PROSPERITY/SEED GOSPEL. YOU HAVE MIXED FEELINGS?

Mixed feelings arise when something that would  otherwise be noble is corrupted. Something like giving. The Prosperity/Seed gospel as currently presented has this effect on many people who want to give but have questions on how/where/who. 

These are all genuine questions.

Some preachers will use the old testament laws on giving when it beneficial to them, and ignore it when deemed unfavourable, mostly to enforce their greed. But...in the old testament, where offering was and could only be expressed by works of the flesh, there were rules of sanctifying the gifts.

The Levite's had no land/heritage like the other tribes. There was a limit to their prosperity:

Joshua 13:33
But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the LORD God of  Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them.

For survival, they were dependent on the peoples gifts - actually, a portion of their gifts offered FIRST TO GOD, which was also a portion of their food and livestock...any offering purportedly for God has to go through God before the priest/pastor. God was their portion/inheritance too. Is the "seed" of of the prosperity gospel offered to God or to men?

Joshua 13:14
Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said unto them.

Currently, most pastors/shepherds have their own portion in this life(in all forms of that word,) - investments, while some of their sheep are disinherited, have nothing to their possession ... because of a predatorial social/economic system, a system modern pastors are using to further oppress their followers by using the power - money, Mammon, the god of this age, this civilization, as a tool of oppression even within the Christian congregation.

There is also a very important ingredient of offerings that is currently ignored. A cheerful heart. If the gift is given to God, it CANNOT be forced, otherwise it becomes an abomination. When you look at how someone is dressed and order them to pay a certain amount of money depending on what status you perceive of them, it is not a free will offering. Neither is cursing congregants who have nothing to give. That is use of the spirit of fear for personal ends. God did not receive anything that was not of free will;

Exodus 25:2
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.

The shepherds have turned predators, as prophesied:

Jeremiah 12:10
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness

And the sheep are getting fattened, with the powers/cares of this world. Remember how the devil works; 

1 John 2:16 | View whole chapter | See verse in context
...for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of .. Father, but is of the world.

Nothing wrong with prosperity, but when it becomes your religion, its because you have made it your god. So even more by the laws/standards of the old testament, the seed/prosperity gospel in its modern, emphatic form (which is mainly prospering the pastors) is in error. In fact, they are causing people to sin, by giving with unwillingness, without joy. That's what happens when people give out of fear. And fear is from the devil. They are behaving like the two sons of Eli: 1 Samuel 8;

The sons of Eli used to take the sacrifices(which belonged to the anyway) with contempt and pride. They like ours, felt entitled, and forgot the gifts/offerings were for worship, for God. 1 Samuel 2:14.And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.

15 Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.
16 And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.
17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

This is what is happening in our age. The alter, once again, is defiled, because of greed, selfishness and pride of a priesthood that has imposed itself upon men, and made men to abhorr the offering of the Lord.

UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROPHECY OF THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

Mathew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand...)

This is what Daniel prophesied:

11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.

Our many topics have delved into this topic thus far from many different angles: 

1. The point of worship. where is the temple, where do we worship in

Abomination was used in reference to worship. When there is a problem with the offering, or when the offering is tainted, it is an abomination.

Deuteronomy 17:1 | View whole chapter | See verse in context

Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evil favouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.

The good sacrifices are pleasant and of sweat smelling odour while the bad sacrifices after an abomination:

2.Then we delved into worship. In modern, new testament terms. What is worship in the spirit as foreshadowed by the old testament? There we analyzed the various types of offerings, then and now.

3. Now that we understand worship in the new testament, what is an abomination in the new testament? What is accepted? What is not? What did the old laws on abominations foresee?

4. And desolation.

Meaning and use of the term in the old testament with reference to the place of worship. Relate it to the present. How would a modern temple become desolate? How would we know?

This is how it was used in the old;

Leviticus 26:31 | View whole chapter | See verse in context

And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.

A time of desolation is a time when the Sanctuary and the place that would otherwise be of safe habitation of the chosen ones become destroyed. And defiled sacrifices would abound therein, when the sacrifices/sweet smelling odours of the chosen ones are no more, God refuses to accept them as sacrifices.

Psalms offers an insight: It is caused by the enemy.

Psalms 74:3 | View whole chapter | See verse in context

Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

A desolate place is a place left without inhabitants. The dictionary meaning of the word offers great insight into the circumstances that would surround a time of desolation.

des·o·late

adjective

adjective: desolate

ˈdesələt/

1. 1.

   (of a place) deserted of people and in a state of bleak and dismal emptiness.

   
   

   "a desolate moor"

   
   

   synonyms:

   bleak, stark, bare, dismal, grim; More wild, inhospitable; deserted, uninhabited, godforsaken, abandoned, unpeopled, untenanted, empty, barren; unfrequented, unvisited, isolated, remote "the desolate prairie"

   antonyms:

   populous

   • feeling or showing misery, unhappiness, or loneliness.

     
     

     "I suddenly felt desolate and bereft"

     
     

     synonyms:

     miserable, despondent, depressed, disconsolate, devastated, despairing, inconsolable, broken-hearted, grief-stricken, crushed, bereft; More sad, unhappy, downcast, down, dejected, forlorn, upset, distressed; informalblue, cut up "the news of Rudolph's disappearance left them desolate"

     antonyms:

     joyful

verb

verb: desolate; 3rd person present: desolates; past tense: desolated; past participle: desolated; gerund or present participle: desolating

ˈdesəˌlāt/

1.

make (a place) bleakly and depressingly empty or bare.

"the droughts that desolated the dry plains"

synonyms:

devastate, ravage, ruin, lay waste to;

With these, any Christian would know when the time of desolation. Is the place of worship still accomodative? Are sacrifices being accepted? Is it a time to run away from Jerusalem, because the enemies are upon it? Is there a desolation in our place of worship?