel
16:49-50 we read – “Behold, this was the
guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food,
and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were
haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I
saw it.”
We
see then that this matter of money, or wealth, is highly critical, more
critical than any of us fully understand. Recorded only in second Remnant Luke,
Yahshua told a very relevant parable that is directly related to His Remnant Bride
today. You can read the entire parable in Luke 16, but we will only quote
verses 9-13. Read carefully His words. This was not recorded in second Remnant
Luke to be read today in vain.
"And I (Yahshua) say to you (Remnant Bride), make
friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness; that when it fails (leaves off
or ceases), they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. He who is
faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is
unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. If therefore you have not
been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true
riches to you?
And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's (e.g.,
Yahweh’s tithe), who will give you that which is your own? No servant can
serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else
he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
What
could be clearer at this time for the Bride than these words written only in
second Remnant Luke? Either you will hold onto your wealth and forfeit the
eternal dwellings, or you will begin using your wealth by giving a tithe of it
in order to be counted faithful.
In
the writings under "The Covering For the Bride of Yahshua," three
distinct warnings are noted. First, there is the warning – "Remember
Lot's wife!," who looked back to that which she had left behind.
Significantly, this also was recorded only in Luke 17:32 and is therefore a
message to the second Remnant. A second warning is to remember Ananias and
Sapphira, first Remnant members who were killed by Yahweh specifically for
despising the covering of holding all things in common. A third warning is to
remember Achan, who in preluding the acts of Ananias and Sapphira, also took
things that were devoted to Yahweh as a covering and he and his entire family
were likewise killed. Let us now add a fourth salient warning.
Each
of these warnings relate specifically to the Remnant. Each carries with it the
example of holding onto the things of this world at the expense of obedience
and with ill consequences. This fourth warning tells us what it is that we will
miss, and is found in first Remnant Matthew 25:1-13.
Here
we find ten virgins, each with a lamp, each having the insight to go out to
meet the bridegroom. This parable is regarding the marriage of the Lamb, and is
therefore wholly relevant to today.
What
did these ten virgins go out from? In truth, they are the second Remnant who
are virgins who go out from Christianity in order to meet the Bridegroom. But,
further characterization of these ten virgins reveals that five of them were
regarded as foolish and five were regarded as prudent. What made the
difference? Five of them had exchanged their wealth for extra oil, while five
of them had not.
After
a period of waiting, the cry came at midnight (when the body of Christ is
sleeping) – "Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him." The
five foolish virgins requested the benefits of the five who had purchased extra
oil, but were told – "go instead to the dealers and buy some for
yourselves." In order to have the oil needed to take them all the way to
the bridegroom, they had to depart to buy more.
The
five foolish virgins were obviously willing to part with some of their wealth
to buy the lamp and a little oil; but like Ananias and Sapphira, still wanted
to hold onto it, not committing all to buy the flask of oil as well. Thus, when
it was time to greet the bridegroom, their lack became evident. But it was too
late! Their hesitancy and lack of complete commitment caused them in the end to
miss the wedding. Though they had been willing to come out to meet the
bridegroom; like Lot’s wife, in their hearts they were not fully
committed. From the beginning they held back some of their wealth, and in the
end could not enter into the wedding.
It
is obvious from this and the other warnings that there will be some who come
out of Christianity, but will not be able to turn away from their personal
riches, and in the end will cost them their part in the wedding of the Bride.
Coming out of the body of Christ brings with it a GREAT responsibility, which
will prove each person's faithfulness to Yahweh.
What
is it that this Remnant Bride needs so desperately? As the second son of fresh
oil – we need oil! And even as the five prudent virgins recognized from the outset, we
will give up whatever it takes of our wealth in order to obtain it. First, we
will come under the substitutionary covering and give our tithe to the Remnant
Bride, as well as giving our corners. But in our hearts, we are prepared to
come under the more perfect covering and will give up everything in order that
we may enter in with the bridegroom.
There
will undoubtedly be a test for you later whether you will go the second mile
and give everything you have to be a part of Yahshua’s Bride –
everything! There are too many people who want Yahweh’s blessings, but
are not willing to pay the price. This will not be the case with Yahshua's
Bride. She must be willing to give up all that is below, in order to receive
all that is above. As each of these four testimonies reveal, any attachment
otherwise will cause one to fall short and not enter into the wedding.
We
now see this fourth warning that Yahweh has given the Bride regarding holding
onto wealth. Added to these testimonies of Lot's wife, who looked back; Ananias
and Sapphira, who equally held onto some of their wealth for personal gain; and
Achan, who hid in his tent some of the riches devoted to Yahweh; we now see the
five foolish virgins, who would not part with their wealth beforehand so as to
purchase the oil they would need, thereby missing the wedding! Today, just
before Yahshua’s return, His words spoken to a rich man will be proven
more certainly than ever before – "For it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God."
The
second Remnant will equally face the test evidenced by the widow when Elijah
asked her to give all she had. Like Elijah, the first Remnant stayed by the
brook where they were fed by the ravens (Satan) until the water dried up. After
the breach journey (Christianity) to the place of the widow (the second
Remnant), Elijah's initial contact with her was to ask that she give to him first.
In fact, when Yahweh told Elijah to go there, before he ever went He identified
this woman in a solitary revealing way – "I have commanded a widow
there to provide for you." In like manner, before the Bride work was ever
formed, even before the first Remnant was completed, Yahshua commanded the
Bride to provide for the Elijah.
The
widow did as she was commanded, and when she returned to her home with Elijah,
whereas before there was an empty bowl and an empty flask of oil, now there was
provision that was never exhausted.
Concluding
this section, let us likewise consider something that of itself should confirm
that this issue of financial responsibility required of the Bride is clearly
Yahweh's plan. This passage was quoted earlier, and is the single most
acclaimed passage on tithing in the entire Bible. In Malachi 3:10-12 we read:
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that
there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says Yahweh of hosts,
"if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a
blessing until there is no more need (the latter rain). Then I will rebuke the
devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor will
your vine in the field cast its grapes," says Yahweh of hosts. "And
all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful
land," says Yahweh of hosts.
With
great relevance and significance, this hope-filled instruction regarding the
tithe is recorded in the book that is devoted to the Elijah work! Malachi means
"messenger," and Elijah is the messenger. Malachi 3 begins with this
most striking and telling statement – "Behold, I am going to send My
messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me." How will he prepare the
way? All one has to do to answer this is to keep reading that passage:
"Will a man rob God?," Yahweh asks. The solution to this question is
of course the tithe message we just read.
Not
only is this passage regarding the tithe preceded by its specific
identification with the messenger, Elijah, but it is concluded with Elijah. In
the next and final chapter, we read – "Behold, I am going to send
you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of
Yahweh." Thus, sandwiched between these two passages regarding the Elijah
is none other than the vital instruction regarding the tithe!
If
any single thing should affirm your need for faithfulness with the tithe, it
should be this clear association of Elijah with tithing. And if you have any
question what Yahweh's response will be to your tithing, then note His promise
of the latter rain – opening the windows of heaven and pouring out a
blessing you cannot contain. And if you have even further questions as to what
Yahweh's response will be to your tithing, then keep reading once again:
Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another (even
as I am speaking to you), and Yahweh gave attention and heard it, and a book of
remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who esteem His
name. "And they will be Mine," says Yahweh of hosts, "on the day
that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own
son who serves him." So you will again distinguish between the righteous
and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him
(3:16-18).
Today,
before Yahshua’s return, Yahweh is setting forth requirements for
obedience that will clearly distinguish between the righteous and the wicked,
between the ones who fear Him and esteem His name versus the ones who do not,
identifying those who are truly His Bride. Clearly, He is calling the Bride to
tithe, evidenced here in these passages regarding Elijah. And He is writing in
a book of remembrance all the ones who will be faithful. If one cannot even
tithe to the Bride, as clearly instructed here regarding the Elijah work, how
can they think they will be favorably recorded in this book? If one cannot be
faithful with earthly wealth, how do they think they can be regarded as one to
be faithful with that which is above? If one desires to be a part of Elijah,
then they will do what they are instructed – tithe to the Bride! Like the widow, they have been
commanded to give to Elijah.
Continue to page 5 for CONCLUSION