Kohathite: The Month Heaven Went Silent - Prologue

The Month Heaven Went Silent - Prologue – The Missing Envelope

The sound of rain tapping against the synagogue roof was steady and soft that evening, like a heartbeat trying to calm a soul.
Eliyah sat in the dim light of his small Jerusalem apartment, the tithe envelope still blank before him. It was the end of the month again.

Only this time… there was something missing.

He stared at the parchment he always used to mark his first fruits — the tenth of every wage. But for the first time in seven years, there had been no wage. No customers. No payment. No increase.

He whispered, “Adonai… do I still owe You for a month when nothing came in?”

His question lingered in the air like incense that refused to rise.

Chapter 1 – The Drought of Coins

Eliyah was a craftsman — a restorer of ancient scroll boxes and menorahs. His shop in the old quarter had once thrived with pilgrims and tourists, but lately, the streets had emptied.

He reminded himself, “The LORD will provide.” Yet as the weeks turned to months, provision felt like an echo.

That first empty month, he told himself it was temporary.
That second empty month, he told himself it was testing.
That third empty month, he told himself it was silence.

He had always tithed faithfully. Always. He would set aside ten percent with trembling hands, whispering,

“Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.”
— Proverbs 3:9

But this time, there was no increase — only waiting.

The question gnawed at him. If there is no income, does the tithe still belong to God?

He wanted to believe no. He wanted to rest from the weight of obligation.
But another voice whispered, What if your lack is the test?

Chapter 2 – The Stranger at the Western Wall

One Shabbat evening, after synagogue, Eliyah walked to the Western Wall to pray. The lamps glowed golden in the drizzle, and the stones shimmered like tears.

As he bowed his head, an old man approached, his beard white and eyes sharp as the desert sky.
“Peace to you, son,” the man said.
“And to you,” Eliyah replied.

The old man smiled faintly. “You’ve been asking Heaven a question.”

Eliyah froze. “How—”

The man lifted a trembling hand. “You asked if a tithe is owed when no coin came in. But do you not know what is written?”

He recited softly:

“And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s: it is holy unto the LORD.”
— Leviticus 27:30

Eliyah nodded. “Yes, but what of when there’s no seed, no fruit, no profit?”

The old man’s eyes flickered. “Then it is not a tithe of your hand… but a tithe of your heart that Heaven seeks.”

Eliyah frowned. “I don’t understand.”

But before he could ask more, a gust of wind swept through the plaza, and the old man was gone — leaving only a folded paper by Eliyah’s feet.

It read in delicate handwriting:

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
— Matthew 9:13

Chapter 3 – The Letter from Heaven

That night, Eliyah couldn’t sleep. The stranger’s words haunted him.

He opened his old tithe ledger and stared at the last month’s blank space. “Mercy, not sacrifice,” he murmured. “So… am I free from paying what I couldn’t give?”

He prayed long into the night until exhaustion overtook him. And that’s when the dream came.

He was standing in the Temple courtyard. The priests moved about, carrying offerings and singing psalms. But when Eliyah stepped forward with his empty hands, the singing stopped.

One of the priests turned toward him — and it was the same old man from the Wall.
“Where is your tithe, son of dust?” the priest asked.

“I had nothing to give,” Eliyah answered.

The priest raised a shofar. “Then give what remains.”

“What remains?” Eliyah asked, trembling.

The man looked him in the eye. “Trust.”

Then the priest blew the shofar, and the Temple shook.

Eliyah woke in a cold sweat, his room filled with the faint scent of frankincense.

Chapter 4 – The Month of Return

The following month, work returned suddenly.
An overseas order. A large restoration project. A payment so generous Eliyah wept as he received it.

He whispered, “Baruch HaShem.”

And then, as he prepared his tithe, the question returned:
Do I owe last month’s tithe too?

If the tithe was always a tenth of the increase, and there was no increase then — could he really give for what never existed?
But another voice whispered in his heart: Honor the Lord not by math, but by memory.

He turned to Scripture and read:

“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.”
— Malachi 3:10

Eliyah realized it wasn’t about paying a debt — it was about remembering who sustained him when there was none.

So he did something radical.
He doubled his tithe that month.
Not from guilt — but from gratitude.

As he sealed the envelope, a strange peace filled his soul — as if Heaven exhaled in relief.

Chapter 5 – The Scroll of the Hidden Words

The following Shabbat, the rabbi announced a discovery.
During renovations, a sealed scroll had been found beneath the synagogue’s ark — ancient parchment, brittle yet legible.

When unrolled, it contained a passage few had ever seen:

“When the land rests and yields not, yet remember the LORD thy God who gives rain in season, for even in the years of lean harvest, the heart that remembers shall be counted faithful.”

The room fell silent.

Eliyah’s hands shook. He whispered, “That’s my answer.”

He realized the question was never about obligation — it was about remembrance.
To tithe was not a legal debt, but a living testimony that every season — abundance or drought — belonged to God.

And perhaps Heaven had allowed his lack only to test whether his giving was built on love or fear.

Epilogue – The Whisper in the Wind

Years later, when Eliyah’s beard turned white and his hands grew frail, he taught his apprentices what he had learned that silent month.

“When you cannot tithe because there is no income,” he said, “you are not cursed. But when the next blessing comes, remember that your tithe is not a tax — it’s a testimony.”

He would smile gently and add,

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
— Matthew 6:21

And sometimes, when he visited the Wall again, a gust of wind would pass through the plaza, and for a brief moment, he swore he could smell frankincense again — and hear the faint whisper of the old man’s words:
“The tithe of your heart is greater than the coin of your hand.”

Spiritual Reflection

If you received nothing, you owe nothing — but remember Him still.
The tithe follows increase. But remembrance follows love.
When the next blessing comes, give as your heart leads — not as guilt demands.
Yeshua said,

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together.”
— Luke 6:38
The question is not about whether you owe the past — but whether you trust Him with your future.