The Tithe
Read this fully before you come to
any conclusions. It might not lead to where you think it will.
This study of the tithe is not meant
to ridicule any Pastor for stressing tithing. However, tithing in
the Gentile Christian Church is anti-biblical.
Is the tithe under the law or grace?
Are you under the law or under grace?
The ten-percent across the board
weekly tithe is not a New Testament teaching. Many are
surprised to find that it is also not an Old Testament
teaching!
Before I start, let me make it
perfectly clear that tithes, firstfruits, and offerings are
completely different issues. They should not be commingled.
The word "tithe/tithes" first appears
in the King James Version of the Bible in Genesis 14:20.
Genesis 14:18-20
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and
he was the priest of the most high God.
19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high
God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine
enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Notice that Abram did not
give Melchizedek a tithe of what he earned by tending his flocks and
herds. Instead, he gave him a tenth of the spoils of war. The tithe
to Melchizedek was a one-time only event that is not
repeated.
Numbers 18:26 "Speak thus to
the Levites, and say to them: `When you take from the children of
Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your
inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the
LORD, a tenth of the tithe.
As we shall see, the tithe was a
specific inheritance of members of the tribe of Levi that consisted
of food to be eaten in a shared meal.
The "heave offering" was a tithe of
the tithe given by the "normal Levites" to the priest Levites. It
was to choicest parts of the tithe they had received. As an example,
if the normal Levite received a sheep as the tithe from a family,
the tithe would have been the lamb’s right thigh. It was to be eaten
by the family giving it and the Priests within the Temple.
The family tithe was given to the
Levites as their tribal inheritance! Under the law, only Levites
could receive the tithe. And, while many preachers today may claim
to be spiritual Levites, but they want real
money!
Since the tithe may only be given to
the Levites, the tithe within the church is biblically illegal. For
your information, today’s Synagogues do not ask for a tithe. It is
illegal among Jews today, because no one knows who among them is a
Levite! The ancestral records were destroyed in 70 AD.
Leviticus 27:30 `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 to the LORD.
The tithe is holy to Yahweh,
but Levites were to receive it in a specific manner.
Who paid a tithe?
The tithe consisted only of
foodstuffs. It could include money only if the one
paying the tithe wished to redeem the tithe. We will discuss that
later.
Only landowners and herdsmen paid the
tithe. They paid it based on their increase, not on
the base. Herdsmen, that is the owners of the herds (not their
employees), needed to have at least ten sheep or cattle before the
tithe was paid. If the herdsmen had less than ten animals no tithe
was paid.
Let me put this is modern terms. If
you work in a factory , but do not own the factory, and just "work
for wages," you should not pay tithes.
Tithes were paid exclusively
on the increase of your business, not your salary!
Hired herdsmen did not pay tithes.
The animal tithe was determined by
making the animals pass under a rod.
Leviticus 27:32 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.
If a certain lamb passed under the
rod and the owner did not want to tithe that animal, he could redeem
it by paying the price of the lamb plus twenty
percent.
Leviticus 27:13 But if he will
at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy
estimation.
The tithe ran in a seven years cycle!
The third year and the seventh year were special.
Deuteronomy 14:28-29
28 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:
29 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.
Every third year, the tithe was to
put aside by the families who paid tithes, and kept by them for use
by the less fortunate. It was not to be consumed by the Levites
alone. The third-year tithe was to be used to feed wandering
Levites, strangers, orphans, and widows, which happened to come to
the tither’s home. The third-year tithe was not given
to the Levitical Priests to keep or to distribute.
No tithe was given
during the seventh year!
Leviticus 25:4-5
4 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.
5 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.
As shown in Leviticus 25:4-5, every
seventh year was a sabbatical year for the land and herds. During
that sabbatical year no tithe was to be collected.
How many times have you heard a
sermon on the sabbatical year?
Let me summarize the yearly tithes.
At the end of the third year in the cycle of seven, the tithe was to
be kept within the home to be used to feed these less fortunate. The
seventh year was a sabbatical year in which no tithe
was collected. The tithe (one-tenth of the yearly increase) was to
be taken to the temple only during the first, second, forth, fifth,
and sixth years.
The tithe could only be
given at the temple, or a nationally designated place. It was
never given at a local synagogue!
Deuteronomy 12:17 "You
may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or
your new wine or your oil, of the firstlings of your herd or your
flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill
offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand.
Deuteronomy 14:23 "And
you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where
He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your
new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your
flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
The tithe consisted only of
foodstuffs! It was to be eaten by the Priests and the tithing family
at the temple or a designated place outside of the home. The tithe
is a shared meal!
Numbers 18:26 "Speak thus to
the Levites, and say to them: `When you take from the children of
Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your
inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the
LORD, a tenth of the tithe.
One fact that escapes most is that
the biblical tithe was a shared meal! The Priests and the tithing
families ate the tithe.
But, what if your family lived too
far from the Temple to drive the sheep to the temple to share the
tithe?
In that case (and that case alone)
you could sell the tithe, take the money to the Temple and buy a
secondary tithe to eat with the Priests. Incidentally,
you could buy whatever you and your family wanted to eat. The Priest
did not decide what was purchased.
Deuteronomy 14:24-26
24 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:
25 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:
26 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,
That is the problem Jesus had with
the moneychangers. They had turned the tithe into a racket worthy of
the Mafia. Today, many Church leaders have prostituted the tithe.
Matthew 21:12-13
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that
sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the
moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the
house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
For your information---many Pastors
do not know about the tithe. They just follow the lead of past
leaders, who themselves may have preached in ignorance.
But isn’t the failing to pay the
money tithe robbing God? How can you steal something from God that
he does not require?
Malachi 3:8-10
8"Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, `In what
way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this
whole nation.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food
in My house, and try Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "If I
will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you
such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.
1.
who was robbing God? The whole
nation of Israel!
2.
What were they stealing? Tithes
and offerings! While offerings may be money, tithes are food
(period)!
3.
How did they steal the tithe?
They did not bring it to the "storehouse."
4.
Where is the storehouse? It is
the Temple in Jerusalem!
5.
Is there a Temple in Jerusalem
today? No!
Who was Malachi writing to? The
nation of Israel!
Malachi 1:1 The burden of the
word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
Malachi was written to the whole,
physical, nation of Israel. It was especially pointed to the Priests
of Israel.
Malachi 1:6 A son honoureth
his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where
is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the
LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my
name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
God was angry with the Priests of
Israel.
Malachi 2:1 And now, O
ye priests, this commandment is for you. (KJV)
Malachi 2:7 For the
priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek
the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
The tithe (food) was to be brought
into the Temple so there would be food in the Temple. But, it was to
be shared. The family giving it and the Temple Priests ate the tithe
together.
Where is the Temple today?
You are the temple of the Holy Spirit
(1 Corinthians 6:19)! Think about that!
Didn’t Jesus ridicule some other Jews
for not tithing? No, He criticized them for failing to show mercy.
Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of
mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of
the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done,
and not to leave the other undone.
Notice that they tithed even in small
matters such as food condiments, but failed to have faith, show
mercy, and seek justice. Will He condemn today’s Church for failing
to show mercy?
The tithe is taught in only one place
in the New Testament.
Hebrews 7:1-12
1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God,
who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and
blessed him;
2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by
interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of
Salem, which is, King of peace;
3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither
beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of
God; abideth a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch
Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
5 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:
6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of
Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.
7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.
8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them,
of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes
in Abraham.
10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met
him.
11 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?
12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a
change also of the law.
This section is not a call for
Christians tithe. It is a story about Abram’s tithe to the Great
Priest, Christ Jesus. In it the writer confirms that the tithe Abram
paid to Melchizedek came from the spoils of war, and not from the
fruit of his daily labor.
Hebrews 7:1-12 also confirms
that only those of the Hebrew tribe of Levi had any claim on the
tithe.
In addition, this section points out
that the tithe was part of the Mosaic Law.
James 2:10 For whosoever shall
keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of
all.
If as a Pastor, you teach the law and
place your congregation under the law instead of grace, you cause
their fall from grace.
Galatians 5:3-4
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a
debtor to do the whole law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
In that section, Paul says that if we
become debtors to the law, we are debtors to the whole law. And
James said that if we are debtors to the law and do not keep in
total, we are guilty!
The tithe is under the law---we are
under grace!
As I said, there are differences
between tithes, offerings and firstfruits. They should not be
commingled.
We often use the term "freewill."
"Freewill" is used only in the Old Testament, KJV, and only in
speaking of offerings. Any use of the word outside of that context
is biblical abuse.
Give as much as you want, as often as
you can, but don’t give under the condemnation of the
Old Testament tithe.
Perhaps the most misunderstood verse
in the Bible is found in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 16:2 Upon the
first day of the week (one of the Sabbaths) let every one of you lay
by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no
gatherings when I come.
Paul was stressing freewill gifts,
not tithes. No verse in the entire Bible says that Jesus, or any of
the Apostles ever accepted or paid a tithe. Being fishermen, Peter,
Andrew, James and John were exempt from tithing.
When Gentiles were taken into the
Church, tithing was not part of their responsibility.
Acts 15:28-29
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you
no greater burden than these necessary things;
29 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.
To make sure that all paid something,
the Temple Priests instituted a Temple tax. While Neither Jesus nor
the Apostles paid the tithe, they did pay the temple tax.
Matthew 17:24-27
24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received
tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay
tribute (Temple tax)?
25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus
prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the
kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or
of strangers?
26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then
are the children free.
27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea,
and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and
when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money:
that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
No verse in the bible says that Jesus
ever paid the tithe!
When you give, give from a heart of
love as God has prospered you, not from a fear of obligation!
The Ten-percent across the board
tithe is an anti-biblical modern invention totally lacking any
biblical basis. Giving to the church and tithing are two different
things.
You may give a percent of your gross,
or take home pay to the church, that’s up to you. But, personally, I
don’t think I would tell God I was going to give one amount and then
give another (according to Acts 5-the story of Ananias and
Sapphira). Just tell God what you are going to give, and then give
that amount.
God does not want you to, nor does he
demand that you give to the detriment of your family. He is not
exalted with your giving ten-percent while ignoring your bills and
perhaps going into bankruptcy.
In the entire Bible, the tithe is
only food, and was used to provide food for the Levites and Levite
Temple Priests. Every third year of a seven-year cycle, families
kept the tithe to meet emergencies feeding the less fortunate. The
seventh year was a sabbatical year when no tithe was demanded, or
given. The tithe was not universal. Only landowners with planted
fields, orchards, vineyards, and/or those owning herds paid a tithe.
All others were exempt from the tithe.
Would you have paid a tithe under
that system or would you have been exempt?
The tithe was a demand under law. Are
you under the law, or are you under grace?
If you are paying what you think is a
tithe under OT condemnation, repent!
Romans 8:1-2
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the law of sin and death.
Give what you want as often as you
want, but don’t fall into the religious condemnation of a required
tithe.
Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall
be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together,
and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same
measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
This does not say “tithe” and it
shall be given to you. The reason is that tithing is the Law, but
giving is from the heart.
“Freewill” is found only in the Old
Testament and only as concerns offerings. It is never
used in relation to tithes!
Tithes were part of the law.
Offerings come from the heart. God wants your heart.
Give as the Lord leads you and the
amount will be correct!
There is no biblical evidence that
either Jesus or Paul ever accepted a tithe, and none that Jesus ever
asked for a personal offering!
Many today speak of sowing your seed,
or in their words, sowing your money into their ministry. Let’s
look at that concept.
Jesus was very specific concerning
sowing seed.
Matt 13:3 Then He spoke many
things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to
sow. (NKJ)
In this parable, the sower sowed
seeds in various soils.
Jesus spoke in parables to hide the
truth.
Matt 13:13 "Therefore I speak
to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing
they do not hear, nor do they understand. (NKJ)
Many “Christians” still do not
understand!
But, did the sower sow money?
Matt 13:18 "Therefore hear the
parable of the sower: (NKJ)
Beginning in verse 19, Christ
explains that the seed is the word of God…not money.
And the soils are the hearts and minds of men. That point is often
overlooked by those seeking to expand “their” ministry.
The seed is sown in the soils and the
soils bring forth fruit for the kingdom.
Think with me for a moment. Have you
ever planted a flower seed?
Did you plant a seed in the front
yard and expect it to produce flowers in the back yard?
If you did, you know that it will not
work.
However, that is what far too many
so-called preachers are doing today.
They say, “Plant your monetary seed
here in my ministry, and it will grow over there---somewhere else.”
Seed begets after its own kind in the
spoil in which it is planted. Flower seeds produce flowers in the
soil in which they are planted.
Using that truism, money planted in a
ministry should produce more money coming from that same ministry.
It is called an investment! Wall Street knows that money produces
money!
When was the last time a Preacher
promised you a monetary gain on your financial seed sown in
his/her ministry and coming from his/her ministry?
Try NEVER!
No preacher has ever written a check
to any congregant based on his/her investment in his/her ministry.
And yet, that is what should happen
using the “seed” principle.
And, they know it doesn’t work that
way. But, if you figure it out, their income, and their influence
will drop!
The biblical tithe was a shared meal.
The modern tithe is, in essence, a Church tax.
Please note that I am not telling you
to stop giving to your Church.
Give offerings! Don’t fall into the
tithe trap!
http://www.ais-gwd.com/~cdevans/tithe.htm