Copyright © 2016 Gysbert Brits

Bertie and Helena Brits are the founders of Dynamic Love

Ministries. They are based in South Africa from where
they reach out to the rest of the world. Bertie has been
preaching the Gospel of Jesus since 1992, having his
focus and passion towards the message of Grace, since it
is the only way unto the victory that God has planned for
man. In his early years he planted churches in Southern
Africa and conducted hundreds of open-air Gospel
outreaches in which thousands of people came to know the
message of God’s love for them.

In the Brits’ internet-based Dynamic Love Web Church,

many people are reached all over the world by weekly
messages and grace-based fellowship via the web. Since
2007, Bertie has had a weekly program on television
where he has had a major impact on many people. He also
pastors two local churches in his area.

The major focus of Bertie’s ministry is the Trinity, from

where he has a family-based approach to the Gospel,
which you will encounter in a powerful way in this book.
 The Mind blowing Gospel of Jesus Christ

There is unending good news in what God accomplished

in Jesus. Jesus did a work so grand that the human mind
needs assistance from God Himself to comprehend it. What
God accomplished in Jesus blows what Satan did in Adam
completely out of the water!

God’s original plan with man was to have a friend with

whom He could share His life. When He made man, He
wasn’t driven by a business decision to hire a gardener for
the Garden of Eden. The creation of man is based on the
same passions, thoughts and qualities displayed in the life
of a loving married couple who want children with whom
they could share all they have.

What drives the Trinity is their passion for serving a person

with life, and to see their image and likeness inside
someone who is born from their union. The passion God
has for us can be likened to loving, caring parents that are
driven to make sandwiches for their children’s school day,
and to provide for them however they can. Just as parents
are driven by a passion to share their life with their
children, this is the beautiful reason why God had us. I
can imagine God walking in the Garden of Eden, in the
cool of the day, laughing, talking and joking within the
Trinity. You could hear them a mile away, as they lovingly
shared their lives in perfect union with each other, a union
in which they also included Adam and Eve. I think God is
talkative; He is fun to be around and loves life. I think He
is so talkative that we can call Him “the Word,” without
offending Him.

When God made Adam from the dust of the Earth, He gave
him the ability to be alive and to have a living relationship
with Him. All life would flow from this relationship.
Adam became the very place where God displayed all His
goodness. Adam and Eve were the objects of God’s love,
which was their very source of life. As Adam believed in
God, his heart was opened to all the life of God for him.
He did not have to produce life; life was a gift. When we
read the Genesis account of God’s relationship with
Adam, we can see what I’m talking about—but then
something happened:

8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in

the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife
hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God
amongst the trees of the garden. 9And the LORD God
called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
(KJV, Gen. 3:8, 9).

When Adam and Eve heard God talking and laughing from
afar, they hid themselves, and it was then that God called
for them. God’s call to Adam must’ve sounded like any
father’s cry for a son who’s gone missing, full of care and
concern—not anger or wrath. Yet, many of us picture the
fall of mankind as if God came to ‘pay Adam a visit’—so
to speak—as soon as He found out about his mistake. I
don’t believe that is what happened.

The Bible documents God’s visit with Adam and Eve as

just an ordinary day in paradise, not God hunting them
down to confront and punish them! We can only imagine
the wonderful, fearless fellowship there must’ve been in
the garden between Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Adam and
Eve, prior to the fall. When God visited Adam and Eve,
He did not come to take an inventory of the work they had
accomplished each day. It was not about “Boss God”
coming to see if His garden was okay; He came simply
longing to see if His friends were okay.

We should never think of God as anything other than love

and family. God is a family, and we are invited to pull up
a chair and sit with Him at His table of love and
fellowship, within the Trinity. As we dwell in the presence
of such a good God, beholding the love in the Trinity, we
can’t help but to be influenced by it. God’s desire has
always been to bear His fruit in us, thus sharing His
quality of life with us as a free gift. He longs to give you
all that He has, and for you to share in feeling the birth of
generosity in your own heart. His care for you will be the
birth in you of one who cares effortlessly for others. He
will love you into being a lover. This is how He planned
to live in you. By Him doing this, we experience His
wonderful life, the life from where all good things come
forth. As the Father is one with His Son, He is also one
with us. We will forever be His kind, and that He will
never forget.

When Adam fell, he never lost his value nor his beauty.
Something very deadly and cruel grabbed ahold of Adam.
I can see the concern in the heart of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit at that moment. When death grabbed ahold of
Adam, it wasn’t God thinking of ways to kill him. Adam
placed himself in death’s grip when he chose to go his own
way. There was no reason for God to kill a man who was
already being killed by the deadly Tree of the Knowledge
of Good and Evil. When God warned Adam not to eat of
the tree, He warned him that the fruit of the tree would
kill him, not that God would kill him out of anger for not
being obedient.

God could only think of ways to redeem Adam, even if it

meant dying in his place. When a child disobeys, the
father of the child is still his father. When something
valuable is stolen, its owner still owns it and its value has
not changed!

Just as the prodigal son was a lost son, yet still very much
his father’s son, all people—while lost into what is killing
them—are still very much God’s people. The channel by
which this death found its way into the life of Adam, Eve,
and all of humanity, was the abandonment of trust in God
for trust in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The valuable, beautiful man and woman, who were the
Godkind, became slaves of sin and death. Through
Adam’s fatal choice, mankind was bound to the Tree of
Death. From that moment on, our loving Father has
demonstrated His love and His very being, in all shapes
and forms, to get man back to a place of life and peace that
could last forever, ultimately accomplished in the death
and resurrection of Jesus.

Wouldn’t any loving father want to save his son from

death? God has never been self-seeking, unloving,
unfriendly, resentful, or keeping score of sin. The self-
giving, generous, loving and caring God (Father, Son and
Holy Spirit) has never changed and will never change.
The power of our Salvation is born from the love there is
in the Trinity.

What could be so deadly about the Tree of the Knowledge

of Good and Evil that it could destroy man? Let’s have a
deeper look at that tree. The Septuagint is the Greek Old
Testament, read by Paul and others who lived in the days
of Jesus. The following definitions for the words good and
evil are taken from the Greek Septuagint:

Good and Evil

Good
Kalos
Thayer Definition:
1) beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice,
surpassing, precious, useful, suitable, commendable,
admirable

Evil

ponēros

Thayer Definition:
1) full of labours, annoyances, hardships
1a) pressed and harassed by labors; from the root
word - strong desire

I am going to keep it simple: eating from the Tree of the

Knowledge of Good and Evil is believing a good life is
obtained by trying to work the good we see in God.
From this works principle we can even write a list of laws
on how to have life. All you need to do is look at God and
how good He is, start trying to do all the good things you
see in God, and have life by working the good. Here is an
example of such a list of laws:

 Love all people

 Love God with all your heart
 Be a giver
 Be friendly
 Sacrifice yourself
 Be willing to be the least
 Don’t steal
 Be kind
 The list goes on and on …

By looking at this list we can all see the focus will be on

us to produce good works. There is nothing wrong with
the list, yet it will be completely ineffective in bringing
forth life in us! Even if we take all the holiness of God and
put it in writing, a list of perfect rules from beholding
God’s quality of life will be powerless. Why is this? This
is because life is not found in good works, but good
works come from the life. In other words, if you have
God’s life, then good works will manifest. But, life cannot
be created by good works.

The more you try to find life by obedience to rules, the less
you will find it. You will experience death. When we eat
of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, death knocks
at the door. Who would ever think that a tree flourishing
in the beauty of God could be the root of all death! While
it was beautiful because of God’s supply, mixing in the
belief that one must work all those good things in order
to have life meant death for all who partook of it.

Adam ate of this tree and entered death, leading to the

complete destruction of all human beings. The beautiful,
lovely people of God would all die now, because of that
tree. The poison of life by works was killing man, so that
life could not be called life anymore; it is now called,
“death unto death” (See 2 Cor. 2:16). All will die and no
one will be left alive. In the heart of the powerful God-
family (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), was the loving
answer to mankind’s problem. They had to bring about the
death of all people, so we could all have the opportunity
to live. Is this even possible? Can there really be such a
plan? Yes, and a million times yes!

What God prepared for us in Jesus is more than we can

ever ask, think or even imagine! The all-loving God of
the universe had the solution inside Himself: He would
bring redemption to all people, so that everyone who
believed could be saved. What would this plan be? How
would it look? How would He bring forth the death of all,
yet have them live? Very few people know it, but Adam
was the son of God. Here is the Scripture that proves it:

“Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth,
which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God”
(KJV, Luke 3:38).

All sin and death came into the world on account of one
man, Adam. Adam was acting on behalf of all people.
Adam was not Jesus but still a son of God. He was a human
being born directly from God. Anyone whose only father
is God, has the power of an Adam and is the representative
of all people. There have only been two people like that,
Adam and Jesus. Jesus was called the last Adam:

“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a

living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit”
(KJV, 1 Cor. 15:45).

When God looked at all of us, He loved what He saw and

could not see His lovely people die. He saw the death from
the tree manifesting in us, bringing forth all kinds of fruit
of the flesh. Sin spread like a cancer, killing the people
God loves. God never confused us with what was
happening to us; He loved mankind through it all. He
wanted to set us free from the ministration of death (See
2 Cor. 3:6). Then, God’s love plan manifested and Jesus
was incarnated into human flesh, having God as His
Father and being the representative of all people, just like
the first Adam.

In bringing forth a last Adam in Jesus, God prepared a body

that could die the death of all people. This was possible
since Jesus would be in the power of an Adam. If this last
Adam could become sin, and sin have its perfect work in
His body, all people would die in Him. When the last Adam
died and was then raised in human flesh, all people have
the hope of life again, as a free gift.

Jesus Christ has redeemed us from what was killing us!

The handwriting of laws that was against us was nailed to
the cross. The ministration of death, written on stones, was
taken out of the way (See 2 Cor. 3:7). God made His life
accessible, as a free gift, inside the last Adam, Jesus Christ.
All of a sudden, resurrection life, with the Trinity as the
foundation of it all, entered the human being who stood in
the power of representation for all people. As a human
being, He was raised from the dead into eternal life by the
Holy Spirit. When Stephen was being stoned to death for
preaching the Gospel, he saw that human being raised up
to the Father:

“And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the

Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’” (NKJV,
Acts 7:56).

Whoever receives the Spirit who raised Jesus from the

dead, has the promise that the same Spirit will raise them
into everlasting life. By not eating of the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil, but instead trusting in Jesus
as your life, you will be raised into immortality. This is
the GOOD NEWS! Your death has died in Christ and your
resurrection is inside Him—not in your performance. Can
you believe it?

You don’t have access to life by eating of the tree that tells
you to look at the right thing to do and do it. With this out
of the way, all forms of works have been removed and you
can now receive His love manifested unto true life. You
have the promise of immortality by receiving the Spirit
that raised Jesus from the dead. When you believe this
truth the Spirit of this truth enters your heart and you are
eternally sealed for salvation from death. Even if you die
in this world, you will be raised from the dead. As we
walk by the Spirit and not by our works, trusting Him for
life, we find Salvation manifesting in all forms of the fruit
of the Spirit, and in the end, immortality.

In conclusion to this introductory chapter, I would like to

connect this truth to money. Imagine you consider all the
good in God. You see His generosity in people’s lives; you
see that He is always content, never worried, and His great
faith and love is expressed in sharing His life with others.
As you see this, you notice how people love God back and
bless Him in song and giving their lives to Him. A recipe
for death would be if you were to analyse the good God
has done, then conclude that you will have all that good
by trying to be as good as God and doing what He
does. We don’t have life by doing all the good God does!
We have life because of what God lovingly accomplishes
in us!

If you think copying the good that God does is the key
to prosperity and financial blessings, you are in trouble.
When you make a list of all the good God has done and see
copying Him as the principle by which you will find your
breakthrough, you will suffer:

“If I give, live in great faith that all my needs are met,
speak positive words, try to stay content, and love people
by sowing into their lives and meeting their needs, I will
REAP THE GOOD LIFE GOD HAS!!”

This is what I call the revelation of death. It will destroy

your life!

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is

the way of death” (NKJV, Prov. 16:25)

A stable future is not found in giving. Contentment,

fearless faith, a stable future, and love for others are only
found in the life into which God raised Jesus. Only when
we believe that His life is our life will we enter eternal
life, where we will effortlessly enjoy contentment, peace,
stability and love for others. Only then can God bear His
fruit in us.

In this book I share my journey out of the misery that lies,

dressed in the name of having life by doing good, caused
in my life. I never thought the way that seemed unto life
would destroy me. I will also explain many Bible verses
about finances from a grace perspective. Let me share my
journey with you.
A Relationship-Based Approach to Money in
the Kingdom of God
 The ABBA in Humanity

(In this chapter I would like to explain that we are the God
kind. I will also show you that God has never been alone and
has always been a family and that He only operates inside the
parameters of family logic.)

 How can man relate to God?

 Is it even possible to have a real relationship with
God? What does a meaningful relationship with God
call for?
 What is the foundation for a relationship between
God and man?
 Can God fit into our parameters of relating?
 Why does man even think he can have a relationship
with God?

I remember a conversation I had with a man sitting next

to me on a plane en route to the United States, which was
a connecting flight via Dubai. From Cape Town to Dubai,
I was fortunate to have an open seat next to me, so I could
stretch my legs on the 9-hour flight, and I hoped for the
same on the 14-hour flight to New York. As I searched for
my seat on the plane in Dubai, I saw there was already
someone sitting in the seat next to mine. My first thought
 The ABBA in Humanity

was that I would have the opportunity to witness to him

on the way, so I introduced myself to the young man, John,
and took my seat.

When we reached 10,000 feet and the seat belt sign went
off, John started playing games on his cell phone. Five
hours later the battery died. Frustrated, John put his phone
away and grumbled, “These batteries are terrible. Why
can’t they make them like they used to, when a Nokia
phone could go a week on a single charge!” Then he asked
what I do for a living. I have come to realize the worst
thing I could ever do, at this point, is to tell the person I’m
a pastor. Either it will be the end of all conversation or I
will have to deal with an actor for the rest of the flight.

I remember a flight when the person next to me did not

ask me once about my occupation, during our seven-hour
flight. Then, just before we landed, he asked me. When I
answered that I was a pastor, this is what he said, “Why
have you not (profanity) warned me!” Obviously, this was
a reaction coming directly from the subconscious, not from
his cognitive mind. I could clearly see that he connected
pastors not only to God, but also to guilt and pain.

I did not want that to happen this time in my conversation

with John. So, after he asked me, I told him that I declare
the innocence of human beings. When He asked me what
I meant, I told him how Adam represented all humanity in
sin and Jesus Christ represents all humanity in innocence.
He smiled a bit uncomfortably but said that it sounded
awesome. There seemed to be a part of him that wanted to
hear more, but another part that was afraid and on guard.
After I witnessed to him for about 30 minutes, I could

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 The ABBA in Humanity

clearly see that the message of grace really blessed him.

Then, as we came in for our landing in New York and they

told us to switch off our phones, place our seats in the
upright position and tighten our safety belts, a phone rang.
When I realized it was John’s phone and told him so, he
looked stressed and said that it couldn’t be his, since his
phone’s battery was completely flat. He also said that it
was his first visit to the United States and he had not
registered on a U.S. cell phone network.

I suggested, “Then it must be God who wants to speak to

you.”

John replied, “Then I will never pick up the phone.”

When I asked him why, he told me that God would only

rebuke him for his bad lifestyle and that he was not ready
for that kind of conversation.

John was living in fear towards God. The fear in his heart
is a manifestation of a wrong belief about who God really
is. Believing God is a sin conscious God will put you in a
place where you want more distance between you and
Him. No person has been made to function under scrutiny,
rebuke and the fear of punishment. Should a negative
picture of God be in your mind when you think of God, it
would be very difficult to approach Him

Most People Relate to God Based on Their Works and

Sins

Sad as it is, I have discovered that most people in the world,

as well as people in church, relate to God based on their

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 The ABBA in Humanity

works and sins. As hard as it was for John to grasp God’s

love, it is just as difficult for thousands of people—even
in church—to understand the dimensions of the love of
God. In my mind’s eye, I can see God trying His best to
explain who He really is to His children. I can see nervous
smiles on the faces of millions, as their hearts say yes but
the cognitive mind, with its critical reasoning, puts God’s
love in categories such as impossible or make believe.

How can we ever understand God, know who He is, and

relate to Him in a world that perceives Him to be something
quite abnormal? John would not have minded sitting next
to a police officer, rocket scientist, doctor or even a
politician. He could even have a fearless and interesting
conversation with a pilot or a schoolteacher, with no
problem. Yet, he was very uncomfortable with me because
his heart believes God is angry and disappointed with
Him.

Fear based on lies told about God holds us back from

being at ease in our relationship with God

As human beings, we all have certain things in common.

There is a kind of common sense, which gives us a point
of reference from where we communicate and learn to
know each other. We are all human, we all need a place to
stay, and we all work for a living. We are all relationship-
oriented beings with the need to love and be loved, and
we all need security and a hope for the future. It is within
this undefined yet common logic that we relate to one
another. We reason and relate inside the logic of our
design.

A picture about God that is alien to normal family life has

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 The ABBA in Humanity

been painted about God, resulting in pain and fear in the

lives of millions of people.

Let’s say you find yourself seated next to an alien from

outer space on your next flight. You won’t have a clue
what to say! Since you know nothing about what kind of
being it is, you will have no idea whether it can even
understand your language or culture. Imagine how
frightened you would feel, approaching an alien, if all
you’ve ever heard about them is that they’re violent and
want to kill people. If we’re convinced that aliens are
extra-terrestrial beings, who know our very thoughts but
consider us their enemies, we will find it almost
impossible to relate to them. Sadly, this is the picture that
has been painted about God, causing great fear in the
hearts of people.

In attempting to communicate with an alien, all our

questions would be relationship-based and in line with
our logic, the only means by which we could attempt to
make sense of the alien. Since our concerns would
naturally lean towards such things as morality, family
life, safety and survival, we would be limited in our
ability to define a creature that does not relate to any
aspects of our logic. So, unless we are the same kind of
beings, with the same logic and needs, we will never be
able to fully comprehend each other or relate in a
meaningful way. Aliens cannot function inside the
parameters of being human, so we would feel quite distant
and uncomfortable with them.

We relate to people based on similar life experiences and

shared ground, so that when we perceive others as
different, we tend to veer away from them while we are

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 The ABBA in Humanity

naturally drawn to people with whom we can more

comfortably relate. When I am in another country and hear
someone speaking Afrikaans, I am not afraid to walk up
to him and start a conversation. What gives me this
boldness is the fact that we share the same culture and
language, and we have the same country of origin.

If God is seen as a dangerous alien, you will never be

comfortable with Him next to you. In order to have a
meaningful relationship with God we need to find
common ground or our hearts will keep Him at a distance.

What do we share in common with God?

As we consider this, the following questions beg to be

answered:

God is a being who needs nothing and no one. He lives as

I AM that I AM. How could I ever understand Him?

Does not His very being, as God, place a demand on me

to change into something else?

How could I not feel intimidated?

How can we relate to God, based on our design as

relationship-oriented beings?

If we don’t really know God, we do feel intimidated and

wonder if we must change to be in relationship with Him.
Like the gentlemen sitting next to me on my flights, the
mere thought of God can trigger feelings of guilt and fear,
even anger. We instinctively feel we must please a being
with whom we cannot relate. After all, God created the

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universe—He’s way out of our league! What pressure,

trying to please the One with whom we cannot relate! At
best, we will have a shallow relationship—like that of a
human and animal relationship. Let me explain what I
mean by likening this to the “relationship” I have with my
dog.

Our dog is black and white, so we named him Piano. I can

see that he loves me from the depth of his being; he is 100
percent loyal and committed to me. He obeys me with
great enthusiasm and would never do anything to harm me.
In fact, I believe he would give his life for me. However,
there is one thing I need that he falls short in, and that is
intimate fellowship. I need someone with whom I can share
my deepest feelings, but Piano doesn’t really understand
me. As much as I love him, I cannot communicate with
him like I do with someone close to me, like Helena or
my sons. The reason for this is obvious; we are not of the
same kind. While I am a human being, he is the dog kind
of animal being.

For Us to Have a Meaningful Relationship with God,

He Has to Be as Much Our Kind as We are His

No amount of loyalty and obedience, or adoration and

worship, my dog Piano bestows on me can ever be enough
to form a truly meaningful relationship. He will never
know what it is to be like me. It is impossible for him to
enter my life and share it with me like another human
being can. He cannot appreciate a good theological book,
nor can he understand a profound movie or enjoy a
beautiful show at the opera house. All he can do is adore
me, but he can never share in my quality of life. We are
actually worlds apart. No amount of food I give him, or love

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 The ABBA in Humanity

and respect I show him, will ever enable him to

experience, for example, the emotions I feel when one of
my sons wins a tennis match or gets 100 percent on a test
at school. Our pets can never relate with us the way we
human beings relate with one another.

Throughout my life, I have discovered that people often

relate to God as a dog relates to its master. When people
are happy to see their Master and want to obey Him, they
go to great lengths to prove their loyalty to Him. They
think that by obeying the rules they will earn God’s
approval and provision. When they feel they have failed
to keep up the necessary good works, they run and hide
from God. This is truly a sad way to live.

Piano’s “good works,” like displaying joy when he sees

me, protecting me, even just being in my presence, as well
as his obedience to my commands, can never cause him
to enter my level of life. Even my loyal provision for him
cannot elevate him to what I am. He can sleep on my
couch, or even sleep in a golden dog box and eat steak
every day, but he is stuck in being dog.

God never intended for us to obey commands so that we

could earn His daily provisions. What He wants for us is
to share His quality of life. How sad it would be if we
were to fall into such deep darkness that we would define
ourselves by—and find our existence in—how much God
gives us! The truth is, we can only find our identity and
value in knowing Him and knowing ourselves as He has
always known us, never in our obedience and the amount
of money He is willing to give us!

Unless we recognize that we are truly 100 percent God’s

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kind, we will never be able to have a meaningful

relationship with Him or share in His quality of life. We
will not know how to relate to Him; we will be nervous
and won’t know what to do in His presence. The quickest
way to kill a relationship is for people to be confused
about who they truly are; that’s when side issues like
money, health and all other provision-related matters take
centre stage.

Believing the foundation of a relationship is obedience to

all kinds of principles is a total misunderstanding of the
true meaning of relationship. Furthermore, falling in love
with the prosperity that might be the outcome of obedience
to principles will surely be the death of the relationship.
In GOD we live and move and have our being, so we relate
to God within the reality that we are the God-kind, and not
in what we can do for Him or how He can bless us in this
life!

Seeing that it is not possible to have a meaningful

relationship with God when we have a wrong idea of who
He really is, let us see if we can find out who He really is.
I have heard it being said that you can know who a person
really is when you know what he is like when he is alone

The God before Time

When I consider that God is love and has always been love,
the following questions arise:

 If God has always been alone, whom did He love and

how did He express love before time?
 If God is grace (which, in the Greek, means to
influence unto the manifestation of true life), on whom

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did He bestow His grace, or influence, before time?

 If God is kind, to whom did He show His kindness
before time?

The Name of God

Previously, I always thought of God as a lonely god and

pictured Him as a kind of super holy being somewhere in
outer space. I envisioned Him as a bright light in dark
outer space, just floating in nothingness, staring straight
ahead, and living in solitude. The words I would use to
describe Him would be monotone, distant, lonely, holy,
scary, a bright light, alone, cold, unfriendly—everything
but human. To summarize, I would have said that God is
indescribably alone, distant and unreachable. Imagine
how difficult it would be to relate to such a being. It would
certainly be impossible!

I have found that a revelation of how loving and caring

God is in the Trinity, even before time, deepens my
understanding of Him being only good. The picture of a
God who has always been happy and full of joy helps my
heart to rest in the fact that He is good in the depth of His
being. It is almost like spying on God when He is alone and
realizing that the good He shows is not a smoke screen; it
is genuine.

Let’s see what the Bible says about God before time:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the

earth” (NKJV, Gen.1:1).

In a Jewish setting, a person’s name speaks about who and

what he is. A good example of this would be the name

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Jesus. Scripture states that the angel told Joseph to name

the baby Jesus, which means Saviour, for He would save
His people from their sins. Thus, in essence, the person of
Jesus is described by His name. With this truth in mind, we
can have a look at the word Elohim (Eloheem), which
translated to English is God.

Look at the word God in the Hebrew language:

“In the beginning GodH430created the heaven and the

earth” (KJV, Gen. 1:1).

“And GodH430 said, Let Us make man in our image,

after our likeness;” (KJV, Gen. 1:26a).

Strong’s Hebrew/English dictionary

H430 el-o-heem’ Plural of H433; gods in the ordinary

sense;

(H433, which is NOT the Hebrew word in Genesis 1:1 and

1:26, translates as el-o’-ah,el-o’-ah - a deity or the deity: -
God, singular)

The word El-o’ah (H433), by itself, is the word for God.

This singular word does not say much; it says no more to
me than the concept of a monotone, distant, impersonal
God, like I described earlier. The singular form does not
imply relationship at all. On the other hand,
Elohim(H430), which is in both verses above, is the
plural for God (H433) from where we can extrapolate a
lot of information.

If God is one, and yet also more than one, it implies

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wonderful unity and union between more than one being.

This speaks of relationship, ongoing communication and
many other key relational values. According to this
definition, we can use the phrase Divine Ones (H430
BDB), instead of God, when we read Gen.1:1. (I prefer to
say Divine Ones, rather than gods, since the word gods
commonly refers to false gods.) The verse could actually
read: “In the beginning the Divine Ones created the
heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

I can still remember how amazed I was the first time I saw
this. As a preacher, it shocks you in two ways: first, if it
is contrary to what you have believed, it forces you to start
thinking outside the box. Secondly, you see a truth that
could have you labelled as a heretic, if you preach it. When
I first read this, it felt as if the ground fell away beneath
me. How could this be! Is God not One as the Scripture
states? Is there not just one God?

Yes, God is One

The Bible declares that God is one in Deut. [Link]

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD”

(KJV).

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one”

(ESV).

I believe Deuteronomy 6:4 accurately describes God. I

would translate that verse to say:

Listen with understanding, and see O Israel, that the Self-

existing One (Jehovah), our Trinity of Divine Ones

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 The ABBA in Humanity

(Elohim), are in perfect oneness (That is to say, unity)

(Bertie Brits).

We also see this concept in Genesis 11:6, where the people

who built the Tower of Babel were described as being “one.”
It does not mean that only one man built the tower, but that
the thousands who were building it were in perfect
unison:

And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they
have all one language; and this they begin to do: and
now will be restrained from them, which they have
imagined to do (KJV, Gen. 11:6).

AND God is more than One

The moment the concept of Divine OneS enters our

reasoning, it opens a brand new understanding of God.
When you read, Divine OneS (plural), instead of Divine
One (singular), several questions come to mind:

How do these beings relate?

Are there more references that confirm the plural
concept?
What makes them divine?
How do we define divinity?
Do they have different personalities?

Who are the Divine Ones?

The answer is simple: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Look at that description of the Trinity! It is flooded with

God’s family logic, which always sounds like the loving

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Dad that He is, who deeply cherishes His family: “I am

your Father, you are my Son, and you, our dear Holy
Spirit, are also One with us in this family. I can’t but love
you with everything I am, for we are One!” The Son
talked often about His Trinity family, like in John 20:17
when He had risen and appeared to Mary Magdalene.
Notice He also includes us in His family:

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet
ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to
them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and
to My God and your God.’” (NKJV, John 20:17).

Do you see the family relationships in that verse, and how

we are also included? We are Jesus’ brethren, or brothers
(and sisters, ladies), and God is not only Jesus’ Father, but
also our Father! We are family!

Genesis 1:26 and 27 is one of the Scriptures that reveal

the most to me, concerning the pre-creation state of the
Divine Ones:

26And God said, Let Us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and
over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his
(own) image, in the image of God created He him; male
and female created He them (KJV, Gen.1:26, 27).

It would be entirely correct to translate the above

Scriptures: “And the Divine Ones said, let’s make man in
our image and likeness.”

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 The ABBA in Humanity

The moment we look at the verse with this truth in mind,

new revelation life flows from it. First, the words let us,
(or let’s), reveal a lot about the Divine Ones. Something is
revealed that we, as humans, are acquainted with—
something that is part of our design as human beings. Let’s
implies relationship between equals who honour and love
each other. It’s as if one asks the other permission to do
something, in a mutually considerate relationship
between equals. Saying, “let’s,” shows humility, a heart for
unity, and even the desire to not exclude the thought and
positive input of the other. It implies unity and love. We
can understand even more about the Divine Ones by
looking at what the one requested of the others: “Let us
(let’s) make man in our image and likeness …”

When I read this verse, I can see myself sitting around the
table with my family whom I dearly love. I see us playing
a board game, laughing, making jokes and having great
fun. As an idea comes to mind that can benefit us all, I
say, “Let’s go to Cape Town tomorrow and spend our day
on Table Mountain.” The “let’s” is not a command, but
rather like asking permission or making a suggestion to
people who are already fulfilled and enjoying themselves.
“Let’s” shows the respect I have for my family, in humbly
submitting my idea to them, while acknowledging their
free choice. It shows that I regard them as my equals.
You could phrase the let’s as the question, “Would it be
alright with you, if we go down to Cape Town and spend
the day on Table Mountain?”

The question carries with it the expectation or

foreknowledge that of course they would consent.
Therefore, the suggestion is phrased as a rhetorical
question. I believe it would not be wrong to translate

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Genesis1:26 as, “Would it be alright with you two if,

together, we make a being called man into our image and
likeness, and give him a seat with us at our table?” This
is asked with a clear expectation, or foreknowledge, that
there will be consensus about it. Although it still does not
fully explain the interaction in Genesis 1:26, an example
that is much closer to what happened in the Trinity would
be the following:

Imagine a happily married couple sitting at a table and the

husband says, “Wouldn’t’ it be nice if we had a baby? Then
we would have someone like us, sitting here next to us,
with whom we can share our life.” This kind of rhetorical
question reveals their closeness to each other, and their
unity in mind and emotion.

We can conclude, by looking at Genesis1:26, that the

Divine Ones are relationally oriented beings, intimately
interacting with each other, who co-existed even before the
creation of the world. We can also conclude that they
honour each other and live in such a way that the others’
opinions and freewill are respected and taken into
consideration. We can see that these Divine Ones are not
threatened by having others sharing in their nature—their
very being. We see they are generously sharing their lives.
We can also understand the mind-set in which the Divine
Ones created man, Heaven, Earth and all that is in it.

God is Someone Designed Just like Me

As I studied these Scriptures and understood more about

God’s being, I realized that my perception of Him changed
from being distant—even alien to mankind—to someone
who can be described in human terms. He is someone with

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whom I can relate from the core of my being, designed just

like me.

Reading Genesis 1:27 again, I concluded that we can

understand the being of God, the Divine Ones by looking
at humans who are made in their very image and likeness:

So God (the Divine Ones) created man in his (their) own

image, in the image of the Divine Ones created He him;
male and female created He them (ISV, Gen.1:27).

I love the way Genesis 1:27 is written. First of all, we see

that God (the Divine Ones - plural) created a man
(singular), in His image and in His likeness “created He
him (singular); male and female created He them
(plural).” Here we can clearly see that a human could
never be in the likeness and image of God, if he were
alone. God Himself said that it is not good for man to be
alone, but why?

It is not good for a human being to be alone because solitude

is not an environment in which one can express his or her
being, having all the ability but nowhere to manifest it.
This is true because a human is a relational being that
originated from the Divine Ones and all that is God. The
Scripture states that we live, move, and have our being in
God.

If a human is a being God has designed for communication,

with whom will he talk? If God made a human as a being
capable of giving and receiving love, whom will he love?
If trust is in his design, whom shall he trust? If God made
him to be kind and receive kindness, with whom will he
be kind? If his nature is to help, whom will he help? If he

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is influential, whom will he influence? If God created him

to procreate, to whom will he say, “Let’s have someone of
our own kind”? And then who will answer, “Yes, let’s”?

We see that God made mankind male and female,

demonstrating how God is a relational being, who put man
in a healthy male and female relationship, thus reflecting
Himself. We are relational beings who function from the
foundation of love. God made humans to function inside
the parameters of love, expressed in belief, faith, trust, joy,
peace, respect, understanding, knowing, openness,
mutual influence, freedom of choice and kindness.

Our design functions optimally in the atmosphere of

security, which is found in love and mutual respect. God
gave man the opportunity to feel how it feels to be like
Him, having the life that expresses itself in these
wonderful ways, with love as its source. Since we are in
the image and likeness of God, it would be impossible for
us to have any meaningful relationship outside of these
parameters, for we experience life inside them. Trying to
live on any other basis than that of our design would be
fatal. We should base our theological doctrine on this
foundation; anything outside it would be false and
distance our hearts from God.

As I was meditating on the relationship between the Divine

Ones, in whom we have our being, I asked God to help
me define this reality in simple terms. What I felt the Lord
say to me was that He is our Father, our Husband and our
Friend, and that we are His children, bride and friends. I
believe I was inspired by the Holy Spirit as I asked myself
what God is actually saying when He declares Himself
our Father, Husband and Friend? Then I realized He was

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saying that we are His family, and that we live and have
our being inside the reality in which He lives, which is a
family reality. Family life is the best way to describe the
relational dynamics between the Divine Ones. Anything
other than family realities would be outside the life God
lives.

When I read, in Genesis, that God came “in the cool of the
day” to speak to Adam, I see relationship written all over
it. What was true in Heaven became true on Earth!
Humankind is now partaking of the life possessed in the
Godhead. As it is in Heaven, so it is on Earth! God wanted
Adam to function exactly like Him and made sure that we
would be able to understand that today. Let’s have a look
at Adam giving the animals names. In Genesis 2:18-23,
we can clearly see how Adam functioned:

18GOD said, It is not good for the Man to be alone; I’ll

make him a helper, a companion. 19So GOD formed from
the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all
the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see
what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each
living creature that was its name. 20The Man named the
cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals;
but he did not find a suitable companion. 21GOD put the
Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his
ribs and replaced it with flesh. 22GOD then used the rib
that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and
presented her to the Man. 23The Man said, “Finally!
Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for
she was made from Man” (KJV, Gen.2:18-23).

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Adam named the animals and concluded that there was

no one in creation like him. A name of something spells
its nature, and as Adam named them, he could not find
any creature that was like him. Then God brought forth
Eve from Adam’s rib and presented her to him. Right away
Adam recognized his own kind!

Because Adam was in the image and likeness of God, he

could never have had a companion from the animal
kingdom. It’s as if this event is telling us how Adam had
a desire to have fellowship with his own kind, and to see
fruit coming forth from that relationship. Adam needed
family. God was Adam’s kind, but the God-kind-in-
human- flesh (Adam) was alone on Earth. By bringing
Eve for Adam, God gave expression to the reality in the
Godhead; together, Adam and Eve expressed His image
and likeness. Or, another way of saying it, God needed an
Adam and an Eve to manifest His image and likeness on
the earth, not just an Adam.

All these things speak of having a love-based relationship

inside a unity called family. It’s amazing that Adam could
not produce fruit (express himself), until he could behold
himself in another. He could only become one with another
being that would fit his being. When he had flesh of his
flesh and bone of his bone (See Gen. 2:23), with whom he
could share his life, Adam could really begin to live the
life God intended for him, bearing fruit after his own kind
and rooted in love. When Eve came forth, the Divine Ones
(God) saw that their life was alive in humans and fully
represented in humans, then He said it was VERY good
(See Gen. 1:31).

There is a Person in the Trinity who is Human Flesh

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 The ABBA in Humanity

and Bone, Representing all of Humanity. We are in the

God-family.

For human beings to have the life that God has, they need
to see themselves in God. How could that be made
possible? It could only be possible if there was a human
in the Trinity, and there is one! His name is Jesus! Because
of Jesus, the same reality in which Adam and Eve existed
with God exists now between God and us. There is a
person in the Trinity who is human flesh and bone,
representing all of humanity.

The family logic, or common sense of God, is the

foundation of the relationship we have with Him.
Whenever we reason outside family logic, we reason
outside the borders of His being and ours. Living in
realities outside family reality is unnatural for humankind
and will ultimately lead to destruction for all those who
choose to do so. There is still much more to say about the
Divine Ones’ family logic, but what I have explained will
suffice for the purpose of this book.

As we continue to talk about money, we need to keep to this

simple truth as our logic and reasoning. Otherwise, we
will move into the area of darkness and death in our
doctrine. All Scripture is God-inspired and finds its origin
in the logic of God. All Scripture is inspired by the Trinity
and has to convey their very nature. With this logic of the
Trinity in mind, I’d like to share my personal journey with
[Link] with God exists now between God and us.
There is a person in the Trinity who is human flesh and
bone, representing all of humanity.

The family logic, or common sense of God, is the

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 The ABBA in Humanity

foundation of the relationship we have with Him.

Whenever we reason outside family logic, we reason
outside the borders of His being and ours. Living in
realities outside family reality is unnatural for humankind
and will ultimately lead to destruction for all those who
choose to do so. There is still much more to say about the
Divine Ones’ family logic, but what I have explained will
suffice for the purpose of this book.

As we continue to talk about money, we need to keep to this

simple truth as our logic and reasoning. Otherwise, we
will move into the area of darkness and death in our
doctrine. All Scripture is God-inspired and finds its origin
in the logic of God. All Scripture is inspired by the Trinity
and has to convey their very nature. With this logic of the
Trinity in mind, I’d like to share my personal journey with
you.

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 The Death of My ABBA

Imagine a money-free world. Imagine a life free of lack,

where all people have whatever they need and in
abundance. Most people would describe this as Heaven.
One could almost connect all problems in the world to
money in one way or another. If it wasn’t for money, we
would not have the drug trade, blood diamonds,
corruption, wars, pride, political fights, church splits - the
list goes on and on. I’m sure I could fill a 200-page book
with examples of the evil that is in the world, presumably
because of money.

I can still remember the first time I read the verse that I
thought stated, “Money is the root of all evil.” Confusion
grabbed my heart, when I read this in 1Timothy 6:10,
because I knew that money is what we need to survive in
this world: Who can live without this “evil” thing called
money? I could not imagine the church living a money-
free life, so it seemed to me that we were forced to live
with something that was actually evil. My next thought
summarized all I knew at the time: If I just don’t desire a
lot of money I will be fairly safe. Then, about two years
 The Death of My ABBA

later, my understanding of 1Timothy 6:10 was

“corrected,” while I was listening to a televangelist. He
pointed out that Scripture does not say money is the root of
evil; it says the love of money is the root of evil. He also
clarified that we should not be worried about having
money, for money is neither good nor bad. However, he
warned us that money does reveal that which is in the
heart of a man. I was amazed to hear this “prosperity
gospel” that sounded so wonderful. It was saying that
Jesus died so that I could be a millionaire—even a
billionaire! It also taught me that a good person would use
money to save lives and provide for others, while a bad one
would use it in a way that manifests the evil in his heart.
Such joy flooded my heart when I was liberated from
thinking that money is evil!

After listening to many preachers, my thinking changed

and I agreed with the belief that “Jesus paid for people to be
rich.” My renewed thoughts felt like such a relief,
compared to my previous fears about money: If I don’t
desire riches, I am actually against what He came to freely
give me. This “revelation” felt like a kind of healing of my
mind, freeing me from the belief and frustration of
thinking money is evil: If Jesus wants to heal me from
poverty and make me a billionaire who am I to argue! I
should be a millionaire! Refusing to be rich is like refusing
to be healed; I’d be dishonouring the cross!

The prosperity gospel had convinced me that it would be

disrespectful if I did not want to become extremely rich:
After all, Jesus died so that I could have wealth; thus,
salvation can only be defined by an abundance of money
and material possessions. I now know that when people

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believe this about money, they are unable to be saved from

the power money has over their lives. When money is the
loudest voice one hears, the only “salvation” available is
to find ways to make more money. In obedience to what I
thought was the truth, I opened up my heart for prosperity.
In the same way that I was open to healing and loved it, I
started to love prosperity. I loved the fact that the curse of
poverty was broken so that I could be rich—and really
should be rich! Not that I saw myself as poor up until then;
in fact, I was never even aware that I was poor. I always
thought that I was blessed, until it dawned on me that I
was actually poor and just didn’t know it. My eyes were
opened to see my “nakedness and poverty,” as they put it,
and I was a bit ashamed.

I Desired Riches as Passionately as I Desired to Preach

I was determined not to disappoint God, so I started

desiring riches and affluence just as I had always desired
to preach. I would do everything possible to see that it
happened because I did not want to be disrespectful, in
any way, to what Jesus had done for me. If He died for me
to be rich, I was going to be as rich as possible. I was going
to be just as rich as He could make me! I knew that if I
did my part, He would do His. I loved the expectation of
becoming rich, as it was “God’s dream” for me. I was sure
my blessing was just around the corner and that I was on
the brink of a massive breakthrough: This will be my year
of increase and multiplication, I thought, It will be the
year when all that the locusts have destroyed will be
returned to me sevenfold (See Joel 2:25, Prov. 6:31).

The time of contentment was over, as many preachers

would say, “To be happy with where you are, and what

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you have, is selfish! Not moving on to greater things and

bigger financial visions, means that you are backslidden
and selfish.” I was persuaded that being happy with what
I had was a slap in the face of God, as well as a bad
example to the world. Who would ever believe the word
of a poor man? I started dreaming, and I dreamed big,
very big: Well, God wants me to be rich, doesn’t He? So, I
will have all that I’m dreaming of and more!

I Could Hear the Voice of Financial Supply so Clearly!

I began to get a vision from God for the money I was about
to receive from Him. It was as if God was showing me
masses of unsaved people, so that the burning in my heart
for the individual was multiplied a billion times. It was
not about the one lost sheep anymore: We will go big
now— big stages, big auditoriums, and, and … Visions
and strategies started coming to me “supernaturally,”
almost as if a new life from God was born inside me. I
could hear the voice of financial supply so clearly!

This new revelation about money also changed how I felt

about others. I felt greater and greater respect for the
Christians who “had it made,” financially. Previously, I
was not aware of whether somebody was rich or poor, never
even noticing what vehicle a person drove or where he
stayed. All I saw was the person, unconcerned about
whether or not they were “financially blessed.” But, after
my newfound belief of financial prosperity, I realized that
I used to be a bit arrogant back in the day when it didn’t
matter to me where I came from socially or how much
money I had. I just believed that I would always have
enough to give and to be of use. Now I saw how arrogant
I was back then: Who was I to think that I could teach rich

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 The Death of My ABBA

Christians about God!

Furthermore, through this seemingly amazing message

that “God wants you to be rich, for riches are a
manifestation of godliness,” I believed God was
enlightening me to the way He blessed people with
material possessions. I thought, those wealthy Christians
must be doing everything right to be so close to God and
to have such a special ‘revelation.’ Feeling more welcome
in church and understanding the “church world” a bit
better, I was finally seeing what everything was really
about: We faithful Christians are waiting for the “wealth
of the wicked,” which is actually intended for us!

As time went by and I saw no financial blessing in my

life, I wanted the affirmation of being rich even more. But,
no matter how often I confessed slogans like “money
cometh,” money did not “cometh” to me! I desperately
longed to please God by being rich. In fact, I longed to be
so rich that even a Jew would become jealous of me. Then
I could point him to Jesus and lead him to walk in the
fullness of the cross. Instead, the more I craved money, the
more I found guilt slowly flooding my heart. I was
ashamed I did not have the money some of my friends had
and to drive the car I drove. All of a sudden, the old car
that I first saw as a blessing became a curse, a blatant sign
of my weak faith, and even worse, an indication of some
hidden disobedience or misapplication of a principle
somewhere in my life. Something had to be wrong; I felt
I needed advice.

Jesus Did It All and the Tithe Unleashed It All?

I was desperate for answers and the answers came through

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 The Death of My ABBA

a well-known preacher who visited our church to preach on

money. He had it all—the big ministry, the jet, and the
missing link between my money and me. The preacher
introduced me to the “tithe,” as one of the keys to the
system on which God’s provision functions: Oh,
hallelujah! Freedom at last! Let me first pay God what is
His, and then all that Jesus died for will start to manifest
in my life! It all sounded so simple: Jesus did it all and
the tithe unleashed it all. I was beginning to understand that
although God does love the generosity of my giving to
various needs in the moment, He is a God of order and
needs my giving to be in line with His system: First we
have to tithe, for the tithe is what we “owe God.”

I became persuaded that I was wrongly giving away

money, by giving as it pleased me, money that was not even
mine in the first place! Thus, I was actually stealing from
God. I was randomly giving away the money that should
have gone to the local church for people in need—albeit
lovingly—but through my own will.

I Stole from God by Giving to the Poor and Preaching

to the Lost

When I asked God to forgive me for giving money to the

wrong people, I felt the burden of guilt leave me. The guilt
for being poor also lifted, in the brightness of my
expectation of a new financial life. Everything was about
to change; I felt the joy of a new found belief, the joy of a
new beginning: How could I have ever thought that God
could bless me when I was actually stealing from Him?
Even if my heart was pure and sincere in helping the poor
and spreading the Gospel with the means I had, it was
wrong—sincerely wrong! God loved me enough to

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chastise me, revealing the truth. It was painful to think that

I stole from God by autonomously giving to the poor and
preaching to the lost with His money.

When I realized the tithe is the foundation of financial

provision, I knew that even if God loved me and wanted
to bless me, He couldn’t: How could He bless a thief who
robbed Heaven! I was convinced I was that thief and
that I was cursed for robbing God. My poverty (which I
was unaware of prior to learning that God wanted me to
be rich) was, in fact, a direct result of my disobedience.
When I found out that I was guilty of robbing God, I was
so grateful that I could come to the right knowledge in
order to change for the better.

To correct the wrong I had done, I decided to give to the

church the money I had always given to the poor and spent
on outreach. I had no fear in doing this, because I believed
my breakthrough would happen before the end of the
following month. Surely then I would lack nothing: Did
God not clearly say that I could prove and test Him on this
specific point? I understood that you could never test God,
except in the matter of the tithe:

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may
be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith
the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of
heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be
room enough to receive it (KJV, Mal. 3:10).

The Almighty cannot lie; therefore, I will have a lot of

money and be super-blessed not long from now! The God
who saved me, the One who gave me His Holy Spirit, and
gave His Son for me will not fail me. I failed Him because

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 The Death of My ABBA

I used His money for outreach and the poor, independent

of church authority!

I was actually astonished that I could live a Christian life,

leading people to Jesus, and even seeing miracles, without
being aware of one of the greatest truths in the church
called the tithe! Obviously, the tithe is vitally important
to blessedness in a Christian’s life, as it is preached every
Sunday for at least the first ten or fifteen minutes of the
service.

I was amazed to see God in a new light now, as a loving

and “righteous” God; take note—not just loving, but
loving and righteous. Suddenly, I saw something new
about Him: God could curse you if you stole from Him! I
was never even aware that God could curse someone,
prior to this new understanding. I felt that I had matured
as a believer because I was getting to know “the other side
of God.” And all of this was revealed to me in one small
truth: “Financial blessedness shows godliness.”

I must say, I did not steal a lot from God. When I realized
my error, I began to give God what He wanted: His 10
percent is now with Him. Of the leftover money, I will give
to the poor and pay for fuel to preach to the lost. I was not
a thief anymore.

It Was as if I Entered a Curse

The first month came and went without the breakthrough.

I can remember not having a cent leftover two days before
the end of the month. Nevertheless, I just knew the miracle
would happen in the last two days because I still had bills
to pay. God is not a liar, after all. That month came and

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went. Likewise, the second month came and went without

any breakthrough. In fact, I was worse off than ever
before. I had no money to give to the poor and had to cycle
to my outreach project at night, which was in a very
dangerous area. I did not have fuel for my old car, which
proved my poverty. It was as if I had entered a curse, like
someone had cast a spell over me. It was the complete
opposite of what I expected. In those two months, I found
that my compassion for the poor was fading, as I was
beginning to think their poverty was their own fault: If
they tithed as I do, and stopped stealing from God, they
would be much better off. I concluded that I had no
obligation towards them, for their poverty was the fruit of
their own disobedience. I also thought I could sense God’s
anger at those who did not want to give to me. Convinced
they were in rebellion for not giving me money, I felt I had
an inner witness that God would deal with them according
to their rebellion: They would rather live extravagantly,
buying nice houses and the newest cars, while I tithe and
don’t even have enough food on the table.

My heart slowly started to change. The innocent child who

loved all people, and lived freely and happily while
loving God, had now grown into “maturity,”
understanding the “deeper things of God.” I was surely
moving into a big ministry—so I thought—just as soon as
I received the money that would manifest because of my
tithe. I would soon be a “mover and shaker,” who would
“conquer the world for Jesus!”

Something else happened in me after my new found belief

about the tithe. To me, the tithe doctrine was not simply
about giving a tithe. As people, we learn who a person
really is by looking at his actions and lifestyle; thus, the

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 The Death of My ABBA

tithe teaching brought me to a place where I thought I was

beginning to better understand the person of God, as a new
picture of Him was forming in my mind.

I also came to believe that the Gospel is not as simple as

I thought it was. Although I had always seen God as my
loving Father, who loves and blesses me unconditionally,
my views on His provision changed after accepting the
tithe teaching. I learned unconditional provision is only
a kind of starting place: The God I am dealing with now
values affluence and wants me to have more. Therefore,
as He gives me the ability to gain wealth, I will enter the
blessed place of being “in His perfect will.”

I knew I could do it; God and I could conquer the world! I

believed He had given me the ability and the means to do
my part, so that I could become as He is. All I needed to
do was to give 10 percent of the money He would give me.
I thought that was well within my ability. Besides, I loved
Him enough to do it.

This is how what I perceived to be the “righteous side” of

God was born in me. I began to see people for what I
thought they truly were, now that I comprehended the
“bigger picture.” Previously, I had only a one-sided view
of people, but now I also saw them from the “righteous
side” of God, and began to understand why they were
going through hard times. My “eyes of justice and
righteousness” were opened to see that since God did His
part to save and bless us, so that we could become rich, we
must now do our part. Now that I could truly define people
by how they did their part, it was easy for me to direct them
towards having life, and life in abundance. All I needed to
do to help them out of their distress was to point out their

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 The Death of My ABBA

shortcomings and all would be fine—IF they obeyed.

All Depended on Me

I was excited to learn more of what I could do to make

things work for me. God did His part and all depended on
me now. I could never have imagined what a big change
understanding a simple principle could bring to my life.
My view of God changed from Him being my Abba to
Him as Lord, Ruler, Master and Leader of the Battle. The
view I had of myself also changed; I still saw myself as
His son, but now also as His “servant.”

In my pursuit of all He intended for me to be and have, I

employed my willpower in order to have the “more” He
intended. I began to read the Bible from the perspective of
finding more keys to the life He wanted for me: If I have a
part in obtaining money, I must have a part in other things,
as well. These thoughts were not only born from my
cognitive decision-making, but also through conception
in my subconscious mind. The teaching I received on
money changed my belief about who God is and how His
kingdom functions.

I Longed for the Days When I Felt Holy and Loved

Months later, seeing no financial prosperity and feeling

negative and slightly depressed, all I could conclude was
that there was something wrong with me. Every now and
then, I would reminisce about the days when I just preached
freely—when I did not have the “big vision.” In my inner
man, I longed for those days when I felt holy and loved. In
those days, things came easily to me; God opened doors
and I was not money-conscious at all.

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 The Death of My ABBA

For a time, I lived in the bliss of ignorance … the good old

days. When I thought about these things, I felt a sense of
guilt and an unwillingness to “mature.” I would tell God
that the maturing thing was hard for me, but I was willing
to submit and change into the man He wanted me to be…
and so I tithed. Yet, I did not see any financial increase in
my life. I knew it was my fault, for God could not make a
mistake: Did He not call me, give me the desire to preach,
and grant me large visions and a principle by which I
could obtain the financial means to get it done?

I followed the principle but it did not seem to work; I

needed answers. Yet, I would never have said, “Tithing
does not work,” for then I would be declaring God a liar
and I knew He was not. So, I went to the local pastor for
advice and even for correction if that was what I needed.
When he told me that the prosperity preacher who taught
on money would be back at his church the next Sunday, I
was so happy. I knew that preacher had it all working for
him; certainly, he could help me to have it all, too!

The next week, in listening to what the man was

preaching, I realized my mistake. I had been tithing but
never sowed seed! How could I have missed it, when the
Bible states it plainly! This was when I came to
understand the wonderfully liberating truth of “sowing
and reaping.” It works like this: First of all, the tithe
belongs to God; then once the tithe is given, it activates
the sowing principle. God would see whatever I gave on
top of 10 percent as seed. This is how God would see your
faith and how you activated your own faith.
“Multiplication comes in hundredfold, sixty-fold and
thirtyfold,” the preacher explained. He also said that we
should not push our expectation too far, at first, but to start

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 The Death of My ABBA

with expecting only tenfold for the first month.

The first thing I did, after hearing that message, was to

repent for not sowing. Did I not know that millions of
people could be lost if I couldn’t get this principle to work!
This time it has to work. I need to save people, and I need
to get in line with the perfect will of God for me, which is
to be rich. Then, I started giving 33 percent of my income
to the local church. The preacher made it very clear that
you should sow into “good soil,” not just anywhere. You
might mess it all up by sowing into soil that is not fertile.
It was also emphasized that the best soil is always the most
successful ministry, which in this case, was our local
church or the preacher himself.

This stopped all my voluntary giving. I gave 33 percent

of my income to the church and paid my bible school fees
with the rest. I had no money left, not even money for food.
But I had a great hope, for surely the sowing-and-reaping
principle would work. When the preacher shared
testimony after testimony of how it worked for many
people, I thought, God loves me and it will also work for
me.

After one month, nothing happened. I spoke to the local

pastor and he told me to walk by faith, trusting the
breakthrough was at the door, and to not give up hope.
Helena (my girlfriend at the time) worked at a local
restaurant and told me that I could eat there once a day, as
she would share her food with me. She stole from the
restaurant’s surplus food, thus keeping me alive, since the
sowing and tithing principle had not kicked in yet for me.
I had nothing but the hope that it would work.

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 The Death of My ABBA

The Voice and Embrace of My Loving Father was

Gone

As all this was happening, I started thinking that I must

have hidden sin. I felt like shouting out to God, “My Abba,
my Abba, where are you!”

The voice of the Righteous god was always there, the

voice of the Ruler was there, the voice of the Battle leader
was loud and clear, the voice of the Precept god thundered,
but the voice of my Abba was only a memory. My Abba
had become Precept god, Obedience god, Righteousness
god, Tithe god, Ruler god, and Kingdom god. The voice
and embrace of my loving Abba was something I longed
for, but it was gone.

I had entered the world of “mature Christians,” and was a

bit scared. Like a small child, I wanted to cry out for my
Daddy to help me, but the Precept god would quickly
correct me, saying, “Remember, I am a god of order and
principles. As long as the earth remains, sowing time and
harvest time will remain. The sooner you get this to work,
the better. I know you can. Let’s do it.”

The Righteous god would say, “Please make sure that you
don’t kill the seed. Live right. You don’t want to sin while
the seed is in the ground, for it will die that way.”

The Ruler god said, “I am glad you took dominion over

poverty by giving so much. Keep it up; we need to conquer
the world.”

The Tithe god said, “Well done! Keep giving your 10

percent. If you stop, all the seed will be wasted and you

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 The Death of My ABBA

will reap nothing!”

The Obedience god would say, “Keep being obedient in

all these things, for the lives of people depend on it. Don’t
question the Scriptures or leadership, for rebellion is like
witchcraft.” That second month, I felt that I was giving
my best. I was keeping it up; I would obey, I would win,
and God and I would make this work. I would not fail
Him. In this desperate time, while I was open to anything
that could help me, I was introduced to the submission-
and-covering message, the spiritual-warfare-anoint-
everything message, the spiritual-mapping message, the
prayer-and-fasting-for- more-anointing message … the list
goes on. I tried to follow all of these to the letter, while
winning souls and attending bible school. Yet, doing all
these things did not bring the breakthrough.

In desperation, I went to another pastor in the church to

share my situation with him. After carefully listening, he
told me that he just had an “Aha!” moment; God had
revealed my problem to him. Hallelujah! This has to be the
key, finally! I was tired and had no money.

The pastor continued, “You did not NAME your seed; you
were not specific!”

When I heard this, I felt absolute despair: God help me!

This Christian thing seems too difficult.

Obedience god immediately replied, “If you have put your

hand to the plough and look back, you are not fit for the
kingdom.”

I wanted to cry; I was exhausted. It felt as if nothing was

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 The Death of My ABBA

working and that I would never be good enough to qualify

before God. I took a deep breath, trying to encourage myself
to start all over again. However, as I was remembering all
that I’d gone through over the past six months, anger rose
in my heart and I shouted at the pastor, “This is bullsh**!
This tithing and sowing crap is killing me! What is wrong
with God? Could He not care for me, as a father should?
Something is wrong with this doctrine. Something is f***
wrong!” And I stormed out.

Within seconds, the following voices echoed in my head:

Righteousness god: “You said the f-word. Your seed is

dead now, just before the breakthrough. You need to repent.
I cannot use you in this state. You need to get your act
together!”

Obedience god: “You have been disobedient; you said the

f-word and the s-word. You are in rebellion against my
leaders and my principles. Is obedience not better than
sacrifices? You are backsliding. You are disobedient and
you will have to bear the consequences!”

Ruler god: “Satan got to you this time. You need to fight
him. There is no time for weariness. If you continue this
way, there shall be no place for you in the army of God!”

Precept god: “Now you’ve done it! You’ve opened the

door for the devil, so on principle I cannot help you. You
opened the door!”

Kingdom god: “The kingdom suffers under this kind of

behaviour. You need deliverance from demonic
oppression. You are bearing the fruit of the flesh. You are

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in the flesh and need to get back into the spirit!”

Tears flooded my eyes as I got in my old car and drove off.

Then, as I was driving away in despair, I heard the voice
of my Abba—the one I loved and who had always loved
me, “Bertie, I love you, and you don’t owe Me a cent.
Please stop all this kind of giving and see how I prosper
you. You are worth far more to Me than what you can
ever do for Me.”

I wanted to rebuke Satan, but feeling the pleasure of God

flooding me through those words, I realized it could only
be the voice of my Abba. Still, the other god-voices rose
up in objection: “You cannot believe any word that
contradicts Scripture! It is Satan speaking to you. Submit
the word to the pastor and you will see him confirming it
as Satanic …”

I interrupted, “Get away from me, Satan. I am finished with

this tithing-and-sowing rubbish forever. I hate you. I am
going back to the place of peace!”

Your Relationship with God Rests in His Person

In looking back at that time, I remember the pain of losing

touch with my Abba, through my seeking after the “more”
that came with the promise of riches. You cannot define
relationship with God by the wealth He might want to give
you. Your relationship with God rests entirely in His
Person—the loving, caring, no fault-finding Father of our
Lord Jesus!

When I read 1 Tim 6:10 again, I realized that I had missed

verse 9:

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But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men
in destruction and perdition (KJV, 1 Tim.6:9).

In my longing to be rich, I experienced temptation, snares

and many hurtful desires. The destruction this brought on
me broke my back, as I have explained in this chapter. I had
a good look at 1 Tim 6:9-10 again, and came to a
completely different conclusion about what these verses
actually mean. Let me now share this revelation with you.

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 The Recovery Process

Peace flooded my heart as I drove away from the church

office, rebuking Satan, leaving behind all his voices of
accusation. As I drove, I realized I would have to study
the Scripture that says the love of money is the root of all
evil. But when I read it again, I still did not understand it
any differently. It was just the same old verse stating that
God does not have a problem with money, as such, but that
the root of all evil is the LOVE of money.

It wasn’t until some years later that the full truth of that
verse struck me, which I will share in this book. It’s
interesting how the subconscious mind makes you see
what you believe. I’m amazed at how blind I was to what
is actually written in that verse, even after I renounced the
lie on tithing. It was almost as if I could not read properly;
I saw things that were not even written in the verse. I can’t
count how many times I read it before I came to the true
understanding of it!

Looking back, I’ve come to the conclusion that the harm

done to me, in believing the lie about money, could not be
repaired by simply rebuking voices of accusation, or even
 The Recovery Process

by turning my back on tithing and the sowing-and-

reaping system. Since it was through faith in that system
that my belief about God had fundamentally changed, I
had to have my heart reprogrammed or I would never
understand Scripture correctly and enjoy a normal life
again. I suffered a great amount of pain, my wrong belief
torturing me for many years. The only way life could be
restored to me was if the truth (right belief) could be
restored to me. Unless the right belief of truth becomes
common sense for us, we will be victims of the wrong
kind of wisdom forever. I can think of a few words to
describe my life when I lived by the wrong logic:
darkness, blindness and hell. However, I never perceived
it as blindness or darkness until I saw the light.

When I realized the lie that had found a pathway through

the tithing and sowing-reaping teachings, there were
several ways I could’ve responded. Rebellion against
giving, as such, would not bring freedom for me. Hating
church would only make matters worse. Anger towards
those who introduced me to those teachings would just pull
me deeper into the pit. The only answer was to hear a truth
that is believable, based on facts about Jesus Christ and
what He has done for me. Only then could all bitterness
be healed, and my view of God and who I am be restored.
That can bring forth true forgiveness in time. This is not
a quick fix after years of harm.

Having knowledge of the truth does not change the

subconscious mind the moment you hear it; God had to
love me back to wholeness. I had to become accustomed
to truth again. Since the Divine Ones function from a
platform of love, resulting in trust, faith and other beautiful

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 The Recovery Process

attributes, I had to get into a place where I could experience

their life. I had to see and experience the love of God to the
point that trust was formed in me. I needed to be in that
atmosphere of life possessed by the Trinity, until their life
permeated my thoughts and belief to the manifestation of
their life in me. Furthermore, this life had to be the result
of the living breath of God in me, and not my effort. This
relationship-based change is not a five-minute process at
all; it is a correction that will happen over time,
effortlessly.

The best way to illustrate the dynamics a wrong belief had

on me is to liken it to a marriage. Imagine you are happily
married for five years, until a respected friend informs
you that your wife recently had an affair. To make it worse,
he provides evidence that she was cheating on you the
whole time you were married! Suddenly your life is in
pieces! But, after some serious introspection, you conclude
that the fault is actually with you.

You read as many marriage and marital counselling books

as possible, and earnestly consider ways to make her love
you again, so that you can have the marriage you’ve
always desired. In your desperation to restore the
marriage, you become painfully aware of all your
shortcomings, which then leads you to carefully formulate
a set of principles and tasks you think will help to make
the marriage work:

 Put out the trash daily.

 Wash the car twice a week.
 Buy her flowers once a week.
 Take the kids to school every day. Help with the dishes
and laundry.
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 The Recovery Process

 Do not become angry with her when she is wrong.

 Take her on vacation at least once a year.
 Get the kids dressed in the mornings.
 Bring her coffee in the mornings.
 Listen attentively and show interest when she talks.

All of a sudden, the wonderful relationship you

experienced dies. Love itself dies. The image you had of
your wife and the way you use to look at her dies.
Meanwhile, you become a slave of rules that you’re
convinced you must obey to keep the marriage working.
Your definition of happiness even becomes distorted, and
all this happens while you are being counselled by others.

Through all this effort, your perception of a happy

marriage changes to my wife only loves me when I do
things for her. Yet, you still smile and laugh, go on
holidays, help out in the house, and take the kids to
school. Your wife seems happy, but inside you have died
a kind of death you cannot put into words. It feels as if the
marriage has deteriorated from a passionate, loving,
trusting relationship to a cognitive, wilful, decision-based
arrangement, rooted in fear of divorce. Imagine living
like this for another five years, seven years, or even ten
years!

Then, one morning you receive a call from another friend

who invites you for breakfast at his place. At the breakfast
table, he shares some information that proves your wife
never actually had an affair. The new evidence reveals
that the stories of her supposed affaire were entirely false
and twisted. At once, you are confronted with the fact that
you were deceived into believing a huge lie about your

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 The Recovery Process

wife!

Imagine returning home while contemplating this new

information. The more you think about it, the more you
realize you were deceived into believing she was
unfaithful. Heartbroken, you acknowledge that you
believed a terrible lie about your beautiful wife. Both joy
and sorrow flood your heart. Although you are relieved to
know the truth, remorse for the years deprived of trust
brings you to tears. You were living in such an emotional
hell, but it’s finally over.

When you apologize to her, she fully accepts it without

holding a grudge, for all the while she was flooded with
love for you. She had always prayed that you would see
the truth one day; she never wanted to let go of the
marriage because of a lie. Your newfound life together is
like you’ve gotten married all over again!

We can liken this story to what most people experience

when they discover their freedom from wrong teachings
about God. The hurt does not leave you the moment you
discover that you were deceived. The law system has
shaped its wrong belief into your heart, to the point that it
would be absolutely natural to experience everything the
husband in this story experienced. Like him, your
emotions and actions will naturally be born from the
disappointment and hurt you suffer from being deceived.
When you hear the words give, church, building,
prosperity, missions and generosity, you may have
feelings of fear and anger rise up in your heart.

This is a normal response, yet it can be deadly if you

remain at that place, since the life God will share with you

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 The Recovery Process

is one giving generosity, kindness and faithfulness. You

will be just as hurt and dysfunctional in your newly
discovered ‘freedom’ from law, if the hurt of abuse
continues. The same influence that brought pain and
destruction to your life, when you believed the lie, will
persist in being the father of your life. Anger over abuse
never sets you free from it; it just aggravates it. The root
of all the husband’s pain and turmoil was the lie, not only
during the time he believed it, but also afterwards. It was
his belief in the lie that distorted his perception of
marriage, and only a kind of reprogramming could restore
his belief to the truth.

How are we restored to the truth about God and our

relationship with Him? Healing will come by having a
NORMAL atmosphere in which the heart and mind can be
renewed over time—a season where you can experience
the realities of a true and beautiful ’marriage’ relationship
with God. It is of the utmost importance for people to
realize that ongoing bitterness and hatred, because of the
fear and uncertainty of never being good enough before
God, will keep them in captivity to what was killing
them.

As we look at the following questions about the husband

in our story, consider how the restoration process can work
for you, when you have believed a lie about God:

 Did the subconscious mind of the man change the

second he understood that she was not guilty?
 How do you think he would feel about marital
counselling courses after this?
 How would he relate to the friend who gave him the
false information?

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 The Recovery Process

 Would he feel totally at ease if his wife neglected

some things he expected from her? (For example,
what if she neglected to call him when she was out
of town?)
 Would he have a moment of fear if she were to leave
on a two-week business trip?
 How would his daily life change in regard to putting
out trash, washing the car, buying flowers, taking the
kids to school, assisting with household tasks, going
on vacations, helping the kids get dressed, bringing
her coffee in the mornings and attentively listening?
 How would the abuse we suffered affect our view on
money and the church, and what is the recovery
process to have a life that is not hurt-based?

In most cases, the marriage would not be back to normal for

at least a few years. For a start, he would experience
aversion towards all marital courses because he would
associate them with pain and lies. He might have begun
to hate holidays or taking his kids to school, for his
subconscious mind connects all the good he has done to
lies and abuse. In fact, his whole life could be greatly
influenced by the abuse of the wrong belief he suffered,
so his mind will need to be renewed towards trust in a
truly satisfying marriage, where lies and the connected
abuse do not exist.

He would have to come to a point where his reality would

not be tainted by the aftershock of abuse, enabling him to
enjoy the fullness he experienced before. It might even be
that he would continue to do all the good deeds he has done
in the house, only because of fear of being a bad husband,
and not out of love for his wife. And if the man’s innermost

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 The Recovery Process

being could not be freed from consequences of the abuse

he went through in believing the lie, it could even lead to
divorce—the very thing he always hoped to avoid!

When we look at what the husband went through in

believing the lie, it cannot be seen as anything but being
abused by the lie he believed. Every effort he made out of
believing the lie was forcing him to live a life for which
he was never designed. This is abnormal use or abuse of a
person. In the very same way, all who have believed a lie
about money have experienced the abuse of the system.
Every effort to get God to manifest His blessing was
actually abuse. It’s abnormal to live like that, when we
have a loving, relational God who has given us everything
for free.

Let’s apply these thoughts to money:

 Does the subconscious mind of man change the

second he understands that he was misled about
finances?
 How would you feel about teachings about money
since you have realized that you have been deceived?
 How would we relate to the people that gave us the
wrong teaching? Could our way of treating them be
ungracious?
 When we are in a setting where the truth about
money is taught, could it be that we will have anger
rise up in our hearts on account of the hurt we
have experienced.
 How would our view on money and the church
change due to the abuse we went through and what is
the process for recovery of a life that is not hurt-

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 The Recovery Process

based?

In summary:

 A wrong belief about God causes absolute devastation.

 Experiencing the full effects of healing might take
some time, since God does everything through
relationship.
 Until you can see God in the light of family-orientated
relationship, it will be impossible to have your heart
healed.
 To live in bitterness towards the old system that used
and abused you, can never be the way to a new life of
true freedom.

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 Being a Rich Jew

Some years ago I watched a program about the art of being

a blacksmith. I have never known what blacksmiths
actually do. All I knew was that it gets very warm in the
room where they work with red-hot irons! As I was
watching the program, I gained a considerable amount of
knowledge and insight into what blacksmiths actually do.
They are very artistic people who really understand steel
and heat. The knowledge they have about steel, and its
characteristics at certain temperatures, is the foundation
from where their artistic abilities are unleashed.

They can tell, to the centigrade, how hot the steel is by its
colour. This enables them to know exactly where to beat
on the steel, and at what time in the cooling process, in
order to gain the maximum strength from it. They will not
keep the steel in the furnace a second too long, or too
short, before starting to work on it. What seems to the
outsider as just beating on a piece of hot iron is actually the
stretching or shrinking of metal. Only a person who knows
the characteristics of steel, at high temperatures, can do
this in such a way. Any artistic person can beat a piece of
 Being a Rich Jew

steel with a hammer, but only a person who really

understands metal and heat can use his creativity to form
a sword, knife or perfect door hinge out of a block of
metal. The key to the trade is the specialist’s knowledge
and insight into the nature of steel.

The Importance of Understanding

In the same way that blacksmiths understand steel and heat,

if we want to walk in true freedom from all financial
abuse, we need to understand the Kingdom of God and
how it functions. We need to have hearts available for the
truth— and only the truth. According to Scripture, the
principle of understanding is directly linked to the truth
bearing its fruit in our lives:

When anyone hears the Word of the kingdom and does not
understand it, then the wicked one comes and catches
away that which was sown in his heart. This is the seed
sown by the wayside (MKJV, Matt.13:19).

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that

hears the word, and understands it; which also bears
fruit, and brings forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty,
some thirty (NKJV, Matt.13:23).

It is very clear that Jesus connected fruit with

understanding. Those who do understand the message of
the cross, and the Kingdom of God, shall bear its fruit.
But, those who do not understand it shall not bear fruit. I
will further explain God’s Kingdom in another chapter,
but for now I would like to focus on the importance of
understanding. In this chapter, I am going to explain the

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meaning of the love of money. Unfortunately, it will be a

bit complex, and even dogmatic, but it will lead to the
beautiful fruit of understanding. Let’s stop and pray:

I pray that God will strengthen your inner man to see the
dimensions of this truth of the Gospel. Amen.

After reading this book attentively, you will also

understand why the love of money is the root of all evil
and not just some evil. It will lay the foundation for
understanding the teaching on financial provision in the
Bible, taught by Jesus and recorded in Matthew 6. I will
explain why “the love of money” has nothing to do with
money, as such; yet, it would be nearly impossible to define
it outside of money, not only for Jews, but also for 90
percent of Christians today.

A Common Jewish View on Money

16And behold, one came and said to Him, Good Master,

what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?
17And He said to him, why do you call Me good? There is
none good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter
into life, keep the commandments. 18He said to Him,
Which? Jesus said, You shall not murder, you shall not
commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear
false witness, 19honour your father and mother, and, you
shall love your neighbour as yourself. 20The young man
said to Him, I have kept all these things from my youth up;
what do I lack yet? 21Jesus said to him, If you want to be
perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and
you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me.

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22But when the young man heard that saying, he went

away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. 23Then
Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you that a rich
man will with great difficulty enter into the kingdom of
Heaven. 24And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to
enter into the Kingdom of God. 25When His disciples
heard, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then
can be saved?26But Jesus looked on them and said to
them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things
are possible (MKJV, Matt.19:16-26).

The most outstanding verses in the Bible, for what we need

to understand about the Jewish concept of money, are verses
24-25 above. These verses reveal that the Jews linked the
kingdom of the Messiah and salvation to money and the
rich. The disciples were “exceedingly amazed.” Or, some
translations say they were “astonished above measure,”
when they heard that it is difficult for a rich man to enter
into the Kingdom of God. They were so amazed that they
had to ask, “Who then can be saved if a rich man cannot
be saved?”

The Jewish worldview is that the entire universe,

including man, is created in such a way that people
climb the ladder of perfection systematically. As man
nears perfection, through his own efforts, God will help
him attain a level that transcends his own limitations.
Being set free from any nation that oppressed a Jew to
attain to this so-called prosperity is, by the Jewish
system, defined as “salvation,” or the way to inherit
the Kingdom.

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The Jewish system promotes the belief that the more you
live up to the standard of living described in the Judaic
laws, the more the law justifies and frees you from
darkness, sin struggles and poverty in this world.
Darkness is seen as uncivilized living, as well as poverty.
Non-Jews who do not obey the law are considered sinners.
In this mind-set, gain equals godliness. One can only
imagine the unhealthy love of money such a belief system
brings forth!

Imagine the confusion, in the minds of the Jews, when

Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus:

19“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in

purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
20But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of
sores, who was laid at his gate, 21desiring to be fed with
the crumbs which fell[a] from the rich man’s table.
Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. 22So it was
that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to
Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried. 23And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his
eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy
on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in
this flame.’ 25But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in
your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are
tormented. 26And besides all this, between us and you
there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass
from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to

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us.’ 27Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you

would send him to my father’s house, 28for I have five
brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come
to this place of torment.’ 29Abraham said to him, ‘They
have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30And
he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from
the dead, they will repent.’ 31But he said to him, ‘If they do
not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded though one rise from the dead’” (NKJV, Luke
16:19-31).

In the Jews’ eyes, Lazarus personified an abomination for

touching the dogs that licked his wounds. Jews were not
to touch a dog, for it would make them unclean. Lazarus
had nothing and nobody, and because he was sick, poor
and waiting to be fed with the crumbs from the rich man’s
table, to the Jews, he was just as much a dog as the dogs
who licked his wounds.

Jesus boldly declared that Lazarus opened his eyes in the

bosom of Abraham, while the rich man found himself in
Hell. This was a complete contradiction to the belief of
that time, since it would be impossible for a rich Jew to
go to Hell. To the Jews, Hell was for the ungodly, a place
of purification from all ungodliness for a period of twelve
months. Furthermore, it would be impossible for a poor,
sick beggar, licked by dogs, to go to Heaven. To the Jews,
the beggar was a beggar because of God’s condemnation
for his disobedience to the law. In a belief system where
financial gain is a sign of godliness, money is loved and
poverty is hated.

Imagine the spiritual suffering, and absolute slavery, in

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which the poor of that time lived. Their poverty was seen
as the public declaration of God rejecting their best effort
to achieve the righteousness described in the law. The law
could’ve freed them from their poverty and damnation,
but instead, the poor and sick would have the fearful
expectation of Hell for twelve months in the afterlife.

Legalism and confidence in riches were part of the same

concept. Jews respected and honoured wealth as an
indication of godliness and the desired manifestation of
working the principles described in the Torah. If we can
see that this unhealthy, legalistic view of gain as godliness
is the opposite of what true Christianity stands for, we can
have a much better understanding of what Jesus said about
money.

Jesus Came to Preach the Gospel to the Poor

When Jesus said to the rich young ruler, “Sell all you
have, give it to the poor and come follow Me” (Mk.
10:21), He was not at all saying that giving to the poor
could save him. He was actually encouraging him to
reject the system in which salvation is based on riches. He
told the rich young man not to find his identity in the law,
looking instead only to Him, Christ, for salvation. In other
words, Jesus wanted the man to see the poor as rich and
those that trusted in riches as poor. That is the beautiful
new understanding we see in the New Testament that
Jesus introduced. Let’s look at some fascinating Scriptures
about this:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me; because of this He has

anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor”
(MKJV, Luke 4:18, Isa. 61).

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Jesus came to give good news to those who were seen as

outcasts and rejected by God. He came to declare God’s
acceptance and love for all human beings, based on what
He was about to do for them, and to declare that their
situations were no indication of their acceptance, since
righteousness would now be a gift from Him. He declared
to the poor that they were just as accepted as the rich, since
both rich and poor would be forgiven on the grounds of
His work alone.

Do Not Trust in Uncertain Riches

“Charge the rich in this world that they be not high-

minded, nor trust in uncertain riches” (MKJV,
1Tim.6:17).

Paul is saying here that the rich should not go back to

Judaism, where they trusted in their riches, thinking that
they were righteous and approved by God because they
had money.

Imagine the instability there will be in the lives of people

who find their definition of acceptance in how life treats
them in the here and now. Life will only be as stable as
your business; so how can you ever have internal peace?
An ever-increasing desire for more money will flood your
heart, becoming the platform from where you will make
all your decisions. A hunger for the next key to prosperity
and wellness will overwhelm your life, leading you to the
deepest dungeons of legalism in your quest for the secret
to higher prosperity!

In Chapter 2, you read about the instability that was in

my life when I started to put my trust in riches. This is

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what was actually killing me. Unknowingly, I was

drawn into the old Jewish belief system where riches,
health and wealth are the signs of true blessedness.
The Law of Moses was all tangled up with the name of
Jesus in my mind. This mixture caused havoc in my
life!

The Rich are Poor

9But let the humble brother rejoice in his exaltation;

10and the rich one rejoice in his humiliation, because he
shall pass away as the flower of the grass (MKJV, James
1:9,10).

17Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods

and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
18I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified by fire, so
that you may be rich; and white clothing, so that you may
be clothed, and so that the shame of your nakedness does
not appear. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that
you may see (MKJV, Rev. 3: 17, 18).

When we read the book of James and the Revelation of

John, we can see that both are addressing the Jewish
system where money is loved. Let the poor (humble)
brother rejoice in his exaltation, for he has been elevated
to righteousness, justified, saved and accepted by Christ’s
free gift rather than by implementing the Law. Rejoice,
for poverty—as well as prosperity—has lost its voice in
declaring you blessed, in the presence of the thundering
voice of acceptance by the Word of God. John identified
those who believed that justification before God manifests

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in prosperity, as the blind, wretched, miserable and poor

(v. 18).

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 The Root of all Evil

When I first understood the Jewish concept of money, as

I described in the previous chapter, I also saw what Paul
was getting at when he described the love of money as the
root of ALL evil in 1Timothy 6:

1Let as many as are servants under the yoke count their

own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God
and the doctrine be not blasphemed. 2And they that have
believing masters, let them not despise them, because they
are brethren; but let them serve them the rather, because
they that partake of the benefit are believing and beloved.
These things teach and exhort. 3If anyone teaches
otherwise, and does not consent to wholesome words
(those of our Lord Jesus Christ), and to the doctrine
according to godliness, 4he is proud, knowing nothing. He
is sick concerning doubts and arguments, from which
comes envy, strife, evil speaking, evil suspicions,
5meddling, of men whose minds have been corrupted and
deprived of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness.
Withdraw from such. 6But godliness with contentment is
 The Root of all Evil

great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and

it is clear that we can carry nothing out. 8But having food
and clothing, we will be content. 9But they who will be
rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many
foolish and hurtful lusts which plunge men into
destruction and perdition. 10For the love of money is a
root of all evil, of which some having lusted after, they
were seduced from the faith and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows. 11But you, O man of God, flee
these things and follow after righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, and meekness (MKJV, 1Tim. 6:1-11).

Paul was addressing financial issues in the church

because the people were falling into arguments, abuse and
fights about money. He confronted Christian slave owners
and slaves who were fighting with each other, to the point
of discrediting the faith, and linked their fleshly fighting
to a love of money as the root. Paul was connecting pain
and strife to teachings in the church, taught by preachers
who had a love of money. He was pointing out the wrong
doctrine of gain as godliness, as I discussed previously.

Let’s look at this practically, for the here and now. I knew
people in churches, where I was either the pastor or assistant
pastor, who were business owners with over two hundred
people working for them, some of which attended the same
church. I found that the gain is godliness message was just
as alive in their hearts—whether owner or employee—as
it was in the early church.

One particular business owner complained about the high

wages he had to pay his workers and about the government

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raising the minimum wage. Meanwhile, this very shrewd

businessman, with millions in the bank, was buying
expensive cars, going on regular overseas holidays, and
frequently buying new properties. The more money he
made, the more he testified of how God was blessing him.
I wondered if he subconsciously considered his workers
to be a threat to his godliness, since the more he had to
pay them, the less he would have for himself.

His workers complained to me that he wouldn’t pay them

enough and said they wanted to be the blessed of God as
well. Just as they saw no opportunity to become rich by
working for this boss, he thought he could never be rich
enough because of the high wages he had to pay them.

See how the teaching of gain is godliness can be the

breeding ground for strife in a church? This is what the
Apostle Paul was addressing with Timothy. He wisely
connected the strife and evil thinking in the church to a
specific doctrine being taught. Obviously, the love of
money was the root of all kinds of evil happening between
masters and servants, in the church to whom Paul
addressed his letter.

Fortunately, Paul had the solution to their problems. He

knew the Jews he was speaking to believed that all people
were alive in Heaven before creation, then incarnated into
human bodies on Earth. This would mean that people
moved from a higher life to a lower life, and then back to
the higher life when they died. Paul’s explanation draws
on a common understanding of that time, by pointing out
that in the higher life, where people came from, gain did
not define people, for we came into this world with nothing
and we will go out taking nothing with us:

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6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we

brought nothing into the world, and it is clear that we can
carry nothing out. 8But having food and clothing, we will
be content (MKJV, 1Tim. 6:6-8).

The most powerful way to have true peace and godliness

in your life, and in the church, is to simply be content on
account of a revelation of who you are in Jesus. We need
to be content with having adequate food and clothing, and
not use it as a standard by which we measure our godliness.
Rather than finding your identity in gain, as the Jewish
system does, embrace the truth that in your poverty you
can be godly. This way you regard the sacrificial work
Jesus accomplished, in His death and resurrection, as the
foundation on which you declare yourself as godly, giving
Him all the glory. Paul asserts that the value of a man does
not depend on material possessions, reminding us that a
person comes into this world with nothing and leaves with
nothing.

All evil, not just some evil

What amazes me, in Paul’s correction, is that he says the

love of money is the root of all evil; not just the root of the
particular evil he was addressing, but ALL evil! It always
confused me that money could be the root of all evil, since
I knew evil was alive before the creation of Earth, long
before money came into the world. I believe evil found its
way into the physical world through Satan, and then Adam
and Eve were infected.

Another Bible passage that I couldn’t understand is in

Ezekiel 28, about Satan before his fall; it twisted my brain

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into knots! Scripture says the multitude of his

merchandise caused his fall. I could never understand how
that could be possible, since Satan could not conduct any
business prior to creation. Let’s first look at what the
Apostle Paul actually means when he says, “the love of
money is the root of all evil,” and then we will talk about
Ezekiel 28:
9But they who will be rich fall into temptation and a
snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which
plunge men into destruction and perdition. 10For the love
of money is a root of all evil, of which some having lusted
after, they were seduced from the faith and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows (MKJV, 1Tim.
6:9,10).

Let’s define the “love of money,” in the terms used by the

apostle Paul. It is significant that those who want to be rich
fall into “temptation and a snare.” Scripture states it
clearly:

“But they who will be rich fall into temptation and a

snare.” (MKJV, 1Tim. 6:9).

“FOR (because) the love of money is the root of all evil.”

(MKJV, 1Tim. 6:10).

Do you want to be rich?

In my experience with doing business, and having many

friends who are businessmen, I have seen the desire for
riches change a person’s business to a living hell. A
businessman would take on jobs that consumed his time
to the point that he would lose his family because of

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 The Root of all Evil

negligence. No human being is designed to live with such

stress! A person grounded in a belief that causes love for
money would accumulate debt and then stress himself half
to death, should the interest rate on his loan rise. As the
Bible says, he pierces himself through with many
sorrows.

As described in the first chapter of this book, life is for

man to enjoy; however, all joy is cut short when he gets
to the point where he wants to become rich. This happens
because of a change of belief, or rather, to believe what is
contrary to God’s belief. What I have experienced myself,
and seen with many businessmen, is that you can enjoy
life and your work until the moment you embrace the
Christian “prosperity” teaching. Then all kinds of pain
and strife start. The following example is just one of many
ways it can manifest in people’s lives:

There are many unemployed people who never seem to

find a job. While they are “looking” for jobs, they live on
the generosity of the church and family members. Even
with bills piling up, they maintain that they are trusting
God for a “breakthrough,” which seems to always elude
them. However, where jobs are available they don’t apply,
or they turn down a job offer because “it doesn’t pay
enough.” In other cases, they’ll apply for jobs they most
likely won’t get, considering their inadequate
qualifications and lack of experience. What could be at the
root of such behaviour?

It might be that they are basing their identities on the

ideology that material possessions and manifestation of
blessings define you. In that case, a low paying job would
humiliate them, defining them as unblessed and defeated.

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 The Root of all Evil

So they would rather live in debt and dependent on others,

with the more acceptable excuse of being in the “process
of finding a job.” As a result, they live a life of always
being in need, and unfortunately, others might even
consider them to be lazy. Oftentimes, confusion sets in
because God did not provide a job when they trusted Him
for it. All kinds of pain and legalism then start to manifest
and it becomes difficult to feel loved and accepted.
Eventually, it becomes almost impossible to see good in
anything or to expect any good to happen.

Stinginess Can Be Born from the Belief that Gain is

Godliness

To me, it is very clear in Scripture that the gain is

godliness belief manifests in the form of desiring riches,
which is a perfect setup for an abundance of hurt, more
deception and destruction. Since having a lot of money
defines life for such a person, his subconscious mind
experiences a false sense of security; this is when
stinginess can easily settle in. Sometimes stinginess is an
indescribable emotion, manifesting in a person’s
willingness to spend a lot of money on himself, but not on
his employees or for upgrading the equipment they are
using.

As a fruit of wrong belief, stinginess associates the

feelings of acceptance and being successful with the
spending of money on oneself. In that frame of mind,
spending money on others means the loss of one’s own
prosperity, which causes feelings of rejection and
insecurity. People may not even understand why they use
all kinds of rationalizations to justify NOT spending any
money on material things. On the other hand, in their

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 The Root of all Evil

stinginess, they will spend a lot of money on things that

they think will define the blessedness of God on their
lives.

When people believe gain is a sign of God accepting their

obedience, they will hate “not having enough money,”
since it means God is rejecting their efforts of obedience.
Having less will spell rejection from God when gain is
seen as acceptance. Feeling rejected is one of the most
destructive emotions known to man and will be avoided
above all else. If you want to correct the belief of such a
person— especially if it seems to be working for him—
be ready for your correction to be seen as absolute heresy.
Even just being told that he has believed something that’s
not correct can seem like rejection to him. The reason for
such a strong reaction is that his subconscious mind
connects anything that contradicts his current belief with
rejection.

The forms in which stinginess can manifest are unending;

giving can even be a fruit of stinginess. When a person
believes gain is godliness, an overwhelming fear of lack
(not having what he needs), can flood every fiber of his
being. Imagine what could happen if this fear was
combined with a teaching that says we gain financially
by giving, like the sowing-and-reaping teaching, for
instance. Although generous giving may occur, it will not
be as a fruit of the Spirit, but because people are tortured
by the fear of lack! Giving can never set a person free from
stinginess. Let me say that again—giving can never set
you free from stinginess!

We need to understand that a life of regularly giving does

not necessarily mean a person is generous. Only one kind

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of giving can set us free from stinginess, and that’s God’s

giving. God gave His Son, Jesus Christ, so that the power
of sin could be broken over us. Those who believe and
make use of this truth will experience freedom as
intended by God. A person experiencing this freedom is
introduced to the peaceable emotion and power of
generosity that exists in the heart of God. True generosity
is a fruit of understanding and believing grace.

Giving is powerless to set us free from stinginess and the

death grip of loving money. This also applies to hoarding,
saving, or even being “responsible,” and “wise,” with
your finances. You will only find real freedom by
understanding and believing the Gospel of God’s love for
you. Although the voice of insecurity can be very loud,
we must never forget the inner voice of the Father, calling
all people to truth. Although it might seem very soft and
distant, it is persistent and penetrates the depths of one’s
being, should you not kick against the prodding of His
voice (See Acts 26:14).

It is clear, from Scripture, that the force which drives us

to desire riches is a certain belief. As a person believes,
so he is (See Prov. 23:7). If you want to be rich, there is a
belief behind it. I would like to expound on this particular
belief, which Paul identified as the root of all evil. It is
important to define it and see where Paul got the concept.
We will also look at Ezekiel, where I believe we’ll find
confirmation that the New Testament passages we are
talking about in this chapter reveal the root belief behind
all evil, which Paul phrased as “the love of money.”

In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he used the particular Greek

word philos for love (See 1Tim. 6:10). Philos describes the

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friend of the bridegroom. This phrase, which was

common in Hebrew language and culture, is mentioned
in Thayer’s Dictionary in one of its definitions of the word
friend. The love of money belief causes respect for money,
which can also be called friendship with or love for
money. The friend of the bridegroom’s role was to ask the
hand of the bride, on behalf of the groom, and then to
render certain services in closing the marriage deal. The
perfect metaphor! By befriending money, you are looking
to it to close the deal on your marriage with God.
Unfortunately, anything that closes the deal for you,
outside of what God says, will destroy you. This is the
instant you fall away from being an “I am” to an “I
might be,” or an “I will become.” The same concept can
be seen in Ezekiel 31, which we will discuss a bit later in
this chapter:

1Now it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third

month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the
Lord came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, say to Pharaoh
king of Egypt and to his multitude: ‘Whom are you like in
your greatness?3Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,
with fine branches that shaded the forest, and of high
stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.4The
waters made it grow; underground waters gave it height,
with their rivers running around the place where it was
planted, and sent out rivulets to all the trees of the
field.5Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees
of the field; its boughs were multiplied, and its branches
became long because of the abundance of water, as it sent
them out.6All the birds of the heavens made their nests in
its boughs; under its branches all the beasts of the field

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brought forth their young; and in its shadow all great

nations made their home.7Thus it was beautiful in
greatness and in the length of its branches, because its
roots reached to abundant waters.8The cedars in the
garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like
its boughs, and the chestnut[a] trees were not like its
branches; no tree in the garden of God was like it in
beauty.9I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches,
so that all the trees of Eden envied it, that were in the
garden of God.’10“Therefore thus says the Lord God:
‘Because you have increased in height, and it set its top
among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its
height, 11therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the
mighty one of the nations, and he shall surely deal with it;
I have driven it out for its wickedness’” (NKJV, Ezekiel
31:1-11).

First, a word about spiritual interpretation of

Scripture:

The objective I have in my explanation of the following

passages is to explain that Pharaoh, Lucifer, the King of
Sodom and the King of Tyre are all, when spiritually
interpreted, pointing to Satan. I would like to show this so
that we can, from a combined look at the fall of these kings,
conclude how Satan fell.

There is a literal and spiritual interpretation of Scripture.

Let’s have a look at a wonderful example of a passage that
was spiritually interpreted by John:

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great
city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where

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also our Lord was crucified (KJV, Rev. 11:8).

The city is most likely Babylon, which is also referred to

as the “Great City” (See Rev. 18).

When we read the above verse closely, we see that John

also calls physical Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified,
“the great city,” which is also Babylon (See Rev.18), and
“Sodom and Egypt” (See Rev.16:19). Notice how John
spiritually interprets Egypt, Sodom, and the place where
Jesus was crucified as the GREAT CITY. The “great
city,” in the book of Revelation, points to Babylon.

According to Rev 11:8, we can say that Jerusalem, the city

where Jesus was crucified, is Egypt, and it is Sodom, and
it is Babylon. When we look at these cities and ask
ourselves who the king of these cities could be, we can
only conclude that it is Satan. Who is the King of Babylon
other than Satan? Who is the King of Egypt represented
in the Bible other that Satan? Who would the King of
Sodom represent? They all represent none other than
Satan himself.

Once we know how Satan fell, we will understand his

wisdom and see how he is still operating today

When we take an in-depth look at how these kings came

into being and then fell, we are able to gain insight into
how Satan fell. Once we know how Satan fell, we will
understand his wisdom and see how he is still operating
today. I don’t want to scare you or become a demon hunter,
yet we can find wonderful insight from these passages
that can be life changing and bring great understanding to
the church.

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When we look at the fall of the King of Babylon, we see

a strong correlation between the King of Babylon and the
King of Tyre (which is another example of a king that
represents Satan when spiritually interpreted). With all
this said, let’s look at Ezekiel 28, to begin our
investigation into why Satan fell:

11And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 12Son of

man, lift up a lament over the king of Tyre, and say to him,
So says the Lord Jehovah: You seal the measure, full of
wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13You have been in Eden
the garden of God; every precious stone was your
covering, the ruby, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the
onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the turquoise, and the
emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your tambourines
and of your flutes was prepared in you in the day that you
were created. 14You were the anointed cherub that covers,
and I had put you in the holy height of God where you
were; you have walked up and down in the midst of the
stones of fire. 15You were perfect in your ways rom the
day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you.
16The multitude of your merchandise they have filled your
midst with violence, and you have sinned. So I cast you
profaned from the height of God, and I destroy you, O
covering cherub, from among the stones of fire. 17Your
heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have
spoiled your wisdom because of your brightness. I will
cast you to the ground; I will put you before kings, that
they may behold you (MKJV, Ezek. 28:11-17).

Now back to my explanation on what the root of all evil

really is:

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I believe this lamentation was written in a way that can

help us understand what happened at the fall of Satan.
The Spirit of God cleverly leads Ezekiel to use the word
“merchandise,” in his description of the fall of the earthly
king.

Merchandise means trade. Satan was trading holiness for

prosperity. He traded great self-esteem for wealth. In his
trading, Satan turned his identity into what he owned! I
see this as the basis for the love of money being the root
of all evil and see it in John 2:13-21 (especially vs. 16: “Do
not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”)

The love of money being the root of all evil is when we

trade the amount of money we have for the emotion of
peace—when we trade our wealth for knowing we are
loved by God. This to me, is the root of all works-
righteousness. This belief is the foundation from where
all works is born. The more we do, the better we have to
trade for a good stand before God. The more good we do
the more we can exchange the good works we have done
for the emotion of having faith that it will go well with
me in the future.

The King of Tyre possessed certain attributes that lead me

to believe it could also be applied to Satan:

 He was perfect in all his ways in the day he was

created.
 He was an anointed cherub.
 He was in the holy heights of God.
 He was in Eden, the garden of God, in the beginning.
 When we have a look at Lucifer, in Isaiah14, we find
that it could easily be describing the same being. In

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Ezekiel 28, the King of Tyre is a shadow of Satan and

in Isaiah 14, the King of Babylon is used as a type and
shadow of Satan. Both these kings speak of the same
being when spiritually interpreted. The King of Egypt
would be the Pharaoh = Lucifer, the King of Babylon
= King of Sodom = Satan. All of these kings are a
type and shadow of Satan, just as the lamb, the scape
goat, and the dove are types of Jesus.

The only “cherub,” that could be described in this way is

Lucifer. Lucifer (Satan) was perfect in the day that he was
made and perfect in all his ways, until iniquity was found
in him. Clearly, this “king of Babylon” is a type and
shadow of Satan and his kingdom.

What was the iniquity?

...iniquity was found in you. The multitude of your

merchandise they have filled your midst with violence,
and you have sinned… (Ezek. 28:15, 16).

The midst is a way of saying the centre of a person’s belief,

or the heart. Scripture effectively says here that the
“multitude of [his] merchandise” flooded his heart.
Iniquity is described here as a belief that filled the core of
Satan’s being and manifested as “violence.” The best way
we can understand this is to link it with Isaiah 14 and
Ezekiel 31. A closer study of these Scriptures reveals that
iniquity is to believe you are defined and will have life by
your ability and possessions:

9I have made him beautiful by his many branches, so that

all the trees of Eden in the garden of God envied him.
10So the Lord Jehovah says this: Because you have lifted

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yourself up in height, and he set his top among the thick

boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height (MKJV,
Ezek. 31:9,10);

God made Satan great and beautiful. It was because of

God, and not his own doing, that Satan was who he was.
However, the problem came in when he began to find
h i s identity in his high position, defining himself by the
great things God had actually accomplished in and for
and through him. In simple language, we can say that he
defined who he was in all that God gave him. His heart,
or belief—for with the heart we believe—was lifted up in
the very height God had actually given him.

Satan was a perfect being; he was very rich, existing in

the same domain as God, and having everything he could
ever desire. According to Ezekiel 31, he was the greatest
tree in the garden of God. When his heart was lifted up in
his stature, iniquity flooded his heart and it corrupted
him; thus, he fell from his holy position and his heavenly
abode.

Since money did not exist in the Garden of Eden, we can

substitute money for anything that would be the friend
that seals the marriage deal between you and God. The
belief that something outside of God seals the deal on
your union with Him is the iniquity mentioned here,
expressed as the love of money or merchandise. This is true
even when the blessing or possession comes from God.
Remember that Satan fell by finding his identity in the
very thing God gave him. This was not just at a cognitive
level but at a belief level. What caused Satan’s heart to be
lifted up? Or, in other words, in what was the heart of
Satan lifted up? Here is the answer: in the abundance of

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his merchandise and blessedness. Let me say that again:

in the abundance of his merchandise, Satan became proud
and went away from God. This logic or belief-system is
called iniquity and it is the root of all evil.

I need to say this again: The proof of sonship is not in

what you possess as a son, but in who your Father is. The
moment our hearts are lifted up in our stature, our belief
tells us that what we possess, or how we perform, declares
who and what we are. It is then that we have entered the
logic of Satan and will come to a fall. This is when the
wisdom of Satan enters us, and we start to have the love
of money—friendship that seals the deal. Once we say we
are blessed because God has given us possessions, or we
say that being rich means we are the “blessed of God,” and
our wealth has sealed the deal, we have fallen in love with
money, or with our achievements, or possessions. It
doesn’t matter what you call it; it all boils down to the
same thing. We are not finding our identity in the Spirit of
God anymore, but in the abundance that He brings into
our lives. We walk outside of our original design, sinking
into darkness and eventual death. Clearly, we can see that
this is the root of all evil, since it is where all evil began,
taking us away from trusting in God for everything we
need.

The word evil can be defined as, “being filled with labors
and annoyances,” according to Thayer’s Dictionary, and
it leads to violence. The best way I would describe evil, in
line with the revelation I have about grace, is as follows:

Evil is what you think needs to happen to create for

yourself what only God can do in your life. In other words,
evil is what people believe needs to happen to seal what

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God already declares as true over them (Bertie Brits).

One of the worst things that can happen to a person is when

a message that promotes iniquity and evil is preached to
him, “in the name of Jesus.” It is a way that seems unto life,
“but its end is the way of death” (See Prov. 16:25).

The following verse in the book of Luke sums up the fall

of Satan:

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of

covetousness (love of money): for a man’s life consists not
in the abundance of the things which he possesses (KJV,
Luke 12:15).

“Covetousness” here has the same root word found in the

“love of money,” from 1Timothy 6:10. Satan based his life
on the abundance of his possessions, rather than on God.
Satan’s heart was lifted up in his beauty, which resulted
in his fall.

The Emotion of Lack Always Accompanies the Law

There was a rich man who met with Jesus, who was very
sincere (See Mark 10:17-25). He was really giving his
best, in obedience to the law, to inherit the Kingdom of
God. I believe he did all he had to do and still felt lack.
Because of this, he asked Jesus what he still lacked. The
emotion of lack always accompanies the law, and Jesus
knew it, so He instructed him to obey the law. As recorded
here for all believers afterward to read, the rich man said
that he had kept the law from his youth but still lacked
something. Jesus instructed him on how to be perfect.
Perfection can only be obtained in following Jesus and

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rejecting the system by which you find your identity in the

abundance of your possessions (as explained in Chapter
4).

(It might help you to read chapter 4 again. When I recently

watched a movie for the second time, I gained more
understanding of the background context and the pain and
joys of the characters, as intended by the director and
writer of the story. The same is true in reading a book;
when we read something more than once, we get so much
more from it.)

Jesus stated that it’s very difficult for a rich person to enter
the kingdom. This was true especially for the Jews, for
their belief was deeply rooted in the abundance of
possessions as the evidence of their obedience to the law,
which they saw as the way to enter into the coming
kingdom. Unfortunately, most church leaders today do not
understand what the “love of money” is actually referring
to. In our ignorance, Church, by preaching financial
prosperity, we are making that which kills us the end goal
of the Gospel! This is nothing but the “the lust of the eyes
and the pride of life” (KJV, 1John 2:16). I believe most
preachers who teach this do so ignorantly, but there are
also those who see the true Gospel as a cancer in the
church and would like to eradicate it, the sooner the better.

As I’ve already explained, “the love of money” includes

anything that seals the deal, in our eyes, on our unity
with Christ. As such, it is much more than money; it
includes anything we look to for defining who and what
we are. If we know it is God who supplies all good things
for us, then how can our hearts be lifted up and proud
about what HE has given us! So, whether God produces

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in us success at work and ministry, favour with people, or

financial prosperity, the only true reference we will ever
have of who we are is God Himself, not what He can
produce in or through us.

Take the description of Satan in Ezekiel 31:1-10, for

example. Spiritually interpreted, Satan is likened to the
greatest tree in the Garden of Eden, but the real reason he
was so great was because GOD planted him by the
underground waters of many rivers. As the water was
making Satan great and very beautiful, his heart was
lifted up in his beauty; or in other words, he placed his
trust in his own beauty, instead of the Spirit—the real
source of his greatness. He started to define who and what
he was by what the Spirit produced in him, and that
became his self-image. For a great example of Satan’s
belief system, let’s look next at what Jesus was going
through when He was in the desert:

3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be

the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out
of the mouth of God (MKJV, Matt. 4:3,4).

When Jesus was baptized, before heading into the desert,

a voice out of Heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased” (See Matt. 3:17). This was the
Father’s word about Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Son of God
because God said so, and that’s that! When God speaks, it
is the truth.

The concept of being a son, in the Jewish culture, is different

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from what we have in the Western culture. According to

Judaism, being a son is to be equal with your father,
possessing what he possesses in all aspects of your life.
As his son, you own what he owns and even have equal
authority. Because the Father declared Jesus to be the Son
of God as He came out of the baptismal water, Jesus is the
Son of God. His identity and everything about Him is based
only on the word spoken by God. This word—and nothing
else—is what made Him great.

Following Jesus’ baptism and God’s declaration, Jesus

went into the desert to be tempted of the Devil. It was in
the desert that Jesus suffered a very hard time. He had no
food and no one had followed Him. In this lonely place,
where He no longer had people with Him, no needs He
could meet—none of the things that would normally
confirm His place in life and who He really was—Satan
came along and tempted Jesus, by telling Him that He
should do a miracle to prove His identity. The thinking
behind this temptation was that the miracle could then
seal the deal to prove Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus did,
in fact, have the God-given ability to perform miracles,
but that was not the source of His existence! Just look at
what Satan said: “If thou be the Son of God, command that
these stones be made bread” (Matt. 4:3).

It was not because He could turn stones into bread that

Jesus was the Son of God. He founded His Sonship on the
fact that God was His Father—not on the ability the
Father gave Him! The truth of His life was not in the
“abundance” God gave Him, but in what the Father said:
“This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased”
(KJV, Matt. 3:17). The Father declared this long before
Jesus started to perform miracles!

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Jesus was perfect in the day He was born. He was sinless

and possessed all the power and beauty of God. If Jesus
would’ve had a change of heart, no longer believing in
the Word of the Father but instead in the beauty or ability
the Father gave Him, He would have fallen just as Satan
fell. In that case, the evil thing would’ve been to turn the
stone into bread or to jump from the roof of the temple
unharmed— having His identity based on His
performance.

Remember evil means the hard labour by which one

believes he shall have life. The root of all evil is defining
yourself, and finding your life, by something God gives
you, whether it’s good health, wealth, special talents, gifts
of the Spirit, performing miracles or any other fruit of the
Spirit. The following sentence is very important and is
basically the conclusion of what I am trying to bring
across in this chapter:

Since we all need money all the time, it is the most

common thing by which we are tempted to measure
ourselves.

What went wrong?

By looking at the dynamics explained in these last

chapters, I can understand where everything went wrong
for me, and see how my life was dumped into a pool of
despair years ago. To look back at what happened to me, I
will quote from Chapter 2:

What I was learning from charismatic prosperity

preachers was that it would be disrespectful if I did not
want to become extremely wealthy, since Jesus died that I

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could have wealth. In that context, salvation could not be

complete apart from the abundance of money and
material possessions (Jesus is the Tithe, Bertie Brits).

Where it all went wrong in my life was when I began to

believe salvation from poverty was the proof of my
spiritual salvation. Even if I was a rich man, the same
would have happened the moment I befriended money as
the thing that would seal the deal on my salvation.
Without going into more depth on how this evil system
sucks you deeper and deeper into its claws of death, what
I will say is that it’s hell, compared to a love relationship
with God, where Jesus is the final word on your life! The
weird thing is, I experienced it as life while I was in it,
confusing the what-to-do-to-have- more advice with the
voice of God. I had to be delivered to see how bad it really
was. I now realize that the zeal burning in my heart, to
get big and rich, was actually the love of money and not a
strong zeal for God. There is nothing wrong with being
zealous, as long as it is according to the truth. I was at a
place where a belief contrary to the belief of God had
entered my heart, convincing me that my whole
blessedness lies in the gifts God gives me, and that it
defines me. I started to believe that “gain is godliness.”
Thus, I wanted to become rich, and as a result, I was
pierced with many sorrows, as 1 Timothy 6 states. If I had
a Rolex, I would think God has blessed me; if I had a big
stage, I would be seen as the blessed; if I had no debt, I
would know I am free; if people received healing, I would
know I am anointed.

It is important to keep in mind that “the love of money” is

actually a love or friendship with anything you consider
to be proof that you are a saved and blessed child of God,

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needing nothing more. This wrong belief entered my life

through a desire for being rich, at first, followed by a love
of large audiences, miracles, gifts of the Spirit and
everything supernatural. It brought me to a place where
my life was flooded with the kind of pain and death that
is Satanic. It’s very sad to say that this wrong belief
entered the church in the very same way, being preached
as THE truth and destroying many people’s lives. This
wrong belief can lead to divorce, abuse, and all kinds of
pain we never want to have in our lives!

There is nothing wrong with having miracles, the

supernatural, an influential church, a big business, a great
job or a lot of money, as long as those things do not have
a say in your heart about who you are—or who anyone
else is, for that matter. The moment any of that tries to
take credit for your blessedness and anointing from God,
you have entered darkness. It is the gateway for the flesh
to bear its fruit in your life. When you believe that which
God does not believe, you “err from the faith and pierce
yourself through with many sorrows” (See 1Tim. 6:10).
Such sorrows come from reaching for, and working to
maintain, a life that would have the same power as God’s.
The pain comes from reaching for something that is
unreachable— it’s unbearable! Yet, it is correctable,
should we let go of the lie and go back to Jesus as the final
word about us.

I did not realize I was yielding to an evil system with the

love of money at its core, when I was seeking Jesus! I
honestly desired to have all God wanted for me, but my
sincerity could not protect me against the death contained
in a system where financial gain and material possessions
seal the deal.

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“But seek first the Kingdom of God and His

righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you”
(MKJV, Matt. 6:33).

In this chapter, I will explain the difference between the

Jewish and Christian concepts of the Kingdom of God. If
we first need to seek the kingdom, we must define the
kingdom or we will not know what to seek. I remember the
days when I would fast and have hours of prayer, “seeking
the kingdom.” I had no idea what I was doing, but thought
this must be how one seeks the kingdom. What I was
actually doing was advancing in the kingdom of darkness,
rather than the Kingdom of God! What I did could best be
explained in the words of Paul in Rom 10:

1Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is

that they might be saved. 2For I bear them record that
they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and
going about to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God (KJV,
 Provision God’s Way

Rom. 10:1-3).I was living the same passionate, zealous

life as those who were seeking their own righteousness,
anticipating how God would add to my life whatever I
needed, after the seek meter in Heaven hit green for go. I
thought He would add all things to me if I were to seek
Him enough, but my searching only ended in the
manifestation of bad fruit that comes from a wrong belief
system. Let me clarify: for us to grasp what Jesus meant
in Matthew 6:33, we need to understand that the Kingdom
of God existed long before the earth was made.

The Basics

The Matthew 6 verses I’ll explain in this chapter will be

easy to understand, now that we’ve discussed what “the
love of money” means. As we read it attentively, we will
see how it is all about doctrine and belief. I will highlight
key words that are important for understanding.

Before God made any creatures, He first provided what

they needed to live on. Starting with the atmosphere, He
created light and placed the sun in the universe, then the
plants on Earth, then the plant-eating animals. He first
created the seed-bearing herbs and fruit trees, then the
human being. From the beginning, all provision has
always been something that flows freely from God. He is
not ignorant of our needs. He knows your every need and
loves you dearly!

I was never concerned about whether I would have food or

go hungry, until I got into the prosperity gospel. Suddenly,
I was worried not only about having enough to eat, but also
what kind of food I ate! And the same with my clothes; I

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became very concerned about WHAT I wore, when before

I didn’t even worry over IF I’d have clothes to wear. I no
longer cared that I had a dependable car to drive; all that
mattered was WHAT KIND of car I drove.

In the “prosperity by following principles gospel”, it’s

about what car you drive, what clothes you wear, and what
laptop you use. God knows these needs and He will
provide it anyway. I remember the guilt I felt when I heard
that Matthew 6:22-33 means not to worry WHETHER
you will have clothes, shelter, and food rather than
WHAT you wear or eat. The Lord said why are you
worried? You shouldn’t worry, so the verse was not the
wonderful confirmation of God caring for me. Read
Matthew 6 carefully. It states that we should not worry
about WHAT we will eat or WHAT we will wear. Do I wear
NIKE? Do I have Lucky jeans? Do I eat MacDonald’s or
steak in a fancy restaurant? The death is in the belief that
the “WHAT” is what’s important.

God’s Purpose is for You to Share in His Kingdom and

Partake of All its Provisions

I felt condemned by one of the most beautiful passages in

the Bible because of a lack of understanding. We need to
realize that Jesus is not trying to get us to believe for
prosperity, but just in Him. He already knows your every
need anyway. The practicalities of the Gospel are not to get
God to provide for you. He has already committed Himself
to provide for you. God’s purpose in the Gospel is for you
to share freely in His Kingdom and partake of all its
provisions. Let’s look at Matthew 6:

22The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, if your eye is

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sound, your whole body shall be full of light. 23But if your

eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If
therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is
that darkness! 24No one can serve two masters. For
either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he
will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve
God and mammon. 25Therefore I say to you, Do not be
anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall
drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life
more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26Behold the birds of the air; for they sow not, nor do they
reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father
feeds them; are you not much better than they
are?27Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit
to his stature? 28And why are you anxious about
clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
They do not toil, nor do they spin, 29but I say to you that
even Solomon in his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30Therefore if God so clothes the grass of the field, which
today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He
not much rather clothe you, little-faiths? 31Therefore do
not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall
we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? 32For the
nations seek after all these things. For your heavenly
Father knows that you have need of all these things. 33But
seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and
all these things shall be added to you (MKJV, Matt. 6:22-
33).

Understanding the Kingdom

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Let me give a bit of historic background on what the Jews

believed about the end of the world and their purpose on
Earth, from Romans 2:

17Behold, you are called a Jew, and rest in the Law, and
boast in God; 18and know His will and approve the things
excelling, being instructed out of the Law; 19and
persuading yourselves to be a guide of the blind, a light
to those in darkness; 20an instructor of the foolish, a
teacher of babes, who have the form of knowledge and of
the truth in the Law (MKJV, Rom. 2:17-20).

Since the Talmud is the central text of mainstream

Judaism, let’s look at what “the Kingdom of God” means
in the Talmud? It is believed to be the refining of the
body and the physical world, through the uplifting of
the soul in obedience to the law. The Jews see the world
as darkness and the soul of man as the lamp. The belief is
that they are to enlighten the world through the law, which
to them is the way unto life. In fact, they believe the law
is the only truth, and once obeyed, life itself. The only way
refining of the body and the physical world is understood
by the Jews is in having riches and all kinds of prosperity,
as mentioned in passages like Deuteronomy 28:

1And it will be, if you shall listen carefully to the voice of

Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His
commandments which I command you today, Jehovah
your God will set you on high above all nations of the
earth. 2And all these blessings shall come on you and
overtake you, if you will listen to the voice of Jehovah your
God. 3You shall be blessed in the city, and be blessed in the

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field. 4The fruit of your body shall be blessed and the fruit
of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the increase
of your cows, and the flocks of your sheep. 5Your basket
and your store shall be blessed. 6You shall be blessed
when you come in, and blessed when you go out (MKJV,
Deut. 28:1-6).

According to Deuteronomy 28, life is found in prosperity,

health, and wealth—a life consisting of the abundance of
your possessions. So, man must be obeying the law in
order to be blessed in the city and in the field, have healthy
children and big crops, have a full storehouse, and so forth.
The Jews believed that the finer the life they lived, the
more they refined the world. This helped them to feel they
were living up to the intent of the Talmud.

As a fervent student of the law and the traditions of the

elders, Paul comes to an extraordinary conclusion,
documented in Romans 7. He concludes that although the
law seems to be the way to earn a good life, the end of it
is death. Paul also boldly declares in Romans 7 that the
law possesses no power to bring life to his human body,
and therefore it is powerless to bring refining to the
physical world. Eventually, he calls the law system—for
the purpose of refining all things—weak and unable to
bring purification! (See Rom 8:1-4). He even goes so far
as to call those that try to live by it “lost and blinded by
the God of this world” (See 2 Cor. 4:4).

To the Jews, there was nothing spiritual about the Kingdom

of God; to them it was a physical kingdom of this world.
They understood it as the Kingdom of the Messiah, who
was a man that would come and deliver them from the

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oppression of other nations. They never viewed this

Kingdom of the Messiah as a kingdom where
righteousness is a gift, nor did they even consider
complete perfect forgiveness as a free gift. Salvation, to
the Jews, is what happened in Egypt when God saved them
from the hand of the Pharaoh. They believe that when the
Messiah comes He will bring world peace, all people will
follow the precepts of the law, and through obedience to
the law—as the Messiah enforces it on all nations—
peaceful civilization will spread.

To the Jew, salvation means to be free from the oppression

of all nations so they can freely obey the law. (This is not
true for all Jews today, for many have become atheists.)
According to this tradition, the kingdom is observed
through what you wear and what you eat. Unfortunately,
what the Jews believe is accepted in many churches,
where people think that the wealth of the wicked is laid up
for the just. This concept has even flowed over into the
modern Pentecostal, Charismatic church. It is believed, in
many churches, that the New Testament church will take
over the world and refine it, by high moral values and the
anointing. Yet, this is not going to be the case, since the
Kingdom of God does not come in the form of the church
perfecting the world. Perfection is what we hope for, with
a confident expectation in the return of Jesus.

Let me summarize this concept:

The Jewish belief is that “salvation” means to be saved

from anything that might stop you from receiving the
blessings of obedience to the law, since true life is via
obedience to the law. It is also believed that sanctification
of the mind, and life by obedience to the law, will bring the

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development of civilization and political world peace.

Thus, the Jews believe that they are the guide to the blind,
that salvation— or let’s call it development and world
peace—is of the Jews through obedience to the law,
resulting in great financial blessings and all kinds of
prosperity. These blessings would then enable people to
bring peace through civilization and obedience to the law.

I hope you can see how this view can only lead to a very
unhealthy and unnatural outlook on money, which is the
Kingdom of God amounting to no more than a measure
of wealth and rulership over others. This would be a pitiful
kingdom, where the law of God is enforced on all nations
as the way, the truth and the life, with only the rich people
holding the prominent positions.

The New Kingdom

With this in mind, we can only imagine the havoc the

Gospel of John must’ve caused, when John called the
Jewish people and their ways, “people walking in
darkness, rejecting the only light” (See John 3:19).
Conversely, John called Jesus, “the light of the world that
enlightens every man,” be he a Jew or a Gentile (See John
1:9). John was only elaborating on what Jesus was actually
saying. Jesus said that the light of the body, that which will
illuminate the body and the physical world, is the
revelation you have, or the way you perceive things:

20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the

Kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said,
The Kingdom of God come not with observation:
21Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! For,

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behold, the Kingdom of God is within you (KJV, Lk.17:20,

21).

The best way I can explain the Kingdom of God is to call

it “the place of Trinity reality,” as we discussed in chapters
2 and 3. It’s a “place,” where everything happens in
relationship between the “Divine Ones,” in the Godhead.
The place where “let’s” can take place by mutual
influence and equal persuasion, unto the manifestation of
the life that is possessed by Elohim in all who enter and
partake of it. The Kingdom of God could be described as
the framework on which dynamics that exist in the Trinity
are built. I would not be surprised if some of you ask if
such a place could ever exist for humans. Could we ever
enter that place? Is that possible in the here and now? Yes.
The answer is yes, and yes for all!

What I am about to share with you has changed my life and

given me a sense of cleanliness and holiness that can only
come from Him. I explain this, in detail, in my book, Born
from Innocence, if you would like a more in-depth study
of it. Here is a shortened version:

The Baptism of Jesus

I have always wondered why Jesus was baptized. I can

remember thinking that God told me to be baptized
because Jesus was my example, so I had to do what He
had done. Later, I realized that it could never have been
God saying those things. As I came to understand the
baptism of John and the kingdom that was now at hand, I
saw that those Scriptures actually have nothing to do with
me getting baptized into water. There is something much
greater, much bigger, hidden in John and what he declared.

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It was so big that John announced the Kingdom of God is

at hand, which meant that the Kingdom of God is here!

The Baptism of Jesus Marked the Beginning of the

End of the Law Era

I never understood that there were many people baptizing

in the days of John the Baptist; many people were making
disciples of the Gentiles. In about 150BC, the Jews were
making disciples out of the Gentiles, who would be
baptized, circumcised and given the law as the
enlightenment unto life. Since all Gentiles were seen as
sinners and unclean, only they could be baptized,
confessing their sin in the baptism, signifying that their
sins would be washed away as they became part of the
Jewish system of sacrifices. This conversion was also
what was known to be a new birth where people were born
into the ways of the law.

What made the baptism of John so extraordinary was that,

unlike the Jews who baptized only Gentiles, he baptized
Jews, which was completely taboo in those days. A Jew
was never considered to be a sinner like a Gentile. Yet,
John’s baptism was for sinners only, so even the thought of
being baptized, with the baptism of sinners, was an
absolute disgrace to the Jew. When the Pharisees came to
John and asked him who he was and why he would do
such a thing, John boldly proclaimed that being a Jew
means nothing to God for “God is able to raise up
children to Abraham from these stones” (MKJV, Matt.
3:9).

The Jews didn’t realize that they also needed the fruit of
righteousness and freedom from sins, which accompanies

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repentance from believing in the old kingdom dynamics.

Just as Paul taught in his letter to the Romans, John preached
that all people—Jews and Gentiles alike—are sinners and
guilty before the law. This was unthinkable for the Jews
of that time! Nonetheless, John persisted in declaring that
all people in the world needed forgiveness for the
remission of sins, Jews and Gentiles alike. Since John
preached no other kind of baptism but of repentance for the
remission of sins, any person baptized by him was
consenting to the fact that he was a sinner and in need of
repentance. Imagine the baptism scene in one of those old
movies: Jesus hikes out to the Jordan River where a wild
man, John the Baptist, is baptizing people. A large crowd
has gathered around John, who is taking no nonsense from
the Pharisees, shouting and rebuking them for being
hypocritical. All of a sudden, everything becomes very
quiet as the cameras focus in on Jesus who is now walking
right into the water. The people stare silently at Jesus as
John baptizes Him; then, out of Heaven flies a dove, and it
lands right on Jesus’ shoulder. The baptism of Jesus is so
beautiful and loaded with power! There is something so
powerful about this event that we can feel yet not explain.

Let me explain this further. Years ago, we were doing an

outreach in eastern Malawi, where there are
predominately Muslim people, living in villages, and
many of them are uneducated. Most of them have never
heard of the baptism of Jesus and what it means. As a
matter of fact, they were taught to be against the Christian
faith, and were hearing the message of Jesus for the first
time, when we preached to them. I remember, as we
pitched our Jesus film projector and started to show the
movie, the people were dead quiet. They all just watched
intently from the beginning of the film until the baptism of
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Jesus, when as He came up from the water they smiled

and clapped their hands spontaneously.

This was so strange; why would these Muslim villagers

respond this way? It was not normal. I could only conclude
that they felt what all of us feel when it comes to the baptism
of Jesus. We just have a wonderful feeling about it. It’s a
pleasing impression that brings a kind of peace, although
the cognitive mind is unable to explain it. We don’t
understand why we are happy when we see this, yet there
is some kind of an inner resonance telling us that it should
be that way. Although this powerful impact of Jesus’
baptism is mysterious, it does not leave us without
understanding. I believe the power and mystique of the
baptism of Jesus is revealed and it is all about the
Kingdom of God. The way God does things was about to
come to Earth. The reality of the Trinity was about to
manifest on Earth, giving all people the opportunity to
taste what true life is all about. Let’s see His baptism more
closely.

Closer to the Kingdom

One day, John sees Jesus walking on the banks of the river
and reveals something very amazing, by the Spirit of God,
“Look! The lamb of God that takes away the sin of the
world” (NKJV, John 1:29).

What an outstanding statement! After he had just shouted

out to the crowds that all people need to repent, John points
to Jesus, claiming that He is the lamb that will take away
the sin of all people. He has just contended that all people
are sinners, and now in the same breath, he’s announcing
that all sinners’ sin will be taken away in one Man, by one

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sacrifice.

Then, the unthinkable happens—something John could

never have imagined in a million years! Jesus, the sinless
Lamb of God, walks into the water to be baptized by John.
John was declaring all people sinners, in need of
repentance, and now Jesus, the sinless one, wants to be
baptized into what John is announcing? How could this
be! And what does this mean for us? Let’s go on.

John then proceeds to correct Jesus and refuses to baptize

Him:
14But John restrained Him, saying, I have need to be
baptized by You, and do You come to me? 15And
answering Jesus said to him, Allow it now, for it is
becoming to us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he
allowed Him (MKJV, Matt. 3:14, 15).

To restrain means to utterly prohibit. John, as radical as

he was, utterly prohibited Jesus from being baptized, for
he knew what it implied. John told Jesus that he needed to
be baptized by Jesus, and not Jesus by him, for it felt
completely wrong to baptize the innocent Lamb of God
into the category of “sinner repenting of his sins.” Jesus
was holy, innocent, and perfect; how could it ever be that
Jesus could be baptized with the baptism of the sinner?
John thought this needed to be stopped! Jesus replied,
“Allow it now, for it is becoming to us to fulfill all
righteousness” (MKJV, Matt. 3:15). As John heard these
words he allowed Jesus to be baptized.

It is amazing to see that Jesus uses the word “us,” when he

says, “for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus could not

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fulfill all righteousness unless John was involved. He had

to be baptized by John for the kingdom of Heaven to be at
hand. The kingdom that all people were living in was the
kingdom of being sinners and under the power of sin,
always falling short of the glory of God. It was a kingdom
in which you had to use your willpower and obey laws to
attain to life. The Kingdom of God, and the rule that is in
the Godhead, is one where none of the Divine Ones has
sin. Therefore, in order for that to be true on Earth, the sin
of all people will have to be taken away.

When Jesus, the perfect innocent Lamb of God, was

baptized with the baptism of the sinner, He took the sin of
all people upon Himself. All sin was now received by
Jesus, for He baptized Himself into the word that John was
proclaiming. John declared all people sinners. Since Jesus
did not have any sin, but was then baptized by John into sin,
whose sin would then be on Him but the sin of all people?

It was not until after the baptism of Jesus, that He taught

the Kingdom of God has now come to man. The rule that
is in Elohim, by which His righteousness can now be ours,
has come to Earth, for Jesus has taken the sin of the world
upon Himself. From that day on, Jesus healed people, for
healing is equal to forgiveness, declaring that sin is now
on Him and not on the people anymore:

5For which is easier? To say, Your sins are forgiven you,

or to say, Arise and walk!6But so that you may know that
the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, then
He said to the paralytic, Arise, take up your bed and go
to your house (MKJV, Matt. 9:5, 6).

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The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God is the place where the rule of God

exists in perfect love and innocence, where the will of God
is done as in Heaven. On Earth, people try to do the will
of God by obedience to laws. But in Heaven, it is done in
the power of love, resulting in faith, belief in one another,
and other godly characteristics. It is a unique realm where
the righteousness of God is the only righteousness and it’s
available to all. It is the place where divine ones share in
the life of The Divine Ones.

Jesus came and preached the Kingdom of God. Being made

sin for us all, He pronounced thousands forgiven by every
miracle He performed. The miracles testified to the fact
that the new rule was already present—that sins are not
on people anymore but on Jesus, who was carrying the sin
of the world. This was made possible when Jesus was
willingly baptized into the sin of the world.

For a detailed explanation of all of this, including the

significance of the shedding of blood, please see my book,
Born from Innocence.

Back to Seeking the Kingdom of God

“But seek first the Kingdom of God and His

righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you”
(MKJV Matt. 6:33).

With the new kingdom defined, we can elaborate on this

verse:

Seek, according to Thayer’s definition, means to seek [in

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order to find out] by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to

enquire into … the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you
(Matt 6:33).

Let’s meditate, reason and inquire into how righteous

Jesus is and how the new kingdom includes us. Let’s seek
how we are forgiven. Let’s seek how innocent we are and
how we are united in the sacrifice of the Lamb. And, as
we seek by meditating, reasoning and inquiring, we will
find that the things we were seeking under the law system
will just be added to us effortlessly—Matthew 6:33,
paraphrased.

We will miss the point of Matthew 6:33 if we try to use it

as the magic key to get rich. Its purpose is much greater,
in that it tells us that God’s provision for all people is a
given. We don’t need to use this—or any Bible passage—
to gain wealth, when we know God provides for us as our
Father, in a relationship in which money is not what
defines us. In our relationship with Him, His provision
naturally floods our lives and our Abba, becomes alive to
us as a loving Father and not a lawmaker again.

The first thing that happens, as we enter the kingdom, is an

experience of the sweet fruit of contentment. I have found
we think much more sensibly about business and money
the moment the satanic system of, I am what I possess is
removed from our belief. We find that there is an inner
wisdom and contentment that saturate our lives, to the
point that we cannot be forced into business deals we
never wanted to make. It is very difficult to tempt a
contented person into something he or she does not really
want to do. God-based provision is also not seen as sitting

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lazily at home waiting for God to provide for you.

Unfortunately, there are some people that think grace is
all about not working a job since God is caring for them
now.

I believe many jobless people will find jobs, or creative

ideas through which they can be provided for, once they
believe they are not defined by what they do or how much
they earn. A person is freed from all stress and bondage
in the mind the moment contentment settles in, as a result
of believing the truth. It is enjoying life no matter what you
do, not finding your identity in your work, and trusting in
God who provide for you. It’s a state in which all your
attention is not directed to what you do for a living—while
you are doing it.

Paul was so radical, in his message about the Gospel, that

he even told slaves not to be bothered by the fact that they
are slaves. How crazy is that! It’s actually not crazy at all;
it’s pointing to something that is greater than this life. It’s
pointing to a contentment that supersedes all things we
have ever seen or heard. It is directing us to a place where
the deepest joy can be experienced. Paul did advise,
though, that a slave should take the freedom when it comes
his way. I am not promoting slavery here, but simply
explaining the dimensions of the power contained in
godly provision. Contentment is the foundation from
where we can all live, while God meets our needs.
Contentment is not the acceptance of poverty but enjoying
life where you are, as God cares for you.

I close this chapter with a verse that needs no explanation

in regard to godly provision:

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“But my God shall supply all your need according to His

riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (MKJV, Phil. 4:19).

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The most beautiful, most wonderful, life-giving kingdom

has come to Earth! It is the kingdom of the Divine Ones,
available for all people; yet, we find that there are many
not seeing nor experiencing the kingdom in their everyday
lives.

When I was living in my endless search for life, as

explained in Chapter 2, I thought I understood and was
partaking of the Kingdom of God. As a matter of fact, I
was even trying to advance the kingdom and see the
church take over the world. I would get up early in the
mornings, binding the Devil and demons, and declaring
the Kingdom of God over various towns, in hopes that
Christians would rise to high positions in government and
other key offices. I wanted all people to come to our
church so that they could enter the kingdom. I did
everything a good Christian in the Charismatic,
Pentecostal church world would do to promote the
Kingdom of God. I thought entering God’s kingdom
meant that people must confess their sins so God could
forgive them, receive the Holy Spirit, and start winning
 Entering the Kingdom of God

souls through signs, wonders, and miracles. I saw myself

as a kingdom worker and wanted all people to be as I was.
The truth is, I was radically doing all these things with no
clue of what the Kingdom of God is really about. I
couldn’t see the kingdom nor could I enjoy my life in it.
My only understanding of God’s kingdom, that came
anywhere close to what it actually is, was that I believed
I would be with Him when I died because of the blood of
Jesus and His love for me. Unfortunately, while I could see
only this small glimpse of the kingdom, I was actually
living in the kingdom of darkness, even though I was
claiming everything, “in the name of Jesus!”

I was blinded by the love of money, and driven by my

zealous obedience to the methods for successful
Christianity, proposed by the latest “revelation” of key
preachers. Truth be told, what I wanted most of all was to
reach that place where God actually wanted me. But, I
was blinded by the law that was clothed in a Pentecostal,
Charismatic cloak. I could not see the kingdom nor could
I enter it. I was as I described in the beginning of this
book: “The noise of legalism drowned out the voice of my
Abba.”

The Kingdom of God is not characterized by how big your

ministry is or how many get saved at your meetings. It is
not about getting your prayers answered, or having a
healthy body, or giving to the poor. As a matter of fact, the
Kingdom of God is not even determined by all people
living holy. Even if everyone repented of sin and lived a
good life, it still wouldn’t mean that they see the kingdom
and live in that which God really intended for us. Even if
you could live perfectly sinless, that is no indication that

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you have entered the Kingdom of God. So, how can we,
as humans, experience the realm where the Divine Ones
dwell? How do we enter Elohim’s reality and the
dynamics that encompass the Godhead? One of the best
known verses in the Bible is found in the third chapter of
John. It is so powerful and really worth studying in depth.
By looking at verses 1 through 16, we will realize how we
can see and enter the Kingdom of God. I will explain my
understanding without elaborating too much. For a more
detailed explanation, you can read my first book, Born
from Innocence. Before I get into John 3:16, I need to
explain the concept of birth found in John 1:

12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to

become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name; 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (KJV, John
1:12, 13).

According to this passage, we have the right to be called

“sons of God,” when we have received Jesus, and we are
those who are born of God. The best way I can translate
these two verses is as follows:

John 1:12 All people, Jew or Gentile, that have grabbed a

hold of Jesus, those that grabbed a hold of what His name
really means as Saviour, with the purpose to make use of
Him and what He concludes, and those who see what He
accomplished as fully applicable to them, have the
authority to say the wonderful life they have and live
originates from God and is His life. These are those whose
minds are at rest, having full satisfaction in what He
accomplished on behalf of mankind

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John 1:13 They don’t owe the birth of this wonderful new
life they have and its manifestation, in and through them,
to the fact that they are of a certain ethnic group, nor to
will power in obedience to commandments prescribed by
Moses, nor to their craving for eternal life. They owe their
birth, the life they possess in spirit and manifestation, to
God birthing all He is and all He feels and enjoys into
them, making what they have fully received God authentic
and not a man-made counterfeit of original life (Bertie
Brits).

When we are born from something, it has access to our

lives and actually lives in and through us. If we look at a
person—let’s say a woman who’s been really hurt in an
abusive relationship and living in the hurt for many years
to follow—we can conclude that she owes her life to the
hurt and abuse she suffered. The life she lives is a direct
result of what she believes about the abuse. What she
believes about the abuse is what actually gives the abuse
power to live in her, and we can safely conclude that her
thoughts and actions have hurt as their father.

With this in mind, we can look at what John 3 talks about

in connection to the born again experience. It’s really
important to understand this concept, for we will not be
able to see nor enter the Kingdom of God unless we are
born again. Let’s read John 3:1-16:

1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a

ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and
said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God: for no man can do these miracles that
thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and

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said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
4Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when
he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s
womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. 6That which is
born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must
be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence
it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born
of the Spirit. 9Nicodemus answered and said unto him,
Howcan these things be? 10Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these
things?11Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we
do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not
our witness. 12If I have told you earthly things, and ye
believe not, how will ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly
things? 13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but
he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man
which is in heaven. 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
up:15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (KJV,
John 3:1-16).

Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be born again to

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understand all that Jesus taught. Nicodemus was a man

who owed his birth to Judaism and obedience to the
commandments described in the Law. The way he was
reasoning was determined by a Jewish worldview:

 The Gentiles are sinners and the Jews are the light
bearers of the world.
 Salvation is deliverance from political oppression.
 Justification comes by obedience to the law.
 Money and blessings are a sign of your obedience to
the law.
 The Jews are the people of God.
 Man is the servant of God and can never be at the
right hand of God.

The list goes on.

Jesus explained to Nicodemus how he could be born

again, and have a brand new foundation from where God’s
reasoning could give birth to a new life in him. He
explained that the Son of Man (the representative of
mankind in their sin, and as a man under the law,
representing the law) had to be lifted up as the snake was
lifted up in the desert (See Num. 21:4-8). He went on to
explain that those who believe in what actually happened
in the Son of Man when He was crucified, as the LAW man
and the SIN man, will be saved.

The snake represented the doctrine of the devil—the

satanic system of legalism and works righteousness—in
which a person sees good works as the only way to have
eternal life. A new birth would be to see the law system,
and the death it brought, die on the pole just as the people
lived when they looked at the snake dying on the pole (See
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Num. 21).

Similarly, when you see Jesus, a man under the law—

representing the law-man and carrying all sin of all
people—dying on the cross, and see that in His death you
are no longer under the law nor are you a sinner anymore,
you receive the new birth! All who can see Jesus on the
cross have come to the conclusion that the law is not the
light of the world and that man stands forgiven of all sin.
Having this conclusion as the foundation of your thinking
opens your eyes to the Kingdom of God. You are now open
to the relationship way of doing things, which is portrayed
in Elohim (The Divine Ones). As we see this death, we
find a new logic and enter into a new platform of
reasoning. From this platform, we can understand the
Kingdom of God and even enter into its power. We will
no longer owe our financial standing to the law and
willpower. The power derived from our newfound reality,
which is based in truth, will be the source of our new life.

It will be impossible for us to seek the Kingdom of God

and His righteousness, if we are still clinging to the
concept of traditional “financial principles.” As long as
we cannot see the sowing and reaping system and tithing
crucified— lifted up as the snake was lifted up in the
desert—it will be impossible to see or enter the Kingdom
of God in the area of finances. Unless the foundation of
our reasoning concerning money is born again, by seeing
those law systems lifted up as the snake was in the desert,
we will not understand or experience what Jesus was
talking about in the 6th chapter of Matthew:

33But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his

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righteousness; and all these things will be added unto

you.34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the
morrow will take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof (KJV, Matt. 6:33, 34).

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 God intended life

This introduction to Chapter 8 is from Brennan Manning’s

audio message, The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus. It is
essential for you to read this to better understand my
message:

An old Hasidic rabbi, from the Ukraine, claimed that he

learned the meaning of love from a drunken peasant. One
morning the rabbi was out in the Polish countryside to
visit a friend of his who owned a tavern. When the rabbi
walked in, he saw two men seated at a table who were
gloriously in their cups, drunk as skunks, stoned out of
their minds, arms wrapped around each other, each guy
reassuring the other one how much he loved him.

Suddenly Ivan said to Peter, ‘Peter, tell me what hurts

me.’ Blurry eyed, Peter said, ‘How do I know what hurts
you?’
Ivan’s answer was swift... ‘If you don’t know what hurts me,
how could you say you love me? ’What made Jesus Christ
the greatest Lover in human history is that He really knew,
and He knows today, what is hurting His people. Back in
1981, a friend of mine, an Episcopal priest in Columbus,
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Ohio, walked into his office on a Monday morning, wrote

a hasty letter of resignation to the vestry and then he
returned to his home and sat down at the kitchen table and
wrote a letter to his wife and three children, all of the kids
under the age of ten, that he was abandoning them.

He fled to a logging camp in New England and took on a

job as a logger. One Saturday afternoon in January, when
it was ten degrees below zero, this priest was sitting in a
portable, aluminium trailer that he had rented. The only
source of heat was a tiny portable, aluminium heater. Well,
the heater suddenly quit and died and within minutes the
temperature in the trailer was below zero. Shivering, in a
fit of rage, the priest picked up the heater and flung it
through the window, broke the window, and shouted,
‘Christ, I hate you! Damn it, God, get out of my life! I’m
finished with this Christian crap! It’s all over!’ He sank to
his knees, defeated and weeping.

In the midst of his hopelessness, he heard a voice from

within say, ‘It’s okay, Kevin. I understand, and I’m here.
I’m with you, and I’m for you.’ And then he heard Jesus
weeping within him. Christ felt what he was feeling. It was
an overwhelming experience of intimacy.

That same afternoon Kevin Martin packed his bags and

returned to Columbus to be reconciled with his family and
his church and has gone on to pastor the most dynamic,
spiritually alive Episcopal church in America - St. Luke’s
in Seattle, Washington.

‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my Beloved, the

favourite of my soul and He will proclaim the true faith to
the nations. The bruised reed He will not crush. The

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smouldering wick, He will not quench’ (Isaiah 42:1-3). If

you read the gospel closely, you will notice how fine-tuned
Jesus is to our anger, our frustration, our emptiness, our
loneliness, our fears, our self-hatred, our shame.
Throughout His public ministry on earth—the encounter
with the prostitute in the time of the Pharisees, the
adulteress woman in the age of stoning, the thrice denying
Peter when He was denied, and the young apostle John in
the upper room on the night before He died, here we
capture the essence of the life of Jesus.

The Greek verb, splagchnizomai, is used twelve times in

the four gospels and is usually translated to English as,
‘He was moved with compassion.’ However, because of
the poverty of our English vocabulary, we really don’t
capture the deep meaning of splagchnizomai, so
depending on the translation of the bible you use, it may
say, ‘He was moved with pity, or He felt sorry for them, or
His heart went out to them.’ But again, they missed the
profound physical and emotional flavour of this Greek
verb, splagchnizomai which is derived from the noun,
splagma, meaning, the bowels, (entrails, intestines), the
deepest parts of a person from which the strongest
emotions, like love and hatred, arrive.

We must never forget that when we speak of the compassion

of Jesus, we are speaking of the compassion of the infinite,
transcendent, Almighty God of the sacred Man, defined by
the Council of Nicaea in the year 325 AD, as being co-
equal and consubstantial to the Father, God from God,
Light from Light, True God from True God.

The compassion of Jesus is the compassion of God

Himself and Jesus says to your heart and mine, ‘Don’t ever

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be so foolish as to measure my compassion for you in terms

of your compassion for one another. Don’t ever be so silly
as to compare your thin, pallid, wavering, capricious,
fickle, moody, dependent on human circumstances, human
compassion with mine, for I am God as well as Man.’
What I’m driving at is this: When you read the gospels, that
Jesus was moved with compassion, it is saying His gut was
wrenched, His heart torn open, the most vulnerable part
of His being lay bare.

Splagchnizomai, in Greek, is related to the Hebrew word

for compassion, rachamim, which refers to the womb of
Yahweh.

Compassion is such a deep, central, powerful emotion in

Jesus Christ, that it can only be described as a movement
within the womb of God Himself, where all of divine
tenderness and gentleness lie hidden, where God is Mother,
Father, Brother, Sister, Son and Daughter, who all feel the
emotions, and passions are one in divine love.

The numerous physical healings performed by Jesus, and

recorded in the gospels, are only a hint of the anguish in
the heart of God’s Son toward all humanity. Even the
passion and death of Jesus on Calvary is only a hint of His
deep compassion, and the substance of our faith lies in the
conviction that beyond that hint lay compassion and love
beyond measure.

When Jesus was moved with compassion, when He wept

within the brokenness of my friend, Kevin Martin, the
gospel is saying: ‘The ground of all being shook, the
Source of all life trembled, the heart of all love burst open
and the unfathomable depth of the relentless tenderness

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was laid bare. — Brennan Manning (Taken from a

message called – Relentless Tenderness – preached not
long before he died.
[Link]

When I think of the compassion of God and hear what

Brennan Manning said in his study of the Greek and
Hebrew, it just boggles my mind! The relentless
tenderness of God towards man is wonderful beyond
expression! To think that the very womb of God—the
very source that keeps everything in its place—starts to
move, ready to bring forth and manifest His life in us. I
listened to the audio of Brennan Manning maybe a
hundred times, and every time I listen to it I want to cry
because I think of this awesome, wonderful God who has
such a high quality of life that He can find His very being
moved by what others are experiencing. He is a God that
is not distant but close to His people. He feels what they
feel. He has such liberation about Him that He thinks of
others more than Himself. He is a being that is so flooded
with life, and the kind of life He possesses is such that He
cannot live outside of seeing others experiencing that life.
That is the God with whom we have to do.

We don’t sit with a God who is on the other side of space

and time, peering at us through a little window in a box,
a box where we are trying to live a good enough life for
Him to smile over us. He is a God who is very intimately
involved with us. He is a God who is not interested in giving
rules but in sharing His life with us. He wants to indwell
us so that He can make His emotions, and His passions—
and the love from where it all flows—available to us. To
God, it is worthless for people to be acting right, while not
sharing in the same platform from where His love and life

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are born. It would be like taking a friend, who is not a

fisherman at heart, on a fishing trip with you. He can only
go through the motions because his heart is not in it.
Because of who God is, we are exposed to the highest
quality of life in the One who knows what hurts us and
what makes us happy.

I like what Brennan’s friend heard after he threw the

heater out the window: Jesus said within him, “It’s okay,
Kevin. I understand, and I’m here. I’m with you, and I’m
for you.” What touches me the most is that he heard Jesus
weeping inside of him. It wasn’t an outside weeping in
disappointment: “You have failed again!” It was an inside
weeping of compassion, for He was feeling what this
priest was feeling, even when he was so frustrated that he
was screaming at God, “Get out of my life!”

I am reminded of a teaching I taught many years ago about

the word mercy. The word “mercy” means deeds of
compassion that flow from the innermost being, the core
or the spine of somebody, with a purpose to treat another
person better than what he would ever deserve according
to the law.

Mercy and compassion are so intertwined that we cannot

separate these things from each other. We need to
understand that we are dealing with a God who reveals to
Moses that He is merciful (See Exodus 33). He is a God
who, in His innermost being, feels what we feel. It’s not that
He sort of has an idea about how we’re feeling. No! The
very feeling you feel is what He feels. That is the
compassion of the Divine Ones; they want to be known by
it, and freely give us access to their heart of compassion.
The access is not only for us, in receiving His compassion,

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but also in knowing what it feels like to have it live in us

and compel us to feel compassion for others.

As powerful as this message by Brennan Manning is, as I

heard it, there was something that broke my heart. He said,
“Never compare human compassion with the compassion
of the Almighty.” I understand what he was trying to say,
but when I heard this, I had an eternal no rise up in my
heart. I said, “This is not right! This is not the way it’s
supposed to be! God, how can you exclude us from having
that quality of life? I’m not settling for that! I’m not
settling for a life where the very compassion of God is not
born into my heart.” The end goal that God has with man
is to live in us, feel in us, and will in us from our perfect
oneness with Him.

What a sad day it would be, if we were so conditioned

by religion that all our lives amounted to was the
material things God had given us, instead of sharing
in His very life, living with Him and like Him, in a
place where He lives in and through us!

I have never understood what it means when the Bible says

that it is “more blessed to give than to receive” (See Acts
20:35). That verse was shoved down our throats as some
kind of spiritual—and usually financial—thing. It was
only as I came to understand Elohim sharing their Trinity
life with human beings that this verse made sense for the
very first time. Once the understanding of the Trinity and
our design becomes the foundation from where we reason,
it all becomes so clear.

Let me use an example to explain why only in our Oneness

with the Trinity is it more blessed to give than to receive:

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A lion in a cage can receive food and help from a person

who has compassion on him to free him from the cage. Yet,
this compassion is a feeling no lion has for people who
are locked up in jail. This is why the life of an animal is
just not as blessed as the life of a human. While it is a
blessing for man or beast to receive freedom, when you co-
live with God, sharing in the way He lives, you enter the
highest life that can be attained.

To experience God’s very emotions compelling you is the

“more blessed,” from Acts 20:35. What’s “more blessed”
is to have been set free, rather than being in need of
freedom, and to have the Saviour’s heart born in you to
the point of setting others free. Having real life—the God
intended life—is all about Him living in and through us,
by the perfect union that is in Elohim (the Divine Ones).

Compassion in Persecution

I have experienced, first hand, what bible schools teach,

and most of them warn their students never to teach on
money because it is such a sensitive topic. Helena and I
have had many churches reject our ministry because of
what we believe and boldly proclaim. We have received
so much persecution that some of the biggest ministries
have kicked me out for saying what you hear me teach in
this book. When I stand in that persecution, I feel lonely
and I feel like it’s basically only me preaching this. When
you think of the turmoil you can put your family through
by preaching this, you feel alone! Yet, in the midst of all
the persecution, the comfort of this compassionate God
who loves me is awesome. He’s wonderful!

When we know that He feels with us, and we hear Him

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inside us saying, “It’s okay,” it blesses and inspires us. It

is so blessed to be the recipient of Elohim’s compassion
that it compels us to continue to preach boldly with
extravagant love, even to those who are against us. It is a
life we could never attain apart from walking in the light
of what He’s done for us. It is tangible and liberating; it’s
what we’ve always wanted!

In all the years of being persecuted, I’ve come to learn

that it is even more blessed to feel compassion towards
others—even our persecutors—than to be on the receiving
end of God’s compassion. It is the highest quality of life
to be experienced, a logic that is wider than your own
circumstances and financial well-being. It’s thrilling to
experience God living His life in you, where your gut is
torn for others’ pain and you can feel their joy. It’s
wonderful to be at a place where the revelation of the
value of others brings you to say, “I am not overly anxious
about my own well-being anymore.”

Life is truly experienced when the zeal that God has for
people consumes us. Fortunately, God has not excluded us
from feeling what it’s like to love others, by only making
us the recipients of love. As we enter the place of Elohim
relationship in the Trinity, based on our union with God by
the fact that there is a human being in the Godhead, we
receive the life of God. We feel loved and we start to love
by an inner power that we never knew.

How could we, as the Church, sit at a place where we settle

for mediocre compassion and a mediocre life, when the
Trinitarian life of God has been made available to us?
God’s very nature is compassion. God’s very nature is love.
But, His end goal wasn’t just for you to experience His

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compassion in the form of receiving compassion. His end

goal was for you to experience what it is to BE
compassionate and so live forever with Him. That is the
highest quality of life that there is. That is what He enjoys
and has come to bring to us and that is what eternal life is
all about. Let’s never settle for the kind of life where we
are cursed to only live by a human compassion and human
generosity, when the grace of God has been made
available for us.

When God made man, His ultimate purpose was for man to
share in the quality of life that He possesses—not to have
a mediocre life compared to His life! Compassion is not
just something that flows when it goes bad with
somebody. When compassion is the strong link between
two parties, the one is so much a part of the other one that
he shares also in his joys. It is an absolute union where
liberation from a life of selfishness takes place. This is
where our thoughts expand beyond ourselves. This is the
compassionate life the Trinity has possessed for all
eternity. It is the very life of God which is now accessible
to us! When God made man, He made us to partake of
His life. The Father lives in absolute compassion and
union with Jesus and He created man to also have that life.
AND THAT IS CALLED GRACE!

“The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to

anger, and of great mercy” (KJV, Ps. 145:8).

It Can Only Come by God Infusing His Life into You

Religious teachings on sowing and reaping, the famous

teaching on tithing where you always owe God, and the
promises of having more will never bring us to the place

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where we can experience God’s life of compassion and

generosity. Never! By rules and regulations, no person
will be justified to have true life (See Rom. 3:20, Gal.
2:16). God’s plan was to have man as a being who can feel
what it’s like to be like Him. By legalism, man will never
know how it feels to be like God. God knows it is
impossible for man to have that heart, and that call and
passion, by working to keep some commandments or
principles. It can only come by God infusing His life into
you. Based on our design, it can only manifest in us when
we are persuaded of the truth, revealed to us in the
incarnation death and resurrection of Jesus, and now
sitting in the Godhead as a human, being the very place
he has prepared for us all.

It would be legalistic to say, “God is the God who gives,

therefore, I must give.” No! God is the God who has
“giving” in His mind, because He is moved with
compassion. So, LET Him be compassionate to you, by
opening your heart to Him saying, “God, not only am I
receiving the compassion that You have in Your heart for
me, but I am even receiving Your compassion to the point
that it can manifest in me. My life is made available for
me to co-experience your life of compassion for others,
as a result of the wonderful union between us that you’ve
provided in Jesus.”

Believer, since you are co-seated with Christ in Heaven,

and He can feel every sad feeling that is in you, I want to
tell you this: Don’t be robbed from the truth that it goes
both ways! You can also feel and experience the very gut-
moving power that is in the Almighty and God’s emotion
can drive your life! That is what Paul was saying in 2
Corinthians [Link] “The love of Christ compels us for we

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are of this mind: if One died then all are dead” (AMP).
When we are of the same mind as the Father, seeing how
we have been unified in Christ’s death, we find the life of
the Divine Ones effortlessly born into us. This is what
Paul calls the power that compels him.

If we preach that people should do good actions, like

giving, yet it isn’t born in them from a belief in what He
has done in Jesus, where all are forgiven—a birth of love
and of that union in the Trinity where He lives in you—it
will mean nothing, for it is not His kind of life. His life is
not fuelled by an external commandment but by who
He is inside people. Even if you give your body to be
burned for the spreading of the gospel, you are STILL
nothing if it is done from the perspective of obedience to a
commandment (See 1 Cor. 13:3). Your very being is
determined and defined, not by what you do but by what
drives you.

We need to be careful; it is not a wilful decision that love

is going to drive us that will give us life. True life
manifests in us when the goodness of God consumes our
very belief and the core of our being. All we need is to be
listening to the message of His love and grace, found in
the perfect oneness between God and man, in Jesus. Since
the moment the MAN Jesus was raised from the dead, and
sat down at the right hand of the Father, we have had
access to all of God’s life, person, and way of living.

We are Not Hopelessly Trying to Copy the Life of Jesus

We have come to Mt. Zion; we have come to the city of the

living God; we have come to the place where God says,
“I indwell my people.” We have not come to the mountain

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that smokes with the glory cloud of the law (See Heb.
12:18-24). We have not come to a place where we observe
outside commandments we must try to obey, hopelessly
trying to copy the life of Jesus. No! I submit to you that
we have come to the place where God—the very being of
God—is placed inside you, infused into you! Our union
with Him can be likened to a fusion of two metals
becoming one, so that we cannot define the difference
between the two anymore. When we see and believe His
love, we are born from it; a new kind of a being comes
into existence.

Steven was not hallucinating, when while being stoned,

he cried out, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son
of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (NKJV, Acts
7:56). He didn’t just say, “I see Jesus standing at the right
hand of God.” He said much more than that! He was
telling the crowd that mankind was elevated to the
Godhead: “I see the Son of MAN standing at the right
hand of God.” They killed Steven for saying those words.

The purpose of works is not to gain you points with God.

God prepared good works as the way by which we can
express His life born into us. If you feel love, you can
express love in actions that come naturally to you. If you
feel generosity, you can express it in ways that will give
full expression to who and what you are. God prepared
these good works beforehand so that we could have a place
to express His life in us. He did not prepare good works
beforehand as a way to earn salvation (See Eph. 2:10). The
enemy of all life is the belief that one can only have life
by following certain commandments and rules. This is
finding the definition of yourself in the fruit the system
produces in you, when you obey its commands.

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Concerning money, having life by keeping

commandments is at the core of the teachings on sowing
and reaping, tithing, and the first fruit offering.

At this point, I would like you to first understand our

design and how we can be robbed from what God intended
for us, through these lies about giving to be blessed. I
went into some detail, in Chapter 2, on how deadly this
legalistic system can be. It is the law, which is the power
of sin camouflaged in a teaching that says Christian
generosity leads to greater financial blessings,
manifesting God’s prosperity. And in case there is any
confusion, it is also being under the law system to say,
“Ok I get it, we don’t have to give to be blessed, so now
under grace, we GET to give by God empowering us to do
so, in order to be blessed” This can still be coming from
the giving to be blessed system, only in a roundabout way.

Why should the Church settle for something that can never
produce life in the area of money? No man-made law can
ever produce generosity. Why should we, out of fear of not
having for tomorrow, cling to some old system that will rob
us from knowing what it feels like to have our innermost
being moved with compassion when we see someone in
need, or feel our pocket open to make someone else happy?
Why? And leaders, why do we always have to keep some
back door open for financial provision in the church,
through incorporating the tithing, and sowing and reaping,
in some form or fashion, when God has a master plan by
which man can experience His eternal life and freedom?

The Better Way

In his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul gives us

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an example of a church that was experiencing what it’s

like to live the God-intended life, having no fear at all
about money:

1Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God

bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;2How that in a
great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and
their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their
liberality.3For to their power, I bear record, yea, and
beyond their power they were willing of
themselves;4Praying us with much entreaty that we would
receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the
ministering to the saints (KJV, 2 Cor. 8:1-4).

What Paul said is written in a very difficult manner. He

was trying to say that in the very midst of the
Macedonian’s deep poverty, he could see their freedom
expressed in their liberality, and he was amazed:

Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and

generous ways in which God is working in the churches
in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the
people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit.
The trial exposed their true colours: They were incredibly
happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered
something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and
generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave
offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could
afford! —pleading for the privilege of helping out in the
relief of poor Christians (MSG, 2 Cor. 8:1-4).

This poverty-stricken church got such a divine grace

influence on the heart. They were so divinely influenced

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in their belief, and so liberated concerning fear and money,

that they begged the apostles to let them participate in
t h e financial giving to the poor churches in Jerusalem.
They said, “Don’t rob us from the joy of giving to this
poor church in Jerusalem!” These people were so under
the divine influence of God that their gut was torn with
compassion. The relentless tenderness of God, which
surpasses all understanding, had such a powerful
influence in the poor people of the Macedonian church,
that they were liberated. Their minds were so enlarged
that they couldn’t even see their own need. They said,
“Let’s share in the joy of contributing to someone else!”

This passage is not saying that, if we claim to be under

grace, we should give with joy and in abundance; that
would be a complete abuse of the verse. If we see it from
that angle, we have missed the boat, and we are believing
something that will kill us! The idea is not to use that as
a command, telling people, “You must now give!” The idea
is to introduce people to God’s grace as the power that
fuels His life in them. We see that the people in
Macedonia first gave themselves to God. Giving yourself
to God is not what we always thought. It is not the giving
my life to Jesus message of repentance of sins for
salvation. The giving of oneself to God is making yourself
available to be engulfed by what was made available in the
incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, by
simply believing the truth it declares. It is your
favourable response to God’s warm embrace, experienced
in His invitation to commune with Him in the Godhead.

The Macedonians gave themselves to God, and they also

gave themselves to Paul and the apostles. The dynamics
at work in the union they shared with Elohim included

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Paul and what he felt like doing for the poor. Both Paul
and the poor churches in Macedonia were co-seated with
Christ; therefore, they were co-sharing in the compassion
that was in the heart of God for the poor in Jerusalem at
that moment. Paul experienced the gut wrenching
compassion of God for the poor in Jerusalem. The people
in Macedonia were open to co-experience it, resulting in
a freedom that was not expected. They were liberated to
the point that they were free from the fear of not having,
becoming completely blind to their earthly poverty.
The dynamics at work in the heart of Paul and the poor
churches of Macedonia is what I call “the transcendent
life of Elohim.” To me, that is the New Testament way of
giving and the only God- intended way of living.

I’m not changing from this Gospel, for this has set me free!
And I’m not settling for stinginess, and I’m not settling
for legalism. I am only settling for His quality of life
inside my life! The Church is in desperate need of this word
in the area of money! It saddens me to see how many
preachers—even those who are proclaiming the message
of grace pretty accurately—compromise when it comes to
the truth on money. By no means do I say that I am better,
or more righteous, or have attained to more than any other
person or preacher. The love of God for all people floods
my heart.

My prayer for my brothers and sisters is that they will be

strengthened by the Holy Spirit to boldly declare grace
about the greatest bondage on mankind—money! Seeing
blessings and prosperity as the friend that seals the deal
on joy, peace, salvation, and living in the kingdom will
only lead to unending pain and frustration. This is not the
life God has dreamed for us to have. I would like to end

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this chapter by telling two true stories about living in true

financial freedom founded in grace:

Are we really poor?

While listening to the radio as I drove from Malmesbury

to Cape Town, I heard this true story over the radio: A
pastor in a very affluent area announced that they had a
poor family in their church to whom they wanted to give
some money. They asked their members to give on a
regular basis towards a special love donation, so that all
of the money could then be given to the family when they
had collected a generous amount. Among the people who
began to give was a lady who was very eager to contribute
and she told her children about it. As a family project, they
began to give sacrificially and joyfully. (Sacrificial
giving is giving that involves a change of lifestyle to make
the giving possible.) The family baked cakes to sell, and
even went so far as to switch off their electricity for a few
nights in the week to save the money to give to the poor
family. On a weekly basis, they turned their earnings from
selling the cakes over to the church, and also gave what
they had saved monthly by switching off their electricity.
After several months of giving, the pastor announced that
it was time to give the money to the poor family.

One evening some weeks later, there was a knock at the

lady’s door; it was the pastor. This was a surprise to the
family, since he didn’t normally visit them without an
appointment. After a friendly conversation about the
weather, school, and politics, he handed the lady an
envelope and left. It was a check for a large amount of
money with a card signed by the members of their
congregation: “God loves you and we love you, too!”

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The mom turned and asked her children, “Are we poor?”

Her son replied, “We thought we had more than enough.

We even gave into this donation. This must be a mistake!”

So, because the “poor” family found it very difficult to use

the money, they returned it to the church to be used for
someone else. They never knew they were poor at all.

This is such a wonderful example of how blind a person

can become to his or her own needs in the presence of true
inner wealth.

I don’t want diamonds.

(The following is a true story.)

A few days ago, when I stopped to visit one of my friends

in a nearby town, he told me that he grew up in the
Cullinan area in South Africa, an area known for its large,
high quality diamonds. Years after he left Cullinan, a
Christian woman discovered a large diamond worth a
very large amount of money. Can you imagine the joy that
flooded her heart when she found it? It was a large
diamond! So large that it meant the end of all debt for the
woman and her family—in fact, the end of all financial
difficulties forever. Of course, this would be a dream
come true for anyone.

Before she could cash in the diamond, though, a beggar

came to her door, asking for food. She did not feel she
wanted to give him food but the diamond; so she followed
the passion in her heart and handed the large diamond to
the beggar. In great amazement, the beggar quickly ran

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from her house, hiding the diamond tightly in his hands.

Many years later, the lady heard a knock at the door, and
upon opening the door she saw that it was the same beggar
she had given the diamond to many years ago. To her
amazement, the beggar did not want food or money but
reached into his pocket and handed her something. It was
the diamond!

“Ma’am, I don’t want this diamond. I want what it was that

made you give me the diamond.”

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Before I came to the knowledge of the truth, one of the

scariest concepts I had to deal with was being content,
especially in the area of money. Since contentment was
seen as apathy and being backslidden, if you had sickness,
or didn’t have a lot of money, or had other troubles, you
were obviously consenting to the will of Satan in your
life. It wasn’t until years later that I realized what I was
missing out on in my discontentment. I was actually
rejecting the promised progress and success that can only
come by His love for me.

Very Hungry People Will Eat Anything You Feed Them

I was one of those preachers who believed that as long as

the people were hungry for more, seeking greater miracles
and higher revelation, I had a job. Their dissatisfaction and
need for more fuelled my ministry, even giving me a
reason to exist. I had entered what I call the hunger system.
The hungrier people are the more food a restaurant can
sell. As a matter of fact, very hungry people will eat just
about anything you dish up, and they will pay a lot of
money for it! If you can keep them hungry, you can keep
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them under your power. VERY hungry people will eat

anything you feed them, even if it is half rotten. I’ve seen
this many times and it is a sad state to be in. But, once you
start to experience the life of God living in you, your
hunger is over forever!

I would define the hunger system as the place where we

make use of principles, legalism or any good thing we
need to do in order to produce the life of God in our life.
The system that says gain is godliness is a perfect example
of a system that can never satisfy. When will you ever
have enough? When will you ever reach the wealth of
God? Never! Can you see how this belief will keep you in
a place where you will never be content?

On the other hand, we also find in the hunger system, the

people who accept poverty. They will reject opportunities
for provision and prosperity, sacrificing wealth to live in
poverty as if that is holiness. This is also not contentment.
Paul was content in times of wealth as well as in times
of poverty. Paul learned that the feeling of holiness,
acceptance and love God had for him was never measured
by his financial state. Paul lived in a place where nothing
you could add to him would add anything to him, nor could
anything that you took from him make him poor!

While I was under the hunger for more part of the hunger
system, I wasn’t able to articulate it as I can now, since I
wasn’t following it cognitively. I first had to be delivered
from the hunger mentality, before I could see where I really
was and what was driving me. I thank God this was only
for a short time in my life, and before I had reached very
many people with my hunger belief system to pollute them

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with the death that was driving me. Being content was
one of the most confusing concepts to me: How could I
ever not want more, if Jesus died to give me more? I
couldn’t ever feel satisfied until I saw the proof of what I
was believing for manifest in my life. When healing,
prosperity, and success was not becoming a reality in my
life, I thought something had to be drastically wrong and
I felt a powerful longing to correct the error. This is the
place where the different voices of Obedience god, Ruler
god, Precept god and Kingdom god started, with their
ever-increasing instructions, using Scriptures to confirm
and fuel my insatiable hunger for proof and manifestation
of what I believed.

I Lived in a Perpetual Need for Change

Anything in my life that I believed to be contrary to the

full success, defined in Deuteronomy 28, caused the
emotion of discontentment, which always left me with the
perspective that there is more I must have. I lived in a
perpetual need for change. The discontentment born from the
“gain is godliness” logic, as I described in Chapter 2, leaves
you in a state of mind in which you will do anything—it
doesn’t matter how radical—to possess what is presumably
“available” for you in Jesus, IF you follow the correct
principles. It’s in that desperate search for help, and any
glimmer of hope, that Philippians 4:13 comes in very handy:
“I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me”
(Phil. 4:13). This verse encouraged me that I could indeed
push through and do whatever God wanted me to do, in order
to have all that He wanted me to have:

Ok, so I can do all things through the strength of Jesus, I

can become a person that attains to all the prosperity, gifts

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and callings God has for me as I obey all the principles.

We Christians can take over the world; we can have the
biggest businesses and be the most successful people,
while living in love. We can establish and advance the
kingdom, we can … we can … I can … I can …

How sad, that my understanding of Philippians 4:13 was

completely wrong, and along with other popular scriptural
references, was actually used by Satan to drive me to the
point of exhaustion. Scripture was even used by Satan to
push me to serve him to a certain degree. Like Jesus in the
desert, if He had agreed to throw Himself off the temple or
make stones into bread, He would have been serving Satan
by obeying his commands, backed by Scripture (See Matt.
4:1-11).

What is Contentment?

Contentment is not the acceptance of suffering nor is it your

embrace of prosperity. It is to be in a place on account of
God indwelling you where you see no need to add anything
to your life to be truly happy. This is not something you can
fake; it is something that happens to you as you come to
understand how perfect you are in Jesus. Some have thought
of contentment as a state in which you become like a tramp,
happy to suffer for Jesus. Is this really any different than
giving up hope of a good life altogether? Thinking the
acceptance of suffering is contentment is the furthest thing
from the truth!

Against all Jewish and human logic, Paul contends that

godliness with contentment is the real gain (See 1Tim.
6:6). He describes contentment as a mystery introduced to
him by the Lord, which enabled him to live a stable,

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victorious life, apart from the Jewish conviction that one

gains godly blessedness through obedience to the Law:

10But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last

your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were
also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. 11Not that I
speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in
whatsoever state I am, to be content. 12I know both how
to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere
and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be
hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13I can do all
things through Christ which strengthens
me.14Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did
communicate with my affliction (KJV, Phil. 4:10-14).

Verse 10 —Lacking Opportunity

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your
care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also
careful, but ye lacked opportunity (KJV, Phil. 4:10).

In verse 10, Paul thanks the people for giving to him and
caring for him. He also explains that he understands it was
due to a lack of opportunity that it took a long time for them
to give. In those days, they lacked the luxury of Western
Union or PayPal to transfer money to Paul in a quick and
efficient way. They needed an opportunity to send the gift
with a traveller to the town where Paul was staying. To get
such an opportunity must have taken some time. This
verse reveals Paul’s heart of gratitude, compassion, and
understanding for the church in Philippi.

Verse 11 – Learning to be Content

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“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned,

in whatsoever state I am, to be content” (KJV, Phil. 4:11).

In verse 11, Paul reveals something that is not very common

in church circles today. He says that his conversation with
the church in Philippi, and his opinion about their support,
was not from the perspective of “want.” When we look at
Paul’s situation, we can see that he was afflicted and in
need. He was suffering in poverty and going through a very
tough time financially. Yet, in the midst of his trying time,
he boldly states that it has no influence on the motive of his
heart, conduct, or speech.

What a blessed life, to have this kind of stability even

when you are caught in the clutches of deepest poverty.
Paul is describing what prosperity really is, in its truest
form, and he’s giving us the reason why he could live free
from his situation being the source of his emotions and
thoughts about who he is in the eyes of God. He credits
his stable emotions and pure motive to contentment,
something he has come to learn in his grace journey.

The word content means to have no need of external proof.

Contentment could also be described as the fruit of a mind
at rest because of what the heart believes, seeking no proof
of what is already established as truth. Contentment was
not Paul’s acceptance of suffering nor was it his embrace
of prosperity. Contentment is a place where the
resurrected Jesus, and what He has done, is the final word
and only confirmation we need to live in Elohim reality.
It is complete deliverance from the love of …system, as I
have described earlier in this book.

Contentment is a life in which the belief that I am what I

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do or what I have is completely eradicated from one’s

heart. It wasn’t that Paul had no needs; he was in need,
while at the same time having no need for those
externals to be met in order to have peace of mind and
heart. In other words, Paul could have a material need
without believing something that would give that need the
power to determine who he was and how he should feel. He
looked into the law of liberty, the law that states we are
perfectly liberated from the system by which external
circumstances become our “friend” that seals the deal on
our salvation and blessedness.

Verse 12 — Whether Abased or Abounding

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:

everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need
(NKJV, Phil. 4:12).

In verse 12, Paul says that he knows how to be abased,

which in the Greek means to be of very low rank in the
eyes of others because of your situation. It is not possible,
by a decision of the will, to be content with others’ low
opinion of you; it comes only by way of a new belief
system, rooted in Jesus as the final Word about you! The
same is true when you are abounding, which in the Greek
means that you have more than what you need. Just as
Paul would not speak in respect of want while poor, he
would not speak in respect of prosperity when rich in the
physical world.

It’s interesting that Paul tells the Philippians he was

instructed both to be full and suffer lack. The word
instructed, according to the Greek, means that he was

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introduced to the mystery of enjoying a stable life that

cannot be adversely affected by having little or having
much! We can clearly see that contentment was a mystery,
something that was hidden to the world but now revealed.

Verse 13 — Comes from Jesus

“I can do all things through Christ which strengthens

me” (NKJV, Phil. 4:13).

In verse 13, we can now understand the true context of

what Paul is getting at, when he applauds the message of
Christ, for enabling him to be free from the legalistic love
of … system, where acceptance and success is defined by
material wealth. I can do all things through Christ has
nothing to do with getting rich.

Verse 13 is remarkable in that it shows how Paul fully

understood the Gospel and how Christ enables us to have
joy, whether we are in poverty or prosperity. Paul was
not saying that Jesus came in and supernaturally rescued
him from his poverty; but in the midst of his poverty, Jesus
gave him the ability to have a high quality of life so that
neither prosperity nor poverty could determine his
emotions and actions. Paul found the inner strength of
contentment by believing Jesus is the Messiah.

As we are persuaded of Jesus’ impact on the human race,

we find that contentment comes effortlessly to our hearts.
It is a fruit of knowing and believing in what Christ’s work
at the cross, and His resurrection, has accomplished for
all people. It’s important to understand that we cannot
fake contentment. It is not something we can develop
within ourselves by simply deciding we want it; having a

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great desire for it does not provide enough power to bring

it forth. Contentment is a fruit of believing in the end of
the law system. It is the natural outcome of believing in
the fulfillment of the law and your union in the Trinity,
because of the incarnation of God into human flesh.

Verse 10 and 14—With Paul in his Affliction

I’m glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—
happy that you’re again showing such strong concern for
me (MSG, Phil. 4:10).

“Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did

communicate with my affliction” (KJV, Phil. 4:14).

I don’t mean that your help didn’t mean a lot to me—it did.
It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my
troubles (MSG, Phil. 4:14).

From the Message Bible we can see what Paul is saying:

Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me; you
just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don’t have a sense
of needing anything, personally. I’ve learned, by now, to
be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as
happy with little as with much, and with much as with
little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy, whether full
or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have,
wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One
who makes me who I am. I don’t mean that your help didn’t
mean a lot to me—it did! It was a beautiful thing that you
came alongside me in my troubles (MSG, Phil. 4:10-14).

In verse 14, we can see that contented Paul received

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provision from people and he was grateful for it.

Contentment does not mean that we cannot expect God to
provide for us. Paul makes it clear that being happy in the
midst of your poverty does not mean God will not provide
for you materially. It’s clear that God did provide for Paul,
and He promises that He will care for us as well. Paul was
resting in God’s love for him, not faithing for a change, but
believing in the goodness and love of his Father. Paul was
completely at peace that everything he needed, as
mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 6:33, would be added to
him.

In summary of Philippians 4:10-14, contentment is the

foundation from where we can live while God meets our
needs. Contentment is not the acceptance of poverty. It’s
enjoying life as God cares for you, and the how, what, and
when of His care for you has no bearing on your acceptance,
relationship, or obedience to Elohim.

Let’s also look at verse 19 in Philippians 4:

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his

riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (KJV, Phil. 4:19).

Philippians 4:19 takes on new meaning in the light of what

Paul stated in the previous verses. If you feel the need to
have external proof of who you are, by having an external
need met, you are falling for the same trick Satan tried
on Jesus in the desert (See Matt. 4:1-11). By appealing to
what Satan saw as Jesus’ internal need to have proof of
His sonship, Satan challenged Him to use His power to
change external situations: command these stones become
bread, or throw yourself down from the temple. What we
all need is to be internally need-free, free from the need for

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external proof of who we are in relation to God. Even if

you are in need of contentment, it can be met by God. Let
contentment be the first need God meets in your life!

He is with you all the time.

5Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be

content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, “I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” 6So we may
boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What
can man do to me? (NKJV, Heb. 13:5, 6).

I have found the best way to explain a verse is to translate

it into what I see in it. Here is the Bertie Brits translation
of Hebrews 13:5, 6:

5Allow the life in you to manifest for what it truly is, a life
that is not based on money being the friend that seals the
deal on your union and togetherness with God, as we as
Jews so loved to believe. Since God has boldly declared
that He will never leave you nor forsake you, external
conformation of His togetherness with us has lost its
voice. 6God helps us all the time in providing contentment
as well as meeting everyday needs. This makes us fearless,
for even the fear of losing all our possessions in
persecution cannot influence our decisions, for it has no
bearing on our lives. (Bertie Brits)

To me, this kind of life is all I ever wanted. What a blessed

life, based on extreme inner wealth!

There is financial gain for us.

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“But godliness with contentment is great gain” (KJV, 1

Tim. 6:6).

Godliness with contentment is great gain. The word gain,

in this verse, is directly connected to money in the Greek,
which means money-getting, or simply getting money. I
have seen many people who do business from a platform
of contentment, making much wiser decisions than those
who chase after the more. Those who do business from a
platform of discontentment and chasing after riches,
pierce themselves through with many sorrows, always
overworking themselves, never having time for their
families, having ulcers, needing sleeping pills and having
panic attacks. While a lot of those people do increase in
earthly wealth, they do so at the cost of peace! This is not
what God had in mind for us. He wants us to always be
content. Any form of financial gain, which is also
accompanied by peace, comes from a content heart.

Let me share a practical experience from my own life

about contentment. Two days ago, a friend who loves me
asked if I would like to buy his SUV at a very low price.
The car is in very good condition and would really be nice
to have. I took the car for a test drive and told the man that
I will buy it, but need to talk to Helena about it and would
have a definite answer for him the next day. As I was
thinking about it, I did not feel a need for another car, at
the foundation from where I reason; I do not feel I must
have a newer car to feel blessed, or feel a need to impress
anyone. I already own a car that drives very well. Even if
it does have 360,000km on the clock (about 224k miles),
it doesn’t make sense to go into debt to buy another one.

Since there is no such thing as a deal of a lifetime—it’s

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now or never ever again—I know that I will get one at a

good price again in the future when I want another one.
Without feeling in any way that I was losing out, I told my
friend that I did not want to buy the car, thanked him for
first thinking of me and that was it. I can say, as I sit here,
that I have so much peace about the situation. It is very
difficult to fall for something that will harm you and your
business if you are content! You can see from this story that
godliness with contentment is also the key to having
wisdom with your money. Now I can buy all my airline
tickets for my upcoming trip to the United States and be
under no pressure whatsoever. I am not going to have a
single minute of stress over a car payment at all. I am sure
I will have another SUV some time and be very impressed
by how God provides it for me. And if I never drive one
after the one I now have, so what? This is the mystery of
contentment.

Let’s first read 1Tim. 6:6-10 in the NKJV, then I will

translate it into what I believe it says:

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we

brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can
carry nothing out. 8And having food and raiment let’s be
therewith content. 9But they that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while
some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows (KJV,
1Tim. 6:6-10).

Bertie Brits’ Interpretation:

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A godly life, accompanied by no need for external,

financial confirmation of your godliness, as the Jewish
culture dictates, is the best place to be when it comes to
money and prosperity (1Tim. 6:6).

Since material things are not from everlasting to

everlasting, don’t give it power to judge and have
authority in eternal things (1Tim. 6:7).

Even at a place where you have only food and clothes,

don’t allow your heart to seek the Jewish external-
confirmation system with which these false teachers want
to pollute you. Don’t have money as the friend that seals
the deal on who you are in Him (1Tim. 6:8).

If you give money the voice it always had under the old
covenant, your desire to have more will cause you to
suffer greatly. You will be tempted by all kinds of desires
you did not even imagine, which will lead only to
frustration and destruction in your life (1Tim. 6:9).

When money is the friend that seals the deal for you on
your acceptance, holiness and righteousness, your heart
will be pierced through by one conclusion upon the other,
spelling your disqualification. When will enough be
enough to give you the final yes on your holiness and
acceptance? (1Tim. 6:10).

Thanks be to God that Jesus sealed the deal on our salvation,

so that we can now freely enjoy God’s life in the here and
now! If you take nothing else from Part 1 except this one
mighty truth, you are right where God wants you. Once the
enemy law system has its foot in the door, with even the
slightest thing you must do so that God will do for you, then

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it’s got you where it can bring all kinds of trouble your way.
Worst of all, if you are convinced that you must do anything
to be blessed by God, instead of the blessing you hope for,
you will long for God and even begin to resent Him for not
honouring what you are giving for Him. Because of Jesus,
we lack nothing; we are already one with the Father and
seated in Heavenly places, blessed with every blessing
imaginable. People who come to God with money to buy His
acceptance and provision, are missing it. They’re missing
who God really is, what Jesus has already done for all people
and how much God has already provided everything we
could ever want or even imagine because He loves us. The
idea that we lack is from Satan; it’s what he convinced Adam
and Eve of when they stood in the place of complete
acceptance and provision from God. Satan is still working
today to convince people they lack by teaching that they must
do something or give a certain amount of their money to
ensure their well-being. This is the message that keeps people
feeling very far from their loving Father, and frustrated. It
causes deep insecurity and fear because we were never meant
to pull our own weight with God. He created us to be
recipients of His life. He is not a merchant we must pay in
order to receive his services! Jesus served us in His death and
resurrection. Receive what He has done for you and be free
from every obligation to pay your way through life. How can
you feel indebted to God and freely loved by Him at the same
time? As I said earlier, God is pulling your wagon so just
relax in His love and let Him give to you everything Jesus
has already purchased through the cross. In this, we lack
nothing and we are indebted to no one. We are free from
every obligation to muster up anything from ourselves and
our resources to get what we feel we need from God.

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 A Dogmatic Look at Traditional Teaching on
Money

Introduction

In this part of the book, we are going to critique the

traditional and modern interpretations of most Scriptures
commonly used to support tithing and sowing and
reaping. The main purpose of Part 2 is to help those who
agree with what I say in Part 1 to have scriptural backing
for what they now believe. I am sure that you will say yes
to the concepts discussed in Part 1, but your heart will be
searching for scriptural confirmation. You can probably
already hear all the yes, but what about this verse and that
verse counter arguments to what we know make family
sense. Although this section might seem very technical
and analytical, it will be of great value in quieting all the
contradicting traditional and modern arguments that still
give credence to what we now know cannot be correct.

Anything we teach should be congruent with the Gospel

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of Jesus. All modern-day teachings about tithing, in
regard to financial giving, are not in line with the Gospel
of His grace, since their origin is the system of what we
need to do to get God to do something for us or what we
owe God. They also have the system of beholding God and
following what we behold in God as the foundation from
where one’s blessedness is produced. Let me explain this:
Since the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a message that is
founded on what we need to do for God, in order for Him
to bless us, there is no room for tithing when we talk about
financial contribution in the Gospel message.

Tithing, sowing and reaping, and many of the modern-day

teachings on finances, are built on the law of sin and death.
I will say, most of those who teach it do so ignorantly, and
are not aware of what they are actually saying, and
affirming, by teaching it. When we have a look at the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (referred to as TOGE),
we will find the basic system of death described in its
finest detail:

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou

shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die (KJV, Gen. 2:17).

Let’s define the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

(TOGE):

I would like you to see that this is not two trees but one
tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of GOOD and EVIL. If
you EAT of this tree, you will die:

 Good - Who is Good but God? There is only one that

is good and it is God (See Mark 10:18).

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 Evil - In the Greek, it refers to hard labor and to be
flooded with work.
 Eat - When we eat the flesh of Jesus, we believe in
His flesh unto life. When we believe in what He has
done through His blood, we actually drink His blood.
In the same way, you will be eating of the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil when you believe what
it states.

God warned Adam that he was not to EAT (believe) that

he can look at God (the GOOD) and then work (EVIL)
that good, thinking it will feed him. It’s one thing to behold
God and how He lives, but the moment we try to jot His
goodness down into basic principles and rules for us to
follow, so that we can have life, we will die. The good life
of God can only be reached by Him freely giving it to us.
Trying to do the good only God can do will kill you. We
even see Paul calling the Ten Commandments the power
of sin and the ministration of death:

“The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the

law” (NKJV, 1 Cor. 15:56).

6Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new

covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter
kills, but the Spirit gives life.7But if the ministry of death,
written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the
children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of
Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which
glory was passing away, 8how will the ministry of the
Spirit not be more glorious? (NKJV, 2 Cor. 3:6-8).

Something beautiful for the eye, desirable to make you

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wise, and flooded with the promise of life—if it could be
obeyed—is called deadly by God and Paul. God said it
first to Adam, and in the New Testament, Paul echoed the
word God had spoken to Adam. If we were to take God
and break all He is down into principles of life, we would
conclude that God loves, God gives; He is kind, merciful,
flooded with compassion and keeps no score of evil. But,
the moment we behold the beauty of God, broken down
into presumably doable small chunks of truth and try to
do them, we will die. The good will be too much for us to
do and it will kill us. This is not because good is deadly
but on account of design. We have not been designed to
find life by what we do, but to be the recipients of life on
account of what God does. What God does best is to love.

Unfortunately, we have done exactly that when it comes

to money and the church. We beheld the goodness of God
and His generosity towards man, jotted His generosity
down, then thought that we could have financial
prosperity and life by working all the principles of
generosity seen between Jesus and people when He
walked the earth. All the good the Law commanded is
basically God in written format.

Imagine a truck driver, who is not a chef at all, neither does

he have a passion for cooking, going to the top chef in the
world and jotting down all the top chef does to the finest
detail, thinking he will be the best chef by simply
following all the principles the top chef follows. Everyone
will tell him that cooking will destroy him. Being a good
chef is not accomplished by following principles; it is
something that comes from the inside.

Jesus came to end the system that Adam implemented, of

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looking at the GOOD in GOD, jotting it down in principle
form and trying to do it to have life. You might say, “But
God gave the LAW, did He not?” Yes, God gave the people
what they asked for. Hear what I am saying clearly, He
gave them what they asked for, not what He wanted them
to have from the beginning. The original plan that God
had was not that we have life by doing the things God
does. He wanted us to have life by Him doing what He does
best, which is to love.

He came to give you life and life on account of Him being

good to you. You might be so afraid to hear me talk about
giving this way. You might even be feeling that your world
is falling apart right now. Tithing might be all that you
have known for all your life. Sowing and reaping might
have been the only hope you’ve had for the future and now
it is shaken to the core.

I would like to encourage you to keep on reading. Let the

love of God reprogram your heart to the point that neither
tithing nor any other form of giving on our part is the
foundation of a stable future, but rather Jesus and what He
has done for us in His death and resurrection. This can be
difficult for you, but I would like you to rest in His love
as He takes you on this journey to true freedom.

As a pastor of a church, you might find this message

extremely difficult to stomach, since your financial future
could be shaken to its core. You might even think this book
is going to bring devastation to your church, so you need
to warn as many people as possible about it. I would like
to encourage you that there are many others who have
walked this path before you.

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God is Pulling Your Wagon

Please know that God will never leave you nor forsake
you; He is the one caring for you. The Gospel is a God
story, not a You and What You Do for Him story. God is
pulling your wagon; just relax in His love. Let God
perform the heart operation, removing all that is not from
Him, and He will bring forth His life in you.

Arguments to be discussed in the second part of this book

are as follows:

Tithing

 The Tithe of Abraham as the New Testament Tithe

It seems to be common knowledge that Abraham tithed

before the Ten Commandments were given. But, the fact
that he tithed before the giving of the Law is then used as
a foundation from where tithing in the New Testament is
preached. The basic reasoning is that everything prior to
the giving of the Law is not subject to the fulfillment of the
Law, making tithing a valid New Testament principle,
because it first occurred before the Law was given in
written format. I will explain that this cannot be used as a
foundation from where we tithe, based on the historical
context in which Abraham tithed.

 The Levitical Tithe

It is believed that the Levitical tithe was brought over into

the church system as a basic foundation from where
tithing in the New Testament should take place. In this
part of the book, we test the logic and see that it would be

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impossible to be done in the New Testament. I will also
explain that the Levitical tithe had nothing to do with
money at all.

 The New Testament Tithe of Gratitude in

Acknowledgement that Jesus is Risen.

Sowing and reaping

The Foundation for Our Study

Hermeneutics is the study of the methodological

principles of Bible interpretation. Exegesis and eisegesis
are two conflicting hermeneutical approaches to Bible
study:

Exegesis is the exposition, or explanation, of Scripture

based on a careful, objective analysis, which is almost
impossible to do since all people have preconceived ideas
about everything. The word exegesis literally means “to
lead out of.” This is when the interpreter comes to all
conclusions by following the text.

Eisegesis is the opposite approach to Scripture, in which

the interpretation of a passage is based on a subjective,
non-analytical reading. The word eisegesis literally means
“to lead into.” This is when the interpreter injects his own
ideas into the text, making it mean whatever he believes
or wants it to mean, based on what he has learned in the
past, how he personally feels about the subject, mixed
with what he has found in his studies or from other
sources.

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Obviously, only exegesis does justice to the Scriptures as
it respects the grammar, syntax, and setting of the text to
discover its true meaning. Eisegesis is a mishandling of
the text and often leads to misinterpretation. Eisegesis is
concerned only with making a point. It is part of our
human makeup to have an eisegetical approach to all
things. With this in mind, we should always know that
eisegetical interpretation of verses is very difficult to
avoid, on account of the critical factor in the brain always
wanting to affirm what it already believes. The reason I
say this is to help you understand that people who have
had an eisegetical approach to money Scriptures are not
wilfully trying to mislead others or themselves. On the
other hand, 2 Timothy 2:15 commands us to use exegetical
methods which I believe is possible by the power of the
Holy Spirit:

Present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who

does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles
(rightly divides, correctly expounds on, or interprets) the
word of truth (NKJV, 2 Tim 2:15).

An honest student of the Bible will be an exegete (an

expounder or textual interpreter), allowing the text to
speak for itself. Eisegesis easily lends itself to error, as the
would-be interpreter attempts to align the text with his own
preconceived notions.

Exegesis allows us to agree with the Bible. Eisegesis

seeks to force the Bible to agree with us. The process of
exegesis involves the following:

 Observation: what does the passage say?

 Interpretation: what does the passage mean?

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 Correlation: how does the passage relate to the rest of
the Bible? How does what I see in the verse pertain to
the death and resurrection of Jesus?
 How does the passage lineup with the manifested truth
in Jesus when He walked the earth?

Application: how does this passage affect my life?

 Eisegesis, on the other hand, involves something

quite different:
 Imagination: what idea do I want to present?
 Exploration: what Scripture passage seems to fit
with my idea?
 Application: what does my idea mean?

Notice, in Eisegesis, there is no examination of the words

of the text or their relationship to each other, and no cross-
referencing with related passages; thus, no real desire to
understand the actual meaning. Scripture serves only as a
prop to the interpreter’s idea.

To be objective in our interpretation of Scripture is not

always easy, especially when it comes to money. Money
is what we all need; we cannot imagine a life without it.
As a matter of fact, it would be impossible to have a
normal life in this world without money.

Can you imagine how difficult it could be for a person who

was raised in a church, and received all their money from
the traditional tithing, and sowing and reaping teachings,
to have a change of mind? We can only imagine how
difficult it would be for this person who was saved, filled
with the Spirit, and even attended the bible school of that
church, to do a proper exegesis of a passage about money

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in the Bible, especially if what he has believed all his life
is nowhere to be found in Scripture!

I am reminded of a time, when after I posted on Facebook

about Paul falling from his horse, I was asked to point to the
verse that states Paul fell from his horse. The answer was
simple yet difficult to accept. There is not such a verse at
all and I believed a lie for a very long time. What astounded
me was the power to read something into a verse that is
simply not there. Change can be difficult.

The critical factor in the human brain is a very powerful

filter, questioning everything that contradicts what the
subconscious is already persuaded of. In psychology, we
learn that the critical factor is a part of the conscious
mind. It’s like a guard at the gate between the conscious
mind and the subconscious, having the power to accept or
prevent suggestions from entering the subconscious mind.
It has very good intentions; its job is to protect us. Because
change is viewed as a threat, the “Critical factor” is what
psychologists manipulate through psychotherapy and
hypnosis. any suggestion that does not match the existing
programming automatically gets rejected. That is how our
critical factor accomplishes its goal of protecting us. “The
"critical factor" is a part of the conscious mind. It's kind
of like a guard at the gate between the conscious mind and
the subconscious mind. It has the power to accept or reject
suggestions from entering the subconscious mind. It has
very good intentions. Its job is to protect us. Because
change is viewed as a threat to our nervous system, any
suggestion that does not match the existing programming
automatically gets rejected. That is how it accomplishes
its goal of protecting us
[Link]

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The critical factor acts as a vigilant guard against the
unknown. Designed to protect you, it often rejects what
is unfamiliar to it, even if it is of real benefit to you. For
example, let’s say your rational, conscious mind has come
to realize that you have to change your belief system to
change your life. Your critical factor will most likely reject
this new belief system for a while, sometimes for a very
long while, because it seems strange, since it has no proof
of its benefit to you. It doesn’t matter if you know
consciously that the new belief will improve your life. It
is unknown to the subconscious and therefore a possible
threat, so the critical factor rejects it, stopping it from
entering your subconscious mind.

This might sound very negative, yet there is a positive

side to it. Once we do have a subconscious mind (default
setting) reprogrammed by the power of the Holy Spirit into
truth, we will struggle to accept anything different than
the truth we have come to believe. The critical factor is
part of our God-given design to protect us. It is a
beautiful, powerful protection system that will help keep
you safe once the subconscious is programmed with truth.
What I am saying is that it might be difficult for you to see
truth in a Scripture when you first hear it. Since the truth
you hear might even be a bit disturbing at first, what will
help you to have an effective, smooth reprogramming is
to know that you will be safe in the arms of your loving
Father. He will do everything possible to have your heart
programmed with His love and He is greater than any lie
we believe!

In focusing on God’s love for you, the critical factor will

relax. A conducive atmosphere for reprogramming is one
of love—continual, reassuring love. The more you focus

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on how He loves you the easier and faster the
reprogramming will be. Remember that God is greater
than your subconscious mind. We also need to understand
that this is not a five-minute process; it can take some time
and will need confirmation, which God always provides.

Here’s what this boils down to as we connect this to money:

If you have been programmed to believe the Bible states
X about money, but it actually states Y, your mind will
initially try to make an X out of the Y. A good example of
this would be the following: If you have heard and
believed that tithing to the local church is needed to assure
you of blessings in the future, it will be difficult to believe
you don’t have to give to be protected. Even if it is proven
to you from Scripture, the critical factor will not want to
accept it unless the Y resembles an X. This is why people
who traditionally believed in tithing, and claim to be set
free, will say things like, “Under the law we have given
ten percent and now we are free from the law. We live by
grace, which means we will AT LEAST give ten percent,
since the standard of grace is higher than that of the law.”
I hope you can see how the Y is twisted into an X to
compromise the truth to be acceptable for the error in the
subconscious.

The critical factor will only allow teaching that confirms

what it actually believes. For example, someone who
claims that he does not believe in tithing but states that
New Testament giving must be more than ten percent—
since grace is more powerful than law—reveals what he
actually believes. He believes one should tithe and all his
security is built upon the traditional system that he cannot
let go of. The critical factor has just taken all the good in
the new revelation and twisted it to be acceptable to allow

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into the person’s heart. This is when the conscious mind
understands something to be true and life-giving, while
the heart does not believe it.

To reconcile conscious truth with subconscious truth, we

see the critical factor adapting the information to the
original belief, or programming, in the subconscious
mind. This will happen all the time since the human mind
needs to find peace and live in peace with itself. It will
accept both contradicting views, shaping the conscious
into the image of the subconscious. This is what the Bible
talks about when it mentions the double-minded man:

7For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing
of the Lord. 8A double minded man is unstable in all his
ways (KJV, Jas. 1:7, 8).

A Trinity, family-orientated critical factor, which is

flooded with the revelation of God’s love shown in Jesus,
will make all the difference in how we interpret the Bible.
I won’t be surprised if there has been—and will continue
to be—a lot of pressure on the traditional, law-based
critical factor as we look into the Scriptures that have
served as the basis of our teachings on tithing, sowing and
reaping. This will especially be true when I tell you that
there is not a single verse in the Bible that points to tithing
in the church. We can even go so far as to say that there is
not a single verse in the New Testament pointing to sowing
money and reaping a harvest of prosperity. “Yes, but what
about this verse and that popular verse?” you might ask.

Please understand that I would not make that statement, put

it in writing, and risk my neck in the church world, if I had

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no proof for what I say. We will carefully examine all the
mainline Scriptures that are used in church and see if they
actually say what we were told they say.

Jesus must have had the same problem with the critical
factor. He was born as a human being into a law-based
home. He was circumcised on the 8th day, and grew up
in a normal Jewish family. He knew the Scriptures and
was programmed with all the traditional Jewish beliefs. I
am sure He felt safe and secure in the knowledge He had
of His Jewish traditions. Let’s see when the Father broke
through the critical factor in the mind of Jesus, revealing
a powerful truth to Him, from where the life He came to
give manifested. Jesus followed all the Jewish customs.
So, could it be that Jesus followed the sacrificial systems
of the Jews? Yes, for sure. (I am sure that some of you
could already feel the critical factor rejecting what was
just said. All you need to do now is to know that you are
safe in the hand of God and ask Him to teach you the truth
about the matter in a loving, caring atmosphere.)

The main activity of the temple was that of sacrificing.

That is why there were many work groups of priests.
Technically, only priests offered sacrifices, but the
sacrifices were provided by worshipers, usually the male
head-of- households. The worshipers brought the
sacrifices (animals, wine, grain, etc.) to the prescribed
place and handed them over to the priests, for the priests
to perform the rituals.

The sacrificial system had been given by God. Any Jew

would say that God told them to sacrifice. Jesus would
have been in the same mind-set, which we will look at in
Scripture. The Jews offered sacrifices as peace offerings,
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fellowship offerings, votive offerings, and offerings of
consecration. Let’s consider what I am saying from the
New Testament:

Luke reports that after Jesus was born, and the time of
Mary’s menstrual impurity had run its course, Mary and
Joseph took the baby Jesus to Jerusalem, to present Him
to God at the temple. This was in keeping with Mosaic
law (See Leviticus 12:6-8). We’re told they offered a
sacrifice in accordance with the law, a pair of two young
pigeons (See Lev. 5:11).

Then, there is the Last Supper, which many consider a

Passover meal. John reports Jesus crucified on the day of
preparation for the Passover (See John19:31). But there
may have been calendrical debates going on at the time
because Mark 14:12-25, along with Matthew and Luke,
presents it as a Passover meal. Jesus sends two of His
disciples into the city to make preparations, which likely
included securing a place for the meal and securing the
food itself, which would have included the lamb from the
temple. Even if Jesus Himself did not sacrifice in the
temple, He had others do it for Him.

By looking at all of this, we can only conclude that Jesus’

mind must’ve been deeply programmed into the Jewish
system. This was a programming that had to change. It
was something placed inside the heart of Jesus by strong
Jewish tradition; therefore, Jesus’ Father had to bring the
purpose of sacrifice to Jesus. We are going to look at how
Jesus viewed the Law and all the sacrificial, ceremonial
laws, and we’ll see how He had a revelation of what it was
actually all about. Jesus had to be reprogrammed with the
true interpretation about it all:

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6Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears
hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou
not required. 7Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of
the book it is written of me, 8I delight to do thy will, O my
God: yea, thy law is within my heart. 9I have preached
righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not
refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest (KJV, Ps. 40:6-
9).

This is a prophetic passage that gives us perfect insight

into the prayer life of Jesus. We see Jesus stating that God
revealed things to Him, by opening His ears to understand
what the sacrifices were really all about. He says the
sacrifices were not required by God. Can you imagine what
must have gone through Jesus’ mind, as the inner voice of
the Holy Spirit directed Him to see something that
contradicted everything people believed in His day! If
God opened the ears of Jesus, they must have been closed
at first, right?

As the teenager Son of God walked through the temple

and saw all the sacrifices, I am sure He wondered why
His loving Father would allow this. His Father then
revealed to Him that none of what He saw was required
by God, but that the sacrifices represented the body of
Jesus, which was prepared for carrying mankind’s
suffering of sin. Jesus went so far as to say that the
Scriptures were actually speaking of Him, and not about
animal sacrifice required by God. What a powerful change
of mind Jesus must have had when He heard something
that contradicted everything the Jews ever believed!
When Jesus looked at the law, He saw it from a completely
different mind-set.

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Just as God opened Jesus’ ears, He opens ours to understand
and to see even the tithe as something Jesus fulfilled.
(More on this later) As we see Jesus rejoicing about God
opening His ears to hear and understand the true meaning
of the Scriptures, let it be an encouragement of what God
will do for us as we look into the different views on
tithing.

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 How Jesus Read the Old Testament

In Psalm 40, it is boldly declared that the Father had no

interest in sacrifice and offerings but that these things
were types and shadows of what Jesus had to come and do,
in order to bring salvation to us. So, when we read the Old
Testament, we need to read it as Jesus would have read it.
Jesus read it as the Father’s commandment and clear-cut
instruction of who He was and what He had to come and
do for us. Reading the Old Testament in any other way can
be very dangerous.

As we have a look at Psalm 40, we will see that it gives

us insight into the prayer life of Jesus Christ. It was
prophetically written in such a way that we could see what
He prayed, word for word. In it, we see how Jesus lived
while He was on the earth, and we understand He had to
live by faith. He did not know everything; the Holy Spirit
revealed to Him who He was, and once He was persuaded
of what the Holy Spirit revealed to Him, He willingly
opened up His life for God to bring salvation forth
through Him. The Holy Spirit started to speak to Jesus at a
very young age; as a matter of fact, the Bible says, “when
 How Jesus Read the Old Testament

upon [His] mother’s breasts” (KJV, Ps.22:9). I also believe

that Mary had a lot to do with teaching Jesus about who His
Father really was. The only reason I point this out is so
that we can understand Psalm 40 and the context in which
it is written. Let’s look at Psalm 40, starting with verse 5:

5Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which

thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward:
they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would
declare and speak of them, they are more than can be
numbered. 6Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire;
mine ears hast Thou opened: burnt offering and sin
offering hast thou not required. 7Then said I, Lo, I come:
in the volume of the book it is written of me (KJV, Ps. 40:5-
7).

The only way I can describe Psalm 40:5-7 is that it was

the, “Aha, now I understand!” moment in the life of
Jesus. Jesus Christ comes in Psalm 40 and bursts out with
joy because He understands why all the animal sacrifices
were done. When Jesus gets the revelation that animal
sacrifice was just a type and shadow, and not the
substance, joy bursts forth in His life. The Scripture even
says, “for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the
cross” (KJV, Heb.12:2). This is much clearer in verses 6
and 7 of Psalm 40. Let’s read them again:

6Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears

hast Thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast
thou not required. 7Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume
of the book it is written of me (KJV, Ps. 40:6, 7),

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 How Jesus Read the Old Testament

Here we see Jesus realizing that God never wanted any

animal sacrifice, nor did He want any offering from
anybody; it was never required by the Father. What Jesus
said in Psalm 40:7 is what it’s all about: “In the volume
of the book it is written of me.” What that means is that
the entire Old Covenant is all about Jesus and what He
came to do for us.

In Hebrew, the word volume means title. The best way I

can describe it is that Jesus said the law was addressed to
Him. This can be clearly seen in Hebrews 10:
5
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith,
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast
thou prepared me: 6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for
sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7Then said I, Lo, I come (in
the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will,
O God (KJV, Heb. 10:5-7).

Here we see the writer of the book of Hebrews interprets

Psalm 40 as pointing towards the body of Jesus Christ. He
was talking about the physical body Jesus possessed, as
that which the Father has prepared for the salvation of
man. Therefore, it is paramount to keep in mind the
Father’s preparation of the physical body of Jesus Christ,
for the salvation of man, when we are reading the Old
Testament.

For instance, when we read about the scapegoat in

Leviticus 16:10, we need to think of Jesus and how He
would have read that message. He would ask Himself how
that is related to His physical body and bringing salvation
to mankind. And when we read about the sacrificial lamb
throughout the Old Testament, we need to think of Jesus

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 How Jesus Read the Old Testament

and how He understood that the lamb signifies His body.

When we look at the tithe, we need to ask ourselves how
Jesus looked at the tithe, knowing He came to fulfil all
sacrifice and offerings.

The Law was Never Written to Give Us Life by Our

Obedience to It

Jesus Christ came and declared the correct interpretation of

the Law, which was in the context of what He had to do in
His body to bring forth salvation to man; thus, making the
Law beautiful and life-giving. If we look at the Law in
any other way, it will be devastating and will destroy our
lives. With all this in mind, we can understand why the
Law was written. It was never written to give us life by our
obedience to it; it was written to Jesus. To understand
more of this, you can go to my website
[Link], and search for the message
titled, The Way Jesus Looked at the Law.

Now let’s continue in Psalm 40:

8I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within

my heart. 9I have preached righteousness in the great
congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD,
thou knowest. 10I have not hid thy righteousness within
my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy
salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy
truth from the great congregation (KJV, Ps. 40:8-10).

Salvation is not obtained by our obedience to any type

or shadow mentioned in the Old Testament.

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 How Jesus Read the Old Testament

When we look at verses 8-10, we find that Jesus Christ

comes giving a new definition to the Law. He declares
the correct interpretation of the Old Testament law as that
which He had to do to bring forth Salvation to man.

This is the Law of God:

It is the message of how God was flooded with

lovingkindness, how He has come and shown His
faithfulness towards mankind, and how He showed
righteousness to people in saving them from their sins.
That is the Law of God; that is also the law that God will
write on your heart. God is not going to write the Ten
Commandments or any other religious rules on your
heart, for that is called the “ministration of death written
on stones,” according to 2 Corinthians 3:7 and other
Scriptures. The only law God writes on your heart is the
law that says He saved us by preparing a physical human
body, in which the sin of the whole world could be taken
away, where mankind could be represented in the Trinity
and so have life!

Knowing the Bible is all about Jesus and what He came to

do for mankind, how do you think Jesus read the passages
about tithing? Wouldn’t He see tithing as something He
was to fulfill, to bring salvation to man?

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 Tithing

If you have just opened to this page to read my view on

tithing, I would like to advise you to read the rest of the
book before reading this part. If you read this part without
reading what I’ve said in the previous ten chapters, you
might think I’m an anti-church rebel. You might even
think I’m a bit crazy! And if it’s you who’s an anti-tithing
rebel, this chapter might even be fuel for your rebellion.

It is not my intention to fuel anyone’s rebellion against

financial giving. I believe in generous giving. So, if you
are rebelling against giving, you really need to read the
first nine chapters so that you can be set free from the
residue of law abuse. I am fully against anti-generous
living; it is not what God intends for us nor is it the highest
quality of life. I am as much against anti-giving as I am
against tithing.

The Abrahamic Tithe Before the Law

We will be looking at the reason why the tithe was

initiated and practiced during the time from Abraham to
Moses, which of course puts it before the giving of the
 Tithing

Law. Once we look at the Old Testament facts, and also

determine if the tithe was used by the early church, we
will need to decide if this tithe system is still valid today.

It is commonly believed that Abraham tithed before the

giving of the Ten Commandments. The fact that he tithed
before the giving of the Law is then used as a foundation
from where tithing in the New Testament is preached. The
basic reasoning is that everything prior to the giving of the
Law is not subject to the fulfillment of the law, making
tithing a valid New Testament principle because it
occurred before the Law was given in written format.

This very popular argument, in defence of the tithe, goes

like this: Oh sure, we hear you saying that we are putting
people under the law to expect them to tithe, but what about
Abraham? He tithed BEFORE the law, did he not?

Let’s have a look at this reasoning to see if it can stand in

the presence of the finished work of Jesus and the love God
has for us. First, we need to set the hermeneutical
parameters so that we can look at the life of Abraham and
tithing. We always need to look at Scripture in line with
the following:

 The World Behind the Text - this is author- centred,

and it is a description of the thought world and the
setting of the life of the text. It also presents a rationale
for historical research, and highlights the need for
study of biblical languages.
 The World Within the Text - this is the text as a literary
unit, which details examples of genre and subgenre
within literature, generally. then analyses both the Old

187
 Tithing

and New Testaments in the light of their literary

characteristics, enlivening the discussion with
frequent examples.
 The World in Front of the Text - this is what the text
communicates to the reader who understands the
world behind and the world inside the text.
 The Character of God - as seen in Jesus, the perfect
interpretation of Scripture.
 The Fulfillment in Jesus - this is how the text points to
what is demonstrated in Jesus and what He
accomplished in all He did in the incarnation, death
and resurrection.
 Harmony - with the rest of Scripture.

(Although what I wrote in my study is along the lines of the

hermeneutical outline given above, it is not documented
in that order—although all the principles were followed. If
we were to answer every teaching in the order above, this
book would be a 700-page book that would not reach the
goal for which it is written.)

Interpretation of Scripture must be in agreement with the

rest of the Bible, or we can easily end up with an eisegesis
instead of a healthy exegesis. If we reason that Abraham
tithed before the Law, thus making it part of what we need
to do in the New Testament, we will have to conclude that
everything Abraham did before the Law is something that
should be done in the church today. We will then have to
apply that hermeneutical principle to all elements of what
Abraham did before the Law, to make our interpretation
healthy. Should we not do it, we will be walking on the
slippery slope of eisegetical interpretation of Scripture.
The principle should be absolute and true for all things

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that happened before the giving of the Law or it cannot be

true for anything. The statement that we need to tithe
because Abraham tithed before the Law is a perfect
example of an eisegetical take on a passage. We will see
this clearly as we continue to study the concept in
question.

Let’s have a look at things Abraham did prior to the giving

of the Law and see if it can fit the New Testament parameters
and what Jesus clearly portrayed in the incarnation, death
and resurrection:

 Abraham was circumcised before the Law.

 Marriage to close family members was allowed, for
Abraham was married to his own half-sister:
o Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter
of my father, but not the daughter of my
mother, and she became my wife (NKJV, Gen
20:12).
 Animal sacrifice was clearly demanded by God
before the Law:
o 9So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year
old heifer, and a three year old female goat,
and a three year old ram, and a turtledove,
and a young pigeon.” 10Then he brought all
these to Him and cut them in two, and laid
each half opposite the other; but he did not
cut the birds Gen. 15:9, 10 NASB ).

Let us ask the following questions

 Is animal sacrifice part of the New Testament Church?

 Do we see marriage to family members

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encouraged in the New Testament?

 Is circumcision a New Testament principle?
Obviously, the answer to all of the above questions is no.
If we follow healthy hermeneutical guidelines, we can
conclude that it would not be possible for tithing to be in
the New Testament on the basis that people tithed before
the Law. Tithing seen in the Old Testament does not prove
it can be in the New Testament. If it did, practicing every
pre-law principle, such as marriage to family members,
circumcision, and sacrifice of animals would also apply.

The truth is, we cannot state that anything prior to the

giving of the Ten Commandments is to be done in the New
Testament! Should we do that, it would not be congruent
with the incarnation, the cross, or what was accomplished
in the resurrection. We can clearly see that although
animal sacrifice and circumcision were practiced by
Abraham long before the Law, it is not acceptable in the
New Testament. The following story illustrates how
ridiculous that would be:

A church member announces, “I am going to marry my

sister and slaughter a bull for a sacrifice to God.”

The church leader gasps, “Are you crazy?! Why would

you want to do that?”

“I have discovered a powerful truth in the Scriptures!

Abraham married his own sister and sacrificed BEFORE
the Law was given,” the church member explains, “Since
Abraham did that before the law, I have the right to do it
today. I have always loved my sister; hallelujah!!”

Frowning, the church leader continues, “Something is

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very wrong here. You know better than that, don’t you?
You are completely wrong in the way you look at what
happened before the Law. It would be a sin to do what you
want to do, so just know that you cannot get married in
our church. You also need to consider that you will be
locked up for sacrificing an animal. What is wrong with
you?!”

The church member tries to defend his reasoning, “Well,

Abraham tithed before the Law and that is why I tithe.
Tithing before the Law is a grace principle, is it not?”

The church leader doesn’t want to discuss it anymore,

“Let me think about it.” Then, to his wife that evening he
groans, “We have a church member that has lost his mind
and are becoming extremely difficult.”

Abraham Tithed to Earthly Kings

The Abrahamic tithe, in its true context, is something that

we have not really been introduced to in the modern-day
church. Abraham’s background, and the culture in which
he lived, was radically different than what we are used to
in the Western world. Since Abraham lived in a day and
age when the land was filled with kings and their
kingdoms, we need to study this out, in order to
understand why he would do such a thing as tithe to a
king. Only when we understand this, will we know what a
wonderful connection it has to the here and now. Let’s
have a look at the New Testament connection most people
make between Abraham and tithing.

The only sound New Testament application of tithing, and

the message it was intended to convey, can be found in

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Hebrews 7:1-28. But, Hebrews 7 is one of the most difficult

chapters to explain to people who lack understanding of
ancient Babylonian-Chaldean cultural practices. As a
matter of fact, it would be impossible to explain without
having knowledge of the ancient practices. We are going
to have a proper look at the ancient practices and see what
we can conclude from it in regard to tithing, discussed in
Hebrews

Before we go any farther, let’s have a look at what Hebrews

7 actually communicates. Hebrews 7 explains the passing
away of the Law and the authority Jesus had to end it. The
passage explains that Jesus was of higher priestly order
than Levi and even higher than Abraham. Since Jesus was
of higher rank than the Levitical order, the law of Levi had
to submit to the law of Jesus (called the law of life). Jesus
had authority to bring in a new law and end the old; that
is all the passage teaches. When Abraham tithed to
Melchizedek, it meant that Abraham saw himself as lesser
and submitted to Melchizedek (let’s call him Mel). Since
the Levites received tithes in the Levitical order, it was
recognized that they had a very high order, for under it the
LAW was given. The Hebrews writer then explains that
Levi is of lower order than Abraham, since Abraham was
the father of Levi, making Levi lower than Mel. Should
there be a priest in the order of Mel he would have power
over the Levitical order and therefore be able to change
the law given in the power of the Levitical priesthood.
(The Levitical priesthood was in the order of Aaron,
which was a lower order than that of Melchizedek.) The
Hebrews writer then explains how Jesus came in the order
of Melchizedek, ended the Law of Moses, and brought a
new law.

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The error being taught is the following:

When we tithe to the local church, we are paying tithes in

Abraham to Melchizedek, which is Jesus. And if we do
that, we give tithes to Jesus. Oh my goodness… there
could not be a better example of eisegesis than this
interpretation! It is absolutely out of context and has no
scriptural backing. It is just reading into the verse what is
believed and nothing healthy is extracted from the verse.

Abram’s Move from Babylonian-ruled Mesopotamia

Abram was not a Christian and did not grow up in the

Bible Belt. We need to know that Abram was under an
AMORITE who enforced the Babylonian-Chaldean law on
all who lived in his fields. As a child, Abram—who
would eventually be called Abraham—lived in Ur, then
moved to Haran after some years. It was at Haran that God
told him to leave everything and go to a land God would
show him (See Gen. 12). He eventually ended up close to
Hebron, in the fields of Mamre, an Amorite, south of
Salem (Jerusalem). It is very important for us to
understand that Abraham was living and following a
Babylonian-Chaldean tax system of honouring the
greater, called the tithe tax.

The King’s Tithe

What is the kingly tithe? The king’s tithe was a

Babylonian tax system whereby you honoured the king
and his rule over you. All the subjects of the king had to
give ten percent of their income to the king. That is how
they showed their respect to the king and submitted to him.
Should you not pay it you would be under the curse of the

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king, seen as his enemy and punished.

The closest we have to the king’s tithe in our day is

taxation. Taxation is the closest, but not exactly what took
place between Abraham and Melchizedek in Genesis 14.
It was something that was not given voluntarily but by
compulsion to pay respect to the king. If anyone did not
tithe to the king, they would come under his curse, which
meant jail or even death.

There are three places in the Bible that definitely talk

about the king’s tithe:

Genesis 14:17-20
1 Samuel 8:4-22
Hebrews 7:1-20

Let’s first look at the king’s tithe in 1 Samuel 8, so that we

can understand the reasoning in Hebrews 7 and Genesis 14

4Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves

together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5And said unto
him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy
ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
6But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, give us
a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
7And the LORD said unto Samuel, hearken unto the
voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they
have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I
should not reign over them. 8According to all the works
which they have done since the day that I brought them up
out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have
forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto

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thee. 9Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit

yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner
of the king that will reign over them.10And Samuel told
all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of
him a king. 11And he said, This will be the manner of the
king that will reign over you: He will take your sons, and
appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his
horsemen; and some will run before his chariots. 12And
he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains
over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to
reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and
instruments of his chariots. 13And he will take your
daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be
bakers. 14And he will take your fields, and your
vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and
give them333 to his servants. 15And he will take the tenth
of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his
officers, and to his servants. 16And he will take your
menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest
young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
17He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye will be
his servants 18And ye shall cry out in that day because of
your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord
will not hear you in that day. 19Nevertheless the people
refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay;
but we will have a king over us; 20That we also may be
like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and
go out before us, and fight our battles. 21And Samuel
heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them
in the ears of the Lord. 22And the Lord said to Samuel,
hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And

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Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto

his city (KJV, 1 Sam. 8:4-22).

This is the record of the hardened Israelites rejecting God

as their king, while instead wanting Samuel to give them
a king, “like all the nations.” So God gave them a king
just like all the other nations, as they had requested, and
He said the king would be as the other pagan and
Babylonian kings. When we look at the kingly system, we
find that some of the tithes they had to give were tithes of
sheep and grain. In the case of Abraham, we find that
tithes were even given of the spoils of war.

It would be a good thing to find other writing outside of

the Bible to see what these Babylonian kings and their
codes of law were all about. Thanks be to God that there
are other writings that are well preserved, even better
preserved than the original documents of the Bible. I will
be explaining these historical systems so that we can better
understand the death Israel was giving into.

In the following passages we will be comparing what the

Israelites were promised and the one-tenth tax system they
were giving themselves into when they asked for a king.
The system they wanted was common; it was in practice
even before the birth of Abram:

And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your

vineyards, and give to his officers and to his servants
(KJV, 1Sam. 8:15).

“He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye will be his
servants” (KJV, 1Sam. 8:17).

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The masretu —the Ugarit and Babylonian one-tenth

tax

Tithing to a local king was the custom of the day.

Abraham did not tithe because it was God writing a
spiritual eternal 10% law on his heart. The tithing law was
a Babylonian Ugarit practice of acknowledging kingship
over you. It was a taxation system of the unbelievers and
sinners.

Hebrew is a Semitic language, related to Akkadian, the

language that was widely used as a means of
communication among speakers of other languages of that
time. Listed below are some specific instances of the
Mesopotamian tithe, taken from The Assyrian Dictionary
of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Vol.
4 “E”[3]

Referring to a ten percent tax levied on garments by the

local ruler:] “the palace has taken eight garments as your
tithe (on 85 garments)”
“... eleven garments as tithe (on 112 garments)” “... (the
sun-god) Shamash demands the tithe ...”

“…four minas of silver, the tithe of [the gods] Bel, Nabu,

and Nergal…”
“... he has paid, in addition to the tithe for Ninurta, the
tax of the gardiner”
“... the tithe of the chief accountant, he has delivered it to
[the sun-god] Shamash”
“... why do you not pay the tithe to the Lady-of-Uruk?”
“... (a man) owes barley and dates as balance of the tithe

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of the years three and four”

“... the tithe of the king on barley of the town ...”
“... with regard to the elders of the city whom (the king)
has summoned to (pay) tithe ...”
“... the collector of the tithe of the country Sumundar ...”
“... (the official Ebabbar in Sippar) who is in charge of
the tithe ...”

History reveals that tithing existed in ancient Babylon,

Persia, Egypt, and China - but only for political or societal
purposes, not giving to God in order to be blessed. It was
a taxation system paid to the ruler or king over the people.

Abraham must’ve been well-acquainted with the

Babylonian tithing system when he moved from Ur. Ur
was a Babylonian city in the land of the Chaldeans, which
was known for the idols they made and sold. Abraham had
to be very familiar with the religious customs of giving
tithes to the kings. He was raised in a region where tithing
was practiced as a custom in honouring one’s king.

Abram and the Sky God

And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the
Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite,
brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were
confederate with Abram (KJV, Gen. 14:13).

Abraham lived in the fields of Mamre, and so did his

brothers, who are identified by some commentaries as
chiefs or kings. I am willing to make the assumption that
Abram paid tithes to Mamre, or to his superior, since he

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lived in his fields. If Abram had his own army and the
ability to overthrow other kings, Mamre and his brothers
would be crazy not to ask for Abram’s ten-percent, to make
sure that he honoured them as landowners, and chiefs or
kings. It was common practice for countries to ask for
taxes from their immigrants, for if an immigrant could not
benefit the king, why would he want him there? This is
not eisegesis, I am not putting something into the text but
drawing from the world before and the world within the
text, as the parameters for our hermeneutical study.

The full Hebrew name for the fields of Mamre where

Abram lived is Elonei Mamre, which refers to a cultic
shrine dedicated to the supreme sky god, “El,” of the
Canaanites, whom they referred to as “god.” It was a place
where there were trees that the people believed had
special powers to help them connect with “god.” Abram
decided to build an altar at that place, sacrificing to the god
he believed told him to move to another place. Here we
see Abraham still mixing his beliefs with the beliefs and
practices of that day. Abraham went to the magic trees in
hopes that they could help him connect with God.

We need to realize that Abram was not a Christian at all,

and he submitted to the heathen laws of those times. He
lived by the rules and laws that governed the people of that
time, which were what the Israelites later wanted when
they asked for a king as the other nations had. These
rules and laws applied to slavery and tithing as we can see
in the Mesopotamian tithing laws, and in 1 Sam 8:15-17
where they asked for a king.

We even see Abram and Sarah following the laws of that

time in marriage. The Nuzi Tablets, as well as the old

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Assyrian marriage contracts, allowed for a woman to give

her maidservant to her husband, to bear children for her.
This was to prevent the husband from divorcing his wife
if they had been childless for 10 years. When Sarah gave
Hagar to Abram, they were following this common
practice of their time. The laws of the land also included
the one- tenth tax law, which was active in the land of the
Amorites as well as Babylon.

By looking at this, we can clearly see that tithing was not

Abraham’s obedience to God. It was not some new rule that
Abraham came up with, nor was it something demanded
by God, but simply a widely practiced custom that people
followed at the time. We know that it was a custom in the
Salem area, when Melchizedek received tithes from
Abram.

Abraham and Sarah Under a Law That is Not Needed

Today

Although under Babylonian law monogamy was the rule,

in the case of a childless wife, she was permitted to give
her husband a maidservant to bear him children, who were
then reckoned to be hers. The code did not allow the
husband to take a concubine; but if his wife did not bear
him a child he could do so. The concubine was a co-wife,
though not of the same rank; the first wife had no power
over her. Sara was observing this law when she gave
Hagar to her husband Abraham for a wife, to bear children
to them.

Sara was obviously observing the Code of Hammurabi

when she gave Hagar to Abraham. Should we also allow
this today, since it was before the Ten Commandments?

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Never! And we don’t tithe just because tithing was

practiced back then either. Tithing is much more beautiful
than giving 10 percent to the church. You will understand
what I mean as I continue to explain what tithing really is.
It would be completely wrong to think Abraham tithed
under grace, making it the foundation from where we tithe
in the church today. It would simply be an assumption that
has absolutely no reference at all. We can even go so far
as to say it is deception.

Abram Meets Melchizedek

So, what really happened when Abram tithed to

Melchizedek? When Melchizedek, who was King of
Salem, brought Abram bread and wine and blessed him,
and Abram gave him a tenth of the spoils taken from
battle, as it is written in Genesis 14:

18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and

wine: and he was priest of the highest God. 19And he
blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the highest
God, possessor of heaven and earth:20And blessed be the
highest God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy
hand. And he gave him tithes of all (KJV, Gen. 14:18-20).

Tithes were only given to people who were of higher rank.

It was the honour shown to the higher ranking person, as
the king or superior, acknowledging that the person was
greater than the one giving the tithes. The one giving the
tithe was demonstrating that the receiver of the tithe was
greater as his superior.

It is also very important to understand that while the lesser

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tithed to the greater, he could not bless the greater. For

example, I could not go to a king and bless him by saying,
“Blessed are you, oh king.” That was not acceptable and
was seen as an attack on the king. In ancient tradition
the greater always blessed the lesser. This is a very
important point to remember, since this is the
foundation for the writer’s reasoning in Hebrews when
he talks about the ending of the law and the order of
Melchizedek.

The King of Sodom

8And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of
Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of
Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they
joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; 9With
Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of
nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of
Ellasar; four kings with five. 10And the vale of Siddim was
full of slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah
fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the
mountain. 11And they took all the goods of Sodom and
Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
12And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in
Sodom, and his goods, and departed. 13And there came
one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he
dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of
Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate
with Abram. 14And when Abram heard that his brother
was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in
his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued
them unto Dan. 15And he divided himself against hem, he

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and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued

them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought
again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also,
and the people. 17And the king of Sodom went out to
meet him after his return from he slaughter of
Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the
valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. 18And
Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine:
and he was the priest of the most high God. 19And he
blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high
God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be
the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies
into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 21And the
king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me he persons, and
take the goods to thyself. 22And Abram said to the king of
Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most
high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23That I will
not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I
will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say,
I have made Abram rich: 24Save only that which the
young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which
went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take
their portion (KJV, Gen. 14:8-24).

This passage basically explains that Abram made war

against Chedorlaomer, a king that overpowered the King
of Sodom, where Abram’s nephew Lot lived. When Lot
was taken hostage, Abram did not like that at all, so he
went after Chedorlaomer and conquered him. On his
return, Abram entered the king’s valley, outside of Salem,

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and passed through the land ruled by King Melchizedek.

This is when Melchizedek blessed Abram, and gave him
bread and wine. In return, Abram gave Melchizedek
tithes of all the spoils.

Understanding what actually happened here is of utmost

importance. The fact that Abram made use of the tithe in
his dealings with Melchizedek is amazing, because
Abram was not under the jurisdiction of Melchizedek.
Since Abram lived in the field of Mamre, the king over
Mamre should have received his tithe. Abraham was so
amazed by this man called Melchizedek—the king of
Salem and the priest of the highest god El-yone—that he
decided to declare him as his king, instead of honouring
and tithing to the king of his jurisdiction. Melchizedek
was different than any other king, because he was not only
a king but also a priest—and that of the “highest god.”

As Abram continued on his journey, he met up with the

King of Sodom, probably at the place where Abram
stayed in the fields of Mamre. Even though Abram was
victorious in battle against Chedorlaomer and gained all
the spoils that previously belonged to the King of Sodom,
he refused to take any of those spoils that Chedorlaomer
had obtained in his victory over the King of Sodom; he
refused because he had lifted his hand in oath to the
highest God. How did he do that? He acknowledged God
as king in giving His Priest, Melchizedek (the one that
represented Him) a tithe according to the Amorite-
Babylonian tithe system. When Abram gave the tithe to
Melchizedek, he was making Melchizedek his king, and
in doing that he declared him as his superior. Since
Melchizedek was the king and priest of the highest God,
he represented the highest God on Earth, thus Abram

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made the highest God his King in what he did according

to his custom.

The fact that tithing was seen as acknowledgement of

kingship is the foundation for Hebrews 7. The lesser
always tithed to the greater and the lesser is always
blessed by the greater. By seeing this truth, we will also
understand how the Abrahamic tithe is fulfilled in our
lives. To try to make giving 10 percent to the local church
a foundation for honouring Jesus would be a perfect
example of an eisegesis. If you have read this into
Scripture and your heart is drawn to this eisegesis, it could
be that the god of this world has blinded your mind and
heart. Why would you want to see something in the
Scriptures that is just not there? God can and will free you
from confusion, as He has helped me. It took Him a while
to get me to understand the Order of Melchizedek and I
trust that I will be able to explain it in a very easy to
understand manner.

Clear Understanding

It is difficult to explain the Order of Melchizedek because

we have been so indoctrinated with legalism in the area of
tithing. And without understanding the word “order,” we
will never understand Hebrews 7, so let’s look at these
verses first:

“Called of God an high priest after the order of

Melchizedek” (KJV, Heb. 5:10).

“Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be

uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing” (KJV, Heb. 5:11).

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The word order means pattern or methodical

arrangement of things. There were basically two orders of
priesthood that were of importance in the Bible: the Order
of Aaron and the Order of Melchizedek. To qualify to be a
priest according to the Order of Aaron, you had to fulfill
certain criteria. To be a priest according to the order, or
basic pattern found in Melchizedek, you also had to meet
certain criteria. Please note that the context of Hebrews 7
is order of priesthood and nothing else.

The priestly Order of Aaron demanded the following

criteria:

 Must be of the priestly lineage of Levi

 Must be thirty years of age

The criteria for being a priest according to the Order of

Melchizedek were as follows:

 Must have no priestly genealogy

 Must be a priest and a king
 Must possess eternal life

What this means is that no Levite could ever fulfill the

Order of Melchizedek; only a person who had conquered
death and possessed immortality could be that priest.

It is of utmost importance to understand ranking, according

to the old Hebrew system. Abraham was honoured as the
highest person in Jewish history, because he was the one
to whom the promise was given. Also, a father was always
higher in rank than his children and naturally had
authority over them. It was the fathers who blessed the
children, for they were greater than their children and

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much greater than their grandchildren.

Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, and Jacob had Levi.
The descendants of Levi were called the Levites. The
Levites did the Levitical priestly duties under the Order
of Aaron by which they also received the law. Abraham
had authority over Isaac, Isaac was greater than Jacob and
Jacob than Levi, and Levi had power to receive tithes
from the people, making Abraham the greatest of all,
except for the one he saw as greater than himself, which
was Melchizedek. Abraham demonstrated that he
considered Melchizedek to be greater than himself by
tithing to him according the worldly system of that time.

Ranking order
Melchizedek
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Levi
Jewish Nations

Please hear me when I say this: the priesthood and kingship

of Melchizedek was the greatest of all. If Melchizedek
had walked into the land where Isaac lived, Melchizedek
would have ruled over Isaac to change things in that area
as he liked. The same would be true if Melchizedek were
to meet with Levi. Levi would immediately submit to the
law of Melchizedek, in lieu of his own laws.

With all this said, we come to the same conclusion as the

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writer of Hebrews: the order of Melchizedek is higher than

that of Aaron (which was the Levitical priesthood), and
even higher than Abraham himself, since under the
Babylonian law the lesser Abraham tithed to the greater
Melchizedek. The writer of Hebrews also concludes that
the Levitical laws, and way of governing, would have to
give in and be declared as null and void, if a priest or king
were to arise after the Order of Melchizedek, since it is an
order of higher power. The Hebrews writer even
concludes that there should, by necessity, be a change of
law when a priest of higher order arises. This would be
highly unlikely to the Jews since this priest would have
to possess immortality.

But, God declared that there would arise such a priest and
he would fulfill the Levitical law, rendering it over and
done with. The priest would then change the law to the
law by which he would rule. Here is the Scripture proving
it:

4The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a
priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. 5The Lord
at thy right hand will strike through kings in the day of his
wrath. 6He will judge among the heathen, he will fill the
places with the dead bodies; he will wound the heads over
many countries. 7He will drink of the brook in the way:
therefore, will he lift up the head (KJV, Psalm 110:4-7).

“Was Melchizedek the Pre-incarnate Christ?”

It is also taught that Melchizedek was the pre-incarnate

Christ receiving tithes. This logic is then used as the
foundation from where we in the Church should tithe,

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validating tithing in the New Testament. Let us test this

logic and see if it is true:

If this popular assertion was true, that Melchizedek was

actually Jesus Himself and that He received tithes, then
Jesus would have been receiving tithes from His disciples,
wouldn’t He? I cannot imagine Jesus telling His disciples,
“You owe Me ten percent of your money because it’s what
belongs to Me.” Or, maybe He’d say, “If you don’t give Me
ten percent, you are not acknowledging Me as your king.”
It has not been recorded in any of the Gospels that Jesus
ever received a tithe.

While there have been many debates about this, I want to

settle it once and for all. Only if we misunderstand the
context and purpose of Hebrews 7 will we conclude that
Jesus was Melchizedek. The Bible only says that Christ is
a priest “after the order of” or “according to” the Order
of Melchizedek—not that Jesus WAS Melchizedek (See
Heb. 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:11)

The phrase “according to,” in the Greek, means in

accordance with, corresponding to. Hence, a comparison
is being drawn<in accordance with, and corresponding to
do not mean a comparison is being drawn. What this
means is that the text does not say Jesus was Melchizedek
but that the order of priesthood Jesus had could be
compared with or likened that of Melchizedek. Since
Jesus is in the same order He was the fulfilment of Psalm
110, wherein God states that He would raise up a priest
according to the order of Melchizedek.

The order Melchizedek was in, “without father, without

mother” (Heb. 7:3), implies the following: Melchizedek

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did not have his divine role genealogically. In like

manner, Jesus’ priesthood was not determined by physical
lineage, as the Aaronic priesthood was, for He was of the
tribe of Judah. (See Exod. 28:1; Num. 3:10).

Among the Tel el Armarna tablets, discovered in Egypt in

1887, are many letters written to a Pharaoh, from one who
is called “King of Uru-Salim.” The Canaanite king of
“Uru-Salem” (which could be Jerusalem today), tells the
Egyptian ruler that he did not receive his reign from his
father and mother, but it had been conferred upon him by
“the Mighty King” (See A.H. Sayce, Melchizedek,
Dictionary of the Bible, James Hastings, Ed., Edinburgh:
T.&T. Clark, 1908, III, p. 335).[

Melchizedek’s administration as a normal man and not the

incarnate Christ, was without “beginning of day,” and “end
of life.” The meaning of this statement, in Hebrews 7:3, is
that his priesthood was not for a fixed term as in the case
of the Levitical priests. In the Old Testament, priests began
their service as priests at the age of 30 and were allowed
to serve until the age of 50 (See Num. 4:3; 8:24-25).

When we look at the Melchizedek priesthood, we find

absolutely no chronological limitation with reference to
his priesthood as the “priest of the Most High God.” This
is a perfect foreshadowing of Jesus, who serves
continually as our priest, since He was raised from the
dead to be a priest forever.

That Melchizedek was not the same person as Jesus is

clear, for Scripture declares him to only be “like unto”
the Son of God, clearly pointing to a copy of and
comparing one to the other, for that implies differences. It

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is likening them to one another or showing their

similarities.

Without father, without mother, without descent, having

neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like
unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually (KJV,
Heb. 7:3).

“Like unto” G871 aphomoioo

Thayer Greek Definition:

 to cause a model to pass off into an image or shape

like it
 to express itself in it, to copy
 to produce a facsimile
 to be made like, render similar

Part of Speech: verb

A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from G575
and G3666
Citing in TDNT: 5:198, 684 [6]

The point is repeated in verse 15 of Hebrews 7: Jesus is a

priest after the “likeness” of Melchizedek.

“The [Greek] verb aphomoioo always assumes two

distinct and separate identities, one of which is a copy of
the other. Thus Melchizedek and the Son of God are
represented as two separate persons, the first of which
resembled the second” (Melchizedek, The International
Standard Bible Encyclopaedia –Revised, G.W. Bromiley,
Ed., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986, Vol. 3, p. 313). [7]

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The clearest distinction between Christ and Melchizedek

is found in Psalm 110:4. In this text, when David talks
about what the Lord God has sworn, he quotes God, who
addresses David’s “Lord” ( Jesus) in the second person,
then refers to Melchizedek in the third person:

The Lord has sworn. And will not relent, “You, David’s Lord
Jesus, are a priest forever According to the order of
Melchizedek” (Ps. 110:4).

So you see, we cannot say the ancient Melchizedek was

Jesus, but we can say the order of their priesthoods was
the same. With all this information at hand, we can have
a fresh look at what happened when Abraham tithed to
Melchizedek, and its relevance for the early church, the
letter to the Hebrews, and for us.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we are going to go through Hebrews 7,

verse by verse, explaining it in its original context. I
would like you to read Hebrews 7:1-17, with all the
information I have shared about Abraham, Melchizedek,
Mamre and the King of Sodom in mind:

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most

High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of
the kings and blessed him (MKJV, Heb. 7:1).

To him Abraham also gave a tenth of all. He was first by

interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also
king of Salem, which is king of peace (MKJV, Heb. 7:2),

In these two verses, the Hebrew writer gives evidence that

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Melchizedek is higher than Abraham, based on the tithing

and blessing principles of that time. The lesser always
gave to the greater and the greater blessed the lesser.

…without father, without mother, without descent, having

neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the
Son of God, he remains a priest continually (MKJV, Heb.
7:3).

Paul argues that the higher order priesthood of

Melchizedek has never stopped, since there is no record
of the genealogy to prove the end of the Melchizedek
priesthood.

Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the
patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils (MKJV,
Heb. 7:4).

The Hebrew writer points, specifically, to the greatness of

Melchizedek, even greater than Abraham.

And truly they who are of the sons of Levi, who receive
the office of the priest, have a commandment to take tithes
of the people according to the Law, that is, from their
brothers, though they come out of the loins of Abraham
.6But he whose descent is not counted from them received
tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the
promises.7And without all contradiction the lesser is
blessed by the better.8And here men who die receive tithes;
but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he
lives (MKJV, Heb. 7:6-8).

“And here men who die receive tithes” - under the

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Levitical priesthood, the Levites who die receive tithes.

Please note that it does not refer to the church meetings at
all, nor to pastors who die. To say that the verse refers to
dying pastors that receive tithes is the worst interpretation
of the passage imaginable; it would be eisegesis in its
purist form. This is done to validate tithing in the church.
We cannot use this passage in context to prove the early
church received tithes. That is eisegetical and simply a lie
born from an unrenewed belief system of fear.

Please note that this “witness that he lives” refers to the

record of no genealogy, NOT the tithing. The tithing is the
witness of the greatness of Mel’s priesthood. The lack of a
priestly register points to the eternal priesthood.

Let us look at verse 8 again and I will add context comments

into the passage.

8And here (under the Levitical priesthood), men who die

receive tithes (men who are not in the order of
Melchizedek since they are not possessing immortality,
disqualifying the Levitical priesthood to be the fulfilment
of Ps 110); but there (when Abraham gave) he receives
them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives (since there is
no record of his genealogy) (MKJV, Heb. 7:6-8).

I would like to repeat myself.

“And here men that die receive tithes” - under the

Levitical priesthood, the Levites that die receive tithes.
Please note that it does not refer to the church meetings at
all, nor to pastors that die. To say that the verse refers to
dying pastors that receive tithes is the worst interpretation
of the passage imaginable. It would be eisegesis in its

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purist form. This is what is done to validate tithing in the

church. We cannot use this passage in context to prove the
early church received tithes. That is eisegetical and simply
a lie born from a fear driven belief system of bondage.

That would be injecting your belief into the text. It would

be another wonderful example of the critical factor in the
brain twisting and reshaping a Y to look like the
acceptable X. It is just a declaration that the subconscious
still believes in the tithing law. It is simply not written there
or anywhere, a statement like that would be what we call
an eisegesis.

9And if I may say so, Levi, also, who receives tithes, paid
tithes in Abraham. 10For he was still in the loins of his
father when Melchizedek met him (MKJV, Heb. 7:9, 10).

The writer emphasizes that a person who was not a Levite—

in this case Melchizedek—received tithes from Abraham,
bringing attention to a non-Levitical, everlasting
priesthood greater than that of Levi.

11Therefore if perfection were by the Levitical priesthood

(for under it the people received the Law), what further
need was there that another priest should rise after the
order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of
Aaron? (MKJV, Heb. 7:11).

The writer refers to Psalm 110, when he says that another

priest will arise under a different priesthood. This would
be on account of the weakness of the first to make things
perfect, making it an imperfect priesthood.

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12For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a

change made in the law also.13For He of whom these
things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no
man gave attendance at the altar.14For it is evident that
our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke
nothing concerning priesthood (MKJV, Heb. 7:12-14).

Here Paul is carefully drawing the comparison between

the order of Melchizedek and that in which Jesus stands.

15And it is still far more evident, since there arises another

priest after the likeness of Melchizedek,16who is made,
not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but
according to the power of an endless life.17For He
testifies, “You are a priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek.”18For truly there is a putting away of the
commandment which went before, because of the
weakness and unprofitableness of it.19For the Law made
nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did,
by which we draw near to God (MKJV, Heb. 7:15-19).

Paul declares Jesus as the perfect match for the Order of

Melchizedek, therefore announcing the end of the
Levitical law, and introducing faith unto righteousness
because of the fulfilled law. Paul is talking about the
change of law in Hebrews 7, which would be total, absolute
madness to a Jew. Any religious Jew then, or nowadays,
could not even begin to fathom that the law would ever be
done away with. Paul tries to explain there is room for a
change and the ending of the law, using the argument of
higher order having power over lower order to prove his
case.

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I hope you can see how wrong it would be to try and use
this passage to institute tithing in church; it would be an
absolute abuse of the passage. We are not under the
Babylonian custom anymore, nor is it used as a system to
provide for the church in the book of Acts or anywhere else.
If we are going to look at Israel as our example, then
tithing (giving ten percent of your money) is what we
will have to do, but only when we have a king we are not
supposed to have.

There is a way we participate in the tithe of Abraham: we

simply believe in Jesus, confessing Him as Lord. If you
would like to live in a place where you mix ancient
Babylonian tradition with Christianity, in tithing to
acknowledge kingship, it will only be based on personal
preference and not biblical command or suggestion.

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In this chapter, we are going to look at what tithing under the

Levitical priesthood foreshadowed. We need to understand
that reading and comprehending Scripture cannot be
separated from the Divine Ones and the dynamics in the
Trinity. Let’s enter into the Trinity and see the dynamics
of Father, Son and Holy Spirit at work in our approach to
Scripture. This is exciting and life giving! Here we go!

I am going to explain to you that JESUS is the tithe, that

the manna in the Ark of the Covenant pointed to Jesus,
and that the tithe in the storehouse is the body of Jesus
broken for us. The Scripture we are about to look at has very
seldom been read in church. It blows your mind when you
read it for the first time. Unending joy flooded my heart
as I studied it and saw what it reveals about Jesus and all
He has done for us! This passage is flooded with Jesus’
work on the cross and confirms our freedom from sin and
death. We need to realize that every false interpretation of
a passage of Scripture does not only mislead us but also
blinds us to its truth. I believe we have to get every form
of tithing teaching, that has its aim set on giving money
 Jesus as the Tithe

to the church, completely from our minds before making

a study on this topic. If we don’t do that, we will
unknowingly seek for what we already know. The best
thing we can ever do is to ask the Holy Spirit to point us
to Jesus in the Scripture. We need to always see the
message of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of
Jesus Christ in every Scripture, especially when it comes
to laws given to the Israelites.

Let’s see if we can find in these verses the Trinity

dynamics, the union we have with God in Jesus, what He
has done for mankind, and how He loves us with regard
to the subject of tithing:

Jesus and the Omer of Manna

16
This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded,
Gather of it every man according to his eating, an
omer for every man, according to the number of your
persons; take ye every man for them which are in his
tents. 17And the children of Israel did so, and gathered,
some more, some less. 18And when they did mete it with
an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and
he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every
man according to his eating (KJV, Exod. 16:16-18).
32
And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD
commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your
generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I
have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you
forth from the land of Egypt. 33And Moses said unto
Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna
therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for

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your generations. 34As the LORD commanded Moses,

so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35
And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years,
until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat
manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of
Canaan. 36Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah
(KJV, Exod. 16:32-36).

We all know the manna that fell from heaven points to

Jesus as the bread of life which was to come. (See John 6)
The manna they ate in the desert could not give them life
at all. The only manna that could give life is Jesus, the
bread from heaven.

It is very interesting that the manna given to every person

was an Omer of manna, nothing more and nothing less.
Let us see if there is any New Testament significance to
an Omer of manna.

Omer

An omer was a tenth of an epha:

“Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah” (Exod.

16:36

The root word from where we find the word omer, which
is a tenth of an ephah, means the following:

‛âmar aw-mar'
A primitive root; properly apparently to heap; figuratively
to chastise (as if piling blows); specifically, (as
denominative from H6016) to gather grain: - bind
sheaves, make merchandise of.

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According to the Septuagint, the meaning of an Omer is

the following.

G1115

Γολγοθᾶ Golgotha gol-goth-ah'

Of Chaldee origin (compare [H1538]); the skull;
Golgotha, a knoll near Jerusalem: - Golgotha.

What God commanded was that the manna given to every

man had to be measured by an omer, which was a TITHE
of an epha. Prophetically interpreted, this points to the
manna (bread of life) that had to be chastised or placed on
the skull before it can be eaten.

Jesus called Himself the bread from heaven, or the Manna

(See John 6:25-59).

According to Exodus 16, the manna was kept in a vessel

before the Lord, which signifies the chastisement of many
blows on Jesus’ body. The pot of manna which was a tithe
of an epha of manna, points to the blows the bread from
heaven would bear on Himself for us.

The tithe is very closely connected to food and has

wonderful redemptive truth connected to it. Whenever the
Bible speaks about the tithe inside the Levitical Order, it
points to food that had to be eaten in remembrance of Him.
By eating this food, you will have life. By eating the
bread contained in the cup of suffering, you will not see
death but have all curses removed from you:

16This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded,

Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer

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for every man, according to the number of your persons;

take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 17And
the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more,
some less.18And when they did mete it with an omer, he
that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered
little had no lack; they gathered every man according to
his eating (KJV, Exod. 16:16-18).

The tithe belongs to God. It is very clear that the tithe was
not pointing to what we had to give God but what God
gave us! You could not give your tithe to God; you could
only receive the tithe and eat it! I hope you can see how
foolish it would be to take the tithe and try to turn it into
giving money to the church. There is no correlation
between the two and there will never be! The bread that
came from Heaven came inside the measure of
chastisement and the place called skull, chastised unto
food that can give life to those who eat it. The bread that
was broken, by the blows it sustained, has to be eaten in
order for us to have life. The closest we can come to the
tithe is at the communion table, where we eat the manna
that fell from Heaven. To us, it is food—to God, it is the
provision of life for mankind, through the suffering of His
Son.

The tithe was food, pointing to the body of Jesus made

available as the bread of heaven for us all:

22You will truly tithe all the increase of your seed that the
field brings forth year by year. 23And you will eat before
Jehovah your God in the place which He will choose to
place His name there, the tithe of your grain, of your wine,
and of your oil, and the first-born of your herds and of

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your flocks, so that you may learn to fear Jehovah your

God always. 24And if the way is too long for you, so that
you are not able to carry it, or if the place is too far from
you, which Jehovah your God will choose to set His name
there, when Jehovah your God has blessed you, 25then you
will turn it into silver and bind up the silver in your hand,
and will go to the place which Jehovah your God will
choose. 26And you will pay that silver for whatever your
soul desires, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for
strong drink, or for whatever your soul desires. And you
will eat there before Jehovah your God, and you will
rejoice, you and your household 27and the Levite within
your gates, you will not forsake him, for he has no part
nor inheritance with you. 28 At the end of three years you
shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same
year, and shall lay it up inside your gates. 29 And the
Levite, because he has no part nor inheritance with you,
and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who
are inside your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be
satisfied, so that Jehovah your God may bless you in all
the work of your hand which you do. (MKJV, Deut. 14:22-
29).

This is amazing, is it not? Every time I read this, it blesses

me to the utmost—an inner joy accompanied with the
word, “WHAT?!” hits my inner man time and again. How
can we not smile after we have read this verse!

Let’s look at this passage, verse by verse:

“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your seed that the
field brings forth year by year” (KJV, Deut. 14:22).

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People were commanded to tithe of whatever increase the

field brought forth, year by year. Not one year should be
skipped, except for the Year of Jubilee and the Sabbath
years.

The following verse will tell you exactly what to do with

the tithe, as we see what the Israelites did with what they
put aside every year. Let’s look for Jesus and His
accomplished work in these verses. Let’s read the
WORD that was before time and was manifested in the
incarnation, hidden and yet revealed in these verses! If
you seek for the truth, which is the WORD, you will find
it:

23And thou will eat before the LORD thy God, in the
place which he will choose to place his name there, the
tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the
firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou may learn
to fear the LORD thy God always (KJV, Deut. 14:23).

Unfortunately, the tithe was seen by the present-day

church as provision for pastors and leaders, instead of
food that the tither ate in remembrance of God. This
is absolute abuse of these passages. If we want to tithe
today, we should do it in accordance with the biblical
prescriptions, which would not be what God wants us to do
since it is all fulfilled and not applicable anymore.

What did the Jews have to do with the tithe? No, your eyes
are not playing tricks on you. This is what the Scripture
states: you will eat your tithe before the Lord your God.
Here we can see that the tithe has everything to do with
food and eating it yourself. Eating the tithe would then
teach you to fear the Lord your God. By eating the tithe of

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the crop, the people learned to have reverence for God. In

Hebrew, the word learn means to be prodded or touched
in your inner man through remembrance of how blessed
you are, resulting in reverence for God. So, in eating the
tithe, the people were prodded in their hearts to remember
how much God had blessed them.

Can you think of something that is set apart for us to eat,

which prods our inner man to remembrance and gratitude
towards Him? Let's look even deeper into this:

24And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not
able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which
the LORD thy God will choose to set his name there, when
the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: 25Then shalt thou
turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand,
and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God will
choose: (KJV, Deut. 14:24, 25)

This is the only place where we can connect money with

the tithe. The tithe was sold and the money was taken to
the place where the tithe was to be eaten. The money was
not given to the priests at all—that would be a violation
of the tithing law. Since eating in remembrance of His
goodness towards us is what the tithe is all about, it was
to be turned into food and eaten by the giver of the tithes.
You would be sinning if you were to give your tithe in
money form to the priest. It would also be a violation of
biblical tithing if you did not eat the tithe yourself:

26And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy

soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or
for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and

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thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou
shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household (KJV, Deut.
14:26),

The money shall be used for food and it will be eaten by the
giver of the tithes. This is clear and so simple to understand,
once you are ready to say, teach me Lord. It would be foolish
for me to expound on a Scripture that basically needs no
explanation; the passage is clear. I believe that it was a
wonderful thing for the people to tithe. It was wonderful
for them to take a portion of their crop, go to a place where
all their friends gathered, and have a party in
remembrance of how God had blessed them. This
remembrance would be much more than just a
remembrance of how blessed you are. It was establishing,
in the hearts of those who ate it, the truth of how friendly,
loving, life-giving and caring God is.

What we can clearly see is that the tithe had to be what your
soul desires. The tithe is what your soul has always lusted
after. Does the passage not say that the tithe money should
be spent for whatever your soul lusts after? Can you think
of something that the soul of mankind desires? Is it not
the love, acceptance, innocence, perfection and the union
provided for man in Jesus! Is it not Jesus Himself!

27And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not
forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with
t h e e . 28At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all
the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up
within thy gates: 29And the Levite, (because he hath no
part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the
fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, will

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come, and will eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God
may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou
doest (KJV, Deut. 14:27-29).

What I am about to say is directed towards the erroneous

teaching in the church that the tithe belongs to pastors,
since pastors were foreshadowed by the Levitical
priesthood.

It will be very helpful to read the following passage in

order to understand what the Bible means when it says
that the Levite shall not be forsaken, (or forgotten).

When God divided the land, He divided it without giving

any land to the Levites. This way, they could not farm and
provide for themselves by their own works, for God told
them that He was their inheritance. This was also said to
Abraham in Genesis 15. When God tells someone that He
is their inheritance, He is saying that they will not increase
by their own works but by the work of God. This is
significant when we connect it to the verse that states that
we are a royal priesthood. (See 1 Pet 2:9)

Because we are the royal priesthood and have had no field

to work for our inheritance, since the law was fulfilled,
God will have to provide all that we need to live. God’s
people have no land since the law, by which we would
normally work to produce fruit, was not dealt to us. The
church is a royal priesthood and has no field to work for an
inheritance. Jesus inherited the field in His incarnation,
He worked the field, and in the third year He provided
food to the house of God. (I will soon explain this.) There
is so much to say about the interpretation of Old Testament
types and shadows that one could actually write a book on

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the subject. Let’s read this verse below to see what it

means that the Levite shall not be forsaken:

17You may not eat inside your gates the tithe of your grain
or of your wine or of your oil, or the first-born of your
herds or of your flock, or any of your vows which you vow,
or your free-will offerings or the heave offering of your
hand.18But you must eat them before Jehovah your God in
the place which Jehovah your God will choose; you, and
your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and
your maidservant, and the Levite within your gates. And
you will rejoice before Jehovah your God in all that you put
your hand to. 19Take heed to yourself that you do not
forsake the Levite as long as you live on the earth (NKJV,
Deut. 12:17-19).

Forsaking the Levite simply meant that they were not

allowing the Levite to eat with them, when they ate their
tithe or free-will offering before the Lord. What it does
not mean is that they were disobeying God by not giving
the whole tithe to the Levite; God was not in any way
requiring that of the people. And this passage has nothing
to do with giving money to the church, as some teach.

Some people believe that the Levites in the Old Testament

represent the pastors of the New Testament. It is from this
Old Covenant principle that many churches lay claim to ten
percent of people’s money these days. The tithe never
belonged to the Levite but to God.

If we agree with the Bible that the tithe must be eaten and
that it belongs to God, we must conclude that the tithe is
not what we give God but what He gives us! Can you

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think of something that belongs to God and is given to

man, in order to be eaten by man in remembrance of God?
God was saying that the Jews were to put ten percent aside
as something that belonged to God. God then gave what
belonged to Him as food to be used in rejoicing. Even those
who had no inheritance, and had not “worked,” could eat of
what God provided for them to eat. This clearly points to
Jesus and His body that was broken for us.

28At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the
tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up
within thy gates: 29And the Levite, (because he hath no
part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the
fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, will
come, and will eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy
God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which
thou doest (NKJV, Deut. 14:28, 29).

Look how powerfully The Message Bible states this:

28At the end of every third year, gather the tithe from all
your produce of that year and put it aside in storage.
29Keep it in reserve for the Levite who won’t get any
property or inheritance as you will, and for the foreigner,
the orphan, and the widow who live in your
neighbourhood. That way they’ll have plenty to eat and
GOD, your God, will bless you in all your work (MSG,
Deut. 14:28, 29).

This is so powerful as it points to Jesus in every way!

At the end of three years: Jesus was crucified at the end

of three years of ministry, was He not?

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The Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and widow:

Every third year, there will be provision made for all those
that cannot provide for themselves. Please note that all
these people had one thing in common; they had no
inheritance (or had lost their inheritance).

Who is the widow? Who is the stranger? Who is the

fatherless? Who else but mankind! When we read the
message of the prodigal son, we see that he squandered
his inheritance. When he was in the other land, he was
fatherless and a stranger. (See Luke 15:11-32)

The widow speaks of the one who has no husband. This

can be understood by reading Rom 7:1-5, which says that
we became dead to the law when the law-man died in
Jesus, so that now we can be married to another.

When God looked at these people, He was seeing you and

me, and He wanted to provide food for us. Every third
year, this food was placed in the storehouse, enough for
all who were in need of food because they had no
inheritance and were unable to provide for themselves by
their own works. Is this not a beautiful picture of grace and
love! Is this not flooded with life! Is it not bringing the
inner AMEN of the spirit-man in you to light!

Every third year, the tithe was exclusively made available

for those who could not provide for themselves. If we want
to take this and apply it to money in church, we will be
completely out of line. This is not to be done in the New
Testament at all. These verses are talking about Jesus and
what He came to do on Earth.

The Dreaded Malachi 3

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How would Jesus read Malachi 3? He saw that it was

speaking to Him about how He would purify mankind.
Malachi was a prophet who was prophesying about Jesus
and all He had to do to bring salvation. Did Jesus not come
to fulfill the prophets? Yes, He did, which means that Jesus
read Malachi as a prophetic instruction for Him to fulfill,
in bringing forth salvation. Let’s read the intimate voice of
the Father to the Son in this passage about our salvation. We
will be getting into the mind of Jesus, seeing what He saw,
and hearing what He heard from the Father as He read it:

1Behold, I will send My messenger, and He will clear the

way before Me. And Jehovah, whom you seek, will
suddenly come to His temple, even the Angel of the
Covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He comes, says
Jehovah of Hosts. 2But who can endure the day of His
coming? And who will stand when He appears? For He is
like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap (Mal. 3:1, 2).
NSAB

These two verses clearly speak of God’s messenger, John

the Baptist, who would prepare the way for Jesus (See
Matt.11:10). We see that Jesus is the Angel of the
Covenant to come as the one that purifies. And all people
will be in need of His purification:

“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”

(NKJV, Rom. 3:23).

“If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could

stand?” (NKJV, Ps. 130:3).

To take this passage out of its historic interpretation, and

prophetic fulfilment in Jesus, would be wrong. There is
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not even a hint of the local church and monthly provision

in this passage. Therefore, trying to prove New Testament
giving from this passage, should set off some red flags.
Why would you want to bend the Scripture to something
it is not? Could it be that you have fear in your heart that
God will not provide for you? Could it be the result of
hearing wrong doctrine for many years?

And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. And He

will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and
silver, that they may be offerers of a food offering in
righteousness to Jehovah (ASV, Mal. 3:3).

As we look a little deeper into this verse, we find that God

had a problem with the sons of Levi, for not keeping to
the prescriptions of the food offerings. What God came
to do in Jesus was to bring the food offering in a way that
is pleasing to Him. This food offering is then described as
the tithe in verse 8, (coming up).

Mal 3:4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem

be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as
in former years. (KJV)

Again, the food offering is mentioned by the Lord. God

would like the offering to be in line with the original intent
of the offering and not anything else.

Mal 3:5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I

will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against
the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against
those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow,
and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from
his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

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Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye

sons of Jacob are not consumed. (KJV Mal. 3:5, 6).

God declares that He will come to rule against all the bad
that is going on. He is going to cleanse the priesthood of all
its hypocrisy and thievery. There is much more to be said
about this passage, but it would be unnecessary
information and not needed to make the point about Jesus
being our tithe. Therefore, I will not go into more detail
on what is meant by sorcerers, adulterers and false
swearers.

Mal 3:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone
away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them.
Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the
LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
Mal 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me.
But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and
offerings. (KJV, Mal. 3:7, 8)

What God made available, every third year, to feed His

people was taken from Him, so that He was unable to
provide for those who couldn’t provide for themselves.
What God saw as the manna from Heaven was taken from
Him. Suddenly, God saw that He could not provide
righteousness for those who couldn’t attain to
righteousness by their own works.

Mal 3:9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed

me, even this whole nation. (KJV, Mal. 3:9).

God declares the nation cursed. He is in a place where He

cannot provide food on the third year. Since they took the
manna, He cannot give them righteousness as a free gift.

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They robbed Him from the tithe. The food the weak
needed to eat in remembrance of Him was taken from Him.
In type and shadow language, this would spell the
removal of Jesus. What a tragedy! What a loss! Thanks be
to God that all this is just a shadow and not reality.

Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that
there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now
herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you
the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it. (KJV, Mal.
3:10).

To end the shadow and manifest His salvation plan, God

gives instruction for the tithe to be brought to the
storehouse, so that there can be meat in His house. Who
and what would the real tithe be? Who can restore the
priesthood to God’s original intent?

There is so much to say about Malachi 3:10. The fullness

of the work of Jesus is found in it. Let’s bring it to the
light.

Please remember that this verse was seen by Jesus as

instructions for bringing freedom to the people of God.
This is not an instruction for the New Testament church to
bring money to the local pastor, so that God can bless
them a hundred, sixty, or even thirtyfold. When Jesus read
Malachi, He saw it as the Father speaking to Him,
instructing Him to make His body available as meat for
all who cannot provide the food needed for eternal life by
their own works: My Son, your body is the true manna; it
is the full tithe, kept in the cup of suffering. Bring it to those
who have no inheritance but You. You are the inheritance

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of all who cannot provide food for life by their own works.
My son, if you bring to these people your body, the true
meat, they will be blessed and You will be blessed.

The problem God addresses in Malachi 3 is the problem of

having no MEAT in the storehouse. Did Jesus not say that
His flesh is MEAT INDEED? (See John 6:55) Yes, He did,
and it is marvellous in our eyes! Jesus is the tithe—the
bread contained in the cup of suffering! Jesus is the meat
provided for the household of God. Glory to God in the
Highest!

The Alpha and the Omega

This part is not to be read as doctrine but can be very

interesting. Please note that I don’t base what I believe on
the concept of the Alpha and Omega phenomenon but the
prophetic value of the passage. What I am about to share
is only a confirmation of what the passage says in its
prophetic authority.

There is a word used many times in the Bible that cannot

be pronounced or translated into English. In this word, the
first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet are written
next to each other. This word is found all over the Old
Covenant writings, and we are going to have a look at its
appearing and use in Mal 3:10.

Jesus said that He is the Alpha and the Omega, which has
a certain meaning to us in the modern world. We feel
uplifted and in awe of Jesus when we sing the song, You
are Alpha and Omega, I worship you my Lord, you are
worthy to be praised. Yet, in Jesus’ day, to say you are the
Alpha and the Omega had a completely different

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meaning—even blasphemous. In the Hebrew, the words

basically have no meaning in and of themselves, and
cannot be translated into English, although some tried
their hand at it and failed miserably. They failed so
completely that the one point of translation totally
contradicts the other.

The most astounding thing about the Alpha Omega—in

Hebrew, Aleph Tav—is that it is the word used thousands
of times in the Old Covenant. It is used over seven
thousand times, yet almost never translated into English.
It has been translated one hundred and eleven times into
English, using twelve different words, varying from what
to wept; so we can see there is much more to its meaning
than meets the eye. We find that the translators had no idea
what the word could mean, contradicting themselves in
the translation all the time.

When Jesus said He is the Alpha and the Omega, the

Hebrew people would have heard Him say He is the Aleph
and the Tav. The Aleph is the first and the Tav is the last
letter in the Hebrew alphabet, translated into Greek as
Alpha and Omega.

Here is the root from where it is contracted:

‫תוא‬

‘ôth

BDB Definition:
1) sign, signal
1a) a distinguishing mark
1b) banner

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1c) remembrance
1d) miraculous sign
1e) omen
1f) warning
2) token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof
Part of Speech: noun feminine

Notice 1e) omen: an omen is a sign of a futuristic event.

AMAZING! Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. This
word is also found untranslated in Gen 1:1 where it clearly
points to Jesus:

Gen 1:1 In the beginningH7225 GodH430 createdH1254 (H853)

the heavenH8064 and the earth.H776 (KJV)

Can you see the untranslated word? The word (H853),

just before “the heavens,” is Aleph Tav. Hebrew scholars
teach that H853 points to God. In this case, the verse
would read, “In the beginning God the Aleph and the
Tav created …” Since there are no grammar marks in
paleo Hebrew, one can assume it is referring to the
Messiah and His work in every place the Aleph and Tav
shows up in the Bible.

With this in mind, let’s read Mal [Link]

Mal 3:10 BringH935 ye(H853) allH3605 the tithesH4643 intoH413

the storehouse,H1004 H214 that there may beH1961
meatH2964 in mine house,H1004 and proveH974 me
nowH4994 herewith,H2063 saithH559 the LORDH3068 of
hosts,H6635 ifH518 I will notH3808 openH6605 you(H853) the
windowsH699 of heaven,H8064 and pour you outH7324 a
blessing,H1293 thatH5704 there shall notH1097 be room
enoughH1767 to receive it. (KJV)

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Imagine Jesus, knowing He is the Aleph and the Tav,

reading this verse. This is how it would read for Jesus:

Bring yourself, Jesus, the tithe in the storehouse, that

there might be meat in my house and prove me now herein,
if I will not open Jesus, the windows of Heaven, and pour
out a blessing that there will not be room enough to
receive it (Mal. 3:10).

Is Jesus not the window we have to Heaven? Is Jesus not

the manna that we have to eat? Is the body of Jesus not the
food in the house of God? Do we not receive freedom
when we eat His flesh and drink His blood? Yes! Jesus is
the tithe brought into the storehouse—a million times
yes! Hallelujah!

And I will rebuke your devourer, and he will not decay the
fruit of your ground against you; nor will your vine
miscarry against you in the field, says Jehovah of Hosts
(MKJV, Mal. 3:11).

Now we can also better understand verse 11. And God will
rebuke the devourer of the fruit, on account of what Jesus
has done. When there is bread and wine in the house of
God, when the true manna comes from Heaven and is
eaten by the people of God, the people start to bear fruit,
and the life of the flesh and its fruit is over. I know this
might shock you, but it is simply a confirmation of what
is clearly declared in Malachi 3. It could not be understood
by Jesus in any other way. I think I have said enough on
tithing to help those that want to hear and learn. I think
what is said is more than enough to spark a fire in you that
will change your life forever. I could go through every
verse in the Old Covenant and explain the very thing I

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have made clear here.

Conclusion:

 The tithe of Abraham was part of the Chaldean system

of the time and serves to show us that Jesus has the
authority to change the law.
 Jesus was the fulfilment of the type and shadow of the
tithe, which is His body, the real bread from Heaven for
all who want eternal life to eat by believing in Him.
 Tithing can never be money and has never been taught
in the New Testament as giving to the local church. In
fact, this has not occurred anywhere in Scripture—not
even once.

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Jesus and the famous you should not have neglected

tithing Scripture:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye

pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted
the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and
faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the
other undone (KJV, Matt. 23:23).

First of all, I would like to tell you what this verse does
NOT say:

 It does not say that tithing should be given to the

local church.
 It does not say that tithing should continue in the
New Testament.

There is no scriptural, historical or contextual evidence

that this verse points to giving money to the local church.
It has nothing to do with the local church today and
everything to do with the Jewish laws in effect at that
time. When Jesus was speaking in Matthew 23, the Law
 Did Jesus say we should Tithe?

and all the sacrifices were still to be fulfilled—

especially the tithing and sacrificial laws—since Jesus
had not yet died.

The tithe had not yet come to the storehouse, because the
body of Jesus had not yet been broken and made available
as food for all people. On account of this, they still had to
follow the principle described in Deuteronomy 14. Is it not
clear in the passage that the people were tithing of food?
How did they tithe? They took the mint, anise, and cumin,
and ate it at the temple once a year. Every third year they
kept it in their cities and the poor, widows, Levites, and
strangers ate of it.

Jesus was saying they should be merciful and loving,

while eating the tithe as described in the Law. The
teachers of the Law, and holy men, kept the Law to the
letter; they were tithing as they were supposed to tithe. It
would have been seen as the greatest corruption and
disobedience to take the tithe, turn it into money, and
give the money to the Levite, poor or stranger, for it
would be a massive violation of the prescriptions of how
one should tithe. That would be seen as not keeping to
the Law and one would be found a transgressor of the
Law.

Jesus was the meat that would come to the storehouse, so

not long after He told them to continue eating the tithe
everything would change. Imagine you refuse to stop
tithing and you still eat the tithe every year as the Law
commanded. Would that not also be against the true tithe
that has come. Once the substance has arrived, there is no
need for the shadow. This verse is clearly pointing to

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Jesus’ integrity in the fulfilment of the Law. Jesus did not

come to break the Law but to fulfill it. Once the Law is
fulfilled, like prophecy, it no longer has value except for
the fulfillment right in front of you. Since the manna from
Heaven (Jesus) had to be tithed (placed in an omer, which
means to be placed on Golgotha and chastised), Jesus
would not be against them tithing by eating the mint and
spices, since it was still a system that was to be fulfilled
by Jesus. Jesus was not referring to tithing as giving
money to the priests. It would be erroneous to conclude,
from this verse, that Jesus was commanding the New
Testament Church to give ten percent of their money to the
local congregation. There is not the slightest hint of that in
this passage.

Paying tithes according to the prescriptions of the Old

Covenant, in the presence of the resurrected Jesus, would
be dishonouring the meat that came to the storehouse. It
would be seen as dishonouring the work of Jesus on the
cross. If we want to tithe today, we should keep in mind
that the tithe will be for all the strangers, widows, and
priests in town. If we say that the priest is the pastor, then
who are the strangers and widows?

The passage in question simply states that it was not wrong

for the Pharisees to even eat ten percent of spices and to
be very careful in observing the Law to the letter, while
the system was still active. This types and shadow of
tithing was fulfilled when Jesus was chastised and
hanging on the cross at Golgotha providing the real tithe,
which is the real meat in the storehouse.

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The right of the preacher – what is it and how
should it be implemented?

You need to know that what I am about to say is so far from

what we’ve traditionally heard that you might think I have
lost my mind! All I ask is that you hear me out. Very
important parts of the passage will be placed in bold:

3My answer to those who examine me is this: 4Do we not

have authority to eat and to drink? 5Do we not have
authority to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other
apostles, and as the brothers of the Lord do, and Cephas?
6Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no authority
whether not to work? 7Who serves as a soldier at his own
wages at any time? Who plants a vineyard and does not
eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock and does not partake
of the milk of the flock? 8Do I say these things according
to man? Or does not the Law say the same also? 9For it
is written in the Law of Moses, “You will not muzzle an
ox threshing grain.” Does God take care for oxen?10Or
does He say it altogether for our sakes? It was written for
 The right of the preacher – what is it and how should it be
implemented?

us, so that he who plows should plow in hope, and so that

he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope
(MKJV, 1Cor. 9:3-10).

In this passage, Paul is taking the common sense of

farming and government to explain that it’s not wrong for
a person who works to be paid. Yet, he is not saying that
we should demand money from people and base our
demand on certain Scriptures. He is simply explaining the
common sense of serving and receiving support for what
you have done. The logic is clear: if you work, it is not
wrong to eat of the fruit of your labour.

11If we have sown to you spiritual things, is it a great thing

if we will reap your carnal things? 12If others have a share
of this authority over you, rather should not we? But we
have not used this authority, but we endured all things lest
we should hinder the gospel of Christ. 13Do you not know
that those who minister about holy things live of the things
of the temple? And those attending the altar are partakers
with the altar. 14Even so, the Lord ordained those
announcing the gospel to live from the gospel. 15But I
have used none of these things, nor have I written these
things that it should be done so to me; for it is good for me
rather to die than that anyone nullify my glorying. 16For
though I preach the gospel, no glory is to me. For
necessity is laid on me; yea, woe is to me if I do not preach
the gospel! 17For if I do this thing willingly, I have a
reward; but if against my will, I am entrusted with a
stewardship. 18What then is my reward? That when I
preach the gospel I may make the gospel of Christ without
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implemented?

charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel

(MKJV, 1Cor. 9:11-18).

It is clear Paul never thought that he needed to be rewarded

with an offering for his preaching. In fact, the real reward,
for Paul, was to make the gospel without charge—free for
all. Make the Gospel without charge. This means that Paul
did not charge to preach. Charging to preach the Gospel,
or demanding giving, would be abuse of one’s right as a
preacher. We have no right to charge money for our
preaching; we only have a right to receive money should
people give it freely, so it would not be a hindrance to the
Gospel.

19For though I am free from all, yet I have made myself

servant to all, so that I might gain the more. 20And to the
Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might gain the Jews. To
those who are under the Law, I became as under the Law,
so that I might gain those who are under the Law. 21To
those who are outside Law, I became as outside Law (not
being outside Law to God, but under the Law to Christ),
so that I might gain those who are outside Law. 22To the
weak I became as the weak, so that I might gain the weak.
I am made all things to all men, so that I might by all
means save some. 23And this I do for the sake of the
gospel, so that I might be partaker of it with you (MKJV,
1Cor. 9:19-23).

What 1Cor. 9:3-23 does NOT say:

 It does not say that because the tithe belongs to God

we should take to the local church.

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 It does not say we can demand money from people if

we have preached to them.
 It does not say the Abrahamic tithe was still active.
(There is not even the slightest hint of that.)
 It does not say today’s preacher has all the rights of
the Old Testament priest. 5. It does not say we
can take the old Jewish laws and demand money
from people.
 It does not say that we can ask money for preaching
the Gospel.
 It does not say the people you preach to should feel
burdened to care for you.
 It does not say people will receive more money if they
give money.
 It does not say we are allowed to make merchandise of
the church.
 It does not say you can expect money from the
individual. (We expect our provision from the Gospel,
and while that is through the people we minister to, an
expectation cannot be placed on the individual that he
or she MUST give to you. I can expect that I will have
provision through preaching, but not expect a certain
church should give to me when I preach there.)
 It does not say we can make a business of the church,
by making preaching our occupation and the church
our source of income. It does not say the preacher
should preach because he needs money, but because of
the burning desire God has placed in his heart for
people to know the Gospel.

What the passage DOES say:

 It does say that it’s not wrong to live off the Gospel as

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implemented?

a preacher.
 It does say that it’s not a sin to receive the giving that
is freely given.
 It does say that one should not muzzle the ox (refuse
to allow the preacher to receive from the people, who
want to give to him from a heart of generosity).
 It does say that it’s basic knowledge in law, farming,
government, and the Gospel that people can live from
what they do.
 It does say we should not be antagonistic towards those
who are willing to leave their jobs and live off the free-
will giving of the people to whom they minister.
 It does say the concept of receiving, from those who
give to you when you preach, is not a man-made
concept, but something ordained by God.
 It does say that it can be better not to make use of the
right in some instances.

From this passage, we can extrapolate that Paul was under

the scrutiny of people who were very money conscious—
they were questioning the motive of his preaching.
Because they thought Paul should not get any food,
lodging, or any form of provision from the people to
whom he preached, Paul defends the right of preachers to
have material care from the people to whom they minister.
The right he is talking about is not in the context of
demanding provision, but receiving on account of the
fruit the Gospel brings forth in the believer. When Paul
talks about the right to reap material things when spiritual
things are sown, it should always be seen in the context
of generosity and not demanded giving. What I would like
to make clear is that Paul said it was not a big thing if
people from the love of their heart give to the preacher that

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implemented?

has helped them to see the fruit of the Spirit come forth in
their life. Should a preacher’s right be exercised by demanding
that the people give to him, it will give place for all kinds of
evil, just as the traditional teaching on sowing and
reaping, tithing, and seed faith has done.

I am sure people said things like, “Paul only preaches for

the money; he goes to towns without having a job. Who
does he think must provide for him? Is he expecting the
people to take care of him? I am sure he is only in this for
the money.”

Paul is not saying a preacher has the right to demand money

from people because he ministers to them. He is simply
saying it is not wrong to receive money or provision from
the people to whom you minister. Receiving from those
that you minister to is proper, yet it is not the end goal of
ministry. We see Paul addressing this in his letter to
Timothy, when he states that those who labour in word are
worthy of the support they receive. Paul is telling Timothy
he should allow support to those who have no other income,
on account of giving themselves to the word and teaching.

Let’s make that practical. When someone ministers and

you are not muzzling the ox, you will provide the
opportunity for people to follow the generosity in their
hearts towards the preacher. This will be all that is needed
for the preacher to have enough to live. You should not
manipulate and make promises about how God will bless
the givers if they give to the preacher; this would be wrong
and unbiblical.

Let me put this in even clearer terms: Paul is saying that

you cannot demand a car from the people in your church,

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implemented?

but if they want to give you one on account of the word

bearing the fruit of generosity in their hearts, you have the
right to receive it. Making use of the right you have as a
preacher would be to take what they freely give. Not
making use of your right, as a preacher, would be to turn
it down when they want to give it. Paul expected provision
from churches but the expectation was between him and
God, not him and the people.

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 Fruit abounding to your account – Phil 4:19

Paul’s expectation, and the perfect application of the right of

the preacher discussed in 1 Corinthians 9, is described in
the finest detail in Philippians 4:10-20. Although it should
be easy to understand what Paul is talking about in this
passage, our traditions have made it difficult for us.

Traditionally, we’ve interpreted key verses in Philippians

4 to be speaking primarily about money. Along with Phil.
4:19—My God shall supply all your needs”—the other
well-known verse is Phil. 4:13, “I can do all things
through Christ.” We quote these verses to encourage
ourselves to accomplish great things; yet, what we don’t
know is that Philippians 4 is actually talking about
contentment. Let’s go through this passage, verse by
verse, and then connect it to 1 Corinthians 9 in our
conclusion on the right of the preacher:

10But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last

your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were
also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. 11Not that I speak
in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state
 Fruit abounding to your account – Phil 4:19

I am, therewith to be content. 12I know both how to be

abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in
all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need. 13I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me (KJV, Phil. 4:10-
13).

The reason Paul is so happy about how the church in

Philippi has given to him is that he is glad to see the Gospel
bearing fruit in them. He makes very sure that the people
understand it’s not that he’s happy because his need was
met. The joy he expresses is on account of the Gospel
bearing fruit in them. This means that he would be just
as happy if the money was given to someone else. The
integrity of the Trinity life is astounding; how wonderful
that we can have the life of God manifest in us!

Paul explains that Christ has given him the ability to be

content, which means to see no need to add anything to
your situation to feel blessed and loved by God. Paul has
no need because Christ strengthens us to be happy in
wealth and in poverty. This is the place where neither wealth
nor poverty has any voice. This is what I call being seated
in the Trinity, experiencing the Trinity life of the Spirit—
the highest quality of life.

Verses 11 to 13 actually state that the poverty in Paul’s life

did not cause him to think the church should give to him
because he preached to them. Paul made sure the people
knew he was not secretly, in his heart, demanding money
from them. He was genuinely happy in the state he was
in—supernaturally happy. The modern-day church has

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lost this kind of integrity. The traditional teaching of

sowing and reaping does not make provision for this kind
of integrity, for it is simply too weak to produce this kind
of fruit. This kind of holiness can only come forth from
the revelation that removes the root of all evil from the
heart of a person. This removal happens when we see our
union with the Divine Ones, sharing in their quality of life.
This kind of life cannot be copied or faked; it can only be
born of God.

Some people might hate to hear what I’m saying here, for
it might sound as if I am settling for poverty; I am not! I
am settling, yes, but only for His abundant life in which
true prosperity cannot be defined by any amount of
money. Unless we can say from the depth of our hearts that
we are rich, while having no money—seeing no need to
add anything—we have yet to experience what Paul talks
about here. This I don’t say condemningly but to bring
hope and freedom to you!

“Not withstanding ye have well done, that ye did

communicate with my affliction” (KJV, Phil. 4:14).

The way Paul is making use of his right to receive from

people who freely give is by encouraging them not to
interpret what he is saying to mean they have done
something wrong by giving to him. WOW! (Let me put
this in simple words.) This is what our beloved apostle is
telling the church: I am so happy that you gave. Not that I
was desperately waiting for you to do something for me;
I am happy just as I am, rich or poor. What makes me
happy is to see that the word has entered your heart to the
point of bearing fruit. Please don’t think I am ungrateful
for your giving; it is wonderful and beautiful. I just want

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you to be sure that I was not demanding this from you.

What makes me happy is to see the word working in you,
not what I can get from the word working in you. I cannot
deny that the word bearing its fruit in you has changed
my situation; I am grateful for it. However, the greatest joy
in my heart is to see Jesus manifesting in you. This is what
it is all about! (Bertie Brits)

I would like to say this again: Paul is exercising his right,

mentioned in 1 Cor. 9. Can you see how he does this with
the greatest respect for people? Can you see how he
would’ve even been happy if they had given it to someone
else? Paul lives off the Gospel—not the people, although
people are involved. Paul lives off the fruit that comes
from the Word. He is not making them promises of great
wealth, and then benefitting from their giving into his
fruitful ministry. There is not even the slightest hint of
that.

Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of

the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church
communicated with me as concerning giving and
receiving, but ye only (KJV, Phil. 4:15).

Paul says there was no other church from whom he

received support but this church. Please note that it would
be absolutely wrong to take this verse and build a doctrine
of giving, where God will make you rich, if you give to
the preacher. When we look at 1 Cor 9 as we connect it to
Philippians, where the practical application of the rights
mentioned in Corinthians is expressed, we can understand
what Paul was saying to the Corinthian church:

16For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto

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my necessity. 17Not because I desire a gift: but I desire

fruit that may abound to your account (KJV, Phil. 4:16,
17).

The word account, in this passage, has been taught as a

bank account. It does not mean bank account at all. Here
is the Greek meaning:

logos log’-os

From G3004: something said (including the thought); by

implication a

topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental

faculty) or motive; by extension a computation;
specifically (with the article in John) the Divine
Expression (that is, Christ):

The word account is the word LOGOS. Paul is saying that

he was not seeking the money but the report or WORD
that will go forth about the church. The message (logos)
that will go around about the church would be that they
are a generous fruitful church. That is what he was
seeking. It was not giving that Paul was after, but the
WORD having its effect in their lives.

But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of

Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an
odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-
pleasing to God (KJV, Phil. 4:18).

As members of a church, it is very important to understand

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that your giving makes a difference in the lives of those

for whom you give. Here we can see Paul getting out of a
financially difficult situation after the people gave. Let the
word dwell richly in your heart unto the bearing of fruit.
The bearing of this fruit changes things for us all.

It is not wrong for those who minister the Gospel to

receive money from people who want to give to them; it
is God-ordained and really makes a difference. So, let’s
not settle for a fruitless life. Let’s allow the word to
dwell richly within us unto the bearing of its fruit.

19But my God will supply all your need according to his

riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20Now unto God and our
Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen (KJV, Phil. 4:19,
20).

Verse 19 has been so abused that it would be difficult for

most to see what it means.

What it does NOT mean:

 It does not mean that God will meet their needs

because they gave to Paul.
 It does not mean that God will supply only the needs of
the people who gave, excluding those who did not.
 It does not mean that God will meet our needs
because we give.

What it DOES say and express:

 It expresses the care Paul had for those who have less
because they gave.
 It expresses the foundation from where God supports
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His people.
 It says that God will meet the needs of people
according to His riches in His glory by Christ Jesus

Is it not beautiful to see how Paul never loses sight of

Trinity logic when he teaches? Can you see how Paul
sees the people united with God in Christ? Can you see
how he teaches that all their needs will be met inside
that glory, which is the goodness of God in the
resurrection power? Can you see that Paul is saying their
needs will be met by Jesus? Can you see how it would
be utterly out of context, and wrong, to conclude that the
people’s needs will be met by their giving? That is not
what this passage suggests at all!

Whenever we assign any attributes to God that will kill

the Abba in God, it will always be to our own detriment.
Where is the Abba heart of God expressed in a teaching
that says, “God will meet your needs only according to
your giving”!

In conclusion, we can see that 1 Corinthians 9 tells us it’s

absolutely normal and right for preachers to receive
money from those who want to give, as a result of the
word bearing fruit in them. The right of the preacher is not
to demand financial support but to receive it, should it be
given with a joyful heart.

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The two verses that need our attention in this matter are
2 Corinthians 9, and Galatians 6:6-10. After in-depth
study, I have found that the passage in 2 Corinthians 9,
which speaks about sowing sparingly and reaping in
accordance to what you’ve sown, has been so drastically
taken out of original intent that what the verse actually
states becomes difficult to see. This isn’t because the
verse isn’t clear but from the blindness of heart caused by
the traditional sowing and reaping teaching.

This is also true for the verse in Galatians 6, where Paul

states that God is not mocked; whatever you sow you will
reap. The passage does not say if you give sparingly you
will reap little amounts of money, and if you give much
you will have a lot of money. There is not even a hint of
that in the true meaning of either of these passages.

We don’t want the death of our Abba, as I shared in Chapter

2, do we? Please prayerfully read through these passages
and then let me explain what they are saying. I purposefully
copy these large portions of Scripture into the book
because I have found that a lot of people don’t open the
 What about Sowing and Reaping?

Bible to read a text that is discussed in a book.

6Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him

that teaches in all good things. 7Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that will he
also reap. 8For he that soweth to his flesh will of the flesh
reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit will of the
Spirit reap life everlasting. 9And let’s not be weary in well
doing: for in due season we will reap, if we faint not (KJV,
Gal. 6:6-9).

The context of this passage is false teaching infiltrating

the church, preachers visiting the church, support for
preachers, and the fruit of wrong doctrine.

Defining in the flesh:

2This only I would learn from you: Did you receive the
Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing of faith? 3Are you
so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, do you now perfect
yourself in the flesh? 4Have you suffered so many things
in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5Then He supplying the
Spirit to you and working powerful works in you, is it by
works of the law, or by hearing of faith? 6Even as
Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for
righteousness. 7Therefore know that those of faith, these
are the sons of Abraham (KJV, Gal. 3:2-7).

In those days, there were Jews going around making

disciples of the Gentiles (See Matt 23:15), because they
believed they needed to be included in the realm that the

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Messiah would come to save. They wanted the Gentiles

to be a part of the covenant by baptizing and circumcising
them, and giving them the Law of Moses to uphold. By
doing this, the Jews believed they qualified the Gentiles
to be part of the Messianic reign. These false teachers
knew that the promise was only made to those that are
children of Abraham. They defined children of Abraham
as physical descendants who were circumcised. They
would also include Gentiles who would repent of sin and
idolatry, and become circumcised. Believing this lie is
what it means to be in the flesh.

The foundation of salvation, according to these false

teachers, was not that a person simply believes the Holy
Spirit will bring life by the promise of God. Believing that
the Holy Spirit will raise you up in the last day and bring
forth fruit was not enough for them. When we read
chapters 3 to 5 of Galatians, we see Paul explaining that a
child of Abraham is not defined by circumcision in the
flesh, or physical descent, but by having faith in God.
Paul addresses the flesh in most of his writing, according
to this definition I have given here.

The fruit of being in this fleshly belief is described in

Galatians 3 as sin and all kinds of evil, which are not part
of the inheritance made available for us in Jesus. This
kind of life is also described in the Bible as corruption,
decay and death

It is in light of this background that Paul gives his advice

to the church about supporting those who minister the
Gospel. If we don’t read it this way, we will be missing
what Paul is actually saying. Paul believed that it was
good both to minister the Gospel and support the preacher.

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He told the people to partner with those who teach them.

Partnering, in this context, means to support the preacher,
by believing what they preach as well as ministering to
them through giving, as explained in 1 Cor. 9. This does
not go without a serious warning by the beloved apostle.
The warning he issues is based on the foundation in
Galatians 3. He explains the effect that supporting the
wrong message and teacher will have on the lives of the
believers is corruption, which is obviously the opposite
of eternal life:

7Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a

man soweth, that will he also reap. 8For he that soweth to
his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
soweth to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap life everlasting
(KJV, Gal. 6:7, 8).

The fruit that partners of the wrong message will reap is

clearly mentioned in the following passage of Scripture.
Read this carefully and see the devastating effects of a
mixture gospel:

19Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which

are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness,
20idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, fightings, jealousies, angers,
rivalries, divisions, heresies, 21envyings, murders,
drunkennesses, revelings, and things like these; of which I
tell you before, as I also said before, that they who do such
things will not inherit the Kingdom of God (MKJV, Gal.
5:19-21).

Paul explains the reaping as the effect the message they

support and believe will have on them. He was warning

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the believers not to mock what God did in Jesus, by

adding the law to His work. Mixing the system of
circumcision in the flesh with the work of God would
simply be a mockery of His love and passion for mankind.
Telling a person that he can become part of God’s people
after he believed the Gospel, expecting the promise of
eternal life according to the Spirit dwelling in him, would
be mocking the Spirit of God, rejecting the power of His
salvation and life.

It is very clear that this Scripture in its context does not

teach that the giving of money to a preacher will multiply
your money. It actually teaches that giving yourself to the
Gospel of the Spirit brings the fruit of the Spirit (mentioned
in Chapter 3). It also teaches that you will reap death should
you believe and give yourself for the mixture message
preached by the false preachers of the law/grace mixture.
As this is true for death it is true for life. When we support
the true Gospel, our heart will be where our treasure is
and be flooded with the truth. The truth will then give is
immortality (eternal life) should we believe it to the end.

To take this verse, proving supernatural financial gain

because you support a preacher, would simply be
incongruent with the concept Paul is actually explaining.
As a matter of fact, it would be exactly the opposite. If you
think that you can have supernatural wealth because of the
work of giving to an anointed preacher, you are actually
in the flesh. This is where a lot of the pain and hurt in
church as pertaining to money is rooted.

Let’s not mock God with our financial sowing unto

prosperity. Does the Scripture not conclude that the birds
don’t sow or reap? Does it not say that God cares for them

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outside sowing and reaping and that we are worth more

than they? Let’s not mock his love by trying to work some
principle unto prosperity. All provision is found in
ABBA, let that be enough. Let our giving have nothing to
do with what we expect God to do for us when we give.
The Spirit of God is a Spirit of generosity. Walk in the
spirit and you will be free from stinginess by the power of
the resurrection. Sowing money unto financial prosperity
can never set you free from a love for money. It will only
worsen the matter.

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly will reap also

sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully will reap also
bountifully (KJV, 2 Cor. 9:6).

The verse you just read is one of the most confusing verses
in the Bible; in fact, it is impossible to understand without
grasping what we’ve talked about thus far. We need to
understand the dilemma Paul was in, which is described in
Chapter 9 of 2 Corinthians. Reading this verse without
understanding all that I have just mentioned will lead you
to believe that your financial blessing can be connected to
bountiful giving. This would be a lie and not the truth.
This lie will possess the power to grab a hold of the sin
contained in the humans’ flesh that seeks life by works.
Death will thrive as it is engraved into the root of this lie,
this will result in all sorts of pain and destruction. The sad
thing about that is that it all will be in the Name of Jesus
(salvation and freedom). Should this concept be
challenged, the person programmed by this wrong belief
will think the challenge is satanic? Thanks be to God that
He is greater than our hearts. His word is sharper than any
sword and can distribute life, peace and true freedom to
us all. What I am about to explain to you is that the sowing

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and reaping Paul was talking about was that the Church
in Corinth would, by grace, fulfill the promise they made
a year prior to the letter. I will also explain that Paul was
trying to avoid disappointment in the hearts of people. The
reaping would be the worship towards God by those in
Jerusalem as well as a good report about the Church based
in Corinth. This good report would be on account of their
bountiful generosity towards the poor in Jerusalem. You
might think that I am taking a shot in the dark, you might
think that it is impossible for the Scripture to actually have
this meaning. Let me assure you of this truth by
explaining the history and setting of chapter eight and
nine.

The key verses that everything pivots around are found in

Chapters 8 and 9:

1For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is

superfluous for me to write to you: 2For I know the
forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them
of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and
your zeal hath provoked very many. 3Yet have I sent the
brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this
behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready: 4Lest haply if they
of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we
(that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same
confident boasting (MKJV, 2 Cor. 9:1-4).

These verses explain the following:

 Paul felt boldness to write to the church in Corinth

about giving to the poor. This was because of the
Corinthians’ willingness to help the poor, on their

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own initiative.
 Paul boasted to the churches in Macedonia province
about what the church in Corinth wanted to do.
 Many other churches were influenced by the
willingness of the Corinthians to contribute to the
necessity of the poor churches.
 Other churches had their gifts ready about a year ago,
on account of the zeal of the Corinthians that Paul
boasted about.
 The Corinthians had not given what they promised,
while others had already given based on what the
Corinthians sparked in them.
 Paul was afraid that some of the poor churches in
Macedonia, who gave because of Paul’s boasting
about the Corinthian Church, will travel with Paul to
Corinth in order to receive the gifts they promised,
then find out that the Corinthians only promised and
have nothing to give. This would make Paul’s
boasting in vain. I can see Paul stressed about this
situation. He was very concerned for the churches in
Macedonia who gave. They gave in the midst of the
deepest poverty. Paul must have thought that this will
be absolutely heart breaking for them to see that the
people who had the initiative gave nothing in the end,
causing discouragement in all those that expected
what was promised.
 Paul did not want to be humiliated and did not want to
bring humiliation to the Corinthians about this matter.

Let’s read the same passage in The Message Bible. I love

reading The Message, not as a true translation from the
Greek, but to get the mood and spirit of what was said.
We can see the heart of our Abba in Paul. It is wonderful

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to see that Paul never moves outside of the logic found in

the Divine Ones. He does not even do that, even when he’s
between a rock and a hard place. He sticks to the fact that
the generosity has to be born in the heart. He does not want
to see people humiliated, and above all he does not force
them in any way, constructing a plan to see giving based
on grace and not works.

1If I wrote any more on this relief offering for the poor
Christians, I’d be repeating myself. 2I know you’re on
board and ready to go. I’ve been bragging about you all
through Macedonia province, telling them, “Achaia
province has been ready to go on this since last year.”
Your enthusiasm by now has spread to most of them. 3Now
I’m sending the brothers to make sure you’re ready, as I
said you would be, so my bragging won’t turn out to be
just so much hot air.4If some Macedonians and I
happened to drop in on you and found you weren’t
prepared, we’d all be pretty red-faced--you and us-- for
acting so sure of ourselves. 5So to make sure there will be
no slipup, I’ve recruited these brothers as an advance
team to get you and your promised offering all ready
before I get there. I want you to have all the time you need
to make this offering in your own way. I don’t want
anything forced or hurried at the last minute (MSG.,
2Cor. 9:1-4).

With all of this in mind we can now go to Chapter 8 and read

about what happened in Macedonia when they heard
about the Corinthian initiative to give to the poor churches.
The best way for me to explain the passage would be to
translate it into simple English, expressing the context and

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what we have discussed. Ask God to show you the context

and what is actually hidden in these verses. It took my heart
many years to see the truth in these passages. I knew there
was love, compassion and freedom from legalism hidden
in these passages. Here we go:

1I would like to let you know about the Godly influence

unto generous giving that manifested in the poor churches
in Macedonia.2their deepest poverty had no chance to
hold their giving back. The fact that they were so poor yet
so generous on account of the freedom Grace brings
makes this giving simply mind blowing and God ordained.
3We conclude that what they gave was above what any
person can do by mere human ability. 4The reason I say it
was God influenced giving is this. They, the poor in
Macedonia, continually begged us to honor them in
allowing them to partaking in giving to the poor. They are
suppose to be on the receiving side, yet Grace liberated
them to see what they have, not focusing or mindful of
what they don’t have. 5We did not go boasting about what
you want to give to the poor in order to get the
Macedonians in on the giving. That was never our motive.
These people gave themselves to God and the Gospel we
preach. This is where it all happened. This grace unto
generosity has its roots in God living in them, not our
hinting by testifying of what you are willing to do. 6We are
sending Titus to you in order to see the completion of the
very same grace that sparked a willingness to give in you.
You were the first people that experienced this. The word
of His grace manifesting generosity in you, sparked the
same generosity in others all over the region. 7We see the
fruit of the word, the righteousness that flows from the

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faith you have, the passion of God and you love in full
manifestation. What we would like to see added to that is
the manifestation and completion of this grace that we
know is in you. 8I’m not trying to order you around
against your will. But by bringing in the Macedonians’
enthusiasm as a stimulus to the love you already have, I
am hoping to bring the best out of you. 9You are familiar
with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he
was, he gave it all away for us--in one stroke, He became
poor and we became rich.10So here’s what I think: The best
thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last
year and not let those good intentions grow stale. 11Your
heart’s been full of this grace giving all along. Follow
your heart unto actually giving.12Once the commitment
is clear, and it is clear in you, you do what you can, not
what you can’t. Let the willingness of the heart regulate
your giving.13We are not trying to make other rich by your
giving. The only thing that is going to happen is that the
need they have of food will be met as well as the need you
have as pertaining to giving. 14This concept is even
mentioned in scripture. “there are those that gather all the
time, rich in everything yet their life is poor concerning
giving. There are those that give and still have enough to
live - rich on both sides”. Be rich in your giving as you
are in your possessions. Live a well-balanced life, since
the inner willingness is already present with you (MSG., 2
Cor. 8:1-14).

With the foundation firmly established in the context of

these passages, we can now look at those seemingly
impossible to understand, highly abused verses in Chapter
9. The key verses revealing what it is exactly that a person

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will bountifully reap are verses 8-10. By studying these

verses, it is clear that Paul is not concerned about financial
increase in the life of the Corinthian Church, but the
increase of the fruit of generosity. This is exactly what
these verses point to:

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;

that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may
abound to every good work (KJV, 2 Cor. 9:8):

The abounding is in good works.

9As it is written, ‘He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given

to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.” 10Now
he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread
for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase
the fruits of your righteousness (KJV, 2 Cor. 9:9, 10);

What is it that will increase through their giving? The

fruit of righteousness. What will remain forever, wherein
they will be enriched? In the righteous act of giving. The
righteousness (giving) of a generous man is not forgotten
but remembered.

Paul uses a passage that speaks about the transition grain

goes through. Grain is sown, yet it becomes food for those
who eat it. Substance for the needs of the poor will be
given, and what they will reap is the report of generosity
and gratefulness, expressed in worship towards God by
the receiver. The increase will not be in money but the
effect their righteous act will have on the people on the
receiving end. This is very clear in the following verses,
which are of utmost importance because they explain
what people will reap when they give:
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11Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness,

which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. 12For the
administration of this service not only supplieth the want
of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings
unto God (KJV, 2Cor. 9:11, 12);

In conclusion, Paul addresses the church in Corinth that

was rich in word, rich in faith, and rich in willingness to
give, yet poor in the good work of actually being
generous. He is showing them how to reap a good report
from those people that are about to receive the gift they
promised together with Paul. Paul also knows that there
will not be any grudges in the hearts of the Macedonians
traveling with Paul, when they see the church in Corinth
generously fulfilling their promise. Paul also reveals how
those that are on the receiving end of this generous giving
will praise God for what the Corinthians did. I hope your
heart can see that the bountiful reaping is a good report
and not money.

Giving is multiplied, transformed into, “fruit behind the

name,” as well as praise in the mouths of those that receive
it.

What about “pressed down shaken together running

over?”

35But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend,

hoping for nothing again; and your reward will be great,
and ye will be the children of the Highest: for he is kind
unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37Judge not,
and ye will not be judged: condemn not, and ye will not

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be condemned: forgive, and ye will be forgiven: 38 Give,

and it will be given unto you; good measure, pressed
down, and shaken together, and running over, will men
give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye
mete withal it will be measured to you again (NKJV, Luke
6:35-38).

What this passage does NOT say

 It does not state that giving is the way you activate

God’s giving to you.
 It does not state that God will judge you if you do
not give.

I would like to quote Albert Barnes, a nineteenth century

theologian and author of Notes on the New Testament. I
believe there is not much more to say than what he
summarized in his commentary on this passage of
Scripture:

Shall men give - This is said to be the reward of “giving”

to the poor and needy; and the meaning is that the man
who is liberal will find others liberal to him in dealing
with them, and when he is also in circumstances of want.
A man who is himself kind to the poor - who has that
“character” established - will find many who are ready to
help “him” abundantly when he is in want. He that is
parsimonious, close, [beggarly], will find few or none
who will aid him. - Albert Barnes

Into your bosom - That is, to you. The word “bosom” here
has reference to a custom among Oriental nations of
making the bosom or front part of their garments large, so
that articles could be carried in them, answering the

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purpose of our pockets. Albert Barnes

This passage talks about good relationship and unity

among people, which is also true for our relationship with
God. God did not come judging, hating and abusing us.
He showed His love to us. From that platform people
loved Him back. In the same way, people will love us
when we don’t judge them, are good to them, and love
them.

This passage is revealing who our heavenly Father is, not

giving advice on how to get rich. If we use this verse as a
principle to get rich or blessed, we are missing the point of
the Scripture. Jesus explains that we have a Father who
does not have any hidden agenda. He does not give to get,
He does not expect money back, and He loves those who
hate Him. The power to save us is in this powerful way of
life. What will save us from hatred? A God who loves us
and does not hate us. What will set us free from judging?
A God who does not judge us. What will restore man’s
love for his neighbour? Our loving Father.

Luke 6:35-38 points to something much deeper than

provision. You will receive what money cannot buy. We
need to know that the giving discussed in the New
Testament is about not expecting money back; yet, the
Scripture states that we will have a reward. What will this
reward be? The reward will be the joy of living in the
extravagant love of God and seeing that same joy in
others, when they are not condemned but forgiven by you.
It cannot be excluded that people will naturally do unto
you as you do unto them, as explained in the Barnes
commentary.

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There is something that I believe can be added into the mix.

What I am about to say can be seen as a bit of a stretch,
yet it is not impossible. Read this next passage with me:

22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was

carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man
also died, and was buried; 23And in hell he lift up his eyes,
being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and
Lazarus in his bosom (KJV, Luke 16:22, 23).

The bosom of Abraham speaks of the heart of Abraham.

The beggar was carried to the place where those who had
the heart of Abraham were taken. Why was it not called
Heaven? Why was it called the bosom?

People will Enter the Heart We Have as They Receive

the Love We Give

Just as the poor man was carried into Abraham’s bosom,

when we give, people will give into our bosom. This
giving will be on account of the effect love has on people.
What I see in this is that people will enter the heart we
have as they receive the love we give. They will give
themselves into the heart that is expressed in our giving
and love. This is the greatest reward and the highest form
of life there can ever be! It is a life equal to the life shared
in the Divine Ones.

It was out of the passion for having others enter the bosom
(heart or Spirit of life), that God made people. God made
mankind lovable as well as able to love from being loved.
The ability to love is born from receiving love. This is how
we enter the heart of God, by Him loving us. It is out of
God’s passion to have people, exactly like Him, inside
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His bosom (heart) that He loves on them and is good to

them. God’s hope that we will co-share in His bosom is
born from His perception of our value and beauty. When
this happens, we share in His quality of life, co-living with
God as His friends. I believe this is why Jesus said that it
is better to give than receive (See Acts 20:35); not because
the giver will have more money but because of what it
means to share in the life of God.

Unfortunately, the verse in Luke 6:38 was used to fuel a

love for money and not set people free. Remember, the
context is not to expect anything back, because we realize
that we are not lacking anything. We saw, in our previous
discussion, how Paul explained the practicality of this
principle in his letter to the church in Corinth. The zeal of
the Corinthians made the other churches give into their
bosom (heart), by also having a passion to give to the poor.
On the other side, we also see that the Corinthian church
would be held in high esteem, and fruit added to their
bosom. When I say fruit, I mean the fruit of generosity
that they were actually lacking. Their giving would also
multiply in praises to God from the poor who would
receive their gifts.

What about “faithful in little and faithful in much...”?

In order to easily understand this passage in our discussion

here, you can first go to our Dynamic Love Ministries’
website and listen to my message titled, The UNJUST
Steward in the Light of Grace and Not Giving. Just type
“The Unjust” into the search, and this message will appear
in the dropdown list. Listening first to it will give you a
wonderful foundation from where you can understand
what Jesus said in Luke 16. It will also be very helpful to

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refresh your mind on the emphasis Jews placed on money,

by reading Chapter 4 again. In most churches, Luke 16
was never really understood. There are certain things that
are simply taboo to talk about in the Church. Out of fear of
addressing taboo topics, and the fear of being labelled, we
struggle to see what is actually written in Luke 16.

As we look at this passage, we will have to get a bit over

the line and discuss some of the taboo topics. As an
introduction to this topic, I would like you to know that I
am not against the Jewish people. I am grateful for the
Jews, and Ilove what God has brought through them to us
all. I don’t believe that God has cast the Jews away. The
Jewish people have opportunity to be saved, should they
believe in Jesus.

I am fully against the oppression of any nation, including

oppression of the Jews. I might differ with the mainstream
view on how the Jews will be saved, but I believe it is not
of importance in this discussion. As long as you know that
God loves all people, including the Jewish people, and
that I believe it from the depth of my heart, you will
understand the point I am making about this passage.

I also would like you to know that I am not against giving

to the local church, nor am I in rebellion against the system
that has abused so many. Rebellion against abuse does not
equal grace. Let me say that again: rebellion against the
system that abused and hurt people cannot be called grace.

I am absolutely for generosity and freedom. God has come

to give us freedom from pain, hurt and all the forms of the
fruit of the flesh, including stinginess. God came to set us
free from stinginess by taking away its power, called the

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law of sin and death: “For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and
death” (NKJV, Rom. 8:2). The longer we squabble in the
Law the longer we will sit in the death of the flesh. I say
what I say in order to set people free—not because I am
against anybody.

10He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also

in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in
much. 11If therefore ye have not been faithful in the
unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the
true riches?12And if ye have not been faithful in that
which is another man’s, who will give you that which is
your own? (KJV, Luke 16:10-12)

This passage has been seen as teaching the local church

to be faithful in their giving in order to receive a better
revelation, more anointing, enter a higher level and have
the true riches from God. Although not commonly taught,
it has also been taught that giving to the poor assures you
a place in Heaven where you will see all those who will
welcome you on account of your giving. Before we read
Luke 16, we need to have the thought that this is Jesus’
teaching on giving in the local church completely
removed from our minds. This passage has absolutely
nothing to do with giving in the local church at all, not
even in the slightest way.

Please remember that Jesus spoke these things while in the

process of fulfilling the Law. The Law was not yet
fulfilled, the Church was not even born, and the Jewish
system was still alive and well to a certain degree. This
was not a teaching for church leaders at all. Jesus was

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addressing the Jewish system and how inadequate it is to

save. Luke 16 is actually advice to the Jews on how to get
saved, after the stewardship of handling the oracles of
God is removed from them. This passage does not
address faithful giving in the church in any form or
fashion at all.

The passage flows from Luke 15, where Jesus is

explaining to them why He is a friend of sinners and tax
collectors. Jesus was preaching the good news to those
who were seen as indebted to God on account of some
form of sin. The passage has very little to do with money.
The only connection it has to money is in what the Jews
believed about money, according to Deut. 28.

Let’s walk through Luke 16, verse by verse, and come to

its Good News conclusion:

And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain

rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused
unto him that he had wasted his goods (KJV, Luke 16:1).

What is important to see in this passage is that the rich

man (in this case pointing to God), had goods of His own
and a steward had to manage the goods belonging to Him.
The goods never belonged to the steward at all. It’s what
is referred to as “another man’s,” according to verse 12.
The oracles of God were committed to the Jews,
according to Romans 3:2. They were the stewards of the
message preached to them through Moses and all the
prophets.

The message the Jews received is what we call the law

system today. The passage in Luke 16 has the same

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message as the one in Matthew 21:33-44. Look at verse

43

“Therefore say I unto you, The Kingdom of God will be

taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the
fruits thereof” (KJV, Matt. 21:43).

Jesus is speaking to the Jewish people, telling them that

they handled the Law incorrectly. They benefited
themselves to the point that Jesus is taking the
stewardship from them.

 The Jews failed by unbelief in what the Law was and

to whom it was written.

They failed to present the Law as a system that cannot

give life, where they would await a Saviour who could
free them from sin and death. Instead of seeing the Law
as something that condemns them, and that cannot give
life, they embraced it as the way of life. They even called
the Law the way, the truth, and the life. Although the
Scriptures were pointing to Jesus, they read it in a way
that excluded Jesus, making themselves bad stewards of
the law system. They took the Law as a commandment
written for them to fulfill, thus making themselves a
special people with special knowledge. The Jewish people
found their identity in the blessings of the law system.
They looked down on the poor and regarded the Gentile
as a mere dog or a pig.

 They removed the Law from the one it was written to.

We need to understand that the Law was actually

written to Jesus and not the Jews. Certainly, it was

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written for the Jews, but only as the power to show

them their need for a Saviour. It was written especially
to Jesus, as the way by which salvation should come to
all mankind. When we read Psalm 40, we see Jesus
explicitly stating that God never required sacrifices but
that the Scripture is speaking about Him. The Law was
never written for the Jews so that by it they could find life.
It was a law that belonged to another man. It belonged to
Jesus and was written to Him. When Jesus met all the
requirements of the Law and so fulfilled it, by being the
lamb, being the scapegoat, and being the tithe, man was
redeemed! Salvation was made available to all people by
Jesus fulfilling the Law, which was written to HIM.

Whoever removes the Law from the opportunity to be

fulfilled by Jesus is an unjust steward in how they are
handling what is actually written to Jesus. The Jews—and
anyone to this day who says the Law is written for people to
fulfill—are unfaithful in what is another man’s law; they
are taking it from the one it belongs to: Jesus!

And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear
this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou
mayest be no longer steward (KJV, Luke 16:2).

I believe this is talking about the stewardship of the Jews

being taken away from them. It signifies the ending of the
Levitical priesthood and the manifestation of the Kingdom
of God.

3Then the steward said within himself, What will I do? for
my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot
dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4I am resolved what to do, that,

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when I am put out of he stewardship, they may receive me

into their houses (KJV, Luke 16:3, 4).

The steward comes to the realization that he is no steward

anymore and is not willing to find life by working or
begging. I see this to mean that one cannot be saved by
works and refuse, by will power or living in denial, to live
under the curse. This is the revelation that Jesus would
love the Jews to come to. He is lovingly pointing them to
the way of life, by explaining to them how—even if they
were unjust—they could be commended for walking in
true wisdom. Shall the unfaithfulness of man annul the
faithfulness of God? No.

Because of the faithfulness of God, the Jews, just as all

other nations, have always had Jesus as the way of salvation.
Why would God exclude the Jews from salvation through
Jesus, just because they handled the shadow wrongly? He
will never exclude them from salvation through faith in
Jesus! The true wisdom is revealed in the next verses:

5So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and
said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
6And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said
unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write
fifty.7Then said he to another, And how much owest thou?
And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said
unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore (KJV, Luke
16:5-7).

We need to understand that Jesus was telling this story in

light of His love for sinners and forgiveness of sins. The
Kingdom of God is a kingdom where financial wealth is

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not a sign of acceptance from God for a person’s

obedience.

The Kingdom of God is not the same as the kingdom the

Jews lived in. They lived in what I call the Deuteronomy
28 kingdom. The Deuteronomy 28 kingdom is a kingdom
where your acceptance is affirmed by financial blessing
and all kinds of prosperity. The Kingdom of God is
earmarked as preaching the GOOD NEWS of acceptance
to the poor. The poor, sick and suffering people of the Old
Testament were living under the constant rejection and
disapproval of the voice that money had over them. In their
poverty, they heard money’s word of judgment over them
continually, resulting in the deepest, most painful rejection
that man can ever be exposed to, the rejection of their God
and Maker. Along with the voice of rejection echoing in
the depth of their emptiness and pain, just as loudly they
had to hear money speaking of God’s acceptance of the
rich, the very people who were enforcing the hatred they
believed God had for the “disobedient” poor people. The
Deuteronomy 28 blessed-by-God, wealthy people
looked down on the poor and saw them as cursed by God.
They would never befriend the less fortunate, because
God’s rejection of them seemed obvious—they were
poor!

Jesus came preaching the Good News of acceptance to all

who were considered, by the old system, to be guilty and
rejected. He loved the poor and spent time with them.
When John the Baptist asked if Jesus was the one to come,
Jesus replied, “the poor have the gospel preached to
them”,(Matt. 11:5), declaring the new and everlasting way of
doing things. To preach the Gospel to the poor would be
unthinkable in the mind of the Jew. It would be a complete

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abandonment of everything they believed and stood for. It

would be such a radical new way of doing things that
Jesus used it as a sign of the coming of the Messiah.

And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he

had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their
generation wiser than the children of light (KJV, Luke
16:8).

The children of the light, in this passage, does not refer to

the Church but to the Jews who considered themselves to
be a light to those who walked in darkness and a guide to
the blind (See Rom. 2:19). This Scripture, wrongly
interpreted, will leave the Church with an underlying
feeling of stupidity when it comes to the world. In the true
context of the passage, you’ll see Jesus was actually
teaching that those who didn’t make their judgment
according to the legalistic system were much wiser that
those who strictly stuck to the law-code as a way of life.

And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the

mammon of unrighteousness; hat, when ye fail, they may
receive you into everlasting habitations (KJV, Luke 16:9).

The habitation in which the Jews lived was only temporal,

not eternal. The old system was to pass away, never to
return. As Jesus is telling them that their habitation is only
temporal, He also points them to the eternal habitation
which is where those who live by faith, and not works,
reside. Here is the wisdom Jesus gave them: Jesus was
encouraging them to befriend those whom they thought
to be cursed, for the sinners (according to the Jewish
system) would enter the kingdom before the Jews, who
stuck to the Law.

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They were to write off the debt of those whom they knew
were indebted to the master. By seeing others’ debt taken
away, they could also enter the place where they would
have no debt themselves. The removal of the debt is not
measured in money but in what they believed poverty and
sickness declared over the poor and the Gentiles. The debt
was what they believed the poor and the sick owed God.
Jesus came as the perfect example of the forgiveness of
debts. He declared the sick forgiven and He healed them;
then, they entered the place of having no debt. Jesus saw
them as debt-free. That is why He declared them forgiven.
By healing them, He revealed that He was carrying their
sins.

There are some very interesting hidden truths in this

passage. How much did the debtors owe the master? A
hundred measures of oil and a hundred measures of wheat,
right? Interestingly, the oil and the wheat are specifically
mentioned in Deuteronomy 14, as what was to be eaten
when they ate the tithe:

Deu 14:23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God,
in the place which he shall choose to place his name
there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil,
and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou
mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. (KJV)

What every man actually owed the master is oil and grain.
Oil speak of the Spirit of God and grain speak of the body
of Jesus. The number one hundred also signifies fullness
or completeness. All had to have the fullness of Jesus
before they could have no debt. The debt they had was a
perfect debt that no man could ever pay. The unjust
steward then told the man with the oil to sit down

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(signifying rest) and write fifty. The number fifty is a very

special number, speaking about the Year of Jubilee when
there would be no debt and all that was lost would be
returned to the original owners. It is the acceptable year
of the Lord, declared by Jesus in Luke 4:16. Instead of debt,
declare jubilee. Fifty can also mean 5x10, where 5 = grace
and 10 = perfection: perfect grace!

The unjust steward told the one man to write eighty

measures of wheat. The number eighty, according to the
Hebrew alphabet, is the letter Pey; it means WORD.
Instead of debt, give them the WORD. Eighty can also
mean 8x10, where 8 = salvation or new beginning, and 10
= perfection. Instead of debt, declare to them salvation
perfected, the new beginning!

Make Friends of the Mammon of Unrighteousness.

What Jesus said here is very powerful. It is clearly seen in

the context of all that has already been said. To make
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness is to write off
the debt that is declared over people on account of the law
system, where they are found guilty, lacking and wanting
off. What Jesus is telling the Jews is that they should
realize that the time of their stewardship is drawing to an
end. What they should do is to see the mammon system
they believe in as unrighteous, and in so doing, they will
have room with those who have an eternal habitation and
not a temporal one.

I know I am about to repeat myself, but it needs to be

understood so that you can enjoy the truth hidden in this
passage. The Jews only had a temporal habitation, as
stewards of the Law and prophetic words God had given

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them. The Law is a temporal habitation, and the bosom of

Abraham, which is righteousness by faith, is eternal. If the
Jews could realize that their system is one of death and
ending and accept the voice of the Jewish money system
as unrighteous, embracing the message contained in the
heart of Abraham they will be saved.

We need to see that the passage has very little to do with

money but everything to do with the voice money had in
the Jewish system. Jesus is showing the Jews that they
were as unfaithful with entrusting what God gave them as
pertaining to the law and the covenants as what an unjust
financial steward would be in finances, they enriched
themselves and no one else.
21
Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him,
“One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words [a]he was
saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who
owned much property (version? Mark 10:21, 22).

Jesus said the following to him: Find no value in the fact that
you are rich, according to Deuteronomy 28. Give the value,
that the law would ascribe to the rich, to the poor also and
come follow Me. This is how you make friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness and in no other way. See
people as God sees them on account of what Jesus has
done. Step out of the Jewish law system, and see all people
in the light of forgiveness and original design.

10He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also

in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in

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much. 11If therefore ye have not been faithful in the

unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the
true riches? 12And if ye have not been faithful in that
which is another man’s, who will give you that which is
your own? (KJV, Luke 16:10-12).

We can also say it this way:

Jesus “If you were caught us unfaithful, if you Jewish

people are the unfaithful steward, who will give you the
true riches? If the law master you worked for declares you
unfit, who will bless you if you stick to him? If you lost
your stewardship, there is nothing left for you there. You
need to look for life in another place

“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate
the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one,
and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon
(KJV, Luke 16:13).

If we look at Luke 16:13 alongside Matthew 6:22-24, we

can conclude that to serve mammon is to have an evil eye.

22The light of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye is

sound, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your
eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If
therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is
that darkness! 24No one can serve two masters. For
either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he
will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and mammon (MKJV, Matt. 6:22-24).

Can you see how Jesus connects the way you see things

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with mammon? The evil eye Jesus is talking about is not

what we give someone when we are displeased with
their behaviour. The word evil means full of labour and
overburdened with toil.

Eye speaks of a perception, a way of looking and

interpreting actions or events. Serving God and money
means to serve God and the system where what you achieve
by your own works in this life, is life.

19There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in

purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which
was laid at his gate, full of sores, (the meaning of the
Name Lazarus comes from the Hebrew name God of Help
or the God that aids) 21And desiring to be fed with the
crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the
dogs came and licked his sores. 22And it came to pass,
that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into
Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was
buried; 23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,
and eeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on
me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger
in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this
flame. 25But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in
thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art
tormented (KJV, Luke 16:19-25).

Jesus is telling the Jews that blessedness, according to the

law system, does not equal salvation. Jesus is telling them

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 What about Sowing and Reaping?

that even with all the blessings of Deuteronomy 28

manifesting in their lives, that can never be a sign of
salvation. Even with all the blessings they received as the
Jewish people, they are not free from sin and death. They
received the promises, the covenants, and all the oracles
of God, yet while being rich in all the dealings God had
with them, they remain lost in sin and death. Like all
people, they are in need of a saviour. When given the
prophetic words for what God will do for all nations, the
Jews used those promises to enrich themselves only. They
were not a blessing to the nations at all. At best, they were
bad stewards what belonged to Jesus. They were bad
stewards of the types, shadows and prophetic words of
salvation for all nations.

26And beside all this, between us and you there is a great

gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to
you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come
from thence. 27Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father,
that thou would send him to my father’s house: 28For I
have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they
also come into this place of torment (KJV, Luke 16:26-
28).

Five brothers? Who is it whom Jesus says has five

brothers? He is the certain rich man, from Luke 16:19,
who is clothed in purple and fine linen (See above). What
can all these things mean? There is great truth hidden in
the finer detail of this passage.

When we look at the twelve tribes of Israel, we find that

Jacob had six sons with Leah. This fits perfectly into the
story Jesus was telling. Judah, the kingly tribe, and even

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 What about Sowing and Reaping?

Levi, from where the Levitical priests were taken, is in

this group of Jacob and Leah’s six sons. The rich man was
dressed in purple and fine linen. He also fared
sumptuously every day. The purple and fine linen signify
the kingly tribe, dressed in the righteousness of the law
system. The way they fared speaks of what they ate most
of the time; they had tables stacked with the best foods.

“And David said, ‘Let their table become for a snare and
a trap’” (MKJV, Rom. 11:9).

Jesus was telling the Jews that even though they see
themselves as rich, according to the Law, they would enter
death. He was telling them that the system they were part
of was going to die and have nothing in it forever. Jesus
was saying that the priestly, kingly system they had was a
dying system that has nothing in it anymore. There is One
of higher kingly order and a different priesthood who has
come onto the scene now. His name is Jesus and He is
according to the higher order of Melchizedek.

Since the law system is the ministration of death written

on stones (See 2Cor. 3:7), it will always end in eternal
death for those who follow it. Jesus was lovingly warning
the Jews to get out of the belief system they have and start
to see Jesus as the Messiah.

29Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the

prophets; let them hear them. 30And he said, Nay, father
Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they
will repent. 31And he said unto him, If they hear not
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded,
though one rose from the dead (KJV, Luke 16:29-31).

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 What about Sowing and Reaping?

The rich man tried to cross the gulf between law and
grace, by trying to bring the law system into the system
of grace. We can clearly hear the voice of Satan in what he
says, “If you can raise a man from the dead then all these
tribes of Israel will believe in you. This sounds as
harmless as, “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones
into bread” (See Matt. 4:3). The rich man was actually saying
the following: “If you can prove that the message of grace
and love can make a person immortal, all of Israel will
believe” (See Lk. 16:30).

The answer Abraham gave was exactly what Jesus gave

Satan in the desert: you will not have life by what you can
perform but by what comes from the mouth of God. If they
cannot find life by what is written, they will never have
life. There is still much to say about this parable told by
Jesus but I think this will say enough about the fact that
Jesus was not addressing tithing, sowing and reaping, or
giving in the local church.

What about “what about”?

There are many other passages in the Bible that are used
in an attempt to convince people they must give to get
God to give to them. They can each be explained, verse
by verse, but I am not going to do that. The reason for that
is simple: revelation is not hidden in every verse being
explained to all people but in a willing heart to learn and
know the truth Pray, asking God to reveal the truth about
His grace to you in every passage you read. What you
have received in this book is more than enough to be the
second and third mouth confirming the message of God
to you, concerning this matter.

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 A Word of Advice and Encouragement to
Church Leaders

God’s number one vision for you is not ministry but

friendship with Him. As preachers, we can so easily feel
unsuccessful if people don’t get saved, walk in the power
of God and bear fruit. On the other hand, we so quickly
feel success when people follow our ministries, give their
money and live in obedience to what we preach. We feel
so flooded with the satisfaction that ‘it is working,’ when
our church is fast growing. This way of living is not what
God intended for you. It will make ministry a living hell
for you and for anyone else who believes as you do and
looks to you.

Ask God to show you His love for you. As He shares this
with you, just enjoy it. Don’t start to put it into a message,
thanking God that you have something to preach on the
next Sunday.

Most of us went into ministry on account of His passion

driving us. Most of us think back to the days when we
had pure motives in preaching the Gospel, and we long
 for those days. Forget those days! They are gone and will
never return. Look at Jesus loving you today; don’t try to
get back to the radical preacher you were when you were
young. There is no joy in performance, there is only joy in
knowing Him. There is only joy in knowing that He knows
you, likes you and loves you.

Remember you are His son, not His preacher. You are a son
who also preaches. You are not a preacher who happens to
be a child of God.

Enjoying ministry is not found in the outbreak of revival

in your church. It is found in seeing yourself revived in
the resurrection of Jesus, forever one with God. You will
enjoy ministry when you are seeing yourself seated in the
Godhead. Please know that the Gospel of His love is not
only for your people but for you also. Believe the Gospel
as if you are included in the message.

This chapter is not written to bring you peace, by giving

you a grace method by which you can assure yourself that
your people will give. The encouragement I have for you
does not come from the peace prosperity, successful
ministry or victory-in-this-life promises. The end goal of
teaching the message of grace is not to get people to fund
our ministries, although our ministries are funded by
those to whom we minister. I am not about to give you the
grace key to the supernatural financial breakthrough you
have always been waiting for. I would like to encourage
you in a practical way. You might have a fearing, maybe a
slightly confused heart at the moment, which is absolutely
normal; your heart will heal by the balm of His love for
you. I would like to encourage you in a way that you can
feel loved by God and the pressures of ministry leave you
forever.

I don’t have the key to getting people to give you a lot of

money, but I do have the key for true peace and life as God
intended it. Grace is not the key to the financial funding
you always dreamed would provide your income. Grace
is the key to dreaming with God. Grace is the key to a
godly life that includes the fruit of generosity in you and
in all those who believe the truth. Grace is the influence
of God on the human race through what Jesus has done,
exploding in strong emotions and life-giving thoughts in
you.

I can imagine the fear the words in this book can instil in
the hearts of those who have been teaching the traditional
messages on tithing, and sowing and reaping. This fear
will tempt you to run away from the truth, but you will
also be running away from the freedom the truth brings.
As pastors, we have love for the people and for what God
brings forth in the church. We would hate to see the work of
God suffer and go through pain. We would like to limit the
pain of correction as much as possible.

I have great compassion for anyone who has ministry

income based on the law system. It will be very difficult
for you in these times. You have bills to pay, salaries and
missionaries to support, while it is all funded by the
traditional system of tithing, and sowing and reaping.
What can you do? How will you go about this matter? You
may be asking yourself what will happen if your people
get ahold of this book. What if they see that you don’t have
a foot to stand on in teaching giving as you use to teach
it? What if they stop all their giving? What if they become
rebellious against you? What if the people you’ve taught
and given your life to, turn their backs on you, thinking
you wilfully misled them in what you taught them? How
can you handle this problem?

A Brother in Jail -

One of the most common responses to the truth about

money is to believe the truth in secret and just say nothing
about it. The matter is almost treated like a brother in jail;
you don’t talk about it and seldom visit.

Well, that is one way you can handle the problem, and it
is much better than continuing to teach the traditional
messages. On the other hand, people will still have their
hearts rooted in the old lies. Their subconscious minds will
be plagued by guilt and fear about God and their financial
future, and so will yours.

Just remaining quiet about the money is a temporal

solution but not the answer to the problem. We want the
life God intended to manifest in the lives of His people,
don’t we? Yes, we do! And I can assure you, it will not
happen by just keeping quiet about the matter. That will
only cause your heart to be in more turmoil. There has to
be a way to communicate the truth effectively. You don’t
want to live in fear, wondering when the people in the
fellowship are going to get ahold of the truth about money
and start questioning you, do you? No! We want freedom!
We want the life of the Divine Ones for ourselves and all
our people.

I have had many leaders call me to say that the church is

not ready for my teaching on money, although they admit
that they know it is the truth! I have been told that the
timing is just not right. I understand the concern and that
people might misunderstand the teaching. Some people
might run away from giving altogether, and interpret the
message in ways that don’t set them free from the power of
the flesh. Should that stop us from teaching the truth? Did
Paul stop teaching grace on account of some not
appropriating the message in a way that would be
beneficial for them and others? No! Paul taught the truth
and corrected those who misunderstood it.

Making sure they continue to give

The other option is to speak the truth but while making

sure people will give, by saying things like …

 “Tithing is fulfilled but sowing is still valid.”

 “You don’t have to tithe but you will get to tithe, if
you are in grace.”
 “You can give without love but you cannot love
without giving.”
 “The tithe is not an obligation, nor is sowing and
reaping; yet, it is a special way to have more than what
would normally be yours.”
 “Under the law, you gave ten percent so grace will
make you give at least ten percent.”
 “Giving sets you free from stinginess.”

Teachings like this will leave you and your people fear-
bound. It does not possess the freedom to bring forth the
life of God in the individual. We don’t want to trick
ourselves into thinking we are free by having a belief that
would allow these types of slogans. We want to be free and
free indeed! Trying to keep a back door open for the Law,
hidden behind grace language, is not going to get you to the
life God intended for us.

Healing for your heart

The best thing you can do, as a leader, is to ask God to

persuade your heart about His love for you. You will have
to come to the conclusion that God does not have you for
the purpose of doing work for Him. He has you first and
foremost as His friend. There is no quick fix for this or
anything else in the Kingdom of God. All things are
relationship-based.

Maybe, like me, you also feel you’ve lost touch with your
Abba, that your loving Father who said He would provide
for you is dead. As preachers, we are just as influenced by
what we preach as those who listen to us. If what we’ve
preached has brought fear, guilt, and works-based giving
to our people, we will be as deep into this death as they
are, if not deeper. We preached it from the depth of our
hearts and believed it ourselves, did we not?

When it comes to teaching the truth about money, setting

people free from the power of the flesh could send shivers
down your spine. Especially if it means you will have to
stand up and tell the people that you were wrong in what
you taught and have misled them.

When you open the container called, faith in His provision

apart from my contribution, you might find it completely
empty of strong persuasion. If this is you, I have good
news for you! The Gospel does not demand faith but
supplies faith. Let me say that again: God does not demand
faith but supplies faith, as He manifests His equity of
character to you in what Jesus has done for you. True
freedom will start when you, from the depth of your heart,
see and understand how God serves you today.

Entering into the union we have with God sets us free from
self-preservation since we are preserved in His eternal
life. Self-preservation is one of the deadliest things in the
Church, and it’s the very fruit that manifests all kinds of
unnecessary work for us as leaders. Many of the teachings
and church programs we have are born from a fear of not
having, born from a fear of failing, and born from a fear
of the people leaving. There is freedom from all of those
things. Self-preservation, which is born from a law-
system economy, will make you implement large systems,
with many staff members and programs, to keep your
head above water. This is destroying many preachers and
their members. The sadness of this destruction is that it is
all in the name of obedience and Jesus. I am not against
big at all; I am talking about the motive and foundation
from where we live.

You will have to be very honest with yourself, and declare

what you feel the motive of your ministry is to God. Let
Him flood your heart with a revelation of peace and joy
to the point that belief is a fruit of knowing His love for
you and not a root that will give you the money you were
dreaming of all your life.

As you read this book again—especially Part One—God

will persuade your heart with thoughts about your union
with Him, so that you will find your heart starts to believe
in Him. Don’t be in a hurry; talk to God and give Him
time to persuade your heart. Your heart is not going to be
brand new just because you heard some truth once. Your
heart needs persuasion; your heart needs to see that it is
safe to trust God. It can take a while before you see the
true fruit of peace manifest in your life. The quickest way
is to acknowledge the truth you have heard as the truth
to people close to you, like your wife or some good
friends, people you have trusted for a long time. And steer
away from having doctrine that contradicts the nature of a
good Father.

Take what I have said; take what encourages you of the

truths in this book and speak to God about it. Speak to
Him about it until you are not hearing me saying it
anymore. Speak to God until you can hear Him saying it
to you. As you hear Him teach you these truths, you will
find, doubt, fear and unbelief leave your heart. This is
where His life starts to manifest in you. This is where you
will find the peace that could allow you to boldly
proclaim the truth, leading your people to a place where
they can experience true generosity, a place where they
experience God living in them as He lives in you. This
generous, free life is what God has planned for us all!

It would be crazy for me to try and put my hand to a strategy

on how you need to approach your church leaders, family
or friends with this radical truth, which can cause some
serious shakes in your circle of influence. All I can say is
that it will take faith, not a faith that you decide to work up
but a belief that comes from an Abba who has won your
heart. Please know that you are the leader of your people
and that God will work in you both to will and to manifest
the declaration of this truth to all!

My closing statement for this book is this:

I can promise you there will be those who misunderstand
you. I can promise you that there will be people abusing
what you say. I can promise you that you will experience
persecution. But, I can also promise you that by embracing
the truth, you will have many people who are set free as
you believe and preach it. I can promise you that you will
experience supernatural peace in the area of your
finances, which is God-birthed. I can promise you grace-
based provision. I can promise you that the fruit of
contentment will flood your life.

With this being said, enjoy your new life that is God-
filled, peaceful and fearless. Enjoy your life with our loving
ABBA.

Prayer -

Father, my heart is flooded with gratitude towards You. I

am grateful that, after nine years, I could put on paper what
you have spoken to me in my inner man.

Thank you for loving us and giving us a place with You

in the Godhead.

Your love and servant heart has brought me life. Your son
and friend,

Bertie