1. H. Robins, well-renowned linguist and author of General Linguistics: An Introductory Survey, cites 3,000 B. C. as the time, which is as far as we can go in linguistic history. Amazingly, this timeframe coincides with when the Babel incident would have happened.1 With such findings and evidence, we can say that what the Bible says about language and the ability that it has is true.

Words have the terrifying power to create and unite, but whether that is for better or worse is up to us. Here we have a group of people united with one goal and vision, and they all speak the same language. The words and sentences they exchanged with each other passed on an idea that was embraced by many.

And yet, for all their teamwork and harmony, the words they exchanged was meant to unite them all against God. Instead of creating something that the Lord can declare as good, they wanted to create something that would make them as if they are God. And so, the Lord decided to mix up the languages of the world, and while the words and intonations vary, the power does not. Used properly as God did in the creation of the universe, we are able to see wonderful things come to pass. Used wrongly, we see entire civilizations come to ruin.+

For truly, as King Solomon said:

4 The words of a person’s mouth are like deep water. But the fountain of wisdom is like a flowing stream.

6 What foolish people say leads to arguing. They are just asking for a beating.

7 The words of foolish people drag them down. They are trapped by what they say.

8 The words of anyone who talks about others are like tasty bites of food.

They go deep down inside you.

20 Because of what they say a person can fill their stomach.

What their words produce can satisfy them. 21 Your tongue has the power of life and death.

Those who love to talk will eat the fruit of their words. (Proverbs 18: 4, 6-8, 20-21)

This is the true extent of what our words are able to create – in any language. All languages are the language of creation; it is a matter of what you say in that language.

Experience the Power of Prophecy as a gift to open your mind to receive the Mind of Christ.

Language plays an integral part, particularly in social settings. It achieves a responsive flow between or among people, affecting their feelings while getting our points across. It is definitely more complex than just a string of words put together. It aids in showcasing our personality, attitude, opinions, and intentions towards society. We perform these acts by declaring, promising, requesting, offering, assessing, and asserting ourselves.

Classification of Speech Acts

To understand how we are to utilize the ability of speech acts, we must first understand how they are classified according to framework.

We have:

• The Speech Act of Declaration
• The Speech Act of Promise
• The Speech Act of Request
• The Speech Act of Offer
• The Speech Act of Assessment
• The Speech Act of Assertion

Let us dig deeper into the heart of this book, language, and where all these variations came from.

Experience the Power of Prophecy as a gift to open your mind to receive the Mind of Christ.

In Malachi 3:6, God declares, “I the Lord do not change.” A few verses after the Lord declares that people rob Him through tithes and offering, and that they should test Him to see if He would not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing on them. Do you see what He is saying?

Tithes and offering is something that the Lord would always require, even after Jesus’ victory on the cross. The Lord is saying, He does not change, and He requires His portion, and as you obey, you are going to be abundantly blessed. As you test Him in your obedience, specifically by bringing in your tithes and offering, He would still and surely do what He said He would do:

10 Bring the entire tenth to the storerooms in my temple. Then there will be plenty of food. Test me this way,” says the Lord. “Then you will see that I will throw open the windows of heaven. I will pour out so many blessings that you will not have enough room to store them. 11 I will keep bugs from eating up your crops. And your grapes will not drop from the vines before they are ripe,” says the Lord. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed. Your land will be delightful,” says the Lord who rules over all. (Malachi 3:10-12)

There is this story of a pastor who discovered the târumah, when someone gave him a târumah. It was $3 and he knew the man needed it more than he did, but the Lord said to him, “Take it. It’s for him, not for you.” In the same season, this man was blessed with two cars. You don’t need to take my word for it. You can test God when it comes to your târumah, as He said you should.

Going back to this pastor, he asked for forgiveness to God for withholding the târumah out of ignorance. As he prayed for forgiveness, he heard the Lord saying $111. He thought it was a weird amount, but he obeyed and placed it in another pastor’s hand directly. The day after someone went up to him saying, I’m going to give you my house; it needs repairs, but I’m going to give it to you. He spent about $50,000 for repairs. It took him a week to move in, and when he did, it was only then that he realized his house number was Lot 111. He knew God blessed his târumah offering.

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When you do not fulfill the requirements of the covenant, there is punishment. It does not mean that you are not saved by the blood of Jesus, but because you are sinning, by robbing God, the enemy has the legal right to bring harm your way.

God’s grace protects you as long as you obey. Some of God’s promises have clear requirements and when you follow what He asks, then you have access to His hedge of protection.

God withholds his blessing as punishment when people become ungrateful and disloyal. What can evil people do with great resources? Answer: So much damage. When people withhold the tithes and the offering, pride and disobedience are the causes. The withholding of the blessing is actually for the offender.

The Israelites’ answer in itself was indignant. The Lord answered with two nouns — in tithes and offering. The tithe was the regular portion of their income that went to the Lord; and their offering was an additional gift that they were to give, often identified as the priest’s due.88 In the Old Testament, all the giving covered the sanctuary offerings for God, the failure to bring these to God was a clear sign of ingratitude and disloyalty.

The whole land was cursed. The word “curse means “to remove from the place of blessing.” The Bible was not specific as how many disobedient people it takes to bring down a national curse, but this is clearly widespread throughout the land.89 Maybe they were experiencing hardships in rebuilding their nation. However, Malachi would remind them that if they thought keeping their money was the most frugal thing to do for their livelihood, then they needed to understand the covenant terms again. If they gave by faith what was due to God, bountiful provisions would be supplied.

First and foremost, it would rain. Secondly, devouring pests would not come. However, since they failed to trust in God’s provision, there was drought and pests. God was teaching them to depend on Him for the rain and the crops, and when He provided for them to show their gratitude with their tithes and offerings (the tithes would be in proportion to the way God prospered them).

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The offering is traditionally translated as the “heave offering” (Exo. 29:2-28, Lev. 14:32, Num. 15-19-21). It is found 76 times in the Hebrew Bible, mostly in Exodus, Numbers, and Ezekiel, which is usually related to the causative verb rûm, “be high,” which suggested it’s raised as an offering to the Lord. The târumah, as we have been discussing, is a contribution for the ministry of the Lord. It goes directly for the personal consumption of the priest. Moreover, the târumah is the setting aside an object from the owner’s domain to transfer it to God’s domain, as an act of dedication.84

The connection between the târumah and the tithe is suggested in Numbers 18:8-24. The offerings were reserved for the priests, since he was giving them no land to farm. All the târumah brought to the Lord, the portions of grain, and the like were not burnt. There is also a portion of the tithes that was designed to the Levites for the same reason. Not all of the tithes went to the priests’ direct consumption, because they needed resources to keep the temple running. The târumah comes in different amounts, unlike the tithe which is a fixed 10%. The târumah depends on the generosity of the person, which the most generous gives 2.5% or more of his increase. The târumah is not the tithe, but the tithe is a kind of târumah.

God said that the Israelites were withholding offerings that belonged to Him, especially the tithes.85 In the present time, a portion of the tithes is allotted for the salary of the priest, as other parts of it go to building rent, utilities, and the like. On the other hand, there are other offerings, which is entirely given to the priest for his nourishment and support. It is important to recognize if you are failing to bring your târumah, even when you are faithfully bringing in your tithe.

The Bible says if you fail to bring your târumah, then you are still robbing the Lord.

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1) Call 515-604-9266

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Have you ever withheld a tithe? How about an offering?