THE BLESSING OF THE LORD AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD !

THE BLESSING OF THE LORD AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD ! There have been a lot of theories offered over the years to explain why Cain's tithe was rejected. Some have suggested that his offering was unacceptable because it wasn't an animal. But that wasn't the problem. Since Cain worked the land, his tithe naturally would have come from the firstfruits of his field. But he didn't bring God the firstfruits. The Hebrew Scripture indicate he brought the third picking. What Cain gave God was worthless ! Anyone who has ever lived on a farm knows what late or third pickings are. They're not good for anything but cow feed. They're shriveled up leftovers that are tough as leather. God calls that kind of offering a sin. But, even so, He didn't condemn Cain right away. He gave him another opportunity and said, "If you do well, will you not be accepted ? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." At that point, Cain could have repented and started over, but he wouldn't do it. Instead, he became offended. He let the devil get him so riled up that he finally committed murder. It's a sad story, but it makes a clear point: The tithe is precious to God and powerful for mankind--- and the devil hates it. He hates it because it represents THE BLESSING he can never have. He hates it because it establishes God as the spiritual head of His family. It confirms God's people as the rulers who have been given authority over the earth. Although the devil would like us to think so, God never meant for the tithe to be a kind of religious bondage or a legalistic rule. He meant for it to be an act of BLESSING and rejoicing. If Adam and his wife had walked with God long enough, they could have found that out. They could have had all kinds of fun watching over God's tree. They could have said, "This belongs to our Father ! Let's bless it extra. Let's give it more attention than any of the others so when we bring Him the fruit, it'll be the best in the Garden ! If they'd taken that attitude, God would have told them everything they needed to know about good and evil. He would have spent much time with them, teaching them how to operate in THE BLESSING. He would have told them all about the universe and all the marvelous angels He had created to help them exercise their dominion over it. God didn't intend for Adam to be ignorant of those things. He playing to instruct them Himself in just the right way it just the right time. But they didn't give him That the opportunity. They stole ! They picked an ate something that did not belong to them (Malachi 3:8). According to the Hebrew sages, they did it the first day. They let the devil convince them that God was holding out on them, and that if they ever wanted to learn the truth about good and evil, they'd have to learn it from him. As we now know, the whole idea of was preposterous. The devil can't teach anyone the truth about anything because "there is no truth in him. . . For he is a liar, and the father of it." Yet he talked Adam's wife into believing otherwise, and here's how he did it. . . THE GREAT DECEPTION ! Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which The Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden ? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said unto the woman, you That shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit there are, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. . .(Genesis 3:1--7).