Day 3: A Biblical Overview of Giving to God

1. Giving to God—From Genesis to Deuteronomy
   
   
2. The importance of giving an offering to God had been instilled in Adam and Eve and their children—Genesis 4:1-7
3. Giving an offering to God had also been clearly understood by Noah and his family—Genesis 8:18-22
4. Abraham understood the importance of giving to God (building altars was a costly endeavor and was a way of expressing gratitude for how God had blessed him); and it seems apparent that he also had conviction about the tithing principle—Genesis 12:4-9, 13:14-18, 14:15-20, 21:32-33
5. Isaac and Jacob carried on the act of giving to God as an expression of gratitude as it had been taught to them; Jacob also understood the importance of tithing—Genesis 26:23-25, 28:10-22, 33:18-20, 35:1-7
6. The Israelite nation had many instructions given to them in regard to giving, and there are numerous examples of when and how they gave—Exodus 25:1-8, Exodus 35:20-29, Exodus 36:2-7, Leviticus 1:1-17, Leviticus 3:1-6, Numbers 35:1-5, Deuteronomy 26:1-15
   
   
7. Giving to God—From Joshua to Malachi
   
   
8. The Israelites continued to give to God in various after coming into possession of the Promised Land
9. Kings like David and Hezekiah continued in the act of giving to God—1 Chronicles 29:1-20, 2 Chronicles 31:1-21
10. Outsiders to the nation of Israel, such as Hiram and Cyrus, were also involved in the act of giving to God—2 Chronicles 2:1-15, Ezra 1:1-11
11. Upon returning to the Promised Land after the exile, the Israelites were expected to give a tithe and were rebuked for not giving it—Malachi 3:6-12
12. The Israelites gave for numerous reasons—supporting their spiritual leadership, constructing the temple in Jerusalem, repairing the temple, rebuilding the temple, restoring the walls of Jerusalem, etc.—1 Chronicles 29:1-9, 2 Chronicles 24:1-14 , Ezra 3:7, Nehemiah 7:66-72, Nehemiah 12:44-47
    
    
13. Giving to God—From Matthew to Acts
    
    
14. Women gave to help meet the needs in Jesus’ ministry—Mark 15:40-41
15. Jesus praised a woman for her generous giving to the Jewish temple—Luke 21:1-4
16. Jesus acknowledged the Pharisees’ tithing as appropriate—Matthew 23:23
17. The very first Christians gave to help meet needs in the church—Acts 2:44-45, 4:32-37, 6:1-6
18. Christians gave to meet the needs of the hurting and less fortunate—Acts 11:27-30
19. Christians gave to help spread the gospel around the world (it required money to send missionaries to various locations to start new churches or strengthen existing churches—Acts 13:1-5
    
    
20. Giving to God—From Romans to Revelation
    
    
21. God had always planned for ministers to receive support from those they were leading—1 Corinthians 9:1-14
22. Disciples in Corinth were setting aside money each week to give to Paul when he arrived, all to help alleviate a pressing need—1 Corinthians 16:1-4, 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
23. The church in Philippi gave money to support Paul—Philippians 4:14-19
24. Certain widows were being supported by the church—1 Timothy 5:3-8
25. Disciples would also have been involved in supporting all the travel necessary for various leaders to go from church to church to help maintain unity and deal with any other issues that might have arisen—Acts 15:1-33

  Summary points:

• Giving of one's means (money, possessions, etc.) has always been part of a relationship with God, as seen throughout the entire Bible—much of that giving stemmed from a deep sense of gratitude in response to God’s blessings
• Tithing seems to have been an understood concept long before it appeared in the Law of Moses; God said He was being robbed when people failed to give Him their tithe—meaning people were keeping (or stealing) what wasn’t theirs to begin with
• Even Jesus’ ministry was financially supported by people in order for it to operate in an effective manner
• First-century Christians seemed to have had a heart and an eagerness to give; tithing would have been a normal and well-understood practice for the first disciples, as they were all Jews or converts to Judaism
• Giving was used to help meet the needs of many people, both inside and outside of the church, and also to help spread the gospel and meet leadership needs in various churches