Giving your best to Elohim:
Mar.14:3: And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
We are all familiar with the story of the woman who anointed Yahshua with a bottle of costly perfume. The four gospels mention it. In three gospels the incident takes place in Bethany but in Luke 7, the city is not mentioned. Moreover, the incident in Luke happened much earlier in Messiah’s ministry whereas in the other 3 gospels it happened before his last Passover.
In all these narratives, a woman poured costly perfume and anointed Messiah. The cost of the perfume was about 300 denarii, which was a full year’s income of an average person of those days. When the people at the table saw this act, they murmured and grumbled about the waste of such good stuff. Judas went on to say that the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor.
We fail to see what Messiah saw in this act. In Luke7:47, Messiah said she did this because she loved him much and so she gave him much. In Matt26, John 7 and Mark 14, Messiah said that we would always have the poor with us but not Him.
It is a very common thing to see people “donating” furniture, old vehicles or some household items to the church or to the pastor, with a condescending smile on their faces, saying they wanted to give something to the church! The things that are donated are old, rickety stuff which have to be disposed off to make place for new stuff!
The people in Israel were doing much the same thing. Read Malachi 1:7-8. The people were sacrificing lame and blind animals to Elohim. They were offering polluted bread. Is this the kind of offerings or sacrifices that please Elohim? The prophet Malachi asks us whether we would offer them to our governors.
When we compare the actions of the woman in the gospels with what Israel was offering, we are struck by extravagance of the woman’s gift. When was the last time you gave an expensive offering to Elohim? When was the last time you didn’t care what people said about your sacrifice? The woman’s actions met resistance. Nobody ever did it that way before. “What you are proposing is too expensive. That problem is too big for us to solve. It is not practical.” These are some common comments we hear.
She was fully committed. When she broke the flask her commitment to Him was unconditional and complete. She had probably saved her entire life to be able to purchase that flask of ointment. She was probably saving it for her own burial. When she broke that flask and poured out its contents, she was telling Yahshua, “You mean more to me than anything in the world!”
To Mary, nothing in the world was as valuable to her as Yahshua. She loved Him with an extravagant love and everything she possessed was His anyway. She loved the Lord more than she loved her things!
It takes an unusual or unimagined act to break people’s traditional thinking so they can understand what Elohim is doing for us. Sometimes extravagance is just the right thing to do to be faithful. The woman with the alabaster jar should inspire us to be more bold and more passionate in our giving for the sake of the world.
Give Elohim priority over your possessions. Verse 8: “And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.” The priests were accepting not just the second best from the people; but worse than that, they were bringing Elohim maimed and lame sheep and goats. They were offering the ones that would not hurt their pockets, just like the old furniture.
Imagine the long line of lame animals walking toward the Temple. The reason Elohim says, “is that not wrong?” twice in this verse is because the people, and certainly the priests, should have known better. In Leviticus 22:19-20, Elohim made it very clear that He was not interested in substandard sacrifices: “But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.”
Give Elohim the best. Elohim told Israel to look through the flocks and find one animal without defect or blemish to sacrifice. Nobody wants to give the best lamb for sacrifice. This male was kept aside for breeding. But it was what Elohim demands, only the best. Remember when Moses asked the people to give gold, silver and skins and purple for the building of the tabernacle, they gave so much to Moses that the wise men spoke to Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make. (Exo 36:5) You may wonder what the church or the preachers do with all the offerings they receive. Do not worry, you have given to the Lord. The church and the preachers are accountable to Elohim for their actions.
Give to Elohim first. In 2 Chronicles 31:5: we read that “And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.” Elohim is never to get the leftovers. We should give to Elohim the firstfruits of our harvest, it may be our salary, profits, returns or whatever we call it now. Elohim should receive what is right, not what is left. When the Israelites gave Elohim 10% right away, it helped them to recognize that everything they had was a gift from Him. Mal 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.
Giving should cost something. Israel had been taught that giving should be sacrificial. In 2 Samuel 24, David came to the recognition that his own sin had led Israel astray, and Elohim’s judgment had come in the form of a plague on the people. David interceded in prayer and then he wanted to offer a sacrifice to Elohim. He went to a place owned by a man named Araunah and told him that he wanted to buy his threshing floor so that he could build an altar to the Lord. Araunah generously offered to give the oxen for the offering and the wood for the fire. All David had to do was sit and relax. Instead accepting this offer, David said in 2Sam. 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my Elohim of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. Our sacrifices and offerings must come from the labour of our hands.
Giving is an investment for eternity.
Mary did what she could and she was rewarded accordingly. Have you done what you could? Are you doing what you can? Are you giving our Lord demonstrations of extravagant worship? Has He spoken to you about this matter? I know He has spoken to me about it. I want to give Him all the glory, worship and praise He is due. When I think of all He has done for me, I know He is worthy of that and so much more.
I challenge you today to look at how you are serving Him and how you are loving Him. Is there room for improvement? If He has spoken to your heart, on any level, come to Him now and do what He wants you to do.
Some need to come and be saved. Some need to come and repent of a bad attitude. Some need to come and give Him some extravagant love right now. Some need to make things right with your fellow believers, your church and your Lord.
We all need to examine our motives, our love and our worship. When you consider what Mary did, how does your own love stack up? Is it extravagant? Or, does it seem to be lacking? Listen to His voice! Do what He tells you right now.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to Elohim, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).
Where and how have we been holding back in serving Elohim? Let’s give Him the best of our time, talent, resources, energy and enthusiasm! In return He will give us all we need to fulfill the purpose that He has in store for us—in this life and as members of His family forever.
