The Storehouse. 03/05/2014 (Morning thought)

Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, 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.

A lot of questions surround the issue of what the "Storehouse" is. In our day there are charitable organizations, and various churches and ministries that all claim to be valid "Storehouses", and even the Internal Revenue Service is not always sure what and where the "Storehouse" is. A departure from a plain "Thus saith the Lord" makes obscure what God has already made very plain. The storehouse is not any church or ministry that in our own judgement, we might deem a worthy recipient of our tithes. God has not left it up to us to decide what and where the storehouse is, for He has already plainly stated this in His word.

For clarity, the storehouse is a God-ordained church or body of believers established to carry out the mandates and commissions of God's kingdom in harmony with the precepts, principles, and laws of His Government. This is what the Bible says, and violence must not be done to the interpretation of the scriptures. Let's read:

Deuteronomy 12:11 Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord:  13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:  14 But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

Deuteronomy 14:22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. 24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee:  25 Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose:

It is of critical importance for us to understand this very important point from the word of God. The Storehouse where God chooses to place His "Name" must of necessity possess or advocate the teaching of all of his Commandments without exception, and all the truths of His word. The Bible is abundantly clear on this matter. Let's read:

Exodus 34: 28 And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.  29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

Exodus 25:8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.  10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.  21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.  22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

2nd Chronicles 5:7 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:  13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;  14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

The "storehouse" is never a place where false doctrines are promulgated or the ten commandments abrogated or rescinded. For instance, the Philistines' official church was the house of Dagon, to which they brought the ark of God containing the ten commandments, after capturing it from the Israelites in battle. After placing it carefully next to Dagon in their temple, it was found that the fish-god was badly mutilated by unseen  hands, when they returned the following morning. The reason for this unexplained phenomena is because God did not choose to put His "Name" there, for the worship of Dagon was in blatant violation of the first and second commandments. Let's read:

Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

In order for God to put His "Name" or stamp of approval on any Storehouse, Church, or institution, His law must form an integral part of the Charter, being not only promoted but also actively obeyed. Anything short of this prevents a church, organization, or institution from being designated "The Storehouse". And that's why the Philistines were at a loss to explain the terrible tragedies that followed in the wake of placing the ark of God containing His law, in a place He had not chosen. Let's read:

And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.  2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.  3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.  4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.  6 But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.  7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.  8 They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.  9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.

It becomes very evident therefore, that the storehouse, according to the Bible, is not any place, or any church, or any ministry that we may deem worthy of that designation, but rather,  a God-ordained establishment for the purposes of carrying forward the sacred agenda set forth in the scriptures. It behooves everyone therefore to find out from the Bible what the true "Storehouse" is, so that our tithes can be returned to the correct God-ordained institution. We therefore end this presentation with a clue. Let's read:

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

It is the sacred duty of every Christian to find out for themselves the teachings of God's word on this very important issue, and if we seek we will find, for it is written "he that willeth to do His will shall know of the doctrine". God bless!