Tsiyon News

Tsiyon Answer: Thanks for writing, and for listening to Tsiyon Radio. I love that you want to be an overcomer! I think I'm writing the book you're looking for right now. It is the second book in my Messianic Revelation Series and it will include information that will answer many of those questions your friends no doubt ask. The first book in the series came out last spring and has done amazingly well with Christians. See the radio interview by S. Denice Newton for an example. Another approach would be to make some CDs of a few of our programs on the topics you need and give them to friends. Our 1st few programs deal immediately with the issues you mention. You will find those here.

We need mission workers to share our unique message. Some of our folks do that by offering a home meeting where they play our programs to the group and then discuss them together. We also offer a DVD that works well for that purpose. One-on-one is the preferred method of others. However a person may want to do it, we are glad to offer whatever support we can.

We offer a Talmidim Program which teaches important fundamentals of the Scriptural Messianic faith. We have gotten rave reviews from most of our students who have tried it. More about that here. The Talmidim Program is free to all of our Tsiyon Ministry Partners. More about that here. At least signup to get our newsletter here.

Finally, about tithing:

Since you tithe, you clearly understand the core of what I am about to write. However, since you asked what we teach on tithing I will include it here, and probably in our newsletter later:

You may not have heard this, but we often hear from people who say they don't tithe because there is no Temple to tithe to anymore. This is a bogus argument since tithing originated before the Temple, with the Patriarchs. For example, we know that Abraham tithed out of his increase. (Gen 14:20)

Our father Jacob/Israel also tithed, saying to YHWH;

"Of all that You will give me I will surely give the tenth to You." Gen 28:22

This pledge is binding on all of Jacob/Israel's progeny, both natural and grafted in. This is the source of our obligation to tithe. It is why a blessing is attached to tithing, since tithing fulfills this covenant obligation established by our fathers, Israel in particular. The reverse is also true. To fail to tithe is to disregard this covenant obligation of our fathers, and this is considered wicked by YHWH. In fact, failing to keep our tithing obligation is to rob YHWH.

YHWH addresses this sin in Malachi 3:6-10:

“For I, YHWH, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says YHWH of Hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says YHWH of Hosts, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for." Mal 3:6-10

Notice that YHWH reminds us, first of all, that He does not change. He remains true to all of His covenants in every generation.

Then He calls us "sons of Jacob." This reminds us that we are bound by the words of our Father, Jacob.

In the next verse He says;

"From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My ordinances, and have not kept them."

Notice in this that we and our fathers are all considered guilty of not keeping His ordinances. This shows us that from His point of view, all generations of Israel are equally required to keep the ordinances established between our fathers and YHWH. This, of course, includes the tithe established by Jacob.

Having set out these principles, YHWH then deals with the problem of disobedience to covenants made with our fathers. He says:

"Return to Me, and I will return to you.”

Most of us are still too dull of hearing to get the point, so YHWH includes our question:

‘How shall we return?’

In other words, "Return? We didn't even know we need to return! We thought we were ok just the way we are!" Here YHWH becomes very blunt in telling us where we have strayed off the path. He says;

Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me!

Wow! YHWH calls us thieves - thieves of God Himself, no less! In disbelief we say;

How have we robbed You?

Here YHWH gets very specific about how we are robbing Him:

In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.

YHWH says, not giving our covenantal tithes and offerings is robbing God because we are obligated to Him to give these and are not doing it!

Failing to keep this obligation, of course, brings us under the curse of disobedience. For those who say that Y'shua has removed the curse, so we can disregard this obligation, I say, Y'shua did not die for us so that we can continue on in sin. He died for us so that we can get the victory over sin, that in Him we can rise up to walk as He Himself walked. In other words, He empowers us to keep our covenant obligations as He did, if we will only walk in His truth by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Therefore, since we have the power to obey in Messiah, the point is all the more valid that we remain cursed in our finances when we rob God, especially once we have come to know and understand our obligation. His solution to this is clear:

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says YHWH of Hosts, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for."

Every covenant includes a blessing and a curse - no less so the covenant of tithing laid upon us by Jacob/Israel. The curse is the curse of want. The blessing is the blessing of abundance. This is confirmed in these words of YHWH. When we tithe it is in the knowledge and faith that YHWH will keep His covenant obligation to us. He promises to pour out a blessing, if only we will first give up to Him the tithes and offerings we owe to Him. When we renege we are telling Him we don't believe that He will keep His word - so we must grab onto every penny under our control! We really shouldn't treat Him like that. He does not change. He WILL keep His word. As He says; test Him out.

If, by a "struggling radio show" you are referring to Tsiyon, that's true. We are struggling to get our message out to as many radio stations as we can afford. We get some free airtime, but that is seldom available in most areas. Paying for airtime is the biggest expense we have, now nearly $3000 per month. We live very modestly to be able to do that, with all other expenditures combined, including family expenditures, amounting to significantly less than we devote to airtime. We draw no paycheck, get no investment income, have no 401k or pension fund - but we also have no debt because we pay for everything we buy when we buy it. When we say we walk in faith we mean that 100%! We do this set-apart work completely on the faith that YHWH will move upon the hearts of His people to fund all aspects of this mission. We are very thankful for each Tsiyon Ministry Partner who accepts even a small part in funding this mission. We also are very grateful for the wonderful folks who listen to His Spirit in giving offerings to this ministry as led. However, not many tithe, though we are so blessed by the few who do. In many cases it may be that people feel a primary obligation to tithe elsewhere, which is fine. We should tithe where we are primarily getting spiritually fed, and if that is in someone's local fellowship or congregation then that is where they should bring their tithe. However, if upon prayerfully considering all of this anyone rightfully feels moved to bring their tithe to Tsiyon, I can assure them it will go to the work and not to the support of an over-inflated lifestyle. Anyone who has ever spent any time with us here at Tsiyon Radio can vouch for that. That is not a complaint, by the way. We are very content with what we have, particularly our abundance of spiritual blessings, and we are so blessed to be fellow-workers with Messiah, in blessing His people every day. We have put YHWH to the test and we urge everyone else to do the same. He is good and is absolutely reliable to do everything that He has promised. In fact, He even does more, when we give Him the chance, just because He is such a wonderful Father. It is not hard to spend a lifetime in the shadow of His wings, telling people everywhere of His marvelous ways, truths, perfections and plans. How inexpressibly great He truly is!