Tithing is now a financial income for many institutionalized churches. Blind Christians who have no idea of what tithing is, had been giving a tenth of their earnings all through their life thinking they give it to God. Here we will explore what tithing is, and if Christians had to follow it in the new covenant.
What is Tithe?
Ezek 45:14 “The ordinance concerning oil, the bath of oil, is one-tenth of a bath from a kor. A kor is a homer or ten baths, for ten baths are a homer.
Tithe means a tenth.
Lev 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.
Lev 27:32 ‘And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.
The law mentions a tenth of the produce of the land or earnings given to God as an offering.
Num 18:21-24 “Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting. “Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’ ”
God had given the tithe of the children of Israel to the Levites as an inheritance according to the old covenant.
First Tithe
Gen 14:20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
The first mention of tithe was given by Abraham to Melchizedek. While tithe is generally referring to the law, it simply means a tenth and Abraham gave a tenth of all he had to Melchizedek. It is important to understand Abraham was neither obliged nor instructed to provide any tithe. He gave out of his own freewill, a tenth of all he had. Hence, this is not the same as tithe in the law but a freewill offering which is a tenth of all he had.
Heb 7:4-5 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham;
This is expanded by the author of Hebrews to show Christ was from the order of Melchizedek.
Tithe mentioned by Jesus
Matt 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
Luke 11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
Is Jesus instructing Christians to follow tithing? No, but rather He is showing how scribes and Pharisees had left justice, mercy and faith which are the weightier matters and followed the lighter matters of the law like tithing. This is by no means Christ is suggesting Christians to follow tithing. It is like saying Christ was circumcised on the 8th day, so Christians must also be circumcised which was never instructed to gentile Christians.
Blind Christians
Many Christians are so blind that they are easily misled by institutionalized churches who actively preach that they are no longer under the law yet request tithe which is part of the law. Christians need to wake up to understand that people who do service to God in churches are neither Levites nor priests. Nor does the new covenant believers part of an Israelite tribe to have tithe obligations. Neither do they have any inheritance with children of Jacob for them to offer tithe to a Levite.
In the new covenant, Christians don’t have tithe but only freewill offering. It can be so little or everything you have but there are no obligations. However, when you have and you don’t help your fellow Christian, you may end up in everlasting punishment.
Matt 25:44-46 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Hence, there is no such thing as tithe in the new covenant.
Matt 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Jesus also said, if we want to be perfect, sell what we have and give it to the poor and follow Christ. This is not suggesting selling everything and become poor but rather selling our ‘treasures’ which are in earth and giving to poor so that we have treasures in heaven. The treasures refer to our abundance which we must sell and give it to the poor.
Also, giving to some needy unbeliever is not the same as giving to God. Refer to Deception of Charity and Giving to God for more details. Just because someone is doing God’s work does not mean we must provide any offering and make him or her super rich but rather, we must provide help and support to all fellow poor and needy Christians and have compassion to even enemies and unbelievers.
Conclusion
Tithe is only for the tribes of Israel who had give it to Levites
Tithe is an old covenant law and Christians are not under it.
Blind Christians are misled by institutionalized churches for monetary benefits.
New Covenant preaches to help fellow Christian brothers and sisters and does not set any value or percentage on earnings.
We must sell our abundance and treasures to help the fellow poor and needy Christians so that we become perfect before God.
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