As the angel of the Lord met with Neville Johnson, he said, “You do not understand that giving gives you power in spiritual warfare.” You can listen to Neville’s description of this encounter in the YouTube video entitled, End Times Gods Way with Money // Neville Johnson. His account of this visitation begins at the 36 minute mark. I also urge you, if possible, to listen to Neville’s entire series on Kingdom Finance, which is available from the Academy of Light web site.
When we give tithes and offerings to God as we should, that releases the justice of God on our behalf and causes God to move powerfully against our enemies in the spiritual realm.
It shouldn’t have taken an angelic visitation for us to become aware of this. It’s right there in Malachi 3:3-6 (ERV):
“Then they will bring gifts to the Lord, and they will do things the right way.*** Then the Lord will accept the gifts from Judah and Jerusalem. It will be as it was in the past—as the time long ago. Then I will bring you to justice. I will be an expert witness and testify about the evil things people do. I will speak out against those who do evil magic or commit adultery. I will speak out against those who make false promises and cheat their workers and don’t pay them the money they promised. I will testify against those who don’t help strangers, or widows and orphans. And I will testify against those who don’t respect me.***” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.”
Reading this passage in different versions sheds more light on this promise of God. This is how it reads in the English Standard Version:
“Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
*“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. ****I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, ***says the Lord of hosts.”—Malachi 3:4-5
Another version says it this way,
“And I will quickly condemn all who practice witchcraft or cheat in marriage or tell lies in court or rob workers of their pay or mistreat widows and orphans or steal the property of foreigners or refuse to respect me.”—Malachi 3:5 (CEV)
If we are not faithful in giving tithes and offerings to God, we may never experience the full justice of God on our behalf. We may live our entire lives subject to unnecessary injustices and spiritual oppression.
In the battle of Jericho the children of Israel kept the firstfruits offering for themselves. Because of this, they lost their power to do battle effectively. This was another insight that the angel of the Lord shared with Neville Johnson.
Since Jericho was the first city to be conquered in the land that God had promised them, all of the spoils of the city belonged to God as a firstfruits offering. They were strictly forbidden from keeping anything for themselves. God had clearly told the Israelites as they laid siege to Jericho that “All the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy (consecrated) to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord” (Joshua 6:19 AMP). It all belonged to God, just like a tithe. There would be many other cities for Israel to conquer, and the spoils and treasures of those cities would be theirs, but this first city, and its treasures, belonged to the Lord as the tithe unto Him.
“The Lord had said that everything in Jericho belonged to him. But Achan from the Judah tribe took some of the things from Jericho for himself. And so the Lord was angry with the Israelites, because one of them had disobeyed him.”—Joshua 7:1 (CEV)
After their great victory at Jericho, the Israelites thought that the next city, which was much smaller, would be an easy victory for them. They didn’t even send the whole army to fight. Only about 3,000 men went to the battle against the town of Ai.
But it did not go as planned. Israel lost about 36 men, and the people of Ai chased them away from their city. The mighty army of Israel ran from the people of Ai and suffered a very discouraging, unexpected loss.
This defeat happened because Achan kept part of the firstfruits tithe offering that belonged to God, just as many believers keep the firstfruits of their income, which belong to God. Just as Achan’s sin not only affected him, but brought terrible consequences on the whole nation, believers bring destructive consequences, not only upon themselves, but upon their families, their churches, and their nations by withholding God’s firstfruits tithe offering. Anointings are lost. Ministries never materialize. Souls are not reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Joshua and the whole nation of Israel were completely blindsided. They did not make the connection that if they were all of a sudden losing battles that they should easily win it was a direct cause of keeping God’s firstfruits offering for themselves. Joshua had torn his clothes and fallen on his face before God for an answer to why this had happened.
“But the Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this? Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings.“—Joshua 7:10-11 (NLT)
The Lord uses the same language to Joshua that He uses in Malachi chapter 3 about people who do not pay their tithes to God. He makes it clear that withholding the firstfruits offering is robbery. Withholding the tithe is stealing from God what rightfully belongs to Him. Also, just as in Malachi, when God declared that Israel was cursed with a curse, God reveals here that Achan had brought a curse upon himself and upon Israel by taking things that belonged to God.
God goes on to reveal that this is the reason they are living defeated lives, unable to find victory in the battles of their lives, and experiencing the destructive consequences of stealing from God.
“That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.”—Joshua 7:12 (NLT)
This is very strong language. God actually tells them that He will not go with them any further unless they correct this issue. This happened again to Israel in the days of Malachi. God confronted the Israelites in Malachi chapter 3, and told them again that they had robbed Him of tithes and offerings. Israel did not respond to the warning of Malachi. They did not correct this issue. After that, there were no more prophets sent to Israel in Old Testament times. Malachi was the last one. God was true to His word. He did not go with them any more. The next prophet to arise was John the Baptist, and just a few years later, the Gospel was taken to the Gentiles. Israel entered into spiritual darkness and blindness, as Paul describes in Romans 11. God told Israel that this would be one of the consequences in Malachi 3. “My name will be great among the Gentiles.”
God sternly warned Joshua of the consequences for Israel if they did not correct this issue of keeping things that belonged to God.
*“Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. *You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.
“In the morning you must present yourselves by tribes, and the Lord will point out the tribe to which the guilty man belongs. That tribe must come forward with its clans, and the Lord will point out the guilty clan. That clan will then come forward, and the Lord will point out the guilty family. Finally, each member of the guilty family must come forward one by one.*** ***The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the Lord and has done a horrible thing in Israel.”—Joshua 7:13-15 (NLT)
“Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, tent, and everything he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor. Then Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.” And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies. They piled a great heap of stones over Achan, which remains to this day. That is why the place has been called the Valley of Trouble ever since. So the Lord was no longer angry.”—Joshua 7:24-26 (NLT)
The story of Achan is given for our example. This is one example of a person who withheld the firstfruits offering (which is another name for the tithe) and experienced the destructive consequences as a result. Just like Achan, whenever a believer withholds the tithe that belongs to God, and keeps this for himself, the consequences not only bring destruction in his own life, but also in the lives of his family, his church, his business, and his nation.
If you withhold tithes and offerings from God, keeping that money for yourself, you have brought a curse upon yourself and upon your family, just as Achan did.
“Will a mere human being dare to steal from God? But you rob me!
“You ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
*“By holding back your offerings. You also steal from me when you do not bring me a tenth of everything you produce. ****So you are under my curse. In fact, your whole nation is under my curse. ***That is because you are robbing me.”—Malachi 3:8-9 (NIRV)
If we are not giving back to God the firstfruits of all of our income, we should not expect to live victorious lives full of blessings, favor, and prosperity. We should expect more of what the sons of Sceva experienced in Acts chapter 19. They confronted their enemies in the name of the Lord, but because their relationship was not right with the Lord, they fled from their enemies in utter defeat and humiliation.