In this article we find the truth given from God’s Word about His treasury! May you see the significance of your decisions, your life, your possessions, and even your body.
“And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with here in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD” (Joshua 6:17-19).
God’s treasury is composed of everything that is sanctified to God. The word “sanctified” means “set apart.” Leviticus 27:30 says, “The tithe is holy unto the LORD.” Thus the tithe is separated, or it is sanctified, or it is set apart. Now the word “sanctified” and the word “holy” are from the same root word and are used interchangeably in the Scriptures.
The pulpit is set apart for a specific purpose for the preaching and teaching of the word of God. The church pews are sanctified for they are set apart for a specific purpose. They are not meant to be used for a secular concert. God’s people use the pews for church purposes, which means they are sanctified. The platform chairs of a church are sanctified in the sense that they are set apart for the men of God to use.
When something is sanctified it is something that is in His treasury. It is holy and it is sanctified! I want to bring to your attention some things that were already in God’s treasury and were holy and sanctified.
THE FIRST ANIMAL
When a litter of animals were born the first one belonged to God. In Bible times that animal was set apart and was sanctified and thus belonged to God. If you have a litter of puppies remember the pastor gets the first puppy? Ha! If it is a litter of cats write me and I’ll tell you what to do not only with the first one, but the rest of them too! Ha! So, the first animal born was sanctified, holy, and in God’s Treasury!
THE SABBATH DAY
In the Old Testament the Sabbath Day was holy, sanctified, and set a part. Anything that was set a part was apart of God’s treasury and was very sacred and for any human being to tamper with it resulted in the death penalty.
If someone broke the Sabbath Day in Bible days they were stoned to death. The penalty was not for breaking the Sabbath day it was for taking something that belonged to God and was in His treasury. Man was actually breaking into God’s treasury and stealing something that belonged to God Himself.
The story of Uzzah in the Old Testament with the Ark of the Covenant is an example. The Ark was holy, was sanctified for it was God’s because of that no man could touch the Ark of the Covenant let alone steal it. The Kohathites placed on the covering of the Ark and they had to come to it while moving backwards and place it on the Ark without looking at the Ark of the Covenant.
One day a group of the academia decided they had a deeper knowledge of the Ark and knew better than God about its holiness and its sanctification. They probably thought there was an “original Ark in Europe” in a museum there and thus they could do with this one as they please!
So, one day the Ark was wrongly placed on a cart carried by Oxen and not by man as God said it should! The Ark began to waver and Uzzah reached out to stabilize the Ark, but the Ark was God’s, and immediately this innocent man lost his life because of the arrogance of the intelligentsia of their day.
What a shame that a good-hearted man named Uzzah lost his life because of the smarter than God crowd! I would never support a ministry that put a question mark on the preserved inspiration of Scriptures, for even the innocent cannot touch God’s treasury and not suffer!
That is why Nadab and Abihu were slain, because they offered strange fire unto God. It was a very serious matter in the Bible when someone removed something out of God’s treasury.
THE TITHE OF THE HARVEST
For example if the harvest brought 100 bushels of wheat then the first ten bushels of wheat were sanctified. Thus, if one took the tithe of the harvest he or she would be touching something that belonged to God and sanctified, or set apart and considered holy. The Bible says that the tithe is holy and set a part in God’s treasury. Man has no choice as to what to do with what is already in God’s treasury.
- The first animal was God’s
- The Sabbath was God’s
- The tithe of the harvest was God’s
THE TITHE OF ANY INCREASE BELONGS TO GOD
This means that for any one to take out of God’s treasury that which is God’s and use it for themselves is actually stealing from God Himself; that which is holy, sanctified, set a part, and God’s.
- That is what Uzzah did
- That is what Nadab and Abihu did
- That is what Hophni and Phinehas did
Whether one likes it or does not like it, the tithe belongs to God and not to man. The tithe is holy! No one gives the tithe! The tithe is already in God’s treasury. If man does not pay it, it is like a man sticking his hand into God’s treasury and stealing from God Himself.
- In God’s treasury in the Old Testament is the first born animal
- In God’s treasury in the Old Testament is the Sabbath Day
- In God’s treasury in the Old Testament is the tithe of the harvest
- In God’s treasury in the Old testament is the tithe of the increase
When the children of Israel came to the Promised Land, God told the Jews that He wanted the city of Jericho for Himself. God told them that everything in Jericho was in His treasury. Thus, God told the Israelites when they came to conquer Jericho they were to keep nothing for themselves. Why, because it was the Lord’s!
When Achan came and took the garment, the wedge of gold, and the silver he actually stole from God’s treasury. Achan was not just stealing anything he was touching something that was holy! Achan was touching that which was sanctified, set apart for God, and in God’s treasury. That which was in Jericho was holy and in God’s treasury. Jericho was already God’s! Achan was literally stealing from God.
The issue was not the gold, the garment, or the silver. The issue was it belonged to God and was holy! It is a very serious matter to God Almighty for anyone to touch let alone take from God’s treasury.
I have written in this article about somethings that are already God’s, but there are some other things that become God’s that man puts into God’s treasury.
THE SAVED BELONG TO GOD
When a person trusts Christ for salvation and his soul is saved from going to Hell then that person’s life is as sanctified as the tithe. This was done via the free moral agency of that person. He or she gives her soul to Christ and thus they themselves place their lives into God’s treasury.
Another example would be a person walking down the church aisle at the invitation time and surrenders his or her life to full time service. He or she says they are surrendering their life to full time service for God and in so doing they are placing their lives into God’s treasury.
Another example would be when a young person surrenders to full time service and their friends walk the aisle too. So, you follow them and volunteer to full time service. Wait a minute if you volunteer you are just as much in God’ treasury as the ones who surrender. Be careful what you vow in God’s house!
Whatever is placed into God’s treasury is holy, sanctified, set a part, and belongs to God. Whatever you place into God’s treasury is just as holy, just as sanctified, just as set a part, and it is a serious transgression for you to touch it!
Ask Uzzah! He died because he just touched that which belonged to God. Ask Nadab and Abihu! They died because they took that which belonged to God and was in God’s treasury. Ask Achan and his family! They died because they stole that which belonged to God.
The tithe was already in God’s treasury. The Jews were commanded to pay ten percent because it was God’s. The tithe is already in God’s treasury, but they also gave offerings. Anytime a Jew made a vow to God concerning his giving of offerings that offering became as sacred as the tithe he owed.
The tithe is already in God’s treasury while the offering became equal to the tithe because they both are in God’s treasury. The one was because it was owed and the other because it was vowed.
Both were holy even though one was mandatory and the other was voluntary. It really does not matter whether it was already in God’s treasury or it was placed into God’s treasury. It is STILL in God’s treasury!
The minute you decide to give up and above the tithe that becomes God’s and it is in God’s treasury. At the moment of decision it became holy, sanctified, and set apart for God.
“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8).
This does not mean if you do not give an offering you are robbing God. No! It means that if you promise and do not give you are robbing God. One pays his tithes to show he is an honest person and gives an offering to express his love!
It is a dangerous thing to go to God’s treasury and reach into it and steal from God. In the Scriptures death resulted sometimes and leprosy in some other cases!
Ananias and Sapphira
In Acts chapter five we have the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Barnabas promised he would sell a piece of property and he did. He promised God he would give to his church the amount of that sale and place it into God’s treasury.
Ananias and Sapphira were intrigued with all of the attention Barnabas received so they said we also have a piece of property and we will sell ours too. We promise to also give all of it to God.
Their vow placed that money into God’s treasury and it was God’s because the vow placed it into God’s treasury. It was holy, sanctified, and set a part. It was just as holy as the tithe!
When Ananias and Sapphira came to church that morning and they did not give what they had promised. They kept some of the sale money. They in essence reached into the treasury of God and took out that which they themselves had placed in. That offering was holy, sanctified, and set a part! It is a serious matter for us to make a vow to God Almighty.
I become so nervous and scared for young people who place themselves into God’s treasury and then say, “No, I wasn’t ever really called into full time service.” It really does not matter for you yourself placed yourself into God’s treasury.
“Does that mean that God will kill me?” Think about this; there are some punishments worse than the death penalty and that is living a life of misery and pain. Some of you reading this, who have turned your back on God someday, will wish you had died instead of lived!
In the Scriptures God gave Jephthah the victory. He comes home and remembers his vow. The gate opens and his only child, a daughter, comes through the gate. As to what that vow entailed no one really knows but I do know that he made a foolish vow and he kept his vow.
In the Garden of Eden God said of all the trees that are here one tree is mine. He was saying that particular tree is in God’s treasury. God made it plain to Adam and Eve they could not partake of that one tree!
The point here is that there is no difference between what is already in God’s treasury and what man places in God’s treasury. No one forced you to trust Christ, give your life to God, give your offering, join your church, and ask her to marry you, or tell God you would remain pure.
That which is in God’s treasury is holy, sanctified, and is set apart and that which man places into God’s treasury is just as holy, sanctified, and set a part as the tithe.
Supposing next Sunday morning, during the preaching, some men run in from the back door and run to the altar pouring whisky and beer all over the church altar. You know what would happen! Some men would jump up and tackle them and throw them out of the church house.
Why, because your church building is sanctified and set apart for God? Well, how about your physical body dear Christian?
My question is what have you placed into God’s treasury that you are touching and attempting to take out of it? Giving and keeping your word says much about your spirituality.