[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

What Causes the Death of Nations?

The world has seen many powerful nations whose wealth, influence, and reach would understandably cause any who dwelt within them to believe they would last forever—yet the path of history is strewn with their ruins. Today, two of the past century’s greatest powers—the United States and Great Britain—are on the verge of joining the failed states of the past. But, the true reason why goes generally unacknowledged.

Join us today on Tomorrow’s World as we explain how great nations die.

Economies in Turmoil

While many would, perhaps, rather not admit it, much of the modern world has been crafted over the past century by the economic, military, and cultural success the United States, Britain, and British-descended nations of the world have experienced.

As U.S. foreign-policy expert Walter Russell Mead said in his insightful 2007 book God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World,

It is unpardonably vulgar to say so, but in three hundred years of warfare, the English-speaking powers keep winning. To put this another way, either the British or the Americans or both have been on the winning side of every major war in which they have participated since the late seventeenth century. That history of victory shapes the world we live in…. The Anglo-Saxon powers did not just win wars. They changed the way the world lives, thinks, and organizes itself as much as any of the great civilizations of the past… (pp. 13–14).

It’s true. The United States, Great Britain, and the other English-speaking nations of the world have had an incredible impact on world culture and way of life, completely out of proportion to their size. The United States, in particular, has been the sole remaining “superpower” of the Cold War era—a financial juggernaut and a military power the likes of which the world has rarely seen before, if ever.

But things change. The higher the climb, the farther the fall.

Let’s briefly take a look at only one indicator of the current strength of these Great Nations: Their economic status.

The wealth of the United Kingdom was once considered the envy of the world. And today, the United States is still considered by many to be the chief financial engine powering the world’s economies. But just how trustworthy is that engine?

Looking under the hood to examine more closely—or, under the bonnet, for our friends in the UK—doesn’t give cause for hope.

It’s hard to report on American national debt because it is growing so quickly that numbers quickly become outdated!

But as of right now, as I am recording this program, that debt is more than 30 trillion dollars—that’s more than 97 thousand dollars for every single living, breathing citizen of the U.S.—from the newborn to the elderly!

That means that the U.S. public debt is currently about 120 percent of its gross domestic product—the financial output of the nation (“Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product,” FRED Economic Data, FRED.stlouisfed.org, July 26, 2023).

And as noted by the non-partisan Peter G. Peterson foundation, “[w]ithin 10 years, net interest costs [Note: INTEREST COSTS] will exceed federal spending on crucial programs like Medicaid and [national] defense” (“Interest Costs on the National Debt are On Track to Reach a Record High,” Peter G. Peterson Foundation, pgpf.org, February 16, 2023).

Across the Atlantic, the UK is hardly doing better.

As reported by The Guardian in June 2023,

The UK’s total government debt pile in May reached more than 100% of annual national income for the first time since 1961 as state borrowing more than doubled, according to official figures.

In a blow to [Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak’s plans to cut taxes before the general election, which is expected next year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said net debt reached £2.6tn as of the end of May, estimated at 100.1% of gross domestic product (GDP)

(“UK government debt rises above 100% of GDP for first time since 1961,” TheGuardian.com, June 21, 2023).

And the citizens, personally, are hardly doing any better than their overspending governments.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data recently reported,

Total household debt [in the U.S.] rose by $148 billion, or 0.9 percent, to $17.05 trillion in the first quarter of 2023…. Mortgage balances climbed by $121 billion and stood at $12.04 trillion at the end of March. Auto loan and student loan balances also increased to $1.56 trillion and $1.60 trillion, respectively, but credit card balances were flat at $986 billion (“Household Debt and Credit Report,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York—Center for Microeconomic Data, NewYorkFed.org, 2023).

Of course, economic troubles are only one sign of a nation’s declining health and power. We could spend the rest of our program today looking at others.

For instance, the U.S. military continues facing humiliation after humiliation after the scarring images of the nation’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and recruitment programs that seem more devoted to recruiting social justice warriors and drag queens than maintaining the top fighting force in the world.

As for the UK, The Times reported in May 2023 that Germany was preparing to spend more on national defense than Britain for the first time in modern history—the same Germany whose Gross Domestic Product is around 30 percent larger than the UK’s (“German defence spending ‘to overtake UK within years’,” TheTimes.co.uk, May 17, 2023; “Country comparison Germany vs United Kingdom,” CountryEconomy.com, 2023).

Where the Anglo powers once seemed to govern the course of the world, when the U.S. was seeking Saudi support for its actions intended to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, news agencies around the world reported that the Saudi leaders would not even take U.S. President Joe Biden’s phone call.

History is clear: No great nation—no great empire—lasts forever.

Yet the real reason they die tends to be ignored.

Moral Decline

For truly great, globe-girdling nations, one source of downfall and demise rises above them all: MORAL DECAY.

In this area, we can learn a lot from ancient Rome. The Republic of Rome and the Empire that grew out of it ruled a large portion of the world for a millennium. Its might was unparalleled in its day.

But what is left of it today?

Ruins, ruins, and more ruins.

And while many point to overexpansion, economic policy, military spending and other causes of Rome’s fall, the truth of the matter is that before the borders of Rome could be breached by the forces that would destroy it, it was already rotting within due to decadence and moral degradation.

Many historians testify to the problem, including Roman historians, themselves.

Writing only a handful of years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the ancient Roman historian Livy was well aware even then that Rome had fallen from its greatest heights, and expresses in Book I, chapter 1, of his History of Rome, his hope that each reader will consider gravely what he has recorded of his own people:

I would have every man apply his mind seriously to consider these points… what their life and what their manners were… as discipline gradually declined, let him follow in his thoughts their morals, at first as slightly giving way, anon how they sunk more and more, then began to fall headlong, until he reaches the present times, when we can neither endure our vices, nor their remedies.

The renowned Roman historian Tacitus pulled few punches in addressing the moral state of his people. Writing around 115 AD, in his famous passage mentioning the crucifixion of Christ, Tacitus was no fan of Christianity, calling it a “deadly superstition,” but his description of his nation’s capital city is noteworthy.

Observing how Christianity was only temporarily slowed down when Christ was crucified, but then mysteriously sprang back to life, more dynamic than before, he writes that it “erupt[ed] again not only in Judaea, the home of this evil, but even in Rome, to which all that is dreadful or shameful in the world flows and here is celebrated”

(Annals, Tacitus Cornelius, 2012).

(Of course, one day Tacitus will learn it wasn’t just the faith of Christians that sprung to life again suddenly, but their Savior, as well!)

Finally, consider Seneca, one of the most celebrated Roman philosophers and writers in Roman history, born in 4 BC and living as a contemporary of the first Christian disciples.

His criticisms of Roman morals and culture in his day were stinging, noting that simple honesty and integrity were vanishing, such that mere agreements between men were no longer sufficient, requiring lawyers and legal papers to be drawn up to require individuals to live up to their ends of the deal.

“O, what a shameful admission of the dishonesty and wickedness of the human race! More trust is placed in our sealrings than in our consciences” (Essays, Book 3).

As for the state of marriage and family in Rome at the time, Seneca writes,

“Is there any woman that blushes at divorce now that certain illustrious and noble ladies reckon their years, not by the number of consuls, but by the number of their husbands, and leave home in order to marry, and marry in order to be divorced?… Is there any shame at all for adultery, now that matters have come to pass that no woman has any use for a husband except to inflame her paramour?” (ibid.).

Seneca noted that marital fidelity had become extinct, and the lack of shame in adultery and fornication only meant that the rot of promiscuity spread further and faster. His observations match those of a near contemporary, the Roman poet Martial [MAR-shəl], who implied marriage in Rome had essentially become legalized adultery.

Such ancient accounts fit well with the observation of famed English historian Edward Gibbon, whose classic work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire paints a picture of an nation whose leaders became degenerate in character, and whose military legions brought back corrupting vices and immoral practices from the lands they conquered.

Before Rome became a ruin on the outside, it had become a ruin within. And the death of that great nation became assured.

Family Destruction

A morally corrupt nation cannot suppose that it will last! And moral corruption causes great nations to die.

And my friends, this is vital to understand because America and Britain, and those nations which have descended from her, are in a MORAL FREEFALL!

As explained in detail in today’s free resource, The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy, they have turned their backs on the God who blessed them and are actively—even aggressively—turning their backs on His laws!

Let’s examine just a handful of biblical guidelines and compare them to current American and British culture to see how we measure up.

God stresses in His word the importance of family and the marriage bond between husband and wife. In Exodus 20, the fifth commandment reads,

“Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”

Elsewhere in Leviticus 19:32, we read,

“You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD.”

The seventh of the Ten Commandments teaches the same principle expounded by the Apostle Paul in Hebrews 13:4,

“Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”

And in passages such as Matthew 19:4–6, Jesus Christ reaffirms the definition of marriage as designed in Genesis 2: A union between one man and one woman for life.

God cares PASSIONATELY about respectful relationships between generations, and between children and parents, and about the sacred union of man and woman in marriage.

Yet in the U.S. and Britain, younger generations are casting aside the guidance and wisdom of previous generations, and the nations’ supposedly enlightened academics, leaders, and social engineers are destroying any traditional or biblical notions of sex, gender, or family structure and replacing them with novel designations and configurations of their own design.

One effect of neglecting God’s design of and laws regarding the family is, believe it or not, economic.

In a 2008 study, the Institute for American Values concluded,

“[W]e estimate that family fragmentation costs U.S. taxpayers at least $112 billion each and every year, or more than $1 trillion each decade” (The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing, 2008).

And that was their conservative estimate.

To put this in perspective, by some estimates that amount is the same as the total cost of the United States’ war in Afghanistan.

In the UK, the cost of family breakdown is estimated at more than 50 billion pounds per year, or more than 60 billion U.S. dollars.

But, of course, the real cost of broken families is not measured in dollars, but in the damage it wreaks on the people of a nation.

At the end of 2021, researcher and author Melanie Phillips wrote of this in a commentary for The Times in the UK. What she insightfully calls “the willed disintegration of the traditional nuclear family” has been devastating:

“It is the greatest cause of social inequalities, through educational underachievement, crime and juvenile psychological disorders. At its most extreme, it leads to neglected, abused and dead children. Yet this has become unsayable in the upper reaches of government and cultural life. So what we have instead are unspeakable acts of cruelty and degradation — and nauseating crocodile tears” (“Family fragmentation comes at a tragic cost,” December 20, 2021).

Let’s look another: the tenth commandment, “You shall not covet.” What would be the state of our national and private debt if so many of our citizens were not consumed with desire for the newest cars, technology, entertainment, all beyond our means—but within our credit limits. Jesus Christ teaches us in Luke 12:15, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Yet our consumer-based national economies are virtually FOUNDED on the hope that people will IGNORE this advice, resulting in the culture of permanent debt we now enjoy.

Ultimately, our debt is enslaving our nations. In fact, Bible prophecy says that the U.S. and British-descended nations will eventually be crushed by debt, as explained in today’s free offer.

We read in Deuteronomy 28, verses 43 and 44:

“The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.”

Yet the solution isn’t more creative economic policy or more government handouts. The solution is to stop sinning, turn to Jesus Christ, and start obeying God.

There are too many examples like these for us to cover all of them in one program, but in summary let me refer to a statement by educator Vincent Ruggiero, made in his book Warning: Nonsense is Destroying America:

“If we are ever to solve this country’s social problems, we must acknowledge the moral bankruptcy of our time and the culpability, not only of the parents and teachers, but most of all the media. We must take responsibility for creating an environment that nurtures morality in children and adults…. To pretend the Ten Commandments are somehow irrelevant to moral living is a violation of common sense…” (p. 152).

Will Society Turn to God? Will You?

What is really at the heart of the problem?

There’s a verse in the Psalms that haunts me on this matter. Psalm 11:3, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

While our politicians discuss what color to paint the nation’s walls, they seem to ignore the fact that the foundation, itself, is destroyed—and, unless repaired, the house is doomed to collapse. Concerning the Constitution of the United States, established shortly after the birth of the nation, Founding Father John Adams once said,

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other” (“From John Adams to Massachusetts Militia, 11 October 1798,” Founders.Archive.gov).

Indeed, the freedoms inherent in any great nation rely on the moral self-restraint of its citizens.

The leaders of the U.S. and Britain SHOULD be seeking to turn their peoples to the God who created and blessed their nations—as discussed in today’s free booklet. Instead, they encourage and enable the people’s sin.

Of them, God declares in Isaiah 9:16,

“For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed.”

But you, personally, don’t have to wait for a senator, congressman, prime minister, or president to tell you to turn to the laws of God!

You don’t have to wait to begin experiencing the blessings that come from living life the way it was DESIGNED to be lived.

If you’re practicing sexual sin, indulging in lust in your body or mind, you can repent! You can ask God to forgive you, and to help you begin obeying His law! If you are letting yourself be carried away with covetousness and greed, in a real sense worshiping things and centering your life on your next purchase on Amazon, you can repent and turn away from that! You can begin obeying the tenth, first, and second commandments.

If you want a family that is strong and stable—a source of joy and comfort—God has given us laws that we can act on to help craft the sort of family we’ve always wanted to have!

And you can choose to follow those laws and build that family.

The only way to prevent great nations from dying is for the people of great nations to seek their God and Jesus Christ and turn from sin.

It isn’t too late. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says to King Solomon words that are just as true today:

“[I]f My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

If we want to make a difference, turning in a heartfelt manner to the God of heaven and seeking His way with passion, zeal, and humility, that will accomplish more than 1,000 phone calls to your senator or congressman ever will.

Thanks so much for watching! All of us here at Tomorrow’s World work very hard to help you understand your world through the pages of the Bible.

If you’re interested in what we offer today, the free study guide The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy, you can go to our website at TWTV.org/Prophecy. You can get it there or you can click on the link in the description.

If you appreciated what you saw today, we hope that you will subscribe, and if you’d like to be notified when we make more, just click on that bell.

Thanks so much!

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

The Key to Overcoming Hardships

The national debt of the United States is approaching a staggering 32 trillion dollars. The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have their own debt problems to a greater or lesser extent, as do most nations. Why are our nations so heavily indebted? How did our world get into this financial quagmire?

But what about you? How are you doing? Are you among the many living “paycheck to paycheck,” fearing what the future holds for you? Everywhere, inflation is squeezing personal budgets, but do you realize that the God of Creation wants you to prosper? Don’t take my word for it. Believe the words of Jesus Christ as found in John 10:10:

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

While that abundant life applies to far more than your pocketbook, that is certainly included. So, how does He give you a more abundant life? Is it only the forgiveness of sin? Or is there more to it? On today’s Tomorrow’s World program, I’ll give you one law of God that affects you as an individual and our nations as a whole. I’ll also be offering you what is our least offered booklet, so be sure to have writing material available to take down our contact information. Now stay tuned, as I will be right back to discuss one law of God that brings about a more abundant life.

Bad Choices Lead to Suffering

A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World, where today I’ll be discussing a law that promotes an abundant life. When Jesus said He came to give us life more abundantly, He was speaking in a broad sense. He came to show us a better way of life, one that avoids the heartache brought about when we break God’s laws. Contrary to what many think, He did not come to do away with God’s immutable laws. As He said in Matthew 5:17:

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17).

But He also came to remove the stain of sin through His sacrifice, freeing us from the guilt of past sins. He also brought good news of the coming Kingdom of God—giving purpose to our lives. All this leads to a more abundant life.

God gave our first parents a choice between two ways of life, symbolized by two trees. The fruit of one would lead to wonderful blessings, resulting in life. But the fruit of the other, to curses, ending in death. These two trees are introduced in Genesis 2:9, but let’s pick it up in verses 16 and 17:

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16–17).

This one prohibited tree was symbolic of man choosing for himself to determine good and evil, right from wrong. But God did not stop him from making that disastrous decision. As you likely know, Adam and Eve chose to disobey. The result? They were kicked out of a beautiful garden paradise where food was plentiful, and life would be pleasant. Instead, they were doomed to hardship, suffering, and death. Sadly, their children, including you and me, have made the same choice—rejecting God’s revelation and determining for ourselves right and wrong—and experiencing the same results.

God reminded the nation of Israel of this choice in Deuteronomy 30, beginning in verse 15:

See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess (Deuteronomy 30:15–16).

He summed it up in verse 19:

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live (Deuteronomy 30:19).

That choice would appear to be, as they call it, a no-brainer; but if so, why is the majority of mankind choosing death? America was once the greatest creditor nation in the world, but today is the greatest debtor nation. Why?

There are invisible laws that if followed bring prosperity, but if broken, bring financial disaster. To the nation of Israel, God declared in Deuteronomy 28:

Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. … Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks (Deuteronomy 28:1, 3–4).

God next gave a long list of curses that would come upon them for disobedience. Among them, we read in verses 43 and 44:

The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail (Deuteronomy 28:43–44).

Longtime viewers of Tomorrow’s World know that we do not shy away from the truth. We show from the Bible what few seem to realize. We go against the grain by teaching the seventh-day Sabbath and the biblical Holy Days, rather than the pagan observances with the name of Christ blasphemously attached to them. But there’s one law that we practice that we almost never mention on this telecast—the law of tithing. The reason should be obvious. We follow Jesus’ command in Matthew 10:8:

Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8).

That is why all our resources are given away free of charge. We pay for the phone calls, the postage, and the resources you request. I think you know our program is different. We refuse to merchandize off the word of God. So, to avoid even the appearance of contradicting our sincere desire to give the truth free of charge, we generally avoid the biblical subject of tithing. However, when the Apostle Paul gathered the Ephesian elders together, he explained in Acts 20:20:

I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house (Acts 20:20).

And then in verse 27 he said:

For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).

The law of tithing IS part of the whole counsel of God. It’s taught in the Old Testament and affirmed by Jesus. God wants what is best for us. But for that to happen, we must choose His way of love and outgoing concern, rather than the selfish get way of life. Part of that way of life is found in Matthew 23:23. There Jesus criticized the Pharisees for meticulously counting out seeds and leaves to tithe, but neglected how they treated others.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone (Matthew 23:23).

Yes, justice, mercy and faith are “weightier matters” than meticulously counting every tenth seed, but note that Jesus said,

… without leaving the others [tithing] undone.

Are we here at Tomorrow’s World to leave out that law when instructing in righteousness? We want everyone to know that we do not request donations from the public. Everything we have is given away free of charge. The call center we use instructs their operators not to ask for, not even to hint for, donations when you call for our materials. But we will do as Paul did—teach the whole counsel of God—including God’s law of tithing.

And the whole counsel of God includes the command against stealing—either from your neighbor or from God.

God’s Instructions for Making Good Choices

As we have already seen, our first parents chose to trust their own judgment rather than that of their Creator. We’ve also seen that God laid out to Israel the same choice in the simplest of terms. How they chose would have radically different results, as seen in Deuteronomy 30:19.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live (Deuteronomy 30:19).

While God left it up to them to choose, He urged them to make the right choice—life and blessings. Even though obedience was for their own good, God moaned that mankind did not have the heart to obey Him. We see this in Deuteronomy 5:29:

Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! (Deuteronomy 5:29).

The commandments He referred to were clearly the Ten Commandments as they are listed just before this statement. And one of those commands says,

You shall not steal (Deuteronomy 5:19).

James tells us, we are not to pick and choose which commandments to keep and which ones to ignore. He clearly referred to the Ten Commandments when he wrote the following in James 2, beginning in verse 10:

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” also said, “DO NOT MURDER.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty (James 2:10–12).

Choosing life means choosing God’s revealed way of life. Here at Tomorrow’s World we teach the whole counsel of God, which includes all the laws of God, but one law we rarely speak of to the public is the law of tithing. That is because we want everyone to know that we do not sell our materials. We depend on Living Church of God members and coworkers who have personally chosen of their own will to support this Work with their tithes and offerings.

But how can we in good conscience not tell you, our viewers, if you are sinning, when Isaiah commands us in Isaiah 58:1:

Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins (Isaiah 58:1).

And again, one of the Ten Commandments is:

You shall not steal (Deuteronomy 5:19).

Most people understand that we are not to steal from our neighbors, but is it a lesser sin to steal from God? Too many reason, “Well God understands.” Yes, He does, dear friends. But do we? Malachi asks in chapter 3 and verse 8:

Will a man rob God? (Malachi 3:8).

Now that’s a simple enough question. Surely, we would never do that! Or would we? Read on:

Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, “In what way have we robbed You?” (Malachi 3:8).

God’s answer?

In tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8).

Just as then, people reason around God’s laws today.

I cannot emphasize enough that all our resources are sent free of charge. We pay for the phone call, the postage, and the specific items you request. And as all our longtime viewers know, we do not hit you up for donations. This does not mean that we fail to teach the whole counsel of God. This does not mean that we don’t “cry aloud and spare not” and show our nations our sins. This does not mean we teach against robbing our neighbor, but fail to teach what it means to rob from God. We give the truth and you can do with it as you choose; but, I strongly urge you to obey God’s laws—all of them—but only you can determine whether to tithe and where to pay it.

True Riches in God’s Service

We are here, not because of blind evolution, but because there is a God in heaven who has created all things. This universe, this solar system, this marvelous planet on which we live, including the air we breathe, the water we drink, even the dirt beneath our feet, are all the result of God’s creation. We literally owe everything to Him. As King David wrote in Psalm 24:1:

The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein (Psalm 24:1).

Or, as we read in Psalm 50:10–12:

For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness (Psalm 50:10–12).

Everything was created by God. We owe Him our very existence. Now consider. If you are renting an apartment or house, you must pay the landlord. It is not a matter of giving, but paying for the privilege to live in his property. In like manner, God gives us a beautiful home, but commands us to pay ten percent for our food, shelter, clothing, and luxuries. No matter how rich or poor, the percent is the same. When you think about it, that is a pretty good deal!

But think further. God, and ONLY God, has the power to extend our life for eternity, but He tells us we must choose His way, not our own. However, it is not eternal life only that He offers. He offers us a better life today—blessings of all kinds, rather than curses. As we read in Deuteronomy 30:19:

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live (Deuteronomy 30:19).

As we read earlier, Jesus declared:

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

And the Apostle John wrote in his third letter, in verse 2:

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 1:2).

Yes, God wants us to prosper. He wants us to obey all His laws, because He knows that is the way to blessings in this life and ultimately to eternal life. God gives us time on this earth to choose the tree of life (His revealed way of love and outgoing concern), over the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (the way of human reason that is directed by Satan the Devil).

A rich young man came to Jesus one day with an important question. We read of it in Matthew 19:16.

Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?

Jesus responded by telling him to keep the commandments. The young man asked, “Which ones?” And Jesus responded by listing several of the Ten Commandments, including the prohibition against stealing. Continuing in verse 20:

The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” (Matthew 19:20).

It was then that Jesus got to the core of the man’s problem. He was violating the spirit of the first commandment because his wealth was being placed ahead of God, and he was breaking the spirit, or intent of, the tenth commandment, against coveting. This became evident when Jesus told him to sell all that he had and to give it to the poor. This is not intended to be a command for everyone—only those who trust in their riches above trusting in God, as shown in the parallel account found in Mark 10:24.

And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:24).

The whole Bible shows that God is not against you prospering. And in fact, God promises to bless those who obey His commandment on tithing. And I’ll show you that in the last portion of this program, but please do not misunderstand. This is neither an appeal for support, nor a promotion of a health and wealth gospel. If that is what you are looking for, you’ll have to go elsewhere.

Faith and the Purpose of Tithing

God spoke through Malachi to a cynical, argumentative, self-justifying people when He asked the question: “Will a man rob God?” The answer was that they were doing so by not paying their tithes, what we might view as their just rent on God’s beautiful earth. As a result, He said there in Malachi 3:

“You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:9–10).

Is it any wonder why our nations struggle financially? Is it any wonder why so many individuals struggle financially? Do we really think we can rob from God and not suffer the consequences? Now I know some think they cannot afford to tithe, but can they afford not to tithe? Remember what Jesus said were the weightier matters of the law?

Justice and mercy and faith (Matthew 23:23).

The Bible refers to Abraham as the father of the faithful in Romans 4:16. In addition to other acts of faith, we are first introduced to tithing in Genesis 14:19–20, when Abraham sets the example of giving a tithe to “God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.”

And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he [Abraham] gave him [Melchizedek] a tithe of all.

Do you have the faith of Abraham? One who did was a widow in the days of Elisha. She was down to her last meal when she chose to put God first. But notice also how Jesus praised her for her faith [Luke 4:25–26]:

But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow (Luke 4:25–26).

You can read this inspiring story of faith in 1 Kings 17. I hope you’ll do that, 1 Kings 17.

If you found it helpful and want to learn more, be sure to get your free copy of our study guide God’s People Tithe. Just click the link in the description or go to TWTV.ORG/Tithe.

We here at Tomorrow’s World want to help you understand your world through the pages of the Bible. So be sure to like, subscribe, and hit that bell so you don’t miss another video.

Thanks for watching! See you next time.