Post by ambassador on Apr 17, 2009 22:41:59 GMT -5
Is the Tithe an Obligation for the Body of Christ?
[13 April 2009]
Is tithing an obligation to the Christian, as it is so often stated? Or, can we simply disregard the tithe as being “Old Testament ground?” As we do with any and every denominational doctrine, we align it with the Word of God. We need to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES, and be Bereans, not naïve sheep (Acts 17:10-11)! You can disagree, but as always, the Bible is the Final Authority in spiritual matters, not me, not some local church, and not religious group.
Most people can tell what they do when they tithe in their local church, but they know nothing about tithing in the Bible. I once asked a pastor if he even knew what a Biblical tithe was, but the dear brother had no idea whatsoever—he only knew his denomination’s definition of tithing. Firstly, there was no such thing as tithing prior to Abraham in Genesis 14:20—Abraham was the “father” of the Nation of Israel, so you should already see the tithe’s connection to the Jews. Five centuries after Abraham, the tithe was incorporated into the Mosaic Law (God’s set of rules and regulations for Israel’s religious, social, and moral life).
According to the Old Testament, these are the stipulations of a Biblical tithe in Israel:
1. MANDATED OBLIGATION. Because the tithe was part of the Mosaic Law, it was a mandated tithe, and the Jews were FORCED to give (notice the JEWS were instructed to give the tithe; Amos 4:4-5).
2. GIVEN TO SUPPORT PRIESTHOOD, NOT LOCAL CHURCH. The tithe was to be given to the Levites, Israel’s priesthood. Aaron’s sons had no inheritance and no land, but served as Israel’s government and served in the temple for life (see Numbers 18:21-32, Nehemiah 10:37-38, Nehemiah 12:44, Nehemiah 13:5, and Hebrews 7:4-9 to find out about Israel’s theocracy). Essentially, the tithe was a tax paid to their government.
3. TITHE DID NOT NECESSARILY INVOLVE MONEY. Leviticus 27:30-34 mentions tithing, but nothing about money. The Jews gave ten percent of seed (grain), fruit of the tree, tithe of the herd, the flock, and so on. If a Jew had ten sheep, he had to give one-tenth of that—one sheep. Or, if he had forty goats, he gave four goats. If you wanted to convert that animal and sell it for money and then bring the money to the temple, you would have to add 20% to the price and give the entire amount to the priest.
4. BROUGHT TO TEMPLE. Malachi 3:8-11 commanded Israel to bring their tithes into the “storehouse,” the warehouse of the Temple. This is where the tithed grain and other crops were stored by the priests, for them to partake. The Jews were instructed to bring the tithes to the Temple in other places in the Old Testament, such as Deuteronomy 12:6, 11; Deuteronomy 26:12; and 2 Chronicles 31:11-12.
5. ADDITIONAL TITHES. The “ten percent” was just one type of tithing in Old Testament Israel. Jewish males were required to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem three times a year, for three feasts (or holydays) of Judaism: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (see Exodus 23:14-19). In order to fund their trip and pay for their accommodations in Jerusalem, God wanted them to set aside an additional ten percent of their net income (after they paid the gross income tax/first tithe; see Deuteronomy 14:22-26): this second tithe was optional. There was a third type of tithe that supported the welfare system in Israel (Deuteronomy 26:12); it was also voluntary, but was given every three years. So, had a Jew been giving all three tithes annually, it was not just ten percent, but an additional ten percent plus three and two-thirds percent (or an additional 13.33% to the 10%)! It was a total of 23.33% tithe every year!
That is a simple overview of the Old Testament tithe. Surely, you see that the tithe was a burden for Israel. In this Age of Grace, the Body of Christ is separate from God’s covenant people Israel. What God told Israel to do then does not necessarily apply to us today. So, why is tithing not necessary in this Age of Grace? Compare each of the numbers below with the numbered points above.
1. MOSAIC LAW INAPPLICABLE TO BODY OF CHRIST. We are not under the legalistic economy of Israel in the Old Testament (Romans 6:1-2, 14-15): Paul also emphasized that throughout the Book of Galatians. The tithe was part of the Mosaic Law, and the entire Law was put to death with Christ (Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 7:5)! We are not forced to give money today because this would be in complete opposition to the Apostle Paul’s instructions for the Body of Christ: “do not give grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). “Cheerful” in the original Koine Greek was “giving hilariously”: God wants believers to give willingly, giving excitedly and eagerly. I give money to my local church, not as a mandated tithe, but as an OFFERING… a FREE WILL offering to further the Body of Christ and the Gospel of Grace! Today, an “offering” is everything you give to your church: an “offering” is not the additional amount you give after ten percent. Interestingly, Paul never once uses the word “tithe!” He only uses the term “collection” (1 Corinthians 16:1-3).
2. NO PRIESTHOOD IN ISRAEL TODAY! In His Word, God told Israel to give a tithe to their priests; God does not instruct us to give a tithe to our pastor or to our church. When the Temple was destroyed under the Roman invasion of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), the priesthood disappeared. You would have to find a Levite, and give him your tithe—and you would have to give him crops or livestock, not money.
3. MOST CHRISTIANS DO NOT HAVE LIVESTOCK TO OFFER. Christians have money, but most of us do no have goats, sheep, and other types of livestock that we can give to our local church. We do not all have access to wheat, corn, or any other type of grain. The only thing we have to give to our local church is MONEY, which is not Biblical tithing! Thus, giving money to a local church has no relation to Israel’s tithe.
4. ISRAEL’S TEMPLE HAS BEEN DESTROYED FOR 2,000 YEARS. There is no functioning Temple in Jerusalem today, for it was destroyed in A.D. 70! Where would I bring a tithe? God never tells us to bring a tithe to church.
Oftentimes, pastors force their members to give tithes by quoting from Malachi 3:8-11. Actually, that is extortion! “This whole nation” in Malachi 3:9 is NOT America. “This whole nation” is a reference to Israel; Malachi is writing to ISRAEL under the Mosaic Law, not the Body of Christ in grace (Malachi 1:1). Malachi 3 has absolutely nothing to do with you today! Pastors are scared if they tell their members there is no such thing as a mandated tithe today, people will no longer support the local church financially. However, they need to leave that in God’s hands: He is the best fundraiser! People need to be set free from the legalistic burdensome tithe today!
The strange thing is that those who uphold the tithe today refuse to adhere to stoning for breaking the Sabbath: why? According to the Old Testament, a Jew was put to death if he or she worked on the Sabbath—it was Saturday, not Sunday! Sabbath Day keeping was COMMANDED in the Mosaic Law (the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:8-11). The penalty for gathering a few sticks for firewood on the Sabbath was DEATH BY STONING—and these Jews were commanded by God to STONE one particular Jew who infringed the Sabbath Day law (Numbers 15:32-36)! Why do people hang on to the tithe of the Old Testament, but avoid upholding the stoning for the breaking the Sabbath? Why do some uphold the Sabbath Day, but refuse to do Temple worship, or adhere to kosher food laws but deny the circumcision. Beats me… I will never know….
[13 April 2009]
Is tithing an obligation to the Christian, as it is so often stated? Or, can we simply disregard the tithe as being “Old Testament ground?” As we do with any and every denominational doctrine, we align it with the Word of God. We need to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES, and be Bereans, not naïve sheep (Acts 17:10-11)! You can disagree, but as always, the Bible is the Final Authority in spiritual matters, not me, not some local church, and not religious group.
Most people can tell what they do when they tithe in their local church, but they know nothing about tithing in the Bible. I once asked a pastor if he even knew what a Biblical tithe was, but the dear brother had no idea whatsoever—he only knew his denomination’s definition of tithing. Firstly, there was no such thing as tithing prior to Abraham in Genesis 14:20—Abraham was the “father” of the Nation of Israel, so you should already see the tithe’s connection to the Jews. Five centuries after Abraham, the tithe was incorporated into the Mosaic Law (God’s set of rules and regulations for Israel’s religious, social, and moral life).
According to the Old Testament, these are the stipulations of a Biblical tithe in Israel:
1. MANDATED OBLIGATION. Because the tithe was part of the Mosaic Law, it was a mandated tithe, and the Jews were FORCED to give (notice the JEWS were instructed to give the tithe; Amos 4:4-5).
2. GIVEN TO SUPPORT PRIESTHOOD, NOT LOCAL CHURCH. The tithe was to be given to the Levites, Israel’s priesthood. Aaron’s sons had no inheritance and no land, but served as Israel’s government and served in the temple for life (see Numbers 18:21-32, Nehemiah 10:37-38, Nehemiah 12:44, Nehemiah 13:5, and Hebrews 7:4-9 to find out about Israel’s theocracy). Essentially, the tithe was a tax paid to their government.
3. TITHE DID NOT NECESSARILY INVOLVE MONEY. Leviticus 27:30-34 mentions tithing, but nothing about money. The Jews gave ten percent of seed (grain), fruit of the tree, tithe of the herd, the flock, and so on. If a Jew had ten sheep, he had to give one-tenth of that—one sheep. Or, if he had forty goats, he gave four goats. If you wanted to convert that animal and sell it for money and then bring the money to the temple, you would have to add 20% to the price and give the entire amount to the priest.
4. BROUGHT TO TEMPLE. Malachi 3:8-11 commanded Israel to bring their tithes into the “storehouse,” the warehouse of the Temple. This is where the tithed grain and other crops were stored by the priests, for them to partake. The Jews were instructed to bring the tithes to the Temple in other places in the Old Testament, such as Deuteronomy 12:6, 11; Deuteronomy 26:12; and 2 Chronicles 31:11-12.
5. ADDITIONAL TITHES. The “ten percent” was just one type of tithing in Old Testament Israel. Jewish males were required to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem three times a year, for three feasts (or holydays) of Judaism: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (see Exodus 23:14-19). In order to fund their trip and pay for their accommodations in Jerusalem, God wanted them to set aside an additional ten percent of their net income (after they paid the gross income tax/first tithe; see Deuteronomy 14:22-26): this second tithe was optional. There was a third type of tithe that supported the welfare system in Israel (Deuteronomy 26:12); it was also voluntary, but was given every three years. So, had a Jew been giving all three tithes annually, it was not just ten percent, but an additional ten percent plus three and two-thirds percent (or an additional 13.33% to the 10%)! It was a total of 23.33% tithe every year!
That is a simple overview of the Old Testament tithe. Surely, you see that the tithe was a burden for Israel. In this Age of Grace, the Body of Christ is separate from God’s covenant people Israel. What God told Israel to do then does not necessarily apply to us today. So, why is tithing not necessary in this Age of Grace? Compare each of the numbers below with the numbered points above.
1. MOSAIC LAW INAPPLICABLE TO BODY OF CHRIST. We are not under the legalistic economy of Israel in the Old Testament (Romans 6:1-2, 14-15): Paul also emphasized that throughout the Book of Galatians. The tithe was part of the Mosaic Law, and the entire Law was put to death with Christ (Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 7:5)! We are not forced to give money today because this would be in complete opposition to the Apostle Paul’s instructions for the Body of Christ: “do not give grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). “Cheerful” in the original Koine Greek was “giving hilariously”: God wants believers to give willingly, giving excitedly and eagerly. I give money to my local church, not as a mandated tithe, but as an OFFERING… a FREE WILL offering to further the Body of Christ and the Gospel of Grace! Today, an “offering” is everything you give to your church: an “offering” is not the additional amount you give after ten percent. Interestingly, Paul never once uses the word “tithe!” He only uses the term “collection” (1 Corinthians 16:1-3).
2. NO PRIESTHOOD IN ISRAEL TODAY! In His Word, God told Israel to give a tithe to their priests; God does not instruct us to give a tithe to our pastor or to our church. When the Temple was destroyed under the Roman invasion of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), the priesthood disappeared. You would have to find a Levite, and give him your tithe—and you would have to give him crops or livestock, not money.
3. MOST CHRISTIANS DO NOT HAVE LIVESTOCK TO OFFER. Christians have money, but most of us do no have goats, sheep, and other types of livestock that we can give to our local church. We do not all have access to wheat, corn, or any other type of grain. The only thing we have to give to our local church is MONEY, which is not Biblical tithing! Thus, giving money to a local church has no relation to Israel’s tithe.
4. ISRAEL’S TEMPLE HAS BEEN DESTROYED FOR 2,000 YEARS. There is no functioning Temple in Jerusalem today, for it was destroyed in A.D. 70! Where would I bring a tithe? God never tells us to bring a tithe to church.
Oftentimes, pastors force their members to give tithes by quoting from Malachi 3:8-11. Actually, that is extortion! “This whole nation” in Malachi 3:9 is NOT America. “This whole nation” is a reference to Israel; Malachi is writing to ISRAEL under the Mosaic Law, not the Body of Christ in grace (Malachi 1:1). Malachi 3 has absolutely nothing to do with you today! Pastors are scared if they tell their members there is no such thing as a mandated tithe today, people will no longer support the local church financially. However, they need to leave that in God’s hands: He is the best fundraiser! People need to be set free from the legalistic burdensome tithe today!
The strange thing is that those who uphold the tithe today refuse to adhere to stoning for breaking the Sabbath: why? According to the Old Testament, a Jew was put to death if he or she worked on the Sabbath—it was Saturday, not Sunday! Sabbath Day keeping was COMMANDED in the Mosaic Law (the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:8-11). The penalty for gathering a few sticks for firewood on the Sabbath was DEATH BY STONING—and these Jews were commanded by God to STONE one particular Jew who infringed the Sabbath Day law (Numbers 15:32-36)! Why do people hang on to the tithe of the Old Testament, but avoid upholding the stoning for the breaking the Sabbath? Why do some uphold the Sabbath Day, but refuse to do Temple worship, or adhere to kosher food laws but deny the circumcision. Beats me… I will never know….