{"id":1591,"date":"2025-10-04T08:34:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T13:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2025-10-04T08:34:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T13:34:08","slug":"53-return-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/2025\/10\/04\/53-return-to-god\/","title":{"rendered":"53 – Return to God"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_heading title=”Return to God” _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”Georgia|700|on||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”42px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/h4you.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cross-sunset-humility-devotion-161089.jpeg” title_text=”cross-sunset-humility-devotion-161089″ align=”center” _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” max_width=”100%” min_height=”766px” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.26.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-40px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

By Terance Clark \u00a0 \u00a0 October 4, 2025 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a08 Minute Read<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Week 53<\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0<\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This Weeks Passage: Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

(<\/span>Note:<\/strong> <\/span>This is part 4 of a 5 part series on giving through tithing from the passages found in Deuteronomy 11-16.\u00a0 If you missed the first three please go back and read starting at #47 as it will provide context.\u00a0 You can find the link below.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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The last two lessons I’d like to concentrate on looking at what tithing has become and what it should be and could be.\u00a0\u00a0 How we can reset our tithing practices to be more in line with what God originally intended.\u00a0 I have found this to be refreshing and I have great joy in tithing and it really has become the one thing I get to do and I look forward to doing regularly in my life.\u00a0 We know that giving is honorable and in the very heart of God, but why has tithing become such a negative experience for so many people that no one likes to talk about.\u00a0 Let’s start there for this weeks teaching.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How We Got Here<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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In 605 BC, Israel was taken captive by the Babylonians in three stages and were in exile for 70 years.\u00a0 Stop and think about how long 70 years is to a society.\u00a0 Many Israelites had taken on the culture of the pagan Babylonians.\u00a0 When they returned in 538 BC they began to rebuild the temple, but their hearts were far from God in many ways.\u00a0 They rebuilt the temple after much challenge from their enemies that is reported in the book of Esther and then around 458 BC eighty years later Ezra came to help bringing the Torah to them and the book of Ezra is dedicated to explaining the challenge they had to figure out who were truly priests and could serve in the temple.\u00a0 Many of the genealogies had been lost.\u00a0 Then they realized that the people had intermarried with pagans.\u00a0 This makes them unqualified to lead, serve in the temple and sacrifice.\u00a0 It’s a huge problem and there is a lot of weeping in the book of Ezra as they read the Torah for the first time and realize how far away from God they had moved.\u00a0 Ezra had to make them divorce non-Israelite wives, it was a very painful time but was necessary to re-establish their priestly leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“The people had intermarried with pagans<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This makes them unqualified to lead”<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Then Nehemiah came to help rebuild the walls around the city and the temple around 445 BC which was about twelve years later.\u00a0 Between Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Daniel it was about 150 years of activity and challenges of rebuilding their land, this didn’t happen overnight.\u00a0 A lot was happening and much of it was not good due to people not knowing what God required any longer, and the fight to have a temple and nation again.\u00a0 This is when Malachi came on the scene to prophecy.\u00a0 It’s important that we understand the historical timeline and what was happening when we read these prophets.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Corruption in Leadership<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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There was a lot of corruption within the priesthood and the people were not focused on God, but on just building their lives and in many ways living like the pagans.\u00a0 The prophet Malachi addresses this huge problem.\u00a0 He starts by letting them know that God loved them, but then he rebuked the priests for the way they were living and the corruption they were engaged in.\u00a0 They had married pagans, there was a lot of corruption within the priesthood and now they were bringing the defected animals to be sacrificed to God and keeping the good ones for themselves.\u00a0 The priests were not honoring God and the land was cursed.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Nation is Cursed<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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He then turns his attention to the people in chapter 3 by letting them know He hasn’t changed from what His word said and needed them to return to his requirements because the entire nation was cursed as a result of their failure to provide for the priests, widows, orphans and foreigners.\u00a0 This was the foundation upon which the nation functioned and received God’s provision and His blessing.\u00a0 When they failed to do their part it meant everyone else suffered beginning with the priests who were now taking care of themselves rather than providing the proper sacrifices God required.\u00a0 He challenged them to return to His ways by tithing again and they would see the nation flourish again and there would be enough food for the priests, widows and orphans and they could trust Him to provide everything they needed as well.\u00a0 He challenged them to test Him so they could see it was true.\u00a0 The food they brought fed the nation and they would be blessed once again when they got back to doing the plan he laid out through Moses.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“He was not saying tithe and you will be blessed<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

He was saying return to me, turn your hearts back”<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Let me finish this weeks lesson by saying the reason there is no teaching on tithing in the New Testament is because the plan never changed.\u00a0 They all knew what God required and whenever giving is mentioned in the NT it is always related to supporting or helping the poor.\u00a0 There is never a reference to giving to a church not that it’s wrong to do so.\u00a0 When Rome took command of the church in the 4th century through the years they adjusted tithing to become more of a tax by requiring it to raise money.\u00a0 They began selling blessings called indulgences and many of these practices got converted into the protestant church in the 15th Century.\u00a0 Scripture was often adjusted to fit the practice and has continued to be used this way.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Return to God<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Next week for our final teaching on the subject we’ll focus on trying to see the big picture of tithing and how we can do it today so that our hearts can really connect with God and see the blessing He intended for it to be.\u00a0 Preachers often say that if you don’t want to be cursed then you need to tithe.\u00a0 The truth is that word was never directed at people it was a commentary and word on the condition of the nation when people had turned away from God.\u00a0 He was not saying tithe and you will be blessed, He was saying return to me, turn your hearts back to loving me and obeying me and your nation will be blessed once again.\u00a0 These are words we really need to hear even in our day.\u00a0 May we as a people return to God.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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By Terance Clark \u00a0 \u00a0 October 4, 2025 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a08 Minute Read Week 53 \u00a0 This Weeks Passage: Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17 (Note: This is part 4 of a 5 part series on giving through tithing from the passages found in Deuteronomy 11-16.\u00a0 If you missed the first three please go back and read […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1591"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1622,"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions\/1622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/h4you.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}