The Lord has been speaking about unifying his church over the last decade. In Zephaniah 3 it talks about Him giving His people a pure language. We are able to understand each other. We are on the same page.
In Joel 2 we see a picture of the remnant as a mighty army. This is an army of people, not the host. The description of the army ends with "the earth quakes before them. the heavens tremble, the sun and moon grow dark and the stars diminish their brightness. For the Lord gives voice before his army; for his camp is very great. For strong is the one who executes His word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible who can endure it?" Joel 2:10 -11
The sun and the moon and the stars growing dark also appears in the first three gospels. In Matthew 24 Jesus talks about a great tribulation for Israel and in verse 29 he says immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened the moon will not give its light the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." This is reiterated in Mark chapter 13 "but in those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light semicolon the stars of the heavens will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken." and Luke 21"and there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations with perplexity the sea and waves roaring semicolon men's heart scaling them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. I believe this is not talking about only cosmic events but events in the spiritual world with those heavenly bodies being spiritual beings. This is the spiritual war that is described in joel2. Mark 13:23 Jesus says I have told you all things beforehand. Not somethings, but all things. He's not speaking just about what he says in the Gospels or the New testament. All of the Old testament is the word of God and he revealed to us all things. He gave us a broader description of what he speaks of in the New testament through the prophets and the prophetic events that happen in the old testament.
In joel 2 versus 6 through 9 we see that this army of the Lord is a unified army "everyone marches in formation and they do not break ranks. They do not push one another; everyone marches in his own column."
They don't fight each other, they stay in their own lane, they work together as one body and they are extraordinarily successful. This is manifested in the physical world as well prompting people to turn to God.
Jesus is coming back for one body and one bride, a spotless bride. Unspotted by the world. So why then has the church as a whole not seen success on this earth. While we've managed to spread the gospel we seem to always be defeated by the world. Many Believe this is just the persecution that was spoken about by Jesus and it's inevitable and we can't avoid it. They believe the rapture is a rescue operation. I used to believe that. But Jesus is not coming back for a battered woman. He is coming back for a spotless bride, a glorious church.
Our homegroup has been studying the book of Joshua. The Israelites in Joshua are a foreshadow of the church and as they are led into the promised land by God they are victorious. They are not overtaken by their enemies and oppressed. They don't kind of defeat Jericho. However, in Joshua 7, shortly after taking Jericho the Israeli army flees before their enemies and are defeated in battle. Why was this? Because one man robbed God of his tithe. Joshua 7:10 b "For they have taken some of the accursed things and have both stolen and deceived and they have also put it among their own stuff." Jericho was to be completely destroyed the bronze silver gold and iron was set aside and devoted to the Lord. Just as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was Adam's tithe, the plunder from Jericho was Israel's tithe when entering their inheritance. He who steals from the Lord by keeping the tithe for himself amongst his own stuff becomes a cursed.
Malachi 3:10 - 12 is often quoted in regards to tithing and claimed by believers for the blessing mentioned there, but the first part of this chapter is often neglected. The beginning of the chapter talks about Jesus coming back purifying his church that they may "offer an offering to the Lord of righteousness.". In verse 6 it says "for I am the Lord I do not change." It did not suddenly become okay to keep what is the Lord's in the New testament. Malachi 3: 8- 9 says "Will a man Rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say in what way have we robbed You? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse for you have robbed Me even this whole nation."
The curse is the same one put on anyone who took from the plunder of Jericho or tried to rebuild it for themselves because Jericho belonged to the Lord because it was the tithe of Israel of their inheritance. It also didn't just apply to the one who did the stealing but to the whole body. While the Lord deals with us as individuals and certainly blesses those who tithe we are also one body and one bride so when one of us robs God in tithes it effects our ability as a whole to receive the blessing and the victory.
In Acts 4 and 5 we see the church acting in full power and prosperity, with persecution, as Jesus said it would be in Mark 10:29-31. However, in Acts chapter 5 we see Ananias and Sapphira lying to God. And while they didn't necessarily steal His tithe they tried to deceive Him in what they kept for themselves. In Joshua 7 the crime was not just stealing from God but also lying to him. Peter takes care of this problem immediately or rather the Holy Spirit does through Peter. I wonder what it would have been like if Peter had let that slide. I think it would have looked a lot like the church today, walking around with a limp, a headache and impaired vision. In order for scripture to be completely fulfilled the church has to awaken and unite in our commitment to God and His kingdom. In November of 2020 the Holy Spirit told me "the restrainer does it pretty poor job of restraining when it's asleep." It also does a pretty poor job of restraining when it isn't fit. Discipline and commitment is required for effectiveness. An army is not effective if it is unfit and unwilling to obey commands from its commander. We cannot effectively restrain the enemy if we are not awake and we will not be given the power and victory if we rob God and are disobedient to His commands.
This has to be done as a whole not just as individuals. The body of Christ as a whole will not see true success until all of its members stop robbing God.
The average tithe in the United States body of Christ is between two and three percent because the majority don't tithe at all. That means 20 to 30% of believers carry the full burden of financial supporting God's kingdom. That is not okay.
Most of the believers who don't tithe, don't trust God to provide for them and therefore they rob him because they are leaning on their own understanding and their own strength. This is essentially calling God a liar. It's believing God won't bless you and provide for you and do what is the very best for you Even though he specifically says to test him in this. You cannot be fully committed to a God you don't trust. If you can't trust God to take care of physical debts and needs how can you possibly trust him to take care of your debt of sin and save you from spiritual death?
It's like people who drive with their brakes on. The right foot is on the gas the left foot on is on the brake because they don't trust their brain or the car to do the work it's meant to do in the timing it's meant to do it. They hinder their own progress while doing damage to their own property all while annoying the people around them and possibly causing an accident.
We can either trust God to take care of things and give him what He requires of His own resources to do it, or we can keep those things for ourselves, try to do it on our own and fail miserably. This behavior weakens the entire church and hinders the spiritual victory of the church as a whole.
This revelation is one of the main keys to the kingdom that Jesus is giving us now. Everyone in the body of Christ needs to use it. If you don't have a church to give a tithe to, give to a ministry. Also, sow into the kingdom above and beyond your tithe as you're able. The believers in Acts took care of each other. None of them was lacking because they shared everything. This is not communism. This was done by free will. No one was required to give into the community pool of goods and services. Everyone worked and everyone provided for each other because they had a desire to do so. That is how The kingdom of God should be operating. "On earth as it is in heaven." They will know us by our love for each other. (John 13
