"that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?..."

William Shakespeare (Hamlet 3/1)

Tithing; God's command for the followers of the Way, or man's bank roll?

What was once a social welfare service has now become a hardship and burden upon the faithful religious congregations of tithing Churches under the guise of the law. However, these many Churches will claim they do not follow the law, only the commandments. What hypocrisy! These Churches, indeed all religious organizations pick and choose the principals of scripture that they like or which suit their means the best. They're not interested in the truth unless it agrees with their doctrine.

In order to understand tithing and how it no longer applies we must first examine its ordained use in scripture:

Just to be clear let me point out that a tithe is a tenth of ones income - supposedly.

Deut. 14:22 "Thou shalt truly tithe, all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringth forth year by year."

It's very important to understand that this tithe was of the increase of the field. Many tithing Churches fail to even try to rationalize this very important point. Some tithe their membership off the top strait from the gross, others from their net. The point is, it was to be of the increase only, God was not being unreasonable or overbearing, He completely understood there were operating cost to factor in. Think of it this way, every farm has operating costs associated with it (indeed every household), these costs may vary each year - notice; "increase that the field bringeth forth year by year." - as the family unit grows for example. As the cost of living increases so to does the portion of the yield used by the family which in turn effects tithe. Of course, the same is true the other way. So it was the increase, the portion over and above the cost of living and working the field they were required to give. In other words, after your bills are paid. Ten percent off the top turns God into nothing more than a tax collector, mercilessly taking without consideration for those paying, this is not a God of love. It is notable to mention that this increase would not be realized until harvest and spring when their livestock had reproduced so resource management was vital.

God entered into a contract or covenant with the nation of Israel (the twelve tribes or houses of the sons of Jacob/Israel) in which God promises land to the children of Israel (Ex. 3:8). The covenant made with Moses at Sinai with all its conditions or laws - if you rather - was agrarian based. In fact, God's whole social structure was agrarian based. Now then, if you can accept that all things belong to God then the land the Israelites were to be given came with a price. The price was ten percent of the increase coming from that land, a kind of self generating rent if you will. Since everything is God's anyway, one might ask; what could He possibly need with the tithe? He didn't need it, just like He didn't need or even want the sacrifices. The tithe was for the Levites, and the sons of Aaron;

Num. 18:24 "But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as a 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."

Neh 10:38 "And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes..."

So why did the Levites need the tithe? In part because they didn't get any land but also so they could care for the Tabernacle. Who knows why the Levites had no part in the inheritance of Israel, perhaps because of Aaron's sin at Sinai.

Deut. 14:27 "And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee."

The Levites sole responsibility was to the Tabernacle (literal meaning; temporary dwelling) and later the Temple so they might serve the spiritual needs of the children of Israel. Over six million Israelites left Egypt including other slaves of different nations such as Ethiopia. Israel is comprised of twelve tribes which equates to hundreds of thousands in each tribe. The ratio of Israelites to mature (Levites were not made priests until they were thirty years of age) Levite male is staggering, anywhere from 11:1 to over 33:1 (best guess) once you eliminate women and children. There is no possible way they could have managed the Tabernacle and farmed to feed their families. So the tithe was for the Levites to survive on, but this didn't get them out of the responsibility of tithing;

Neh. 10:38 "... and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house."

If nothing else the tithe served as a reminder of what the Israelite had during more than four hundred years of captivity in Egypt, compared with what God had given them. Freedom.

I must quickly address something that many of these Churches use to show that tithing was in practice prior to Sinai. They always refer back to Genesis with Abraham and the Prince of Peace;

Gen 14:18 "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
19 "And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20 "And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all."

So Melchizedek (good name to remember) presents Abraham with a tribute of food and drink, then blessing him he tells Abram God had given him the victory. Abraham reciprocates with a tribute of a tenth, of presumably the spoils. All Abraham really wanted was to rescue his nephew and he didn't keep any spoils so the tithe was not of his increase since he didn't increase what he had. Abraham was not told to tithe and it seems to be more of a token of appreciation for what God had done for him that day.

This then covers the first tithe only. There are three tithes mentioned in the Old Testament, the one we've just looked at. The second tithe, a tenth that was to be used by the Israelites during the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths - Rosh Hashanah in Hebrew. This week long festival was to depict the Kingdom of God and the Israelites were instructed to enjoy themselves with what ever their hearts desired (Deut. 14:23-29) which they would use the second tithe for. The third tithe which many tithing Churches collect was to be used for God's social assistance program. It was to be given every three years and used to feed the poor, the fatherless, the widows and the stranger as well as the Levite, all those amongst the tribes of Israel who had no inheritance with them.

Deut. 26:12 "When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;"

What a great idea, but notice it was the individual who was responsible for distributing this tithe and was not collected by the Levites. A wonderful way of keeping Israel in touch with the state of their societies poor and destitute, making them accountable for each member of their nation.

In summary; God commanded the nation of Israel to pay a tithe/tenth of the increase of the land which He had given them. This tithe was to be used for and by the Levitical order as compensation as it were, for their service in the Tabernacle/Temple and the spiritual needs of Israel. This was the purpose of the tithing practice which God had ordained for Israel.

But this was of the "Old" covenant, a contract which Israel would repeatedly break as they sought after other gods. Even the Levites broke the covenant by offering substandard sacrifices of the lame or even blind and by not paying their portion of tithes as mentioned in Malachi. Which goes so far to say they are corrupt and that they rob God, and cause Israel to stumble in matters of His law. By the time Christ started His ministry the nation of Israel had been torn apart with many of the tribes being lost or unrecognizable. In the latter part of the Old Testament the nation of Israel was divided into two separate nations known as Israel and Judah. Judah controlled the Temple so the house of Levi stayed with them, the tribe of Benjamin was preserved with Judah as usual and the three of them made up the nation of Judah. The others came to be known as the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.

By examining the ordained use of tithing in the old covenant we have been able to identify who it was to be paid to and for what purpose. We know it was to be used for the upkeep of the Tabernacle which later became the Temple, and to support the Levites who maintained it. Both the Temple and the Levitical order of priests have now vanished so quite simply there is no need of tithing. There are no directives in the New Testament from either the Christ or the Apostles to tithe. In fact, they all had jobs, Peter and Andrew were fishermen, Luke was a physician, Paul was a tent maker and Jesus built houses. There are a couple of places in scripture where Jesus criticizes the Pharisee for not paying attention to their tithes in Matthew and Luke;

Mat 23:23 "Woe 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."

Luke 11:42 "But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

He tells them that just because they pay their tithe doesn't mean they understand the why, or reason for them. He's saying they are merely going through the motions, maintaining the physical without applying the important matters of what the law represents. He is tell them they are missing the point, that the meaning behind the law is of infinite more relevance than their offerings of which aren't even theirs to begin with. After all, everything belongs to God anyway so how is offering Him the herbs He made going to accomplish anything? At this time the Levitical Priesthood was nearly vanished and was being replaced with the Scribes, Pharisee and Sadducee. The responsibilities of the Temple were no longer confined to the tribe of Levi but also included Judah and Benjamin. Case in point, Paul was a Pharisee before the Christ called him and he was of the tribe of Benjamin.

Phi 3:4 "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
5 "Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;"

So the Levites were loosing their control over the Temple and being intermingled with the other two tribes. The Temple would soon be destroyed by the Romans in 70 ad. Without the Temple there is no need of a priesthood to maintain it, hence, no need for tithes. This then was the beginning of change not only of the priesthood but indeed the law itself.

Heb 7:11 "If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
12 "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law."

Heb 8:13 "In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away."

So a renewed priesthood was taking over and the old covenant was decaying along with its laws and officials. The new order asked of nothing other than the followers of the Christ be living sacrifices, sacrificing worldly lusts and desires, forsaking the ways of man and his greed. Making the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Lev. 7:13, 2 Cor. 9:11) which humbles and makes one aware of his or her insignificance in the greater scheme of things. To love one another and look out for one another, this perhaps the greatest sacrifice of all. Before closing let me show where God used a gentile to teach both the Apostle Peter and future generations the practice caring for others.

Acts chapter ten has been used to suggest that all meat is clean by various Christian denominations without ever realizing its real message. I don't want to get into the issue of clean and unclean meats here (at least not yet) because that isn't the lesson being taught. Within the main lesson of Acts chapter ten there is at least one other teaching. That of what stands out in the eyes of God. In verse one we are introduced to a centurion named Cornelius, a devout man who feared God, was generous to the people in the way of alms and prayed to God always (Acts 1:2). When an angel of God came to him he said the Cornelius' prayers and his alms had gone up as a memorial to God (verse four). Notice that it does not say his tithes and offerings went up to God because as a gentile he didn't do either one. Yet, God delivers the Holy Spirit to Cornelius and his entire household through Peter. Cornelius had faith, and Galatians teaches that those of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham (3:9). You see, the descendants of Abraham are not identified merely from blood line as the children of Israel are, but for their faith in the Seed of Abraham.

Gal 3:8 "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed."

Gal 3:14 "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Gal 3:16 "Now 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."

Gal 3:19 "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till, the seed should come to whom the promise was made..."

The seed has been identified as the Christ and He has indeed come which would indicate the termination of the law and all its ordinances.

Gal 3:29 "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

The only law that exists now is the law of Love! When Christ was asked what is the greats of the commandments He responded with this;

Mat 22:37 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."
38 "This is the first and great commandment."

He then continued to include;

39 "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Both of these are direct quotes from the Old Testament;

Deut 6:5 "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

Lev 19:18 "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD."

Without Love, none of the Ten Commandments nor any amount of the law can be fulfilled. Love really does conquer all!

1Th 3:12 "And the Lord make you to increase, and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:"

According to Strong's Dictionary the word "Charity" used in the following verses of the KJV is better translated as "Love", while charity is very important it is also encompassed with love. More importantly however, is the use of it by the Churches to guilt their parishioners of the day into tithing.

1Co 13:4 "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 "Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 "Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 "Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 "Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 "But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."



Peter Anson

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