KFLCC Kingdom Economics

F INANCIAL S ECURITY IN THE L AST D AYS

treasury of the Lord. This was the first fruits offering given to the Lord that would enable Israel to take the remaining thirty-one cities. Joshua said that if anyone took possessions from Jericho for themselves, they would have an accursed thing. The Hebrew word accursed is used four times in Joshua 6:17-18. The Word in Hebrew is cherem , and refers to shutting something in with a net where it cannot escape. It refers to something cursed or doomed to destruction. Why would God make the spoils of Jericho accursed, yet tell the people to bring those same spoils into the treasure house of the Lord (Josh. 6:19)? First, because this was the first fruits to the Lord; and when they are given to the Lord, they are blessed. But when they are withheld, favor is restrained. As Malachi pointed out, when we give God the tenth (tithes) He “rebukes the devourer” (Mal 3:11), but when we withhold the tenth then the curse is a curse of lack that follows. During the raid of Jericho, Achan, a man from the tribe of Judah, secretly withheld a beautiful Babylonian garment, along with gold and silver, burying them in his tent. When Achan took for himself what was intended for the House of God, not only did he suffer, but the entire army was impacted in their ability to win the next battle at Ai (see Joshua chapter 7). Great blessings of increase and success are pronounced in Scripture upon those who willingly give of their time and finances with a cheerful attitude (2 Cor. 9:7), but lack comes to those who withhold: The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself. The people will curse him who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it. P ROVERBS 11:25-26 (NKJV) W HY A RE T HERE S O M ANY H OLES IN Y OUR B AG OF B LESSING ? Why is it difficult at times to make financial ends meet? Why are bills often overdue? Why do your finances seem to come up short? The simple answer is that personal debts are exceeding person income. You cannot have $2,500 a month in bills when you are only making $2,000 a month in income. Without payment, eventually your credit card debts will be turned over to a collector, your bank will foreclose on your home, or somebody will show up to repossess your car. Excessive spending and easy access to credit cards has wreaked havoc on

122