“And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”
(Numbers 35:8, ESV)
Here, the Lord placed the responsibility of providing places of residence for the Levitical order on the tribes of Israel. He commanded them to give this property to the Levites (v1) in proportion to the size of their tribes since the larger tribes would have a greater allocation than the smaller ones in Canaan (See Numbers 26:52-53). This action illustrates several principles of giving.
First, we are to give for the work of ministry. The Lord set the Levitical priests apart to serve in the Tabernacle, and to transmit and administer divine law. Moving into Canaan they would not have a division in the land. Thus, the Lord commands that the assembly of Israel provide for them. Similarly in the church the entire assembly carries the responsibility to provide the resources necessary to maintain the work of ministry.
Second, people are to give in proportion to their abundance. The tribes gave in proportion to the size of their allotted property. When we survey the population of a church, we find some who have plenty and others who have little. Regardless of our means the Lord calls each person to do what they can based upon the proportion of their blessing.
Yet while we normally consider giving in terms of money, we should remember that the abundant blessings of the Lord include more than mere income. The Lord has blessed believers with special gifts and talents. He has blessed some with more available time than others have. He has blessed some with nice cars and houses. When we consider giving in proportion to the blessing, we should consider all our blessings.
Perhaps we should all take some time to consider how the Lord has blessed us and then consider the level of our response. We should take some time to consider our gifts and talents and how we might use them for God’s glory in the church’s ministry. We should consider our possessions and see how we might use them for advancing the church’s ministry. We should analyze the time the Lord has given us and determine how we could use it to support the church’s mission. Last, we need to consider our monetary blessing and determine if we are giving as the Lord purposes for us.
In all this giving we should remember the Lord’s words.
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.“ (Luke 12:48, ESV)
There is a great blessing when we give. We should “ remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ “ (Acts 20:35, ESV)
Renewing the Heart 