Tithing. Churches everywhere do it. It is a common practice, but I ask you, is that which is being taught and practiced today Scriptural? I believe that the Bible clearly teaches us no. Let's start with the first place tithing is mentioned.
Gen 14:16-24
16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.
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.
21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion. (KJV)
This is where most refer to as the birthplace of tithing. Was Abraham, the father of those who walk by faith, really a tither? Let's see.
For one, we see that it is the goods from battle that Abram gives a tithe to the king of Salem, yet he gives much more to the king of Sodom. This was not goods that Abram got all the time. It was from battle, not from work.
Also, when was the last time you heard them teach in church that you must give all of your income away? Probably never. Abram here gives all the goods away. How does this compare to the tithing you do? I compel you to give a tithe of your income tax return to the Lord, and the rest to the wicked which God will destroy latter. This is a better application to the tithe here, than what is taught in church today.
There is simply nothing here to indicate that Abram gave a tenth of his own possessions. Plus nothing else has been recorded to show that Abram had given tenth of anything to anyone again.
What about Jacob?
Gen 28:20-22
20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. (KJV)
Jacob voluntarily made a vow (or a deal one could venure to say), to give God a tithe of all that God will give him. If he didn't make the vow to tithe, it would have been fine. God did not require this of Jacob. Now if Abraham had taught his sons the importance of tithing, Jacob never needed to make a vow and should have been giving tithe way before this.
Notice that though we read about Jacob's vow with God, we do not read about whether or not this vow was ever fulfilled.
What about the law?
No tithe of any kind is found in the Book of the Covenant given by Moses which consisted of the Ten Commandments and various civil and religious requirements. Funds to provide for these activities came from free-will offerings. (see Ex. Chapters 20-23, Ex. 34:22,29; 36:3,7)
Almost a year after the Book of the Covenant was written, a tithing system was instituted. (Lev. 27:30-33)
Take notice of what it is that they are to tithe according to this system.
Lev 27:30-32
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 unto the LORD.
31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.
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. (KJV)
What was Israel to tithe? The seed of the land, the fruit of the trees, the herd, and flock. It does not say anything about money, and tithe teachers today even admit this, though they in turn erroneous say that they didn't have money then, that's why they didn't tithe money. But this is wrong. Even Abraham had money in his days (Gen 17:12,13,23,27).
Gen 23:13-16
13 And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,
15 My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
16 And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. (KJV)
Even Jacob had money.
Gen 33:19
19 And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money. (KJV)
And the list goes on...
So, are Christians still obligated to keep the tithe according to the law? No. In fact, Christians that practice tithe today, don't even do it as shown in the OT.
Heb 7:1-19
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.
13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. (KJV)
In Hebrews we see that the Levites received a tithe, but a change was made in the priesthood because the law couldn't make anyone perfect; therefore another priest after the order of Melchisedec (Jesus) came for there was need that the law be changed.
Now that this change has taken place, the Levitical priesthood & the ceremonial law rites (not the moral law), which included tithes, was disannulled, set aside for the better covenant.
Tithing is a thing of the past under the now disannulled law. The passages from the NT that are taught refer to giving and not tithing. Let me give you some examples.
2 Cor 9:5-9
5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.
6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. (KJV)
This is a very popular passage when it comes to giving, yet many miss the mark in teaching it correctly. The Corithians had pledged a great deal of money a year earlier. Paul wasn't asking for more money, he was simply reminding them of the commitment that they had previously made.
2 Cor 8:10-12
10 And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. (KJV)
Paul had even told them to lay aside some money for this.
1 Cor 16:1-3
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
3 And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. (KJV)
Paul didn't want the money to be collected under pressure or in a short period of time. He wanted the money to be given voluntarily, not compelling them in any way. The money that they were collecting was for the Christians in Jerusalem who were suffering from poverty.
It is true that we are to give to those who have need, but we as Christians are not required to tithe. Study the Scriptures yourself and see. I hope that this article will compel you to search them and discover for your self the truth on tithing. Check the NT outside of the Gospels (the Gospels were still under the law). You will not the words tithe, or tithing in the NT from the book of Acts on. You will only find the word tithes three times from Acts to Revelation, those being shown already in Hebrews 7:6,8, and 9. Why doesn't the NT talk about tithing? Because Christians are not required to tithe under the new covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ. Don't be deceived any longer.
To help you find what you're looking for on this site quicker I have provided the search engine box below.
|
|
