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The Question about Tithing -

What is tithing? Are Christians required to tithe?
Some Christians believe that tithing was required by God even before He gave the Law to Moses, and
consequently assume that it is an eternal law.

Lets have a look at this argument;

Abraham was the first who gave 'a tenth of everything' to Melchisedek (Gen.14.20)
If we look at the details of this transaction closely we will note the following; this was a voluntary - once-only
event - there is no evidence to suggest that Abraham gave 'a tenth' at any other time. Abraham simply gave
away a tenth of the spoils of war in a representative act of thanksgiving to God on behalf of some people who
had been miraculously rescued from a life of slavery. He wasn’t practicing tithing.

Another reason why tithing is practiced is based on the story of Jacob;

And Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and
will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my
God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you
a tenth” (Gen. 28.20-22).
• this was a vow Jacob made voluntarily – he was not obeying a law or command of God
• it was a conditional vow like a transaction - “If God be with me” whereas tithing was a requirement
without conditons
• and again a separate event, not a weekly or annual custom

These two examples dont represent tithing or any duty to give back to God what is His, as tithing is preached; so lets have
a look in the Law of Moses - perhaps there is sufficient evidence to pay our ‘duty’.

Under the Law every Israelite was required to pay two kinds of tithes;
1. The tithe paid once every third year to the Levites and the poor;

“At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your gates.
And the Levite, because he has no share or inheritance with you, and the alien resident, the orphan and the widow who
are inside your gates, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of
you hand that you will do” (Deut.14.28-29)

Today for the same purpose we pay considerably more than a tenth, every year through our taxation system, that support
the poor, the migrant and public services - services that were then managed by the Levites - Education, Justice, Police,
Health.
Obviously Paul had similar understanding in that matter as there is no mention in his writings about the tithe but a
considerable amount about tax;
“Render to all what is due to them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom
honor” (Rom.13.7)

2. Tithe to cover expenses for the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem and to be consumed in God’s
presence

“Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the
firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his
name, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the place is too distant and you have been blessed by
the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his name is far away),
then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. Use the
silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other strong drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your
household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. (Deut.14. 22-
26)

In those days all Israelites were required to gather three times a year in Jerusalem for major feasts
(Deut.16.16.). God ensured that everybody had sufficient resources available to fully rejoice, as obeying the
commandments wasnt a burden but a joyful duty!
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The third type of tithe was required from Levites only

From the tithes deposited in the gates Deut.14:28-29 – the Levites were allowed to take their portion as the
Lord said to Moses “Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give
you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering… to Aaron the priest..”
Num.18.25-31

Also in Mal.3:10; “Bring the whole tithe 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 a
blessing until it overflows”

This commandment is not for the Israelites as they were required to place their tithes in the gates (or consume
in the temple) - it is for the Levites only because it had to be placed in the storehouse (in the temple) - no longer
relevant as Jesus abolished the Levitical priesthood – and we the believers are now the temple.

The placement of the tithe is confirmed in Nehemiah 10:38 “And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be
with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to
the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse”

Also regarding Malachi 3:10 - Malachi is not rebuking the people, he is rebuking the Levites!
If any bible teacher is using that verse and relating it to the people he is really pointing at himself in the first
place (being a teacher). Another implication is that that kind of teaching suggest validity of Levites priesthood
under a Second Covenant, what is really a heresy. Hebrews clearly explaines; that together with the Law of
Moses Levites priesthood was abolished as well, because the Law was established on Levites. Hbr.7.11. So,
Law was changed as well as priesthood. Hbr7.12. That’s why Jesus, a Priest and Lawgiver wasn’t according to
Levites priesthood but Melhisedec’s. If we are introducing Levitical priesthood we really are introducing Mosaic
Law. And if we are introducing any of Mosaic Commandment we are under the curse; For as many as are of the
works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed everyone who does not abide by all things written
in the book of the Law to perform them” Gal.3.10.

If we teach or obey any Mosaic commandment, including tithing, as a righteous act of our faith we are
parted from Christ, we have fallen away from grace (Gal.5.4). Similarly like with circumcision - a custom
from a culture of those days. And although there is nothing wrong in circumcision itself, as Timothy’s example
demonstrates in Act.16.3. - Paul circumcised him in order to being able to enter Jewish synagogues, but he
opposed to do that same thing strongly when the case was a purity of the Gospel Gal.2.1-5. He knows that a
little leaven leavens the whole lump!

In today’s culture tithe is such omnipresent, that we treat that as a normal and obvious thing, (as they viewed
circumcision back then), that makes it harder to see it in the whole context. But including just one thing from
the Mosaic Law to the Gospel caused that ‘spirit filled’ people no longer were able to discern the Truth
Gal.2.5. Unfortunately tithe is not the only thing that sneaked into Second Covenant causing blindness of the
Church as predicted by Jesus Rev.3.17.

That brings forth a more general question here: Is there anything that passes from First Covenant into the
Second? Answer must be no!, because of the very role of the First Covenant, and it’s Law that is explained
widely by Paul, plus because of very nature of the Second Covenant (that is spiritual).

The Law of the First Covenant was;

• Literal and because of that it was administration of death 2Cor.3.6-7; Rom.8.2
• A schoolmaster Gal.3.24
• Couldn’t make us perfect because The Law itself wasn’t perfect Hbr.7.19
• Wasn’t perfect because was made by Angels Gal.3.19; Col.2.18.
• Contains only a representation of the truth not a truth itself Rom.2.20; Hbr.10.1
• Couldn’t justify us Rom.3.20
• Couldn’t save us from sinful nature Rom.8.3

We are slaves whom we obey Rom.6.16. Not only sin can make us spiritually dead, as Paul explains
there. Obedience to a letter of Mosaic Law can as well.
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Because of those reasons tithing is not even mentioned in the Second Covenant, although there were voices in
the Church from the very beginning, to force Gentiles to obey some Mosaic Commandments Acts.15.1, or
even whole Law of Moses Acts.15.5. But after dispute?! all Body of Christ agreed with Jacob and the Holy Spirit
“do not trouble these who are turning to God from among Gentiles,.. and lay upon you no greater burden than
these necessary things; that you abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled,
and from fornication: from which if you keep yourselves you shall do well”. Acts 15.20-29.
Well, perhaps Holy Spirit forgot to mention tithing?!

But what about Jesus, who didn’t came to abolish Law but to fulfil it as said in Mat.5.17. Did he pay tithe or
support that idea? We can find evidence about Him paying a tax Mat.22.21; 17.24-27, but there is no evidence
to prove that He did pay the tithe. That’s simply because He didn’t pay the tithe. Despite that tithe teachers are
trying to prove tithe valid even by Jesus teaching, using His dispute with the Pharisees when Jesus suggested
do not neglect tithing, but wasn’t He? Lets have a look.
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue an every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard
justice and love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others”.
Luk.11.42. Mat.23.23

In first instance Jesus is not speaking to His disciples, He is rebuking the Pharisees, people who prided
themselves on keeping the Law perfectly, yet being corrupted, and what most important is speaking to people
not being His followers, but enemies really, waiting to catch Him on a word. That passage, to grab a context, we
should read at least from Mat.22.15. “Then the Pharisees went their way and took counsel together in order to
trap him in his speech”.

That passage is the perfect answer to Pharisees, to put them to silence as He previously did with the
Sadducees Mat.22.34, definitely not a commandment, nor even an advice to His followers.

There were other two man in Jesus teaching, one of whom gave tithe another one not;
“Two man went up into the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood
and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust,
adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I pay tithes of all I get’. But the tax collector
standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast
saying, ‘God be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the
other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted”
Luk.18.10-14. So, even under the first covenant tithe didn’t really pays off.

Tithes are ‘Corban’

“He was also saying to them, “You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.
For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be
put to death’, but you say, ‘If a man says to his father, anything of mine you might have been helped by is
Corban (that is to say, given to God), you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus
invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many such things as
that” Mrk.7.9-13.

If you have money that your family needs, but you withhold it from them in order to pay it to the
‘church’ as tithes, you are doing exactly what Pharisees did, and by doing so you invalidate the Word of
God.

That’s shortly almost everything about the tithe, except of a significance of it in a New Covenant perhaps. Well,
as everything before a New Covenant, tithe was a shadow of things to come, in that case tithe is a shadow of
giving. Through tithe God was teaching us that by giving to a brother in need I benefit twice as much as him.

Then, tithe was gathered in the Temple that is now our bodies 1Cort.6.19, not in the synagogues as we do now.
Because we are not doing that correctly that explains why is not much rivers of living water around.

But one may say we give tithe anyway because we want to give and giving is a New Covenant thing. And only
part of that sentence would be true. Giving without paying attention to the context is a disaster. Even If you
give all your belongings to feed others and if you hand over your body to be burned but do not have love, it
profit nothing 1Cor.13.3. Or imagine giving love to someone else’s wife, if that’s to complicated.

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When giving those factors have to be observed; 1.The need 2. My ability 3. My motives

1. Giving in the Bible was always a response to a need. There is no giving in a New Covenant, just because
I want to give, or because somebody else is giving, or - woe, it’s a collecting time!
“At this time some prophets come down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up
and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. Then the
disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in
Judea. Act.11.27-29
Also collecting money by Corinthians was a response of their abundance to the deficiency of their brothers
2Cor.8.14
In that same manner did behave first Christians as well; “For there was not needy person among them, for all
who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, and lay them at the
apostles feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need”. Act.4.34-35

We call ourselves Christians, brothers even, we claim the Truth and Holy Spirit, we pay tithes but there is plenty
of people with needs not supplied. Something is not quite right.

2. My ability to give is determined by what I have, or what I am able to give without neglecting myself and my
family. “For I mean not that other man be eased, and you burdened”. 2Cor.8.12-15. So called ‘giving in faith’
expecting one hundred-fold in return is just manipulative rubbish.

3. My motives
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before man to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with
your Father who is in heaven. When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that you may be honored by them… But when you give
alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing that your alms may be in secret; and your
Father who sees in secret will repay you”. Mat.6.1-4.

“Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a
cheerful giver. 2Cor.9.7. So, if you want to give to someone in need, give what are you genuinely happy
to give, not what you think you should give (for example ten percent) and pretend to be happy about
that. If you are not comfortable about giving, better don’t give at all. By the way, a set ten percent of all your
income… isn’t that under compulsion?

The curse of the “king’.

Israelites didn’t suppose to have any other king ever, except God. When they wanted to conform to worldly
standards and choose a King they really despised God 1Sam.8.7. God predicted that and established some
consequences; “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place
them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots… And he will
take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his officers and to his servants… He will take a
tenth of your flocks, and you yourself will become his servants. Then you will cry out in that day because of
your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day’
1Sam.8.11-18

“Do not you be called Rabbi (Teacher), for one is your teacher, whereas all you are brothers… Neither be called
leaders for your leader is one, the Christ. But the greatest one among you must be your servant”. Mat.23.8-11

Jesus or God’s Word, it is the only spiritual authority over our faith. If we submit ourselves to the spiritual
authority of a man (regardless of a title) we will end up paying him tithes, being a slave to him, his family or his
organization, and what is the worse, having God ignore our prayers.

And that’s it! The bible doesn’t prove a duty to pay ten percent of my income; weekly, monthly or annually, to
a special class of people.

Ed Solecki