Eric Casagrande     /         Genelyn Novabos

 

 

The Truth About Tithing

 

Greetings, my brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who is – who was – and who is to come!

I would like to share with you something from the Bible, that you will in all probability never hear mentioned at your local church, or by your favorite television evangelist.

Contrary to what you may have been wrongfully instructed over the years, born-again believers are not obligated to tithe their income. If your pastor is telling you that you must tithe your income, or if he tells you that it is a sin if you do not tithe, he is either highly ignorant of what the Bible says on this subject – or else intentionally misleading you for his own benefit.

Would you like to hear the Biblical truth concerning tithing?

Well, where did tithing begin?  Some might argue it started with Abraham, when he gave tithes to Melchizedek, who was both king of Salem, and a priest of God (Genesis 14: 20 and Hebrews 7: 9). But this cannot be the case however, since there is no record that God gave laws on tithing or any other matter, during Abraham’s lifetime.  So therein lies the answer: Tithing was started by God through His laws and commandments, about 500 years after the death of Abraham.

When God brought the children of Israel out of their bondage in the land of Egypt, He made a special covenant with them, based upon the keeping of the laws and commandments He gave them during that time.  Now when you speak of God’s laws to most of the people out there, the first thing which pops into their head is the Ten Commandments.  But this is not the case, for if you were to examine the entire thirty-nine (39) books of the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, you would discover in fact that God has more than six hundred (600+), laws and commandments!

So what was the law of tithing all about?

According to the 18th chapter of the Book of Numbers, tithing was introduced by God to provide for the special needs of the Tribe of Levi. When Joshua led Israel into their God-promised land, all the tribes of Israel were given a specific area to inherit.  The Tribe of Levi, however, was not given any portion to inherit, because God was to be their inheritance (Numbers 18: 20).

God gave Israel a mandate in which the Tribe of Levi was to serve Him as priests, in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. In return for performing all of the required sacrifices on behalf of the people of Israel, God created a law whereby the people were to support the Levite priests through the giving of a tithe (Numbers 18: 21-28).

So what exactly did their tithes consist of – silver and gold? 

No!

While the people of Israel had vast amounts of silver and gold, at no point was money ever made a part of the tithe. What the people of Israel were commanded to tithe, was out of their various food and drink items, such as their corn, wine, and oil, as God tells them in Deuteronomy 12: 27, and Deuteronomy 14: 23.

They are further instructed in Deuteronomy 14: 22, to give a tithe of all the crops growing in their fields. As well, in 2 Chronicles 31: 5-6, we note that the people of Israel were to give tithes of their oxen and sheep.

But if you are looking for a real shocker, read what Deuteronomy 26: 12, and Amos 4: 4 have to say  –  these tithes, mandated by God, were to be given every third year:

 

“When you have made an end of tithing all the tithes

of your increase the third year, which is the year of

tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger,

the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within

 your gates and be filled.”

                 - Deuteronomy 26: 12 

 

Now when has your pastor or favorite television evangelist, ever taken the time to honestly explain that little nugget to you?          

So what have we learned about tithing, so far?

       · It is given to the Levite priests, ministering in the tabernacle.

       · It consists of giving food and drink products, not money.

       · It is given every third year. 

Here is my last point.  As mentioned above, tithing was one of more than 600 laws and commandments given by God, as a part of His covenant with the nation of Israel. The covenant was not with any other nation or people group. Nowhere in the Old Testament (“Old Covenant”), does God even once include a nation other than Israel, in this covenant agreement.

The Old Covenant was performance based, and worked something like this – if Israel somehow managed to keep all of the commands and laws of God (over 600), then God would pour out His blessing upon them.  But if they failed to keep even one of those commands and laws, then the people of Israel would be cursed – which as you can imagine, happened all the time. Absolutely nobody was able to keep all the laws and commandments of God.

The Gentile nations had absolutely no part in this covenant. We were not given any of God’s commands and laws to keep, nor were we promised any blessings.  Yet we were still dead in our sins – not as a result of breaking those laws which weren’t given to us – but through the Adamic curse which came upon us at birth.  Adam knowingly sinned through an act of rebellion against God, and thus we are all born spiritually dead.

The apostle Paul confirms this in Ephesians 2: 12, when he points out that we (the gentile nations) were strangers to the covenants of promise; without God; and without hope in the world. 

Paul also gives witness to this in Romans 2: 12, where he says:

 

 “For as many as have sinned without the law (Gentiles),

shall also perish without the law; and as many as have

sinned in the law (Israel), shall be judged by the law.”  

 

The colored text is mine, for clarification purposes. 

Tithing has never been a requirement for the born-again believer in Jesus Christ.  Tithing was only one of the more than 600 laws and commands of God, as part of His (Old) Covenant with Israel.

Even as a Messianic (Jewish) believer in Jesus Christ, you are still not obliged to tithe.  For Christ fulfilled all the points of God’s law to all who believe, and created a New Covenant with God, which is certified by His blood – and we are the beneficiaries of it.

If your pastor says that you must tithe, or if he says it’s a sin if you don’t tithe, then he is either spiritually blind – or else is knowingly misleading you, so that his church won’t have a lower income.

It’s sad … but true.

Now should a believer support his or her local church?  Well if you are being fed good spiritual food there – of course!  However what you give should be determined by how God is leading you (not via pressure from your pastor), and as your circumstances allow, for as Paul wrote: God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9: 7).

  

  

 

 

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