Concerning The Collection - Part 3 Series

IV. The Place of Giving (16:2c)

Fourth, the place of giving.

The Greek word for “store it up” (v. 2c) is thesaurizo, from which we get the English word “thesaurus.” It has to do with a treasury. We are to give systematically and cheerfully to the treasury of the church on the first day of the week. The money collected is then to be distributed by godly leaders.

Lesson

Let’s look at the next principle “concerning the collection.”

V. The Proportion of Giving (16:2d)

Fifth, let’s look at the proportion of giving.

The apostle Paul said in verse 2d: “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.”

What proportion of our money are we to give? How much are we to give? The common answer is that we are to give 10%. Is that how much we should give?

This is perhaps the most vexing of all questions regarding financial stewardship.

Let’s examine Scripture closely to learn what it teaches on this important question. Let’s look at giving as follows:

• Giving before Moses,

• Giving from Moses to Jesus, and

• Giving from Jesus to the present.

Giving can generally be broken into two categories: freewill giving and required giving. Let’s use these two categories as we study giving in Scripture.

A. Giving Before Moses

First, let’s look at giving before Moses.

1. Freewill Giving

And let’s start with freewill giving.

Prior to Moses some people gave a tithe to God. A “tithe” simply means “tenth.” So people gave 10% to God.

For example, Abram gave a tenth to Melchizedek. We read about this in Genesis 14:18-20: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed [Abram] and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”

Jacob also gave a tenth to the Lord. After Jacob fled from his father’s house, he spent a night at a place he called Bethel. There he had an encounter with God. At the end of this encounter, we read the following in Genesis 28:20-22: “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.’”

So, because of these passages, some people say, “You see, the tenth (or tithe) was before the Mosaic law, so it must supersede the Mosaic law and still be valid for us today.”

However, it’s interesting to go back and take a second look at giving before Moses. Abram gave a tenth one time in his whole life, for we never have a record that he ever gave a tenth again. Jacob also gave a tenth one time.