Christian Living
In recent times, especially in my part of the world, and particularly in my country Nigeria, there has been a lot of discussions about tithing as seen in the Bible. As expected on such a passionate issue, people have taken positions and counter-positions around the subject from both within and outside Christendom and this reflects the depth of contention and dispute on biblical tithing.
The way I understand it, there’s a general consensus that tithing is scriptural and was ordained by God, there’s hardly any dispute to that extent. The controversy, and the main bone of contention lies in the present day teaching and passionate drive by some Pentecostal Preachers that tithing is relevant and indeed mandatory in the New Testament age.
Such preachers have been relentlessly accused of being greedy, dubious and fraudulent. They are accused of further impoverishing their struggling flock by falsely revoking a dead practice.
It’s been a fierce and un-moderated debate almost spiraling out of control. Those who disagree with tithing in the new Christian age (as propagated in recent times), do so citing that the coming of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection was the last burial ceremony for tithing. They assert that while it may have been acceptable and customary to pay tithe as commanded by God to the priesthood for their daily sustenance and upkeep, the context that necessitated such a command does not exist any longer.
They claim that the reign of the Levites was contextual and should be seen as such. They further assert that the practice of priesthood that accorded the Levites certain privileges including to rely on the tithe as a means of livelihood, was abolished with the ushering in of the dispensation of grace where salvation is not earned by works or by attempts at keeping Old Testament laws but by simple faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus, the new high priest, is presently seated at the right hand of God the Father needing no kind of upkeep or maintenance and therefore needing no tithe.
On the other side of the debate, the flock and followers of preachers of modern-day tithing have either succumbed to the teachings of their spiritual leaders and role models disregarding any contrary submission, and insisting that the tithe has been relevant and continues to be relevant in this age. Some others are indifferent preferring to tithe as part of their worship while quietly hoping that the blessings of tithing, if any, may accrue to them. And yet within this category exists another group who tithe out of fear of the Devourer, the devil, who lurks around seeking any tithe defaulter to pounce on.
These variations in disposition begs the question; ‘why do we tithe?’ But maybe the first clarification that is needed is whether tithing is relevant in this Christian age. Should a Christian pay tithe?
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not a pastor, I do not own any church. So I am hoping my views in this article will not be misunderstood or misconstrued as I seek no personal gain except to contribute my two cents to the discussion while quietly hoping that my readers gain some enlightenment.
So here are my thoughts;
The tithe is a holy thing There are a few things in the Bible described as ‘holy’ -the tithe, the sabbath, marriage bed, sex, the royal priesthood, the name of God.
Holy here means sacred, consecrated, devoted, dedicated. Holy things are things that are set apart, things that are capable of being defiled.
Leviticus 27:32 and Deuteronomy 14:22 read;
“for every tithe of the herd or flock, whatever passes under the {shepherd’s} staff, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.” Leviticus 27:32. AMP.
“every year you shall certainly tithe {a tenth} of all the yield of your seed which is produced by your field“. Deuteronomy 14:22. AMP.
And in Leviticus 22:2 God gave a clear instruction;
“tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy things (offerings and gifts) which the children of Israel dedicate to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name, I am the Lord.” AMP.
I believe that the tithe is a holy thing, it should not be touched or defiled.
Forgive me for referencing mostly old Testament scriptures, but we’ll answer the question of whether the tithe is still relevant today next.
Jesus said to tithe.
“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.” NKJV
People often read Matthew 23:23 and want to discountenance tithing in the dispensation of Grace, claiming that Jesus was speaking to the Jews, therefore the practice does not apply to Gentiles or to present day Christian living. But I always ask the question: ‘Did Jesus ever speak directly to the Gentiles at any point?’ Most Bible events have a contextual background, that doesn’t mean the principles don’t apply today.
Secondly, Jesus said to tithe! I believe that if tithing was really irrelevant, Jesus would have utterly dismissed it with a wave of the hand, but instead He upheld tithing.
So, Jesus Christ expects us to tithe. In fact, reading Matthew 23:23 over and again, it’s almost as if Jesus Christ took it for granted that the tithe is paid. Tithing wasn’t His focus in that scripture. He already assumed tithes were paid without struggle, hence His emphasis on justice, mercy and faith.
What then was Jesus really saying in Matthew 23:23?
Jesus listed 4 practices from the law- Justice, mercy, faith and tithing. According to Him, mercy, justice and faith were weightier, but again, that doesn’t mean in any way that the tithe is irrelevant. Anyone who claims Jesus inferred that the tithe is unnecessary is also saying do away with mercy, justice and faith as all 4 are practices of the Law.
I believe that Jesus was simply saying don’t pay tithe and hope that it’ll cover a multitude of sins as was most likely the practice of the Pharisees. It won’t! You must uphold mercy, justice in your dealings. Tithe is not the propitiation for sin or injustice and faith is the prerequisite to obtaining God’s blessings. This I believe, is exactly what Christ was saying.
This is again reflected and reiterated in Luke 18: 10-14, where Jesus gave the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, teaching that people should not trust in themselves or ascribe to themselves some level of righteousness based on works-including paying tithes and fasting regularly.
Surprisingly, such self-righteous acts and predispositions are still common today. I was in a discussion a few days ago with an older man, a member of one of the orthodox christian groups, who said to me with confidence and some air of pride that the reason he doesn’t fall sick is because he does a lot of work for God. He hosts ministers in his home regularly, he devotes good time to God’s work, he makes huge monetary investments in the things of God. He concluded that God cannot give him sickness.
I was too lost to utter a word. It would take me days and probably months to change his mindset. But maybe I should have clarified to him that sickness does not come from God. God doesn’t give anyone any sickness for whatever reason. There is only one thief in the Bible who came to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). This guy is an enemy of God and of God’s children. Luke 11:21 and Matthew 12:29 give a glimpse of how loyalty can be rewarded;
“when the strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his belongings are undisturbed and secure.” Luke 11:21. AMP
Luke 11:21 is self-explanatory and i wouldn’t want to derail, but, if as a ‘Christian’ you consistently live without trials of your faith, in any possible thinkable way, I have concerns about your belief and the practice of it. Check who you are loyal to. {Selah}.
(…..that’s distracting from the topic…maybe we give it a blog post in the future).
The tithe belongs to God The tithe belongs to God, so don’t rob God by keeping it.
God was very careful to state clearly to Aaron that the tithe is His in Leviticus 22:2;
“tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy things (offerings and gifts) which the children of Israel dedicate to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name, I am the Lord.” AMP.
“moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘when you take from the Israelites the tithe which I have given to you from them as your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe {paid by the people}” Numbers 18:26. AMP
“will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robed You? In tithes and offerings {you have withheld}” Malachi 3:8. AMP.
But as obligatory as the tithe might seem, God doesn’t need monies, cows, corn etc, so he ceded the tithe to the Levites/priests to make sure of adequate stock in His storehouse.
The tithe is an inheritance of the Levites/Priests. God ceded the tithe to the Levites (Numbers 18:26). The Levites are descendants of Levi, who is described in the Bible as the father of the priestly tribe (Hebrews 7:9). Nehemiah 10:38 tells us that the priest, the son of Aaron, was allowed to receive the tithes as well and present same to the chambers of the storehouse.
We see a similar note in 1 Corinthians 9:13
“Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the alter partake of the offerings of the altar?” NKJV.
Present day priests would therefore include all those who have completely dedicated their lives to serving God, not having any other job or source of income.
In Leviticus 22:10 God prohibits anyone who is not of the priestly line from touching the tithe;
“no layman {that is, someone outside of Aaron’s family} is to eat the holy gift {which has been offered to God}; a foreigner residing with the priest or a hired man shall not eat the holy thing.” AMP
Sometimes, people want to divert the tithe to other use. Some people decide that God doesn’t need the tithe and so they distribute it to people they consider to be in need. That’s not right! In Ezekiel 44, God frowned at such acts when some priests decided to show their benevolence with the holy things of the temple. God quickly pointed out that the reason they did that was to buy goodwill and favor more than to help others. That was unacceptable.
So, clearly there is a way of taking and utilizing the tithe. And I believe that no explanation would suffice for using the tithe differently {Selah}. If it’s the tithe, it should be used right.
The tithe is an access door.
“bring all the tithes (the tenth) into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, “says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you {so great} a blessing until there is no more room to receive it. Then I will rebuke the Devourer (insects, plagues) for your sake and he will not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor will your vine in the field drop its grapes {before harvest}, “says the Lord of hosts”. Malachi 3:10-11. AMP
“…so that a blessing may rest on your house”. Ezekiel 44:30b
We see then that the tithe is stringed to a blessing- God will open the windows of heaven and pour out a great and overflowing blessing.
God also promises to rebuke the Devourer for your sake so that he doesn’t send the insects to destroy your crop nor send plagues on you. The tithe is an access door to a blessing and an access door to the Devourer when withheld.
Question: Are we only going to be blessed because we tithe? I think not.
Jesus Christ took away every curse from us when he hung on the tree and in exchange we received the blessings of Abraham (Galatians 3:13-14). That is never going to change as long as we stay within His will. But I believe the tithe helps keep the windows of heaven open over us (for a blessing) and it wades off the Accuser of the brethren anytime he attempts to throw evil our way. Make no mistake about it, true that Christ has redeemed us as Christians, but there is an enemy, Satan, who is always looking for ways of hurting us, that’s one of the reasons we still experience unpalatable life events in spite of all Christ did- Satan is real!
So here we are! Forgive me if they sound rather religious but these are my thoughts as far as biblical tithing goes.
And if a tenth of all my increase keeps the windows of heaven open over me and keeps the Devourer at bay, I have no problem giving it to God. Besides, all that I am and have come from Him, so he can have my tithe as my act of worship too.
