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TITHING BEFORE THE LAW: Abram and Melchizedek.
Genesis 14: 18-24
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said:
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he gave him a tithe of all.
Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

It is important to know that Abram did not give the tithe in order to be blessed by Melchizedek but it was rather in response to the blessing proferred on him by Melchizedek.
Abram also did not tithe from his income neither did he tithe from his wealth; he gave a tithe from the goods that was stolen from the king of sodom which he had recovered and he gave the remaining back to the king of sodom.

TITHING UNDER THE LAW.
Leveticus 27:30
And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.

Deutoronomy 14:22-29
“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. “At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

NEW TESTAMENT TRUTH.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Man was separated from God after the fall of Adam and a lot was required for man to please God. Nothing was adequate until Jesus came to the world and died for man's sins and fulfilled the law.

The offerings was to be given to the priests under the law when man was separated from God. However, NOW, Jesus is our high priest and he has made us kings and priests.

The way to give to our high priest has been given to us in the new testament.

Matthew 25:31-40
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

TITHING TO THE LOCAL CHURCH.
Tithing to the local church shows your loyalty and commitment to the work of God that is being done by your pastor. Tithing can NEVER connect anyone to God's blessing. It is Jesus ONLY that can do that. Jesus broke the curse and reconnected man to The Blessing.

Ephesians 1:3-6
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

We have been blessed with all spiritual blessing IN CHRIST. That includes the blessing of Abraham that was promised to Abraham and to his seed, Christ.

2 Corinthians 9:6-9
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written:
“He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.

Every man should search scriptures for himself concerning every subject matter and not just limit his knowledge of God's word to what is being preached from the pulpit.

YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.

There is a fresh wind blowing in the body of Christ.

^^^

[size=16pt]SHOULD YOU TITHE TODAY?[/size]

The answer to the title of this tract is “No” and we shall be examining “why” in the remainder of the tract. The subject of whether Christians are to tithe or not to tithe is a deeply contentious one today, and obviously so because it involves money. This tract shall be offering biblical proofs to the thesis that “Christians are not obligated to tithe today”.

The Biblical Tithe

When we hear the word “tithe” today, our minds are drawn to the concept of 10% of a person’s income. Unfortunately, this is not the definition the bible offers for the tithe. In fact from Genesis to Revelation there is no account of anyone giving a tithe of his income to anybody; neither was the tithe money in the bible, even though there are ample evidences to show that money was being used since the days of Abraham. The word “tithe” had been mentioned in the story of Abraham and Jacob in the book of Genesis, but it was not until Leviticus 27:30-32 would we find something close to a definition for the tithe.

30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD… 32 And 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.

The tithe is defined here to be of the “seed of the land”, “fruit of the tree” and tenth of the herd. The biblical tithes were agricultural products or food, they were never money. This so called definition for the tithe is accepted by many because Leviticus 27 is the first time in the bible God would mention the word “tithe” and while mentioning it, he describes it as holy and he tells us what it consisted of.

Later in other books of Moses, we find passages of scriptures that help us to comprehend the biblical tithe better. Numbers 18:20-28, Deuteronomy 14:22-29 and Deuteronomy 26:12-15, showed us that the biblical tithes were a tenth of the agricultural products Israel harvested off the holy land God had given them. The tithes were to be given to the Levites. Levi was a tribe in Israel God had separated to serve him and who had no inheritance in Israel; the tithe was their inheritance. In the process, the Levitical tribe, that included the Aaronic priests, were the people involved in the administration of the civil and the religious life of the nation of Israel. The tithes became something like a system of taxation with which the Levitical tribe was provided for as they served the people. The aforementioned scriptures also showed that the tithes were given to the poor, the widows, the orphans and the stranger. Therefore this class of people was exempted from tithing. At other times, the tithe was even eaten by the tither himself. Every scripture in the bible that referred to tithes showed that the tithe was food. When God mentioned the bringing of tithes in Malachi 3:10, he also said “that there might be meat (food) in my house”. When Jesus mentioned the tithe in Matthew 23:23, he enumerated “mints, anise and cumin”. These were spices for food.

Also, the injunction to tithe under Moses was part of the Mosaic laws that were done away with through the sacrificial works our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross (Romans 10:4; Ephesians 2:15; Hebrew 8:13). If we must tithe today, we should also keep every other aspect of the laws of Moses (Galatians 5:3; James 2:10 ). If this is not practical, then it is simply not practical to tithe today.

Finally, it is not particularly correct to ask Christians to tithe because Abraham tithed. Abraham tithed from war spoils and not from his possessions or income. And it is clear from scriptures that we are called to imitate Abraham's faith and not every detail of his life - some of which were not exactly exemplary (Genesis 12:11-13 ; Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:7). Abraham also circumcised his sons, following a direct instruction from God in Genesis 17, but by the time of the New Testament, Jesus' apostles show us that circumcision was not a New Testament obligation (Acts 15; Galatians 5:3-4; Colossians 2:16-17; Philippians 3:3).


Tithing and the Gospel

The doctrine and practice of tithing is threatening the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is shown clearly in the New Testament to be a free gospel (Romans 8:32; 2Peter 1:3). The idea that salvation or any gift of God can be purchased is strongly repudiated in the bible (Acts 8:20). Unfortunately, this is the impression that modern day practice of tithing is giving the world. There are many Christian churches today that make tithing compulsory. They go to the extent of saying that people cannot be members of churches except they are “faithful” tithers. Apart from the fact that such a position is foreign to scripture, it also betrays the central truth of the bible that our salvation is no longer fully paid; rather, it gives the impression that there are things we must add to it. In the days of the bible some thought to add good works to their salvation; in our days pastors are asking us to add tithing to our salvation.

Despite the abuse the gospel of Jesus Christ has suffered in the hands of false teachers, its basic content remain unchanged. Jesus Christ died on the cross for all men so as to save men from sin. All that is required to enjoy the blessings of the cross is for the individual to understand this truth and to repent of his/her sins and believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. By believing in him you will be saved. God does not require a penny from you to be saved; neither does he demand a kobo from you to keep you safe. The salvation that Jesus Christ purchased for the world has been fully paid for, we need not add a tithe, a firstfuit, pledges, a giving, or any kind of good works to make it complete. The salvation you receive by faith is a complete one (Colossians 2:10). All that God requires of you is to repent and believe. I trust that if anyone reading this tract is not saved, they would take advantage of this free offer of salvation. And for those who might need further understanding on the subject of salvation, you can refer to the contact address below this tract.

Christian Work Ethics

The leading lie that is sold to people about the need to tithe is that tithing is a means to financial prosperity. People are told to tithe to either secure their finances or to break the stranglehold of poverty. Those who teach this doctrine resort to Malachi 3:8-12 and interpret God's saying he would send a blessing, following the act of tithing, as God promising prosperity for tithing. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Malachi 3:8-12, in its literal form, is a message to Jews and not to Christians and this is the reason why despite years of tithing, many Christians are yet to see these blessings that have been promised. What secures prosperity for Christians is not tithing but plain hard work. The New Testament teaches that we should work so we may eat (2Thessalonians 3:7-10) and it encourages the strong to work and provide for the weak (Acts 20:33-35). God is not a magician and he does not do money doubling. Nations who are godless but prosperous today got to that point by adhering to basic Christian work ethics, and not by tithing. After we have done what we ought to do, the Christian might then call upon God to bless the works of his hands and God is certain to do this. Giving to get or tithing is not a Christian means to financial prosperity.

Christian Giving

The laws of Moses that enacted tithing were a shadow of things to come, which is the New Testament Christian life (Heb 8:5). Therefore Malachi 3:10, an extension of the Mosaic law, was pointing the church to a spiritual lesson.

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! (NLT)

The Christian's body is the temple of God today (I Corinthian 6:19; Ephesians 6:22). The temple which was a copy or shadow of something to come has been made perfect in our body through Christ. Therefore the storehouse is not in any church building made by hand. It is in us; in our body.

Giving help to a brother or sister who is in need means bringing food (or tithe) into the storehouse of God. That is why God is pleased with sharing among brethren (Heb 13:16) and that is why sharing was a major feature of the early church (Acts 4:32; 2Corinthians 8:1-2). This is why our Christ, the High priest who receives tithe(gifts) in his temple(our body) said, "whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me." This is how to give to God through Christ.

Take your tithe or 5%, 20%, 60%, etc of your income cheerfully to the true storehouse of God (people in need) and fill it. Whosoever it is. Mandating anyone to PAY tithe in the church is refusing to understand the true spiritual lesson that Malachi 3 wishes to teach us. There is no greater commandment than these: Love the LORD your God and love your neighbour as yourself, Mark 12:30-31.

Further Study

A tract like this cannot contain everything that needs to be known about the biblical tithe. I therefore refer the readers to some readily available materials on the internet for you to study more on the biblical tithes:

1. Gary J. Arnolds works on www.tithing101.com
2. Matthew E. Nerramore’s works: www.tekoapublishing.com.
3. Dr. Russel Kelly whose PHD theological thesis was on tithing: www.tithing-russkelly.com

Contact Address:

(As shall be agreed by the publishers of the tract)

EDITED

It all still comes down to everyone's FREE WILL.