The Windows Of Heaven - Part Two

By Blake L. Higginbotham

Malachi 3:10-12 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, (Apostolic Centers) that there may be food in My house, (The Father’s House) and try Me now in this,” says Yahweh of hosts, “if I will not open for you (you-KJV for-is not used) the windows of heaven and pour out for you (you-KJV for-is not used) such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.11“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says Yahweh of hosts; 12and all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says Yahweh of hosts.

Hebrews 7:1-4 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of ElElyon, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of Yahweh, remains a priest continually. 4Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.

Note: Abraham knew that if he was going to honor Yahweh with his tithe, he would have to pay them to the man with whom Yahweh ordained covenantal relationship. And he understood the importance of honoring that relationship with the greatest expression and only token of the covenantal relationship that Yahweh recognizes.

The release of blessing and the transference of wealth depend on our ability to hear and obey the voice of Yahweh concerning what direction, and to whom your tithe is supposed to be paid. Tithing and offering is foundational. Nothing is more important.

Psalm 110:1-7 Yahweh said to my Sovereign, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 2Yahweh shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. (The Ekklesia) Rule in the midst of Your enemies! 3Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth. 4Yahweh has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” 5Yahweh is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. 6He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries. 7He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; therefore He shall lift up the head.

Note: This is a Kingdom view of what it means to be a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. This passage of scripture foretells the coming of Yahshua the Messiah and what His priesthood and ministry is going to be about. Yahshua’s priesthood and ministry are established forever according to the order of Melchizedek. We are a part of that priesthood and ministry in the Earth today. Yahweh sent a rod in His strength out of Zion (the Ekklesia) and we are supposed to be ruling in the midst of our enemies.

Hebrews 5:5-14 so also Messiah did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” 6As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”; 7who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10called by Yahweh as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” 11of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of Yahweh; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

One of the reasons that much of what we are doing is not working that well is because we do not fully understand how important hearing and obeying the voice of the Spirit is concerning our giving, as it pertains to the ongoing work of the ministry. We have been duped into believing that it does not really matter where our tithe ends up, as long as it appears to be good ground and it represents the place where we are being fed spiritually.

What if Holy Spirit spoke to you today, and said that most of your giving has been in vain because you refuse to honor and obey Yahweh concerning seeking out and paying your tithe to the one or ones who represent Melchizedek in your life? What if Holy Spirit spoke to you and told you that He has other men and women with whom you are supposed nurture a real and living relationship? What if He spoke to you and told you that you are supposed to identify, honor and support them in the ongoing work of the ministry?

The Scripture does not teach that the tithe (holy thing) is only to be paid at the local place where you attend and gather on a weekly basis. The Scripture does not teach that all of the tithes and offerings of the people are supposed to be received by only pastors at the local level and used any way that he determines. The Scripture does not teach that pastors and his paid staff are the only ministers that are supposed to be supported out of the tithe of the people.

My question to you is why are you still bringing all of your tithes and offerings into one house and supporting only the work that is going on at the local level? And why is it that your pastor can and will receive tithes and offerings from anybody who desires to give them; but he would probably be very uncomfortable with what I am proposing? The answer is; he believes that if you have come into his house and have been eating the spiritual food that he has prepared, that he should have exclusive rights to your first-fruits. I say that he indeed has a right to receive a fair share and portion of the tithe of all of the people under his watch. But what of the other men and women, doma and charisma gifts who serve the body of Messiah both locally and trans-locally? What about all of the willing volunteers that are equally gifted and anointed in the ministry that are not being compensated or provided for in any capacity?

My concern is that I have not seen any other ministry compensated and provided for like the pastoral ministry. In all honesty, I could count on both hands the number of ministries that even consider what I am saying to be important. And I can count on one hand the number of ministries that compensate and provide anything more than a supplemental income to the other ministry gifts serving with them. Now I ask you, do you think that something might be out of balance or absolutely corrupt?

By now you are probably assuming that I am trying to take this truth and use it as leverage to garner some additional support. But let me say that whether anyone reading this article ever decides to contribute one dime to me or not, I will still hold to the truth contained therein. Some of you are probably saying to yourself what I said to myself years ago when I began to realize the extent of the problem that we have with financing the ongoing work of the ministry.

I am speaking this truth to you out of an honest and sincere heart and from experiential knowledge that comes from pastoring 15 of 35 years of ministry. I have also logged hundreds of thousands of miles itinerating in the ministry for many of those years. I am not a novice preacher that is pursuing fame, fortune or money to burn. I am an apostle with a prophetic word to the Ekklesia that has yet to receive from the people of Yahweh at the local level, the apostle’s portion of the first-fruits, tithes or offerings. And just so you will know my true heart in this matter, I am not trying to hurt, limit or lessen the ability of the local work with what I am bringing to you. Instead, I am trying to represent true apostolic government and bring to you truth that has the ability to liberate and mature you in the ways and admonition of Yahshua. If you can hear the heart of the Father in what I am saying, then maybe there is still enough time for the leadership of the thousands of local fellowships in this country to hear and obey what the Spirit is saying the Ekklesia.

(To Be Continued)