SUBJECT: TITHING

Titles: – Definition, Origin, who should give & where to give it; and is it still relevant today?

By Rev. Precious Alawuru    /  03-19-2015

Origin

The Bible defines tithe as a tenth of one’s income or gain or profit or harvest from farming.

The Oxford Dictionaries online (English dictionary) identifies or defines it as,

“One tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the church and clergy.” And also as,

“…(In certain religious denominations) a tenth of an individual’s income pledged to the church.”

The origin of tithing lies solely with the Holy Bible of Christians. It is a foundational doctrinal teaching of the Bible that existed even before the Mosaic Law was given to God’s people, in the Book of Exodus. For this write-up, whenever I refer to the Bible, I am referencing the Authorized King James Version. The first record of tithing is seen In the Bible book of Genesis. Here we read about how the Patriarch Abraham gave tithes of all his possessions to Melchizedek, the Priest of the Most High God, when returning with spoils from slaying the ten kings that had overran Sodom and Gomorrah and had taken Lot and his family, and others as captives.

Gen. 14:18-20

18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

Our father, Jacob also promised to give tithe to the Lord, if the Lord returned him back safe from fleeing from Esau, after obtaining the Birthright by deceit,

Gen. 28:20-21

 20And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 22And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee

Whose command is it, who should receive it, & can it be combined with other offerings?

This singular act by Abraham, as stated above underlies the foundational principle that all of God’s people whether Jew or Gentile, are under God’s command to practice faithful tithing. Seeing that our patriarch Abraham gave it to God’s priest, therefore, it is a commandment of God, before the Mosaic law was given.

The next question should be to whom should the tithe be paid or given or who is supposed to pray over the tithe and upon the faithful tither? The answer is quite obvious, to the Priest of God! The Priest (Pastor) is commanded to receive it and to offer prayers over it, and over the person that gives it. The scripture above also demonstrates this fact.

This offering cannot be combined with another. Let us look at God’s commands about dedication of the altar offering, e.g., it was to be done alone and not combined with any other, read;

Number 7:10 – 23

10And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar. 

11And the LORD said unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar.

12And he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah: 13And his offering was one silver charger …

 14One spoon of ten shekels of gold, full of incense: 15One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering: 16One kid of the goats for a sin offering: 17And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

18On the second day Nethaneel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, did offer: 19He offered for his offering one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering: 20One spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense: 21One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering: 22One kid of the goats for a sin offering: 23And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

Other types of offerings different from dedication offering but commanded by God are described in the following scriptural references.

Lev. 2:8-10

 8And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the LORD: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar. 9And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. 10And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.

 Lev. 3:10,11

10And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 11And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the LORD.

 Lev. 4:3-5

3If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering. 4And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the LORD. 5And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:

 Lev. 5:6

 6And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.

From the above scripture references as well as others, there are different offerings and they are offered separately and never together (or simultaneously) by the priest. Also read Lev. 6:1 – 29, Leviticus 7, and other scriptures, and you will find the mentioning of Peace offering, Trespass offering, heave offering, wave offering, Guilt offering, Grain offering, Sin offering and burnt offering; and all are commanded but are performed separately, and never together.

If we look at the New Testament we would see where Paul advised we should do things in orderly manner in the House of God;

 1 Cor. 14:40

Let all things be done decently and in order.

So, Pastors are to receive and pray over the tithes and the tithe-giver, and to maintain order in the House of God which is His Church. Thanksgiving offering is different from Tithes, and from Dedication or testimony offering or vows or love offerings or general/church or building offerings. Believers are supposed to identify the tithe for what it is because it is a separate and special type of offering and not combined with others, as all offerings are not the same and are offered differently, as all the Bible scriptures teaches us.

Ministers that receives and prays over the tithes are commanded to also give tithes out of the tithes people give to the House of God. Please read Numbers 18:   , below:

Numbers 18:26-28

26Thus 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. 27And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshing floor, and as the fulness of the winepress.28Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes,

How do I calculate my tithe or what should I give my tithe from

From the Bible it is the tenth part of any proceeds, income, earnings or monetary gifts or harvest from farming or profits from items or products we sold. If someone receives a monetary gift of one thousand dollars ($1000.00, USD), their tithe is one hundred dollars.

If I earned a net income from my job after government taxes of five hundred dollars ($500.00, USD), then my tithe is fifty dollars. If I receive any monetary tax return from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), after filing my taxes, I am expected by God to give a tenth part of whatever I received, that is, if I paid tithe on my net income, all year round.

If I receive a car gift, e.g., I am expected by God to present it before the Priest (Pastor), at the time of my thanksgiving to God for the gift, and I will give a reasonable thanksgiving offering, and also a Dedication offering as well, at the time I present the car for dedication.

And for married women or couples, if a spouse or wife received a sum of money (e.g. #1000.00) to run the home for say one month, and at the end of the month, she had a small amount of money (#100.00), left over. She wants to save it or use it to buy herself a new dress she liked, a faithful Christian wife is commanded to tithe it first before using the other fraction to buy the said dress. However, the husband must have tithed his income before giving the monthly feeding home allowance to his wife.

Where did God command us to tithe.

God added it to the Mosaic laws handed to God’s people in the Old Testament through Prophet Moses. See,

Lev. 26:30-32

30And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, isthe LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD. 31And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. 32And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. 

Lev. 27:30-34

30And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, isthe LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD. 31And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. 32And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. 33He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

34These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

Num. 18: 21-28

21And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. 22Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die. 23But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. 24But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

25And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 26Thus 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. 27And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshing floor, and as the fulness of the winepress.28Thus 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 to Aaron the priest.

Mal. 3:8-11

8Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10Bring 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 enoughto receive it. 11And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

Where should I pay my tithe

In God’s Word, He wants us to give it to the Church or the Priests (Pastors) that are serving in God’s chosen place of worship or where you have chosen to worship God at. Read,

Deuteronomy 12:5-6

 5But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: 6And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:

We are to give our tithes in a place that God has placed His name, and in our faith, a Christian Church that you are identified with, is the right place. So long they teach the true word of God.

Are all Christians supposed to give tithes, according to God’s Word.

Yes! Every Bible-believing saint is commanded to give their tithes. Pastors, Bishops, church workers, and every member of God’s church that is of age should learn to be faithful in this.

From Malachi 3 above you can see that God made no exceptions when He said “this whole nation had robbed Him.” And Priests are included because they are commanded to give a tenth as well from the scripture below:

Num. 18:26,27

26Thus 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. 27And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress

Pastors are commanded to tithe their earnings and gifts, like everyone else.

Some Churches say no more tithing because we are not under the law. Is this correct?

I am aware that many churches teach this error! It is surprising because Paul asserts that God added certain laws to take care of the Cow (Oxen) that plows the ground, according to the Mosaic law. And that those laws also apply to Pastors. Read,

1 Cor. 9:7-14

8Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? 9For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? 10Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. 11If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? 12If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. 13Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? 14Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

The tithe helps with the upkeep of the Ministers both local and guests, judging from the above.

Our Lord Jesus Christ praised the Pharisees for being faithful in tithing but condemned them for being unjust. And remember Jesus did not come to cancel or do away with the law but to make it better or amend it, seeing that he came to replace animal blood sacrifice with His precious blood that He took directly to the altar of God in heaven.

Matt. 5:17-19

17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

We are still living by the Laws of God but not under the Law of the Blood of goats and bulls, for that section was amended by Christ. So, also we do not live by the sections that requires us to revenge when someone smacks us on the face. Why not? Jesus amended all that but did not cancel the entire law.

Matt. 23:23

23Woe 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, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

We should remember that Apostle Paul declared that we live by the Law because he did, and he declared that he proclaimed it.

Rom. 3:31

31Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

He went on to explain that he is under the law to Christ. What does that mean? It means Christ blood has completely redeemed him from the blood of goats and bulls which did not erase the sins but only covers them, and therefore their sins were still with them, and anyone who sinned had to be killed as stated in the law; but through Christ’s blood, he (Paul) was free from the law of sin and death but now under the Law to Christ, who had made him perfect.

1 Cor. 9:

 21To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

If Paul was under the Law to Christ, then all Christians that look to his writings ought to follow his footsteps. Now to further clarify the point that tithe is still relevant for today, I would like to remind you, that no where in the Old Testament was it mentioned that Believers were to pay tithes, so how did Abraham (and Jacob) knew and acted accordingly, even without the existence of Moses’ law?

If you follow the line of spiritual reasoning I am presenting, you will understand the fallacy of those educated theologians who teach against tithing. Can we look at Paul’s teaching regarding God’s laws and promises that predated the Mosaic laws? In the Book of Galatian, Paul presents a very sound logic that the promises or covenants made by God before He gave Moses the mosaic laws cannot be canceled or disannulled by the law.

Gal. 3:15-17

15Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

Before God gave the law to Moses, the Bible tells us that five (5) spiritual commandments or covenants were established by God and when he gave the laws, He made 4 of them a part of it, initially, (and the fifth one inserted later as an amendment used to replace animal blood sacrifice by Jesus Christ) and therefore they remain to date.

The following are the five (5) pre-Mosaic law covenants, namely,

1.     The principle of tithing (Gen. 14:20, Gen. 28:22);

2.     The institution of Marriage (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 3:16-18; Matt. 25:1-10);

3.     Breaking of bread with wine (Gen. 14:16-20, later to be used to replace animal sacrifice or shedding of blood for remission of sin);

4.     The office of Priest of God, the Melchisedec priesthood (Gen. 14:16-20); which has now replaced the Levitical priesthood in Christ. Who is now our new High Priest, Heb. 3:1; Heb. 4:14-16; Heb. 5:5-6, 10 ; Heb. 6:20;

5.     The Sabbath day (the seventh day as a holy day in the seven day weekly cycle).

These five spiritual principles/concepts/doctrines cannot be abandoned because the law contained them and the coming of Christ did not cancel the sections of the law that were not changed by Christ’s coming, hence Paul said in Romans 3:31 –

“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”

Hebrews 3:1 tells us that even today we have a High Priest. So we are still operating the Mosaic Law but the amended version.

Heb. 3:1

1Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.

Heb. 4:14-16

14Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like aswe are, yet without sin. 

Heb. 5:6

6As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec

Heb. 5:5-6

⁵ So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.

⁶ As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

 Heb.5:5-6 above points to the fact that the Priesthood was changed from being Levitical to Melchisedec-type priesthood. See also Hebrews chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10, to get the complete picture. And for your information the Melchisedec-style of Priesthood indicates a return back to what existed before the Mosaic Law was given, and also to the fact that it is God Himself that is the new High Priest. This is true because Melchisedec is God in human form, in the Old testament, just as Jesus Christ is God in the flesh in the New testament. Read Hebrews 7 for a thorough understanding of this. And if you look back in the Old testament you will see God coming down to the Earth in human flesh accompanied by angels, and at other times alone. See also Gen. 3:8, Gen. 4:6-8, Gen. 11:5-11, Gen. 14:16-21, Gen. 18:1-33, and Judges 13:1-20, etc.

In conclusion, we are now under the Melchisedec Priesthood, Jesus Christ being our final high priest. Melchisedec received tithes from Abraham and we all as children of Abraham must tithe because it is the spiritual law of God.

Instead of arguing about the truth of the Word of God we are commanded to obey and not to question the reason or the why about tithing. God is not open to debate with anyone but would like all to come and reason with HIM. God is speaking to Believers and not doubters or unbelievers. Choose which side you belong, Believer or doubter? Only believe first, and then all other things including the full understanding of the principle of tithing shall be added unto your knowledge base.

By reading this write-up, you have been exposed to certain biblical verses that points out the errors, but not all, about holding on to the view point that tithing is no longer necessary!

We shall all be judged by the knowledge or information we were exposed to during our lifetime here on earth, and now that you have the information presented here, go on and ask the Spirit of God in your prayers, whether it is the truth or not. And I trust that if you are sincere, He will speak to you!

If you do have any Bible questions, be at liberty to contact us at:

Called-Out Christian Church Worldwide, Inc.    Or            www.calledoutcch.com

P. O. Box 74423, Romulus, MI 48174, USA.

Email: palawuru@yahoo.com

1-734-276-2638

 

Nigeria:

234-8084696392