Whether you tithe or whether you don't, it matters not to me......

Amen for awhile I was not tithing because I thought I could not afford it, then I started tithing before I payed the bills making the same money,and it just seems there is aways enough to go around.

 

Part 1:

I know you weren't looking for a debate but the term "Tithing" is NOT a new testament term nor is it intended as a principle. It is often used as a tool of bondage for pastors unwilling to trust Gods plan for us to give. Read this article. It is a little long but explains tithing very well.

In fact the New Testament ministry was supported solely by freewill offerings (Mt. 6:25-34; Lk 10:4-8; Acts 4:32-35, 20:33-35; 2 Cor. 8:2-15, 9:6-12, 11:8-9; 1 Jn. 3:17-18) and not by some tithing system. In the days of the early church, Christians pooled their goods and shared their possessions equally (Acts 4:32-37). The apostles were legally unable to receive tithes from the people to financially support the Work of the primitive Church because the Temple was still standing and none of the apostles were of the tribe of Levi serving in the Sanctuary. Jesus himself was from the tribe of Judah (Heb. 7:12-14) and could not therefore have accepted tithes. Only the Levites were authorised by God and the Mosaic legislation to take tithes from the people. Even Paul, who was certainly not a Levite, could not have demanded or received tithes from his churches. Yet he shows that a teacher or minister has a right to be provided for in return for the preaching and teaching of the Gospel (1 Cor. 9)- but not by tithes. In fact he even states that such a teacher ought to receive "double honour" or a "double gift" (1 Tim. 5:17).

Some Logical debating Points

HOW is it possible to reintroduce, without a shred of NT proof, an Old Covenant financial system into the Church?

WHY is a monetary tithe apparent to ministers of various churches when it is not expressed in the Old Covenant?

WHY is tithing not in the context or even mentioned in the NT epistles? AREN'T all NT references to tithes and to tithing solely concerning Pharisees, scribes, the antiquated Levitical system? WEREN'T these references due solely to the Sanctuary, Temple, Altar, Sacrifices?

WHY do devout Jewish rabbis refuse to take, demand or accept tithes? WOULDN'T they, not being Levites, be breaking God's law to do so?

WHY don't Christian deacons gather together all the tithes of the people and then pay the ministry a separate tithe if the Levitical analogy is to be consistently followed?

WHY are Peter, James, Paul, John and Jude strangely silent about tithing? WHY don't they command, infer, mention, exhort or plead the tithe from Christians?

WHY didn't Jesus establish tithing for the Church he was beginning?

WHY does Paul speak exclusively of gifts, offerings, and contributions? WOULD not Paul have had to explain the tithing system to Biblically ignorant Gentiles?

CAN ministers prove a universal tithing law existing before Moses?

WAS there ever a universal monetary tithing law existing in ancient Israel?

WASN'T tithing purely on farm animals and agricultural products?

WHY didn't Jesus take tithes from the people? SHOULDN'T Jesus have led the way in example by accepting tithes, or in admonition or command? SHOULDN'T the ministry stop taking tithes to faithfully follow Our Lord's example?

ISN'T "giving" the principle within Christ's new Covenant? WHY have so many people been terrorised, intimidated, disfellowshipped or "marked" by the leadership of "Prosperity Gospel" churches for not conforming to tithing laws? SHOULDN'T "giving" be personal and voluntary, based upon conversion, and by how deeply moved by the sacririce of Christ the person is when he or she gives?

HOW can Christians ever build proper character, judgment, compassion under a compliant regulatory system of tightly prescribed Mosaic rules and regulations?

IF we are the priesthood of all believers, shouldn't a monetary tithe be paid to ourselves?



End of part one. See next post

 

Part 2:



True giving is motivated by the Gospel, by the love of Christ, not law.

The verse that most sums up the New Testament teaching on giving is surely 2 Cor 9:7 (NAS): “Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver”. Let us admit that there is something in us that hankers to be "under the law," even if just a little bit. But dumb legalism will never enable us to be cheerful givers.

1 Cor. 16:1,2 encourages the believers to give weekly- not annually as under the tithing system- according as God had blessed each person. This doesn’t sound like a continuation of Mosaic tithing. Each gives “as he purposeth in his heart”- not as a tithing programme demands. God loves a cheerful giver; and it is freewill offerings which come from a basis of joy, rather than those automatically given because of a duty to tithe, which so touch His heart. 2 Cor. 9:6 speaks of reaping sparingly if we sow sparingly in our giving. This sounds as if the amount we chose to give is fixed by us. But the ‘reaping bountifully’ sure refers to our reaping of the ‘reward’ in God’s Kingdom, as; not present material blessings. It is at “the end of the world” that the Angels come forth and reap the harvest (Mt. 13:30,39; 25:26; Rev. 14:15). And then we will “reap life everlasting...if we faint not [in this life]”(Gal. 6:8,9).

Paul told the Corinthians that they had a duty to give something in response to what they had been given. He makes a great play in 2 Corinthians on the similarity between the Greek words for “grace” and “gift / giving”. Because of God’s grace, they were to give. This response comes in terms of morality (6:14-7:1), which the Corinthians had done (7:8-13), and in terms of affection, which the Corinthians had also done (7:2-7), and in financial generosity, which Paul addresses in chapter 8. But Paul did not make a command (8:8). Instead, he asked first for a turning of the heart. He wanted the Corinthians to give themselves to the Lord first, and then to support financially. He wanted their gift to be done in sincere love, not from compulsion (8:5, 8). Paul reminded them that Christ had become poor for their sakes on the cross; the implication is that the Corinthians should make financial sacrifices in return. But then Paul reduced the pressure, reminding the Corinthians that they could not give more than they had (8:12). Nor did they have to impoverish themselves to enrich others; Paul was only aiming for equity (8:13-14), in that he was appealing for donations for the poor brethren in Jerusalem. Yet the tithing churches seem to be taking money from the flock in order to pay huge salaries to their pastors... which is the very opposite of financial giving by the flock leading towards equality amongst the wider body of Christ. Paul repeatedly noted that the offering must be done willingly, not from compulsion or given grudgingly (9:5, 7).

The theme of equality also recurs in Acts 2:44-47 " Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people”. The way of dealing with poverty was not by tithing, but by the rich sharing what they had with the poor.

And the repeated teaching of the New Testament is that our giving should be to the poor, just as the tithes were partly to enable the poor to be helped. Jesus repeats this: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give TO THE POOR, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Mt. 19:21); “Sell what you have and GIVE ALMS [to the poor]; provide yourselves a treasure in heaven.. for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Lk. 12:33,34)". What is Jesus saying here? Give to whom? Give TO THE POOR and you will have treasure in heaven! Not to wealthy pastors and churches. All this is a reflection of God’s generosity; and He doesn’t heap up wealth upon certain pastors. Rather: "As it is written: 'He has dispersed abroad, He has given TO THE POOR; His righteousness endures forever'" (2 Cor. 9:9).

Let 2 Cor.9:12 sum up: "For the administration of this service not only supplies the NEEDS OF THE SAINTS, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God". Such praise and glory to the Father is through our freewill generosity; not through parting with 10% of our wages regularly because we think we are commanded to do so.

 

Part 3:

Passages Misinterpretted

Genesis 14:18 "Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything."

Comment:

It is true that Abraham gave a tithe to this priest. But he in no way "paid" that tenth. Nowhere in the Biblical record is there any reference that Abraham was required by God nor by any law to tithe. This is a specific one-off account of how Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils obtained from warfare. It wasn’t a regular gift of 10% / year. Nowhere else in the Bible do we read of Abraham paying tithes ever again. Abram gave voluntarily, whereas under the Mosaic Law, tithing was mandatory. Clearly, then, this passage is not related to tithing as practiced by the nation of Israel under the Mosaic covenant. The reference to the tithe occurs in a narrative. The important thing to ask is: what is the purpose of this particular narrative section (Gen. 14), especially in relation to chapters 12-13 and chapter 15? Note in particular how Abram drove the kings out of the land (14:15), which must be seen in the context of God's promise to Abram (12:1) concerning the land. Abram's act of giving a tenth was a very common practice in the ancient Near East as a token of respect and honour, or in response to a blessing. Archaeological discoveries (e.g. the Ugaritic texts) show that the practice of "tithing" was a widespread custom of the times; 10% of the produce of the land was given to the landowner. And Abraham recognized that the landowner was God. He didn’t want it to seem that he had gotten the land for his own personal possession. He knew God had given it to him.

Genesis 28:20-22 "Then Jacob made a vow saying, If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."

Comment:

Nowhere in the account was Jacob required to give or to pay that tenth. Claims that there was a tithing law in force before Moses is clearly a nonsense without substantiation. This vow made by Jacob was personal in nature and was uttered by him as some kind of rather unspiritual "bargain" or "deal" with God. However, notice that Jacob says that if Yahweh is his God, then he will give Him a tenth. This tradition of giving a ten percent amount had its roots in the ancient landlord/tenant/king relationship. Jacob was recognizing God as his king by doing it, and was treating Him how people at the time treated their king or landowner. But later on, when Jacob wrestles with Esau, and comes to realize how God is indeed his king, there is no reference to him actually giving a tithe to God. He surely came to grasp that God demands our all, and not just a mere fraction.

In light of understanding the cultural and social expectations in which Abraham and Jacob lived it must surely be accepted that the tenth given by Abram and Jacob was not equivalent to the tithe as set forth by the Law of Moses. The tenth of the spoils paid by Abram was for his victory and Jacob’s tenth was for God to watch over him and for a safe journey. There is no evidence in the Bible to assume that Abram or Jacob intended to give an annual ongoing tenth of their future produce increases. These were surely one off payments of a tenth which are referred to. Note that nowhere do we read that Jacob was commanded to give a tithe (tenth). Jacob's promise to "tithe" was conditional - "If God will be with me …" (vs. 20), but under the Mosaic covenant, tithing was compulsory.

Leviticus 27:30-33 "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. The entire tithe of the herd and flock - every tenth animal that passes under the shepherds rod - will be holy to the LORD. He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed."

Comment:

Two things stand out in this section of legislation. (1) God commanded Israel to tithe on agricultural or farming produce and (2) every tenth animal of their flocks and herds. God never commanded them to tithe on fish they caught. He never commanded them to tithe on all the copper they mined. Nor on the milk they received from their sheep, goats and cows. Nor were they required to tithe on the sale of wool, or the money they made in their professions of selling pottery, designing and making furniture or clothing, creating carvings, writing literature, or on construction work. According to this section of God's law, if a shepherd had 18 sheep in his flock only the tenth animal would be considered holy to the LORD. The tithe in this case would be 1/18th or 5.6%, not 10%. And yet the tithing churches twist this to mean that 10% must be given to them- because the Old Testament says something about giving a tithe. But the tithe wasn’t always 10%...

Numbers 18:20, 21, 24 "The LORD said to Aaron, You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them. I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites. I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the Tent of Meeting... I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the LORD."

Numbers 18:25-28 "The LORD said to Moses, Speak to the Levites and say to them: When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the LORD's offering. Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. In this way you also will present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the LORD's portion to Aaron the priest. You must present as the LORD's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you."

Comment:

No other Israelite tribe apart from the Levites could accept Israelite tithes. This was a stipulation that was very plain indeed. The Levites in turn had to give a tenth of the tithes which they received from the people directly to the priests who attended the altar. Where is this by pastors etc today? There was to be no deviation from this command. Yet today we have Gentile ministers who have arrogated to themselves this right to receive tithes from the people.

The Lord further states that the Levites would have no inheritance of land but would be given the tithe instead (Num. 18:20-32) To summarize, the purpose of the biblical tithe was 1) to care for the Levites who were denied land , 2) to provide subsistence for the priesthood whose function was to preach the Torah and 3) to care for the poor in general. Not to pay big wages to pastors.

Deuteronomy 12:5-6,11 "You are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks... Then to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name - there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to the LORD."

Deuteronomy 14:22-29 "Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away) then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice. And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own. At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, and the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands."

End part 3. See next post

 

Part 4:



It was to the Temple or the Tent of Meeting (the Tabernacle) that Israelites forwarded their tithes. That is why Moses instructed that tithes must be sent to the place God had put his Name (Shiloh and later Jerusalem). Every third year in a cycle of seven they retained their tithes in their own cities for the use of the poor, strangers, widows, Levites etc. There is no doubt that Deuteronomy 14 is referring to the Second Tithe as contrasted with the tithe of the produce that was to be given for the maintenance of the Levites (see Dr. J.H. Hertz, The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, 1961, p.810). This Second Tithe, or its monetary equivalent, had to be consumed in Jerusalem but in the third and sixth years of the seven year cycle what would have been the Second Tithe was to be retained at home for the poor and the destitute to consume. The third year is called "the year of tithing" (Dt. 26:12). Yet again, the tithing churches have just made a surface-level connection with the Old Testament passages. Part of the tithes was to be eaten before the Lord in His temple. Where and how is this done in the tithing churches? Aren’t they rather arrogant if they presume their church to be the actual and only temple of God? For the tithes could only be consumed in one place on earth.

Malachi 3:6-12 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD Almighty. But you ask, How are we to return? Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, How do we rob you? In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit, says the LORD Almighty. Then all the nations will call you blessed. For yours will be a delightful land, says the LORD Almighty".

Comment:

Firstly, Malachi is not writing to Christians today. He is writing to the Jewish nation which had returned from Babylonian captivity during the days of Ezra-Nehemiah. His commands were concerning native Israelites of his own day. Secondly, the tithe under discussion is agricultural in nature. This can be easily established by looking at verse 10: "Bring the whole tithe into the STOREHOUSE that there may be FOOD in my house". This tithe of Malachi was stored in a temple storehouse (2 Chron 31:4-12; Neh 10:38). One cannot escape the conclusion that in Malachi's day the Israelites (not the Gentiles) were still commanded to bring their tithes to the Levites (as Moses had legislated) who then placed these tithes in the storehouse of the Temple. We cannot escape this conclusion because it is clearly written in this very section which modern ministers wish to ignore while emphasising certain verses to their own financial advantage (Neh. 10:35,37,38).

The "tithes" are presented to be the tenth portion of your income which is given away and deposited into the "storehouse". The "storehouse" is presented to be your church's account. But this just isn’t what the passage is talking about. The key to understanding this is in the preceding verse: "Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from MY ORDINANCES and have not kept them..." (Mal. 3:7). But now we are not under the Law of Moses; those “ordinances” have been taken away. Jesus “abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances...blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, nailing it to his cross...If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the [Jewish] world, do ye subject yourselves to [Mosaic] ordinances?”(Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14,20 cp. Heb. 9:1,10).

In Malachi's day, tithing was required (Mal. 3:8-10), and physical blessings were promised for obedience, just as physical blessings were promised for obedience to the old covenant. But New Covenant blessings are not physical. No longer do we receive long life for obedience and many children and fruitful fields. Our blessings are in “heavenly places in Christ”, and relate ultimately to the “blessed hope” of eternal fellowship with the Father in His coming Kingdom.

Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."

Comment:

Certainly they were correct in their fulfilling of the legal requirements of the Mosaic law, for they were tithing on agricultural products, not items of monetary increase. And, of course, they were still under the Mosaic law for the Temple still stood, and all the rituals performed by the Levites and the priests were to continue until the Temple was destroyed. What verse 23 really tells us is that the scribes and the Pharisees had gardens of herbs on which they were required to tithe. Remember, only shepherds, cattlemen and farmers were to tithe according to the Law. Because they grew herbs they were considered "farmers".

If Jesus taught that Gentiles should practice tithing, and that the Church ought to levy a tithing system onto its members, then it is surely strange as elsewhere pointed out, that there is no reference to tithing in the early history of the church.

Hebrews 7

Comment:

We now come to the teaching of Hebrews 7. It is suggested by some that Christians today are part and parcel of the "Melchizedek" Priesthood, not the "Levitical" of the Mosaic dispensation. And therefore, they reason, they have a right to collect the tithes of the people, even of Gentiles. If this is the case then why not reintroduce into the church the Jewish annual holy days, purification rites, vows, tokens of virginity, land sabbaths, eye for eye compensation, landmark and restitution laws, firstfruits, firstborn redemption, firstlings, worship customs, the year of Jubilee, phylacteries, fringes, mixed fabrics, washings, ablutions, circumcision, refuge cities, leprosy tests, Temple furniture, divorce laws, year of release, slavery laws, warfare rules, robe and ephod etc.? Why not revive all the other Mosaic laws, regulations, statutes and judgments especially those not specifically rescinded in the pages of the New Testament?

According to Heb. 7:24 Jesus is the only member of the Melchizedek priesthood. There was a change in the law (Heb. 7:12) but the is to the priesthood being changed, not tithing being transferred. The example of Abraham giving tithes to Melchizedek was cited to illustrate the awesome superiority of the Melchizedek priesthood over that of the Levitical priesthood. Indeed, the Letter to the Hebrews makes no suggestion that the New Testament ministry IS the Melchizedek priesthood. There is only ONE priest who occupies that position and that is Jesus Christ (Heb. 7:24).

Hebrews 7 is not instructing Christians to follow the example of Abraham in tithing, but rather, expounds the superiority and eternality of Christ's priesthood and the finality of his sacrifice. The Hebrews were reasoning that Jesus could not be a High Priest because He was of Judah and not a Levite. Hebrews 7 is replying that actually Melchizedek was of unproven genealogy, therefore he would not be a priest under the Mosaic system as he couldn’t prove his genealogy. And yet even Abraham considered him his superior, by paying tithes to him. Christ alone is our Great High Priest forever "who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom and priests" (Rev. 1:5,6; cp. 1 Peter 2:5,9). Melchizedek was a type of Christ- not of the pastors of the tithing churches.

Summing up, there was a change of the priesthood from the Levites to Jesus Christ, and this implies a change in the law that assigned the Levites to be priests. How much has been changed? Hebrews says that the old covenant is obsolete. The package of laws that commanded tithes to be given to the Levites is obsolete.

Duncan Heaster