The Sabbath, the Tithe, and the Latter Rain
By Claude E. Eldridge
Were we told that the Sabbath was Jewish and belonged to the Mosaic dispensation, and was done away at the crucifixion of Christ, we should doubtless reply promptly that the Sabbath was made for mankind (Mark 2:27); that it was instituted at creation (Gen. 2:2, 3; Ex. 20:11), hundreds of years before the time of Moses; and that the Bible contains no intimation of its abrogation. But how many faithful defenders of the Sabbath among us are equally faithful in the payment of the tithe? Do we excuse ourselves on the plea that the tithing plan belongs only to the Levitical system of the Mosaic dispensation, and ceased to apply since that dispensation passed? Let us consider this a moment. Hundreds of years before Moses and the establishment of the Levitical priesthood, Abraham paid tithe of all to Melchizedek, “the priest of the most high God.” Gen. 14:18-20. Jesus, while denouncing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in his day, took occasion to commend them for tithe paying (Luke 11:42); and the apostle Paul distinctly teaches that as in the Levitical system they who ministered about holy things lived of the things of the temple, and they who waited at the altar were partakers with the altar, even so the Lord has ordained that they who preach the gospel shall live of the gospel. 1 Cor. 9:13, 14. The minister of the temple service was supported by the tithe (Num. 18:21; 2 Chron. 31:12-15); and “even so [by the tithe] hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live.” The Sabbath existed hundreds of years before Moses; so did tithing. The Sabbath was honored by Jesus; so was tithing. The Sabbath was regarded in the Christian dispensation; so was tithing. The Sabbath, a memorial of creation, was instituted before the Mosaic dispensation, continued down through it, and will continue as long as creation endures. The tithe, pertaining to the priesthood, was with the order of Melchizedek before the Mosaic dispensation, continued through the order of Levi, and continues in the gospel dispensation, during which Jesus, “made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,” “liveth to make intercession.” The Sabbath, having to do with creation, endures as long as creation. The tithe, having to do with the priesthood, endures as long as the priesthood. God gave us the week, with its seven days, but he claims one (the seventh) as his; and we observe it as a token of our recognition of God’s creatorship. Ex. 20:8-11. God gives us ability to acquire goods, but claims a tenth part, or tithe, which we return to him as a token of our recognition of God’s ownership. A blessing is pronounced upon Sabbath-keeping: “Blessed is the man that doeth this, . . . that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it.” Isa. 56:2. A blessing is likewise promised to those who render the Lord his own in tithes and offerings. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, . . . and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord 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 to receive it.” Mal. 3:10. The scripture (Isa. 56:1, 2, etc.) which pronounces a blessing upon faithful Sabbath-keeping is specially applicable to the remnant church; for it is introduced by the words, “Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.” Likewise the third chapter of Malachi (with its charge of robbing God in tithes and offerings, and its promised blessings upon faithfulness in tithes and offerings) is distinctly a last-day scripture, particularly addressed to the remnant church. With these thoughts before us, how can we claim to keep the Sabbath because God’s Word enjoins it, and neglect, upon any pretext, the tithe? And yet this cause loses five hundred thousand dollars annually because professed Sabbath-keepers are robbing God. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, . . . and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord 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 to receive it.” The Lord wants us to prove him by paying a faithful tithe, and promises a blessing. What is this blessing? He promises to protect our crops from devouring pests, and not to destroy the fruit of our ground. Mal. 3:11. But are material blessings—the filling of our barns, and the bursting out of our wine-presses with new wine (Prov. 3:10)—all that are promised to the faithful? “I will open you the windows of heaven.” “Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened” (Matt. 3:16), “and the Holy Ghost descended . . . upon him.” Luke 3:22. Not only are there material blessings assured to those who follow God’s plan in the payment of tithe, but there is a direct connection between true tithe paying and the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Not that his Spirit can be purchased (Acts 8:20), but that he who has forsaken sin, and obeyed every known requirement of God (of which tithe paying is one), is in a condition to ask for and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. “I will . . . pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me . . . from within him shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit.” John 7:37-39. “The water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14. He promises to give to us such “a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” This is the blessing God wants us all to have,—the outpouring of his Spirit, anointing us for service, filling us with a love for perishing souls, thus impelling us to labor to bring to others the salvation that we have accepted. For more than half a century this people has been looking for the latter rain of the Spirit of God, a time of refreshing which is to carry this truth with more than pentecostal power, cutting the work short in righteousness. Do not our hearts thrill within us as we think of that time of glorious triumph, and of the coming of our blessed Saviour in the clouds of glory? Then let us bring ourselves into perfect harmony with Heaven on every point. Let us put away covetousness, which is idolatry. Let us bring all the tithes into the storehouse, and prove the Lord, if he will not open us the windows of heaven and pour us out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.