The Lie of Tithing
Matt.23:23,24 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, judgement, mercy, and faith: these ye ought to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides! which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Here we have the only occasion in the New Testament where Our Lord tells anyone to pay tithes. Those who teach that Christians must pay tithes refer to this verse as the proof that Our Lord Jesus Christ established the continuance of the Mosaic Law of Tithing for His Church. These modern TITHE-TEACHERS then go on to define TITHING for their congregations: 10% of everything you get.
These TITHE-TEACHERS are liars. The following facts will be established in this article.
The Mosaic Law of Tithing was never 10% of everything you get.
The Temple (now considered to be the church-house) did not receive all of the tithes that were given by the Israelites.
Tithing was neither commanded nor observed in the early church.
Tithing as a covenant of prosperity is effective only for those who seek to be justified by the Law.
Those who demand 10% of everything you get, are identified with the Scribes and the Pharisees, who were the historic enemies of Christ.
THE MOSAIC LAW OF TITHING WAS NEVER 10% OF EVERYTHING YOU GET
Deut.14:22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
The ancient Israelite calculated and paid his tithes only once per year, after the harvest. During the year, he bought and sold, exchanged his labour for other men's goods, and his goods for other men's labours; on none of this income did he pay any tithes. All year long, he and his family ate of the increase of the land and of the livestock. What he consumed in the course of the year was not recorded and added to his total harvest for the purpose of calculating his tithes. If he went fishing and caught ten fish in the middle of the year, he ate them all; he didn't save one of them to the end of the year in order to pay tithes on his fish. If he received some gold or silver in an inheritance, he was not required to pay tithes on his inheritance. It is simply ludicrous to propose that the Israelites were required to keep careful records of everything they got during the year, in order to make sure that they paid exactly ten percent of "everything they got" as a tithe.
The Israelite was not commanded to tithe on everything he obtained and used throughout the year, but only on his increase at the end of the year. The same thing is true with a business in that a certain amount of the income is consumed in maintaining the operation. It is notable how the modern tithe teachers expect the ordinary working man to fork over 10% of his every paycheck before his bills or his taxes are paid.
Tithes were only calculated and paid once per year in the Hebrew nation. All year long the farmer ate of the produce of his land, and used that produce to run the business of his farm. At the end of the harvest, tithes were calculated. The rich farmer who employed 20 herdsmen and 20 field hands did not get to take any more "deductions" than the poor farmer who had no employees. The yearly tithe was a simple calculation against the increase of the field at harvest time and the total herd of livestock on hand. This calculation did not include certain capital expenditures which effectually reduced the amount of the tithe. For example: a farmer has 70 sheep, and 30 sheep are born during the year, so he now has 100 sheep: but he needs an ox to plow his fields, so he trades 30 sheep for one ox. At the end of the year, he only pays tithes on 70 sheep, and he gets to keep his ox. The tithe of the livestock was always calculated against the total herd on hand, but only once per year, and there was an exception made for the poor: If a man started off with 10 sheep; 3 sheep were born in the course of the year, and he ate 4 adult sheep, he now has only nine sheep. If he still had only nine sheep at the end of the year, he was not required to give one of those sheep to the Lord as a tithe, even though he ate 4 sheep (Lev.27:32). The Mosaic law of tithing was never 10% of everything you get.
THE TEMPLE (now considered to be the church-house) DID NOT RECEIVE ALL OF THE TITHES THAT WERE GIVEN BY THE ISRAELITES.
Num.18:26 Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord, even a TENTH part of the tithe. 28 Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the Lord of all your tithes which ye receive of the children of Israel, and ye shall give thereof the Lord's heave offering unto Aaron the priest.
As a matter of fact, the priests of the Temple did not receive any tithes directly from the people at all. Only the Levites were entitled to receive tithes, and they paid a tithe of the tithe to the priests. Thus, the priests and the temple only received ONE TENTH of the tithes! The bulk of the support of the priests and the Temple came from the other offerings that were commanded under the law.
Deut.14:23 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; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.
Who is eating the tithe? Not the Levite, not the priest! In Israel, every family was expected to make it to Jerusalem once per year to visit the Temple. Some of their tithes were used to defray the expenses of the trip and may have been used to make the other offerings that were commanded separately under the Law. They were eating and drinking from their own tithes! This is further confirmed in the verses that follow:
Deut.14:24-26 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.
The tithes were used to finance the family pilgrimage to Jerusalem once per year. Not only were they not paying tithes on "everything they got", but they were consuming some of the tithes themselves!
Deut.14:27-29 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 shall 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.
Tithing in ancient Israel was income tax. Whatever they consumed in the course of the year did not have to be included in the calculation, and once every three years the ENTIRE tithe was given to the local Levites and the poor people in their own town. The Levites functioned as magistrates and school teachers in the villages in which they resided, so the tithe of the third year was given for the support of the local judiciary, and the funding of health, education, and welfare.
Only once every three years does it say that the ENTIRE tithe was given away, and in that case, NONE OF IT was brought to the Temple: but to the Levites and the poor people in their own towns. This is reiterated in Deut. 26:12 and Amos 4:4. It is very difficult to come up with an exact set of figures on who got how much of the tithes in the end; but one thing is sure: the Temple in Jerusalem was not collecting 10% of the total income of the people, and at least 1/3 of the tithes were given to support education and poor people in their own community. How anyone with an honest mind can take the Mosaic Law of Tithing and come up with, "10 cents out of every dollar that passes through your hands belongs to the local church", eludes me.
The doctrine of tithing, as it is taught and received by many Christians today, is a LIE: it is a fabrication by clergymen, a holdover from Romanism. It cannot be found in, or defended from the Law of Moses. Many have ignored and misrepresented the Bible, and lied to you about this.
TITHING WAS NEITHER COMMANDED NOR OBSERVED IN THE EARLY CHURCH
2Cor.9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
The epistles are full of discussions about giving for the support of evangelists(sent ones or apostles)ers,orphans,true widows, and the poor: but no where do any of the Apostles ask for tithes or remind anyone to pay tithes. And, how can it be said that a man is not giving of necessity if he is obeying a LAW of tithing? How can it be said that a man is not giving of necessity, if he is convinced that he will be cursed with poverty if he fails to pay those tithes? Certainly, if the Apostle Paul thought he was authorized and obliged to demand tithes, he would have brought it up in 1 Corinthians chapter nine, where he asserts that he has a right to receive financial support! Why doesn't Paul remind them that they are obliged to pay those tithes, and that he has a right to receive those tithes?
As to the only time the New Testament records Our Lord telling anyone to pay tithes; if this was understood as a command to the Church,how come it is never reaffirmed by any of the Apostles?
Jesus, in Matthew 23:34, is addressing the Pharisees, not His own disciples, and He calls the concern about tithing a gnat. And yet, to the tithe collectors of Apostate Christendom, the gnat IS the camel.
Heb.7:1 For this Melchisidec, 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;. . . 4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
In Genesis chapter 14, Abraham goes out to rescue his nephew Lot, who along with many others has been kidnapped. The kidnappers had ransacked the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot lived, and were on their way back to their own cities. Abraham took 318 servants with him,and rescued Lot's family. He also took from the kidnappers all the loot they had obtained during their raids. After restoring the personal property of the residents of Sodom, he gave 10% of the loot to Melchisidec. This time, and this time only, are we ever told that Abraham pays tithes to anyone. There is no mention that he went home to round up 10% of the goods he had there. We are nowhere told that Abraham ever paid tithes on any of his income again.
The purpose of Hebrews chapter 7 is not to establish a law of tithing, but to show how Jesus Christ was foreshadowed in symbols and figures throughout the Old Testament.
The antiquity of a practice does not make it a law for The Church, for circumcision also pre-dates The Law of Moses (John 7:22, Gal.5:2).
Have you given up everything for Christ?
Is all you have His?
Is your life and lifestyle a living example of such?
TITHING AS A COVENANT OF PROSPERITY IS EFFECTIVE ONLY FOR THOSE WHO SEEK TO BE JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW.
Luke.17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
The doctrine of tithing as it is taught in Apostate Christendom today teaches the promises of prosperity from the Old testament. The most popular verse that is used to substantiate the doctrine of tithing for prosperity is Malachi 3:10.
Mal.3:10 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.
This verse says that if you will faithfully pay your tithes that you will be prospered. The problem is, you are not allowed to pick and choose which Old Testament laws that you want to recieve and which you want to ignore. The same promises are attached to the other laws as well (Deut.12:28, 28:1- 6, Lev. 26:3-6).
As soon as you bind yourself to any promise that is connected with obedience to the Law, you have entered the covenant of the Law.
James.2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Yet these tithe teachers think to teach that you can ignore the whole law except to obey in one point! Tithing was part of the civil code that governed the nation of Israel. Only the Levites were allowed to collect the tithes. Tithing is not a part of the Ten Commandments, is no where commanded to The Church, and was neither taught nor practiced in Christendom until the the latter part of the 6th century.
Tithing is a part of God's covenant with the Jews only.
Jer.31:31,32 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 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...
Jesus said, The Law and the prophets were until John (Luke 16:16). In other words the covenant of The Law, as it was affirmed by the prophets, was ended at the appearing of John the Baptist.
Gal.5:3 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
I know that tithe teachers and tithe payers will not SAY that they are justified by the law, and will insist that their faith is in Christ. However, the Apostle Paul has it that any attempt to be justified in any one point by the law is to fall from grace. Circumcision is the subject in Galatians chapter 5, but circumcision is only a part of that ONE LAW. The tithe payer attempts to justify himself in this one respect: that he has given to God "His cut", and so is justified by obedience to the law in this one matter. It's no different than those who insisted on being circumcised! They were not insisting on a wholesale return to the entire law of Moses; just this one point. The Apostle Paul says:
Gal.5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
And so it is with the tithe payer who justifies his actions on the basis of the Old Covenant. He has FALLEN FROM GRACE.
Hear this again:
Gal.3:19 For as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
You simply cannot sneak into the Old Testament and think to jerk one rule out of it to take advantage of. You are under the curse if you do, and you better perfectly perform the rest of the law as well, or you will end up cursed. This is no small matter to God.
Listen to the Apostle Paul:
Phil.3:8,9 Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Whatever it is that you count as your righteousness, is that from which you take your confidence towards God. If you feel like you have settled the money question with God by paying tithes, you have come under the curse: you have your own righteousness. The true and obedient disciple of Our Lord Jesus Christ is careful to not let his left hand know what his right hand doeth in matters of giving. He also knows that except a man forsake ALL that he hath, he CANNOT be Christ's disciple (Luke 14:33). He is not in any way entitled to the selfish and personal use of the rest of his money just because he paid God His "cut".
In Luke 17:10,our Lord has dispelled any illusions that we may have about God owing us something because we did what we thought was our duty in some small and singular matter. Any notion that God owes us prosperity in exchange for tithing is utterly repudiated by one statement from the Apostle Paul:
Rom.11:35 Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
This statement not only condemns tithing for prosperity, but every other doctrine of "give to me and God will give to you" that the false prophets of Apostate Christendom love to propound.
Listen again to the Apostle Paul:
1Tim.6:7-10 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Jesus is the mediator of a BETTER covenant, which was established on BETTER promises (Heb.8:6); but the Law of Moses promises long life, good health, prosperity, and power over all enemies to those who will obey it (Deut.28:1-13)
The promises of The New Testament include most of these things, but they are offered as a reward for FAITH, and THEY INCLUDE ETERNAL LIFE. The righteousness that imbues one with eternal life is of a different quality than that which was obtainable through some relative performance of The Law of Moses. Those who take their security from some relative performance of The Law of Moses have fallen from grace.
Listen to what the Lord says about King Saul:
1Sam.8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.
And why is it that these people were willing to put up with all of King Saul's abuses?
1Sam.8:7 And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee (Samuel), but they have rejected Me (God) that I should not reign over them.
They will put up with their King Saul, and pay him his 10%, because it's easier to do that, then it is to grapple with these words of Jesus Christ: Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me (Luke 18:22).
Luke 18:11,12 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican:
I fast twice in the week, I GIVE TITHES OF ALL THAT I POSSESS.
