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RECEIVING THE PROPHETIC MANTLE

THE RESPONSE FOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS (EXODUS 35:21–29)

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THE RESPONSE FOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS (EXODUS 35:21–29):

The response was excellent. The people immediately began bringing their contributions to Moses. Exodus 35 shows us that their hearts were stirred up, they were willing-hearted (Exo. 35:21-22, 26, 29). There were no gimmicks required. The instructions of God moved their hearts.

Târumah is given from nothing. God already provides what we are to give.

Like the Israelites, we are to give as we are enabled. Târumah is not given anything. God already provides what we are to give. God gives us the ability to give. You do not need to give anything that you do not already possess.

23-26  They came, both men and women, all the willing spirits among them, offering brooches, earrings, rings, necklaces—anything made of gold—offering up their gold jewelry to God.

Anyone who had blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics; fine linen; goats’ hair; tanned leather; and dolphin skins brought them.

Everyone who wanted to offer up silver or bronze as a gift to God brought it. Everyone who had acacia wood that could be used in the work brought it. All the women skilled at weaving brought their weavings of blue and purple and scarlet fabrics and they’re fine linens. And all the women who were gifted in spinning spun the goats’ hair. (Exodus 35: 23-26)

They already have these objects in their possession. God prepared them for the act of giving.

If you notice the verse above, they already had what they offered. They did not take the time to gather or save up for it first and did not have to go on an expedition to get these things. They already have these objects in their possession. God prepared them for the act of giving. They offered what God supplied.

 

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COMPENSATION

COMPENSATION FOR PASTORS

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Those responsible for pastoral compensation need to understand it is unbiblical to “keep a pastor poor to keep him humble.”

Different passages instruct the churches to encourage their pastors through fair compensation. Many American churches undercompensate their ministers. Unfortunately, many families have had to struggle through years of financial hardships. This poverty that pastors experience is not because of God’s will for them to experience financial hardship, but it’s because church members are not generous.

Those responsible for pastoral compensation need to understand it is unbiblical to “keep a pastor poor to keep him humble.”Such a view is damaging and divisive for the church community. Paul wrote about how the church must care for certain Christians.

17 The elders who do the church’s work well are worth twice as much honor. That is true in a special way of elders who preach and teach.

18 Scripture says, “Do not stop an ox from eating while it helps separate the grain from the straw.” (Deuteronomy 25:4) Scripture also says, “Workers are worthy of their pay.” (1 Timothy 5:17-18) Notice how Paul quoted the Old Testament (Dt. 25:4) and the New Testament (Lk. 10:7) in this passage. In Galatians 6, Paul instructs: “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor” (Gal. 6:6).

Failing to provide a fair wage to our pastors damages their ability to care for their own families (1 Tim. 5:8), and the Lord will hear their cry (Jas. 5:4).

Why would anyone in the church believe that the pastor is required to work under poverty-level wages for the Kingdom of God? Do you think it is God’s will for His ministers to suffer like this when He made ways to provide for His priests in the Old Testament? The biblical pattern is already clear.

Sometimes, it is the insecurity and distrust of today’s society that corrupts the system and makes the church community uncomfortable with blessing the pastor. The local church must encourage their pastors not only by submitting to their biblical leadership (Heb. 13:17) but also by suitably compensating them for the care they take over the souls of the church.

The biblical pattern is already clear. Sometimes, it is the insecurity and distrust of today’s society that corrupts the system and makes the church community uncomfortable with blessing the pastor.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PORTION

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PORTION: The right thigh or the šôq hayyāmîn is reserved for the officiating priest and considered as the choicest part of the animal.

In 1 Samuel 9:24, the right thigh was the portion that was reserved for the guest of honor.

The thigh is one of the tenderest parts of the carcass, and so it is especially suitable for offering to visitors. However, as far as nourishment is concerned, all sections of meat from given animals are of equal nutritional value.

Why would God allocate the best part of the offering to the officiating minister?

It’s because God loves His people, and He has a special blessing for anyone — full-time or otherwise — who would contribute to advancing His Kingdom and doing His work. God blesses individuals and the church community is willfully contributing to His purposes.

Contribution is the modern meaning of târumah, which means to set aside. In the context of the passage, the best portion is set aside. The breast and thigh are approved by God to be the portions of the peace offerings that legally belong to the Aaronic priesthood, and be perpetually due to them. Based on the archaeological excavations at Lachish, Canaanite temple, the ruins had a large number of animal and bird bones, all of which came from the upper section of the right foreleg.

This discovery indicated the ritual of the Israelites of setting apart the thigh. Very few bones had contact with fire, suggested that the meat had been boiled (cf. 1 Sam. 2:13-14), which was a common method of food preparation.

Leviticus 7:35-36 is legislation that ensured the integrity and continuity of the food supply for God’s ministers, starting from the time the Aaronic priesthood was established and ordained.[i]  The one who gives his contribution, for his part, is taught not to worry about food, drink, or clothing for the morrow (Mt. 6:31), since these are unsuitable concerns for those who are seeking Christ’s Kingdom and his righteousness.

The believer who gives his offering can trust that the Lord is his reward, and the Lord would reward him significantly because of his obedience and faith.

For every sacrifice of the believer, the officiating priest received something. It is the priest’s anointed right (Lev. 7:35). He was entitled to a share in sacrifices by virtue.

The breast is said to be a dedication (tənûp̄ah) (Lev. 7: 30), whereas the leg is described as a contribution (tərûmah) (Lev. 7:34).

Dedication is a sacred gift to God and/or his priests, but the contribution is more mandatory. A contribution represented the first stage in giving anything to God. Only certain objects went to the dedicatory ceremony in the sanctuary itself, which is why they are dedicated.

 

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THE BIG PICTURE

THE BIG PICTURE

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The provision for the priests is just a small slice that contributes to what God wants to accomplish.

THE BIG PICTURE:

What is the purpose of the tabernacle that the people are building? Why are there priests who are collecting for this work? Every detail of the tabernacle has been given in order to for a masterpiece to be created. The provision for the priests is just a small slice that contributes to what God wants to accomplish. We should not lose sight of the big picture.

43 There I will also meet with the people of Israel. My glory will make the place holy.

44 “So I will set apart the tent of meeting and the altar. And I will set apart Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests.

Ultimately, the Lord wanted to have His signature on the community that builds Him a temple. God explained what He is trying to do with the tabernacle, which is to make His glory dwell among the people. It was so He can meet with His prophet and His people. He was establishing a point of contact so He can speak to them. God wanted to open channels of communication. He wanted a relationship. God said that when everything was holy, then:

45 …I will live among the people of Israel. And I will be their God. 46 They will know that I am the Lord their God. They will know that I brought them out of Egypt so I could live among them. I am the Lord their God. (Exo 29:45-46)

When the provision comes from God and not from secular work, the ones receiving the provision are also made holy.

God took so much trouble in making sure the tabernacle was sanctified, and everything in it was set apart for His purposes. When the provision comes from God and not from secular work, the ones receiving the provision are also made holy. He did it to consecrate a place for the presence of His glory, to live with his people and be their God and so that they would understand the meaning of their salvation.

 

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GOD’S HOLY WORK

GIVING FOR GOD’S HOLY WORK

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According to Exodus 25, the Israelites contributed to the holy work of building God’s tabernacle.

What is the purpose of this offering?

The Lord said, “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them” (Exo. 25:8). At the end of the day, the main purpose of the Lord is still to build a stronger relationship with His people. He wants to dwell among the Israelites. We give to God’s Holy work so that His presence can be with us, because of our obedience and faith.

When we give to the Holy work, when we support His ministers and participate in what He wants to build, God makes us His dwelling place.

God is pleased with our obedience. It is a fragrant offering to the Lord. When we give to the Holy work, when we support His ministers and participate in what He wants to build, God makes us His dwelling place. How wonderful a place becomes when God chooses to stay in it. He begins to dwell in our Church, our households, and our everyday lives.

1The Lord says,

“Heaven is my throne.
The earth is under my control.
So how could you ever build a house for me?
Where would my resting place be? (Isaiah 66:1)

God promised to be present with His people in a special way, not for His benefit, but for theirs. It is not the amount of the offering that attracts the Lord. It is the obedience of the people. God promised to be present with His people in a special way, not for His benefit, but for theirs.

When the Lord’s presence is in your life, not just your church or your household, there is blessing, peace, and joy. You want the Lord in your camp. You must do everything so that His presence dwells among you.

God wants to make His presence known, and He wants other peoples to see what it is like for a nation to have the Lord dwell with them. In the end, all glory would go back to the Lord.

Our tithes and offerings support the local church. They provide for the pastor who preaches God’s Word. They pay for the staff who teach, provide spiritual care, lead ministries, and help meet people’s practical needs.

Our giving also supports the worldwide work of missions. Your offering funds evangelists to preach the gospel, pastors to plant churches, teachers to witness to their students, and doctors to heal physical and spiritual wounds. There is much work to be done, and God is calling you to contribute and to participate in this widescale work that He is doing (and funding) in the world today.

 

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THE-ALTAR-AND-TRUE-WORSHIP

THE ALTAR AND TRUE WORSHIP

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From the very beginning, the altar is a prominent figure in the Old Testament.  An altar is a dedicated place of worship. The first altar ever built signified the growth of God’s relationship with His people. It moves from a simple earthen altar by Abel through Abraham and the more detailed structure that the Israelites structured after the Exodus. Prophets like Elijah raised altars to God. Altars may have varied in look and structure, but the features of worship remain true even today.

The altar was intended to be pure and set aside for worship. The altar never doubled for some other practice object in daily life.

One feature of the altar is it was raised in obedience to the commands of God. They represented a commitment to worship Him according to His prescribed order. They are actually allowing God to tell them how He wants them to worship Him. People never added any décor or embellishment that God did not prescribe. God instructed that the altar contain no man-conceived marking or shape. The altar never doubled for some other practice object in daily life. It’s one purpose is to be a place of worship.

In the New Testament, the altar of God remained the center of worship.

God still requires His altar to be kept pure, holy and set apart for Him. Unless we follow these commands, we cannot claim true worship. The difference is in the New Testament, the altar has nothing to do with physical altars. Grace has done away with a physical altar, but not the principles it embodies. The finite mind of the person needs physical representations of abstract truths. Thus, in order for us to truly understand how we are to set up altars in the modern-day, we must understand the principles, purpose, and reverence people had for altars in ancient times.

Because of the abstract nature of altar-building in the New Testament, as we cannot literally take out our hearts and offer it to God, we tend to disregard the true essence of worship and sacrifice.

The New Testament altar is the person because the Bible said we erect an altar for the Lord in our hearts. Each of us is required to raise up an altar to the Lord. We give Him our hearts, we raise up a temple. Because of the abstract nature of altar-building in the New Testament, as we cannot literally take out our hearts and offer it to God, we tend to disregard the true essence of worship and sacrifice.

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Sacrifice-as-Worship

Sacrifice as Worship

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“Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You’re just passing it on to someone else.”

Mitch Albom

Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Hebrews 13:15 NRSV

True worship requires sacrifice

God’s grace allows us to have an intimate experience with Him. A lot of people spend eternity without having to realize and be in the presence of the God of the Universe. However, a lot of this intimacy is conditional and comes as a reward of obedience. A lot of people choose the good things but are unwilling to participate when there is already a cost. There are blessings and promises that require an altar and a sacrifice. There are things we need to consecrate and set apart for the Lord.

24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. (Exodus 20:24)

Living as a New Testament people of God, we are not required to follow Old Testament Law in terms of actual altars and sacrifices, but they are there to teach us a mindset. The Old Testament instructions on worship and offering happen when our hearts are surrendered to the Lord. Oftentimes, we miss out on the truths of worship completely.

Too many believers neglect Old Testament worship regarding it as the past, and the New Testament as the present. On some level, it is true that we are redeemed from the Law by Jesus. However, the Old Testament is still significant and relevant to our spiritual walks. The whole Bible is the standard, not just the portions we chose from it. Everything in the Bible adds detail, example, and even practical principles in understanding how God interacts with His people.

We cannot write off the faith and principles of Old Testament practice to be archaic and irrelevant.

Grace does mark the new covenant. However, without an understanding of the truths in the Old Testament worship, we cannot fully grasp or live in absolute grace by learning about true worship.  We cannot be extremes in such that we sacrifice actual animals on altars. However, we cannot write off the faith and principles of Old Testament practice to be archaic and irrelevant.

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Sacrifice-as-Worship

 

heart

God gives you the heart to be generous

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God gives you the heart to be generous, and the means to be generous. God covers all grounds. When you limit your giving based on your current circumstance and the money in your bank account or your wallet, then you would be paralyzed. You are unable to part with your material wealth because you are relying on your own ability.

However, when you fix your eyes on the power and love of the Lord, then this opens your perspective to see the bigger picture. You are not the source of your generosity. Paul reveals the secret to generosity is simply stepping out in faith and giving.

Decide in your heart to be a cheerful giver.

God is the One who will bestow gracious abundance on those who give generously as it is that He will bless the generous with resources to give generously.

Paul defines the blessing of grace as having all sufficiency in all things. The term “Sufficiency”, which came from the Greek word autarkeia, is the state of possessing all that one needs so that he is able to manage without any help or support from others. Philippians 4:11 distinguishes the idea of “contentment” (as in Phil. 4:11).

However, it is an indirect result. The idea implies that the generous man curtails his own wants that he may be able to give to others, thus not being in want any longer.

A generous man is motivated by God’s own spirit of blessing.

The truth involved is probably close to that of Philippians 4:19, which is also expressed in the context of the Philippians’ generosity. Said in another way, a generous man is motivated by God’s own spirit of blessing. This man does not fear that God will leave him penniless. The God who puts it into a man’s heart to be generous with his material wealth will also ensure that his needs are supplied so that this man abounds in every good work. In other words, he is always able to contribute to the good work God intended for the church to do on earth

How to Give Your Heave Offering

Is the tithe the same as the heave-offering? The short answer is no. The heave-offering is often given in conjunction with the tithes (Lev. 7;14, 34) as a provision for the Levites. The Levites are the priestly tribe the Lord assigned to be ministers. They have no land of their own, and could not grow their own food.

Their life’s calling and vocation are to serve the Lord. They depended on the Lord’s provision through tithes and heave offerings (Num. 18:24, 29).

The heave-offering, like the tithe, is given from the person’s first fruits, that is, out of the first portion of the produce harvested each year (Num.15:21).

The heave-offering is designed and permitted to be consumed only by the priests.  According to Jewish traditions, only the proprietor was allowed to set apart the târumah. In other words, it is the giver who intentionally gives the târumah set apart for its purpose as a heave offering.

In ancient Israel, there was a sacred character to the târumah.

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The Prophetic Mantle

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The Prophetic Mantle: Every prophet is a reformer. Woe to the prophet-less culture, for it, has no one to tell it when it’s headed to destruction and guide it back to safety. – Wallace Henley

5The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.”

2 Kings 2:5 NRSV

The Prophetic Anointing

In the Second Book of Kings, we begin to understand the value of the prophetic mantle; “He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan” (2 Kgs. 2:13). The mantle itself does not have any power.

We don’t need to have an actual physical mantle today in order to receive the prophetic anointing and ministry. The prophetic mantle is figurative of the anointing that individuals believe. In the “pool,” the prophetic mantle deals with a deeper prophetic anointing than simply operating with a spiritual gift.

Like Elisha, when he picked up the mantle that Elijah left behind, believers become endowed with the anointing of the prophet when they receive the prophetic mantle.

We need to recognize that not everyone with a prophetic anointing is a prophet. There is a thin line between the two — even if it’s sometimes indiscernible, the line still spells a difference. To have a prophetic anointing means that you must bear a mantle upon your higher calling. A  pastor may be considered a prophetic pastor, a teacher may be called a prophetic teacher.

The higher calling specifically for these individuals is pastor and teacher, and the prophetic mantle is just icing on the cake, i.e. it is possible that the believer’s main calling may not be in the prophetic realm. Other examples of callings that can be strengthened by the prophetic mantle include being prophetic intercessors, prophetic counselors, prophetic evangelists, or prophetic writers.

 

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DISTINGUISHING THE “SPIRIT OF PROPHECY” LEVEL

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The SPIRIT OF PROPHECY is poured out upon believers in the church to testify about Jesus Christ, which is true even today. For this reason, the Bible says that we may all prophesy (1Cor.14:31).

The power of the prophetic still exists today; It did not die when the last apostle died as some would claim.

One cannot go to the deepest end, without stepping into this level first.

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GROWING YOUR PROPHETIC GIFT

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In every area of life, feedback from others is fundamentally needed to help us grow and develop our gifts and skills. There is a saying that goes, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions!” This is also true concerning our spiritual gifts of prophecy and discernment. At the end of the day, if we don’t know how to improve and sharpen our spiritual gifts — and the manner in which we use them — we will not reach our truest potential. It’s not that we are the source of these gifts, but it is that we’re the stewards of these gifts that we seek to grow them.

It’s not that we are the source of these gifts, but it is that we’re the stewards of these gifts that we seek to grow them.

Feedback is important because when we recognize and acknowledge our blind spots, we are able to address them. We can never identify our own blind spots. Moreover, we also learn from the wisdom of others who are already ahead of us on the journey. Our ability to communicate clearly to others what God has spoken to us is sharpened when we receive feedback from elder prophets. Moreover, Godly feedback provides confirmation of our prophetic insight, which benefits us and those to whom we are ministering.

Through feedback, we can assess the degree to which the ministry is helpful. You can also ensure that there is no gap — or misunderstanding — between what you have heard from God (regarding His heart and purposes for a person or for a situation), and what the person has actually received and understood through your prophetic word.

Ministry feedback can come from the following people:

  • A person you share a prophetic insight with;
  • A leader, pastor, or spiritual overseer in the situation you are ministering in;
  • A mentor or fellow team member.

What are the benefits of ministry feedback you’ve personally experienced and how did it help you grow?

Do you have fears or anxieties with regards to receiving feedback or constructive criticism from prophetic leaders, senior pastors, or fellow prophets? What are they?

 

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