Wednesday, July 25, 2012

THE BIBLICAL TITHE?


THE BIBLICAL TITHE?


QUESTION RECEIVED: Cool, here is the description of our question author -[Male age 31-45 Africa]

 Please help me with the practice of tithing that is taught and practiced in today's churches. my understanding is that this was a practice for the Old Testament Jewish believers and specifically descendants of Jacob, following their father Jacob's covenant with God, before the establishment of this covenant there is no biblical evidence that it was his practice. Abram only tithed once to Melchizedek  and that was spoils from a battle, not his belongings. There is no New Testament evidence for Christians tithing. The Tithing practiced was not of money (though there is evidence that money was already in use by then), only animals and crops were tithed... Please, I trust you for an accurate answer from scriptures, not man's opinions. Thank you in advance and God bless you.

MY ANSWER: 

In the Bible generous giving is done by example (The Lord), commanded by the Lord and praised by Jesus. 
Yes the Old Testament is the Old Covenant based on law and sacrifice.
The New Testament ushers in the Church and brings forth grace and salvation promised in the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament there is the Ceremonial Law, Judicial and Moral Law.
To be brief the New Testament does replace Ceremonial and Judicial Law that covered the food (no pork or shell fish) and legal rulings during the Hebrew 40 year march through the wilderness. 
This was so Moses could command 4 million people on a 40 year trip through the desert.
The Moral Law is the Ten Commandments.
Jesus said none of The (Moral) Law will pass away as long as there is a Heaven or Earth.
Matthew 5:18 English Standard Version (ESV)
“18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
I believe this is strong support that the Moral Law is still in effect forever.
Many good Christians would not agree.
I just gave you strong scriptural support from the proceeding quote from Jesus.
The Old Testament also is  Christian Scripture and has authority.
Christians need to stop cutting our Bible in two.

At creation God tithed in principal a day and told us to also do it in the Moral Law (Ten Commandments).
 Genesis 2:1-3 (ESV)
“2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

Abraham tithed his increase or profit – not his belongings - as you stated in your question.
Genesis 14:18-20 (ESV)
“18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High,
 who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”


Again we go to Genesis but it is Jacob who teaches about the tithe-
Genesis 28: 21 (ESV)
“21  so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

Here are two commands from the Lord that I do not believe are negated by the New Testament.
Leviticus 27:30 (ESV)
“30 Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord.”

Leviticus 27:32 (ESV)
“32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the Lord.”

At the end of the Old Testament is perhaps the best known command of tithing that even promises curses to those who do not tithe and blessings to those who tithe who have to be tested to tithe.
Malachi 3:8 (ESV)
“8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.  9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10  Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ”

The New Testament of grace talks more about developing a good attitude of giving rather than declaring a flat out tithe.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (ESV)
“6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

Does God really care what we give in viewing the New Testament?
This following Scripture passage says Jesus sat down and watched who gave and how much they gave. 
Wow!
Mark 12:41-43(ESV)
“41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.”

Here is a question for you.
Did the poor widow that received praise from Jesus tithe and give the expected 10%.
No.
The New Testament records only records the percentage of wealth a person gave.
The poor woman did not tithe.
Jesus watched her give not 10% but 100%!

Brother get liberty and give freely your tithe, or a larger % to support the church in her ministries and missions.
The Old Testament commanded the tithe.
I believe the New Testament is saying give freely and tithe and then feel free to give more.  

3 comments:

  1. You have shown absolutely nowhere in the scriptures that the New Testament says give freely AND TITHE and THEN feel free to give more.

    You bring up the poor widow but fail to mention that the widows were partially supported from the tithe (Deut. 14:28-29).

    The Biblical tithe was not giving to begin with.

    You have NO basis in the scripture to say that one should tithe today. NONE.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gary,
      Please re-read my blog, or read it if you have not.
      All my responses have a Scriptural basis.
      So, did you read my blog before your comment?
      I stated many good Christians would not agree with me.
      I write a blog with my informed opinion and often answer questions received.
      I am not insisting you accept them. Of course they are my opinions and here they are in my blog.
      I surely want comments that do not agree with me in a spirit of harmony and understanding.

      My main point was this:Tithing - law in the Old Testament and Christians are led to tithe and give even more
      more by the New Testament of grace.
      I have found that the Scohfield Study Bible notes influence non-tithe believers more than scripture
      A main point I would like to know is why the hostility to tithing to the Lord?.

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  2. The hostility is because so many pastors teach that God still REQUIRES a tithe, and then they CHANGE God's commands to read a tithe from income, and CHANGE God's commands to take the tithe to the church; otherwise, you are robbing God.

    If we are led to give more than that required under the OT law, then any free-will giving meets that requirement. Wage earners did not tithe. Jesus did not tithe. Paul did not tithe. Peter did not tithe. The tithe had nothing to do with giving.

    When God gave the Israelites the promised land, He RESERVED, for Himself, a tenth of the crops and every tenth animal. They NEVER did belong to the Israelites. In other words, the tithe was from God's increase of FOOD, not from man's income. It was a way to distribute FOOD to the Levites and priests who did NOT inherit any land.

    No one, not even the farmers, tithed on their income.

    The farmers made their income by SELLING and/or barter-exchanging their crops and animals but did NOT tithe on that income.

    Today, ALL born-again believers are priests. ALL of us are called to be deciples of the Lord. No one of us is greater than another. Our bodies are the Temple where the Spirit dwells. According to the scriptures, priests do not tithe.

    The New Testament teaches generous, sacrificial giving, from the heart, according to our means. For some, $1 might be a sacrifice, while for others, even giving 50% of their income might not induce a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, ONLY the farmers tithed, and it was a tenth. The New Testament teaches the principle of equal sacrifice instead of a tenth. Equal sacrifice is much harder to achieve, if not impossible, than giving a tenth.

    ReplyDelete