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. Malachi 3:10
There is not a person who has ever
gone to a protestant church who has not heard this verse bellowed from a
pulpit. This verse found in the book of
Malachi is a watchword for almost every sect and church in Christendom
today. It is taught as a command from
God, and is seen as a requirement if you are to live a good Christian
life. It usually is accompanied with a
stern warning that God will curse you if you do not obey this command.
We must examine this particular
concept, because unlike all the other things that Christians cannot agree on the
practice of tithing seems to be one that lives above the fray. So much is this concept revered that to speak
anything against it would usually warrant labeling the blasphemer a heretic; it
can be expected that he would be called into the Pastor’s office for an
exorcism. But what does the Bible really
say on this topic?
There are several things I hope
that these installments have inspired; one is the fact that we as Christians
ought to study the scriptures for ourselves, because ultimately we -- not our
group but we -- will give an account to God for the things we do. Secondly, I hoped to enlighten the body about
its blind adherence to the Mosaic Law.
One thing that is sure is that once we come to understand the word of
God then we are responsible to act in accordance with it.
It never ceases to amaze me how
selective we humans are. We really do
relish the power of choice. This power
to choose is usually dictated by our propensity to please ourselves. With spiritual things we are no
different. How on earth are we to think
that it would be acceptable to God for us to go about and cherry-pick what we would
follow of the Law of Moses? The scriptures clearly say to us:
And I
testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under
obligation to keep the whole Law. Galatians 5: 3
All who rely on observing the law are under a
curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do
everything written in the Book of the Law." Galatians 3:10
The Law of Moses is not some fruit
salad that we can say ‘I’ll take this and I’ll take that and no-no, I don’t
want that!’ If you are to follow one
part you are required to follow all. NO EXCEPTIONS!!! God knew this and that is why he sent his Son. Only Jesus could have fulfilled the law and
meet its requirements. Through this
action he became our gateway to God into a New and Living way; but back to
cherry picking. Isn’t it interesting how
we do not even worship in Saturday WHICH
IS A PART OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS yet we strain at the gnat in commanding
all Christendom to tithe! Let me ask the
question. Just what is it that makes
tithing so special that it survives the cross, but at the same time resting and
meeting God on the Sabbath became an option?
Are we serious? If you want to
follow one part then follow all – I dare you.
Please know dear family, whatever he wanted us to do and
whatever he desires for us to follow he made such information very clear to us:
Fear not,
little flock; for it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Luke 12:32
He would not leave us to our own
imaginations to figure out such things because he knew we would mess it
up. He wants us to obey him. This is why the principles of the kingdom are
not hidden to us:
And the disciples came,
and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and
said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them
it is not given. Matthew 13:10, 11
Do you see that? He wants us to know what pleases God because
only then can we do and become righteousness.
So follow Jesus; he is our example.
What was the tithe?
The tithe was a tenet of the Law of
Moses. It was placed in the law for very
specific reasons (of which we will talk about later). The word tithe means a tenth part of
something. It represented what we would
call today ten percent of a whole. It
was a requirement of God that was established by Moses to his people.
Was the tithe for everybody
under the old covenant and what did they tithe?
This may seem like a strange
question but I assure you it is not. NO,
everybody under the old covenant did not tithe, and those that did had to tithe
specific things. Consider the following:
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. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his
tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of
whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. He
shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if
he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it
shall not be redeemed. These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded
Moses for the children of Israel
Now before we examine this let me
ask you this question. Did God omit any
information that he wanted to tell them?
No way, for if he did then they would not be able to obey him. So let us now look at what was supposed
to be tithed.
1 – Seed of the land
2 – Fruit of the tree
3 – Of the herd
4 – Of the flock
5 – Whatsoever passes under the rod
(Shepherding)
This is a simple list. Ok let us see; seeds, fruits, herds, flocks;
wait a minute where are the fish. No
fish brother Moses? How is it fish is
not mentioned? What then was the
fisherman to bring? In fact this list
looks like it only spells out items that a farmer or shepherd would have. But I thought they were supposed to tithe on all
their increase:
Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth
forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place
which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, [wine and oil comes from the fruit of plants] and the firstlings of thy
herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn
to fear the LORD thy God always. Deuteronomy 14:22-23
This looks pretty specific to
me. There is no mention of a fisherman
tithing before the Lord, because just as with the farmer his increase was the
fruit of the land the fisherman’s increase was in the fish of the sea. So under these requirements his tithe would
not have been accepted.
Well how did Peter tithe, or for
that matter how did Jesus tithe (remember he was a carpenter)? The answer is that THEY DID NOT TITHE. The
tithe was based on the increase of farmers and shepherds not all of the people of Israel
And if the way be too long
for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far
from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the
LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it
into money, and bind up the money in
thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for
sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth:
and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou,
and thine household, Deuteronomy 14:24-26
These verses show that if they were living to far
from the temple they turned their tithe into money and when the got to the
temple they were to convert it back to oxen, or for sheep, or for wine –again
farmers buying from farmers to tithe. So
this is a clear indication that the tithe was only required of a particular
subset of the Israelites.
The teaching of the tithe and the
church today
Today we are hindered by this principle in the body
of Christ. This is similar to the trouble
that Paul had with the Galatians. They had replaced the true gospel with
another way to righteousness.
How is the tithe taught in the church today? Most churches have what is called an
offertory appeal. This appeal is where
someone usually a Pastor or an aid comes before the people to request funds to
sustain the ‘work of the church’. More
often than not there would be a reading from the verse in Malachi accompanied
with some deep revelation as to how we are to be following this verse. They will also seek to show how the promises
associated with obedience to it are applicable today. It is very important for them to include the
portion of scripture that declares you cursed if you disobey God in this
manner.
Well then, to what conclusion should we come and
what should be our recourse in relations to all these things. The only way to determine this is to examine
the scriptures for in them we have life.
Examining the tithe
Abraham and Melchizedek
There are some teachers that
justify the tithe by saying that they are not following the Law of Moses, but
they claim that they are following the example of faithful Abraham. On its surface this seems to be a plausible
argument, but we are obligated to check its veracity. In this account of Abraham Lot had been
captured by the kings that had raided the city of Sodom Lot away captive and Abraham
decided to go after them to get Lot back. He got together a group of men and they went
after Lot .
Let us take it up from there:
And he divided himself
against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them
unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus Lot , and
his goods, and the women also, and the people. And the king of Sodom valley of Shaveh Salem Sodom
Alright there you have it this is
the account of the tithe of Abraham. Now
from the top before we get into this in depth notice one thing; this was the one
and only time that Abraham tithed.
God had appeared to him many times and not once did he ever give
him this as an ordinance. That said let
us look into this:
1 – Abraham was in a war. He was victorious in that war and the
scripture says that when he won that war he took the spoils of the war from
those he was victorious over. There is
no doubt that there was wealth aplenty in this cache.
2 – Abraham bought these spoils
before the priest Melchizedek
3 – Abraham gave to the priest
tithes of the spoils of the war.
Now from these three points can we
use this as a justification for tithing today?
Of course not! For one thing this
was a onetime event and no pastor would say that we should tithe once in our
lives! Second, did you notice that
Abraham kept nothing for himself? What
kind of tithing is that? He kept nothing
for himself from the spoils! Third, did anyone see the key word in this verse? The word is Abraham GAVE a tithe to Melchizedek.
I assure you that this is not just semantics and nit-picking. If you have read this series in its intended
succession you would be well aware by now of what giving is. I talked extensively on this in Tenet #
3. I showed that giving is not giving if
it is something that is required or demanded.
This is important because while a tithe (tenth) was at the center of
this issue the true point is that Abraham gave it. This is not what we have today. Under the old
covenant and subsequently the teachings of today one did not give
tithes. They were an obligation, a command not a gift of one’s freewill. Consider:
Now
consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave
the tenth of the spoils. Hebrews 7:4
How does this differ from the tithe
of the old covenant and the one we obey today?
And verily
they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood,
have a commandment to take tithes of the people according
to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the
loins of Abraham: Hebrews 7:5
Hello, anyone there? Do you see what that says? Under the Levitical priesthood they had a command to take tithes. This is completely different from what
Abraham did. He gave in this scenario
but they had a command they had to obey.
This is not the same thing. There was no requirement that Abraham choose
the number ten, this was just a custom of the culture of the day. Abraham was not acting in accordance to the
law; in fact if their culture was to give 17 % that is what he would have
given.
Besides all this did anyone pick up
anything else from the verse we just quoted?
Let us look at it again:
And verily
they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to
take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their
brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham
There it is. The sons of who? Levi.
So that would make it of the priesthood of who? That would be the Levitical priesthood. And what would that priesthood be based
on? The Mosaic Law. And of what priesthood are we of today? MELCHIZIDEK:
Whither
the forerunner is for us entered, even
Jesus, made an high priest for
ever after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews6:20
As he saith
also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Hebrews 5:6
So we see that Abraham gave not of
necessity, but freely the ten percent to the priesthood of Jesus.
Jacob’s tithe
And Jacob went out from Beersheba Haran Bethel
Jacob’s tithe is not mentioned often. This is due to the fact that this type of
tithing in no way relates to the teaching of the tithe today. In fact this
example would contravene what is taught regarding tithing. The reason for this is that Jacob’s tithe
here is a conditional one. He says
to God I will do this if YOU do this. Listen to me right now; never will you get
some preacher to say that. I can imagine
it now; the preacher mounts his pulpit and says ‘Laity listen to your Man-(d) of God (be sure to pronounce the word
man with a d-sound on the end; it adds to his spirituality). I had
a revelation last night. We are to tithe
in the manner that Jacob tithes before the Lord. So from now on only bring in a tenth if
the Lord blesses you abundantly this week.’
There would not be many takers I am sure. This was a conditional tithe, and it was only
in the event that Jacob’s circumstances met his request to God. Preach that, I dare you!
The Annual Tithe
I am going to show you some surprising things about
the tithe. Judge within yourself the
scriptures and please let the spirit of the Lord guide you in your search for
truth.
Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth
forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there,
the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine
oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And
if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there,
when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt
thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:
And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy
soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong
drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the
LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou,
and thine household, Deuteronomy 14:22-26
This is where I get very angry in regards to the
doctrine of the tithe. Does anyone see
how the tithe was to be administered in the preceding passages? Listen to me this is the Law of God that they
say we must follow. Who among them can
alter theses words? Who among them can
change what the Lord has said? Any
alteration of these verses is heretical and blasphemous to the sovereignty of
God. May he have mercy on us. Let us now examine these verses. READ
HIS WORD NOT YOUR DOCTRINE!
1 – His command under the law was for them to tithe
year by year. This is what I call the
annual tithe. In the first instance it
was done once a year. Once a Year! One time every year, will you understand
this?
2 - This is the part where it gets interesting. Do you see what the very next verse says? God
is giving instructions on what to do with the tithe. God is giving
instructions. What were they suppose to
do with the tithe?
…thou shalt eat
before the LORD thy God, in the place which
he shall choose to place his name there, the
tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy
herds and of thy flocks;
I promise you under heaven that you will never get
one of those preachers to declare this verse to you! They were supposed to bring the tithe to the
temple and sit there and EAT and DRINK the tithe before the Lord. Who changed this? When did the cross of Christ alter this? If we
are to follow this teaching today who
changed the rules? I demand these
law-abiders to show me when this rule was altered? The annual tithe was to be eaten before the
Lord by the people who brought
it. Did you know that? DID
YOU KNOW THAT?
3 – In case you still believe they had no money
consider the very next verse.
And if the way be too long
for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall
choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind
up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy
God shall choose
If the place where they were to bring the tithe was
too far for them God said to turn it into money. But it gets even better! What happened next will shock you!
4 – Now here is where it gets all the more fascinating:
And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after,
for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy
soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou
shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
Well now, will you listen to the command of the God
you seek to obey? He says that before
the long journey they were to turn the tithe to money. Ok, when you got to the temple what were you
to do? You were supposed to bestow that
money for whatever
your soul
lusted for. You get that? You were supposed to buy whatever you longed
for within the following categories: oxen, sheep, wine and strong drink! Then what were you to do with God’s holy
tithe (please say the last phrase in a deep trembling voice for enhanced
spirituality)? You were supposed to eat it before the Lord. Well blow me down!
Just to show you how depraved the minds of some of
these preachers can get, I once heard one preaching on these very same
verses. He recounted it in a very pious
way and when he got to this verse he could not handle the truth of God’s word. He then proceeded to cast out the verse that
said they were to buy strong drink with their tithe. He said, ‘Oh God would not want us to do that
-- something that leads you into depravity’.
Well my goodness what does the word of God say? Please do not misinterpret this as an
advocacy for drunkards. I myself do not
consume alcohol and I do not suggest anyone starts, but at the same time we
cannot discard this verse as written.
For those of you who still need proof of the
administration of the tithe consider the following:
Thou mayest not eat within
thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the
firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest,
nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which
the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and
thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the
Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God
in all that thou puttest thine hands unto. Take heed to thyself that thou
forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.
Deuteronomy 12:17-19
They were instructed by God to take the tithe and
eat it before the Lord. This was the
annual tithe. Now pray tell me where it
can be found in your bible that:
1 – The tithe was changed to money only as an acceptable offering
2 – Everyone
was commanded to tithe
3 – The tithe was not to be consumed by those who brought it.
How is it that we can just go about and change the
word of God without fear? To me this is
all moot anyway because in the last installment I prove that the Law has given
way to the New and Living way.
The tri-annual tithe
This is very interesting, because you will see here
that indeed this tithe is the only one accepted and taught by
preachers today.
And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not
forsake him; for he hath
no part nor inheritance with thee. At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine
increase the same year, and shalt lay it up
within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part
nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the
fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD
thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest. Deuteronomy
14:27-29
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of
thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the
Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within
thy gates, and be filled; Then thou shalt
say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of
mine house, and also have given them
unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded
me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them. I
have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof
for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened
to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast
commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy
people Israel
Do you see these above verses? This is the only semblance to tithing we hear
today. Look at the elements:
1-Collecting a tithe
2-Bringing to the Levites
3-Waiting for God to bless you
Listen to me; look at what had to be changed in
order for us to preach this verse today.
·
The 3-year tithe had to became the only
tithe
·
The tithe became only money
·
The tithe is directed only toward the preachers
·
It moved from a tri-annual event to a weekly
event
How is it that we can so callously cut and paste
God’s word to fit our own doctrine?
The Sabbath Year
Now here is one most of you have never heard of and
I contend you will never hear it because it does not transfer well into the modern
church.
And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount
Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give
you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. Six years thou shalt
sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the
fruit thereof; But in the seventh year
shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou
shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap,
neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee,
and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy
stranger that sojourneth with thee. And for
thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase
thereof be meat. Leviticus 25:1-7
How come this has been neglected? This is clearly saying that there was no
tithe taken on the Sabbath year. You
know why this is overlooked? No preacher
would dare give you a year off from tithing.
How ever would they support the ‘work of the ministry’? Yet this is a command of God! In fact annual, tri-annual and the Sabbath
year comprise the Law of Moses on tithing.
It is obedience to these that Malachi demands. It is disobedience to their specifics
to which Malachi accords a curse.
Did Jesus endorse the tithe?
Many use as an argument Jesus’ statement to the Pharisees
as an endorsement of the tithe. Is this
so? Let us consider the following:
"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.
Mathew 23:23
"Woe to you
Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds
of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have
practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. Luke 11:42
Is this an instance where Jesus endorses the tithe
and therefore commands us to continue practicing it? NO it is not!
Who was Jesus? Jesus was a
Jew. And what does the scripture say
explicitly about him?
But when the fullness of
the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, Galatians 4:4
Do you understand this? Jesus was born under the Law. He complied perfectly with the Mosaic Law and
all its tenets. It was because
of this that he was worthy to be an unblemished sacrifice for sin. At the time of the rebuke to the Pharisees Jesus
himself was under the Law. It may shock
you to know that offering a sacrifice for sin of bulls and goats was perfectly
acceptable to God up until the death of Jesus.
Until then, one could receive forgiveness of sins through the
requirements of the Law of Moses. But
once the new covenant, purchased through the blood of Jesus, was opened to us
then we were to find forgiveness of sins under different requirements. So Jesus was perfectly correct in talking to
the Pharisees in this manner – after all he could not tell them to disobey the
Law of Moses at that time – but this is in no way an endorsement to continue
this practice once the new covenant was open to us.
Who changed the rules?
Now I would like to know just who was so big, bad
and bold enough to change alter or simply mess around with God’s holy word. If the tithe is to be accepted today show me ONE scripture that says that we should
change how it was administered. Show me
where the cross of Jesus Christ stopped us from tithing according to the commands
of the Law to this watered-down version we have today. To those of you today who hold fast to this
rule that the tithe has changed to things other than described in the
scriptures consider this scenario:
Someone walks up to you and gives you a brand new car
or blesses you with a new house free of charge.
Now to what do you ascribe this?
Your pastor will say, ‘oh this increase has come to you because of your
faithfulness in paying your tithe’. Well
now, how happy are we! But wait just one
minute. That new car and new house is considered
and increase. Oh, oh, you know what that
means? It means that in keeping with the
Law of Moses you MUST pay ten percent.
Now, now, what is the faithful brother to do? Will he carve off 10% of his car and take it
to the alter, or maybe he would have to let some pastor ride it for 10% of the
time or better still he must borrow or come up with 10% of the value of the
thing and submit it to the pastor in order to comply with this word. If not then you have been increased and you
did not tithe to the Lord. He says to tithe on your increase and since that no
longer means just fruits and sheep then it must include your cars and
houses. Sounds like more trouble than it
is worth. (Please note that this scenario presents a considerable problem to
those of the Prosperity movement, because it is them that expect transference
of wealth in the form of cars and houses!)
I must reiterate the question. Who changed the
rules? How is it that the curse in Malachi chapter 3 remains intact
and the tithe to which the curse is attached has been massacred? Are we serious? We say that God will curse those who do not
tithe, but in order to escape that curse we have to be obedient to what God had
said in regards to the tithe. Surely there
must be some passage that tells us exactly how to tithe in the New Testament
that warranted this change. It would
have to be detailed and not obscure so as to not leave it up to men’s
imagination. How selective are we! We
eat ham and pork chops, crawfish and lobster, tuna and turtle meat all with
impunity, but oh the tithe oh how we must keep thee. The scripture says:
O the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments,
and his ways past finding out! Romans 11:33
Sadly brother Paul it is not God’s ways that are
past finding out but man’s way. Indeed
we are all baffling.
Remember the words of Paul to Timothy:
For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion,
wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not
understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. 1 Timothy 1:6-7
I am well aware that many preachers say that they
do not follow the law in regards to tithing; they are just following the
example of faithful Abraham. If this is
so then they cannot attach the curse of Malachi to this for if they do then
they are preaching the law.
They are not Levites and they are not
Priests!
This concept I believe to be at the heart of the
controversy on tithing. Preachers today
have transferred the concept of the Levites and placed this mantle on themselves. This has no basis in scripture whatsoever! What have we done today? We have:
·
Made the preacher a Levite
·
Made the buildings we worship in The
Temple(storehouse) of God and the sanctuary
·
Turn the tithe into money
Does anyone see how dangerous this is? We have created a tradition all for one
purpose to cause the people of God to give to these behemoths we call
churches. This is indeed another gospel.
How is it I say to you that the tithe has survived
and the position of the Levite has not been fully restored? If the preachers of today are comparable to
the Old Testament Levite how is it that they bear no resemblance to them? This is important because even they realizes that they cannot justify
themselves receiving tithe unless there is some semblance of their position
with that of the Levites.
Who were these Levites and what did they do?
The Levites were one of the tribes of Israel. They
were responsible for the work of the temple of God. They were charged with presenting the
sacrifices to God, and other ceremonial duties that were essential to the righteousness
of the children of Israel
And the LORD said unto
Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy
father's house with thee shall bear the
iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring
thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but
thou and thy sons with thee shall
minister before the tabernacle of witness. And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only
they shall not come nigh the vessels of
the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die. And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the
charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the
tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you. And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary,
and the charge of the altar: that
there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel Israel
And the LORD spake unto
Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in
their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and
thine inheritance among the children of Israel Israel Israel
These duties in no way describe the activities of
the local pastor today. In fact the word
of God says:
And from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the
kings of the earth. Unto him that loved
us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for
ever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:5-6
Do you see this verse? It says he has through salvation made us, who is this us -- that is all the saints – he has made us kings and priest. So if the pastor can collect tithes so can
every individual in the church! You are
a priest. Get that through your
sanctified skull. There are no big
priests and little priest we are all the SAME.
And another thing.
Do you see where it says that they would not have any inheritance in the
land? Well blow me down! Why has this
not transferred into the church today?
Man these preachers today have more of an inheritance than you!
Again I say that this is all moot because the
priesthood that we are under is of the order of Melchizedek and not the Levitical. The doctrine of the tithe cannot stand today
because it was God’s way of taking care of the Levites and since the priesthood
has change then the law has changed as well.
Consider this:
If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people
received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise
after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order
of Aaron?
Hebrews 7:11
Modern day Levites? HA! The pastors of today are NOT Levites and you
are not under the Levitical covenant!
Still want more proof? I have
read the bible extensively and I have never seen anywhere where Jesus the
Christ took tithes from his followers.
Was he doing the work of the Lord?
Yes, more than ye all. Well how
then did he not take this right unto himself?
Surely he would be doing well by giving us this example. Surely this would have been an end to all discussions. Why did not Jesus instruct his followers to
now bring tithes to him? Surely if these
modern day pastors could demand and accept tithes Jesus could have. Jesus accepted no tithes because HE COULD NOT DO SO! Jesus was of the tribe of JUDAH and
what does the scripture say of that tribe:
For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda;
of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. Hebrews 7:14
Hello, anybody there? Jesus could not accept tithes because he was
not a Levite. Only Levites could accept
tithes under the Mosaic Law and Jesus is of a different priesthood that has no
requirement for tithing.
By the way neither did the apostles
accept tithes. Let us look again at Acts:
And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto
the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch Syria Cilicia . Forasmuch as we have heard, that
certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your
souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised,
and keep the law: to whom
we gave no such commandment: It seemed
good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with
our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall
also tell you the same things by mouth. For
it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater
burden than these necessary things; That ye
abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled,
and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare
ye well. Acts 15:23-29
Well now surely the apostles were
doing the Lord’s work. They took the
time to write this long letter and did not even have the decency to include tithing! Oh the unmitigated gall of the apostles; do
they not know that this is how cathedrals and worship centers are built. How ever should pastors get paid if not for
this!
That no one should or even can accept tithes today is sure. We have
in place a law to which God no longer demands.
This is akin to what the Pharisees did:
Making the
word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have
delivered: and many such like things do ye. Mark 7:13
God demands of us that we follow a
new tradition not of the letter but of a new and living way:
Therefore,
brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. 2 Thessalonians 2:15
What therefore does the
gospel of the kingdom demand of us today?
So what do we do under this new
kingdom; this new covenant? What is the
gospel’s answer to all this:
Now this I say, he who
sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also
reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his
heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that
always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for
every good deed; as it is written,"HE SCATTERED ABROAD, HE GAVE TO THE
POOR, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER." Now He who supplies seed to
the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and
increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything
for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not
only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through
many thanksgivings to God. Because
of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to
all, 2 Corinthians 9:6-13
The problem with the mindset of the
typical Christian is that we have been taught to interpret the word of God in a
strange way. Most of you reading this
would use this verse to support a command to tithe. Why?
It is because you have been taught that the Old Covenant is an extension
of the New and when you see the word give
or sow you immediately equate it to
the tithe of the Old Testament. But
remember the words of Hebrews:
Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
Keep this in mind as we continue to
find out what the word of God says we are to do under this New and Living
way. Let us look at the elements in Corinthians:
1 – First Paul begins with a
principle. This principle is based on
what Jesus said that if you give it shall be given to you. One thing that must be realized that under
this covenant what one receives is based on what one gives. You therefore determine the amount of return
based on what you give. This is by far a
better promise than in the old covenant.
God placed the determination of how much he returns to you based on how
much you give.
2 – Each one must do what he is
purposed in his heart to do. This is by
far a better tenet than under the old.
In the old covenant the determination was based on what God
commanded. Under the new and living way
it is based on what our hearts lead us to give.
Notice he specifically says that it is free of compulsion or grudgingly. God wants you to give from the heart not from
a law.
3 – Through the next point he shows
that we are to give to those who are hurting and are in lack. This is very important because it was to
these people that the gospel speaks in particular.
4 – This is the most important
element to these verses. Paul ends by
saying that giving in this way proves our obedience to the gospel of
Christ. Do you realize what he was saying? This type of giving is what the gospel of the
Kingdom requires. It must be:
- Given
- According to what you purpose in your heart
- Not according to compulsion
- Directed toward those who lack
Together giving in this way proves your
obedience to the gospel of the kingdom.
Some have in their efforts to merge
the old covenant and the gospel of the kingdom, have gone so far as to say that
the tithe is the taxation system of this new kingdom. No sir it is not. God intends that under this system people
give without law and their giving should be generous and liberal as a result of their changed
nature not because of a command.
Will you follow him, will you acknowledge his ways, and will you obey the
gospel of the kingdom?
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