Biblical Tithes Filled Dinner Plates, Not Offering Plates

This article lists ALL the scriptures containing the words “tithe”, “tithes”, or
“tithing”. Only these three forms of “tithe” are found in the KJV, and “tithing” is
found just twice in the same verse. I couldn’t find even ONE commandment to
tithe on wages, ANYWHERE! Scriptures containing “tithe”, “tithes” or “tithing” are
in red. Supporting scriptures are in black. My own comments are in blue. God’s
sheep have been left spiritually black and blue from being beaten over the head
with the Book of Malachi, in particular. This study will start with the first book of
the Bible.

Gen. 14:15 And he (Abraham) divided himself against them, he and his servants,
by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left
hand of Damascus.
16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot,
and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the
slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of
Shaveh, which is the king's dale.
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 (all of the spoils of war, not of his
personal income, see Heb.7:4).

Abraham had just won a war fought to free his nephew Lot and the citizens of
wicked Sodom from captivity to bandits who had kidnapped them and stolen their
possessions. As a ONE-TIME act of thanks to God, Abraham presented one-tenth
of the SPOILS OF WAR (not his personal income) to Melchisedek, priest of the
Most High God. Scripture records no further tithing done by Abraham. Preachers
who want you to tithe like Abraham should be presented with booty taken from
captured burglars, period.

Lev.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 unto the LORD.
31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the
fifth part thereof.
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.
33 He 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.* * * *God didn’t care whether the tenth animal counted was the
best or the worst, He wanted the tenth one. Period. Contrary to what most
preachers holler about giving “god” the best, and first, of your money as your
tithe, it was the TENTH critter counted that got to be the tithe, not the first in
line. How do you make a twenty-dollar bill march under the rod anyway? And as
for it being good or bad, unless the bill is torn up or defaced or counterfeit (it
takes an expert to tell the difference) the last twenty you pull out of your wallet is
just as good as the first.

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

Num.18:24 But 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.
26 Thus 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.
28 Thus 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.

Deut.12:6: And 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:
7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that
ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath
blessed thee.

Deut.12:11: Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to
cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you;
your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of
your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:
12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your
daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is
within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

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;* * * * * *Did the Lord overlook something here? What
about filling that big offering plate so the preacher can fill his bank account?
Deut. 17:17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy
wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy
vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine
hand:
18 BUT THOU (the worshipper) MUST EAT THEM (the tithes) before the LORD thy
God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and
thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is
within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou
puttest thine hands unto.
19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest
upon the earth.
20 When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee,
and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou
mayest eat flesh, WHATSOEVER THY SOUL LUSTETH AFTER.

Deut.14:22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field
bringeth forth year by year.
23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall
choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil,
and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear
the LORD thy God always.
24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if
the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his
name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
25 Then shalt thou turn it (the tithed agricultural produce) into money, and bind
up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God
shall choose:* * * If the Biblical tithe is already money, why the need to turn it
into money?
26 And thou shalt bestow (spend) that money for WHATSOEVER THY SOUL
LUSTETH AFTER, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for
whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God,
and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,* * * * Notice, that tithe money
was to be spent on any FOOD OR DRINK the WORSHIPPER desired, even
alcoholic beverages! How many modern preachers teach THIS verse and urge you
to spend tithe money on a six-pack of Bud?
27 And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath
no part nor inheritance with thee.
28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase
the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
29 And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the
stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall
come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all
the work of thine hand which thou doest.* * * *How many preachers let the poor
have ALL the tithe money every third year? When donkeys fly!

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;* * * * * Wow! Why do preachers neglect THIS tithing law that God
thought was important enough to repeat?

2 Chron.31:5 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of

Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and
of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in
abundantly.* * * * *Some might see a loophole in “the tithe of all things”. But
the word “things” is in italics, meaning it was added by translators. This verse is
talking about agricultural produce, not tithes of workers’ wages.
6 And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of
Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy
things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps.

2 Chron.31: 11 Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of

the LORD; and they prepared them,
12 And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully:
over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next.

Neh.10:37 And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our
offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests,
to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the
Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.
38 And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and
the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the
chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites,
that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.

Neh.12:44: And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough (bread dough,
that is), and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil,
unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our
ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the
cities of our tillage.

Neh.13:5: And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they
laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the
corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the
Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.
12 Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto
the treasuries.

Amos 4:4:Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and

bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:* * * * God
is rebuking the people for their sins and saying in so many words to go ahead,
keep on observing your religious rites, it won’t make things right with Me.
Who is God talking to here?
Eight verses later, verse 12: Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O ISRAEL: and
because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

Here’s the preachers’ favorite to pound God’s people over the head with:

Malachi 10: 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein
have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Funny how preachers overlook verse 6 which gives you some clue about who this
passage is really addressed to:
Mal.10:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye SONS OF JACOB are not
consumed.* * * * Most of God’s children are NOT literal descendants of Jacob,
who PROMISED to someday pay God a tithe of all he owned, IF GOD WOULD
FIRST bless Jacob. Modern preachers insist that people must FIRST give a tenth
of their wages and salaries BEFORE God blesses them.

Gen. 14:20; And 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,
21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; THEN shall the LORD be
my God:
22 And 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 (“Tithe”=“tenth”).

Here’s the preacher’s favorite crow bar to pry open Christians’ wallets:
Malachi 10: 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole
nation.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat (food) 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 enough to receive it.

Tithing teachers teach instead:

Bring all the tithe money into the church house, that there might be money in the
church bank account, and hope you hit the jackpot with God and see a shower of
cash raining out of heaven.

11 And 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.* * * * God is saying nothing here about helping
you get a winning lottery ticket, or helping you strike oil on your land, he’s talking
about protecting farmers’ crops from grasshoppers and fungus!
12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith
the LORD of hosts.* * * * *God is addressing the literal LAND of Israel here.
Christians are not a “land”, they are the people of God spread out over the earth
and their home is heaven.

Who ELSE is this particular book of the Bible addressed to:

Mal.2:1: And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.* * * * *Preachers
love to brag that they’re the altar ministers, the equivalent of the Old Testament
priesthood, conveniently ignoring the priesthood of all believers (1 Pet.2:5,9). In
Malachi chapter 2 God chews out the Sons of Levi, the priesthood. These men
are guilty of profaning the Lord’s offering. Preachers eagerly seize all the
imaginary benefits of the Book of Malachi and dump its curses on Church Age
Christians, to whom it is not addressed.

Malachi 3:3: And he (God) shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall
purify the SONS OF LEVI, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer
unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.* * * *If your preacher claims to be a
spiritual Levite, then he needs to be purged in the Refiner’s fire (ouch)!

In Matthew Chapter 23 Jesus upbraided self-righteous Pharisees for their lack of

love and charity, even while they kept outward religious rituals such as tithing.
Matt.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.* * * *Jesus’ nation was still living under the Old Mosaic Law
because He had not yet gone to the Cross. Christ said tithing ought to be done,
but they were neglecting far more important MATTERS OF THE LAW. Christians
are not under the Law (Rom.6:14; 5:18). If you tithe (or observe the Mosaic Law
of circumcision), you come back under the Law and have to keep it all in God’s
way, not man’s made-up way, where ordinances are added to it or subtracted
from it (Deut.12:32; Gal.5:3). Many Christians THINK they’re tithing properly
but are neglecting many NEVER-PREACHED-ON ordinances which make up the
tithing law. In doing so they fall under the curse of the Law and run the risk of
falling from Grace (Gal.3:10; Gal.5:4).
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.

Luke 18:12: I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.* * * The
self-righteous Pharisee is bragging to God about how holy he is. He’s so
righteous he went beyond what God commanded in scripture and paid tithes on
everything he owned, even his Elvis collection! In doing so, that Pharisee ADDED
TO what God commanded to be tithed on, breaking Deuteronomy 12:32 and
bringing himself under the curse of the Law!

Heb.7:5: And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the
priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the
law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:* *
* Jesus did not go around collecting tithes of people’s wages to support His own
ministry. Jesus was of the Tribe of Judah, not Levi. Even if He had qualified to
collect tithes, Jesus would never have broken the Law and added to what it
commanded (tithes taken ONLY from agricultural produce) to justify taking tithes
of monetary wages. Next time your preacher demands tithes of you, demand to
see his genealogical chart to prove he’s a full-fledged male descendant of Aaron
the High Priest. No ladies please!

Another important point: Most of us are not physical Israelites, and the Levitical
priesthood has been out of operation since the destruction of the Temple in 70
A.D. And most tithe-collecting preachers don’t have a single drop of Levite blood
in them. So nobody has a right to collect tithes of any kind from us! God only
commanded tithes to be collected from people who sprang from the LOINS OF
ABRAHAM (physical Israelites).

Heb.7:6: But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of
Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

Heb.7:8: And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of
whom it is witnessed that he liveth.* * * *There, in that particular long-ago,
faraway scenario, Melchisedek, who had neither beginning nor end of days (verse
3) received a ONE-TIME VOLUNTARY tithe of WAR LOOT from Abraham’

Contrary to what many teach about tithing still being in effect because Christ is a
priest after the order of Melchisedek, Jesus does not sanction any church tithing
law. Jesus does not tax His own children, Who are His Bride, the church (see
Matt.17:26). Moreover, we are one spirit with Christ, the very Body of Christ (I
Cor.6:17; I Cor.12:27). Does Christ tax Himself? When preachers take your
tithes in God’s name, they’re denying your priesthood in Christ Jesus, your unity
with His Spirit, and your place in His Body as being one with Him. They’re placing
themselves between Christ and His Bride, which is spiritual perversion.

Heb.7:9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in
Abraham.

These references in Hebrews are the ONLY tithing scriptures found in the Bible
after Christ went to the Cross and ushered in the New Covenant. The entire book
of Hebrews is addressed to converted Jews who wonder if they ought to forsake
salvation by faith in Christ alone and return to Mosaic Law. In Hebrews chapter 7
the writer uses tithing as an example of the Old Covenant system of laws which
was weak and inferior and unable to perfect the saints. The Old Covenant,
because of its inherent weaknesses and inability to perfect God’s people, had
been rendered null and void and replaced with a new covenant (verse 18-19).

Ask the preacher for a whole year off from work every seventh year. The
preacher’s weak alibi is “Your harvest field is your job”. But poor Christians don’t
own their own workplaces (harvest fields). They’re just wage slaves. Besides the
fact field hands in ancient Israel did not own the land and were not taxed on their
pay checks, the harvest field was not to be worked during the seventh year! So
no tithes were taken from the land for a solid year. Will your pastor excuse you
from tithing for a whole year every seventh year? Will he listen to your argument
that your alleged harvest field is to lie fallow for a whole year while you live off
the land? Don’t bet on it! He’ll get on your case for being a lazy hippie bum!

Exodus 23:11: And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the
fruits thereof:
11 But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy
people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like
manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.

Lev.25:3: Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy
vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for
the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither
gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy
servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that
sojourneth with thee,
7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase
thereof be meat.

The apostle Paul did not teach believers to tithe. Nor did Peter, who, along with
James, presided over the first church council in Acts 15. They had met
specifically to decide whether the Law, or any part of it, was binding on Gentile
believers. Their conclusion:

Acts 15:24: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us
have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be
circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater
burden than these necessary things;
29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things
strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do
well. Fare ye well.* * * *Why do preachers insist the Holy Ghost left out an
important requirement, tithing? How dare they contradict the clear instruction of
scripture, that NO GREATER BURDEN is to be laid on Christian believers! Do
modern “prosperity teachers” think they know better than Peter or Paul?

What did the Prophet Samuel think about a situation where God’s people exalt
some MAN to rule over them as God’s alleged representative, so as to pay tribute
to him?

I Sam.8:10: And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that
asked of him a king.
11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He
will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his
horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and
will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his
instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
13 And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to
be bakers.
14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the
best of them, and give them to his servants.
15 And he will take THE TENTH OF YOUR SEED, and of your vineyards, and give
to his officers, and to his servants.
16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest
young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
17 HE WILL TAKE THE TENTH OF YOUR SHEEP: AND YE SHALL BE HIS
SERVANTS.
18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have
chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

The people of God are STILL serving human kings. These kings don’t sit on fancy
thrones (unless they’re posing for a TV camera). These days they rule from
behind pulpits with a rod of iron, yelling that God will send non-tithers to hell, or
their names will be read out so other churchgoers will shun them. That is abuse
of God’s flock (Ezek. Chapter 34). Day after day impoverished tithers cry out for
God’s help to pay the rent, make their car payment (if they have one) or even
put decent food on the table. They ask God why, after years of faithfulness to
keep the preacher’s sacred Tithing Law, God isn’t pouring out the windows of
heaven upon them. Samuel gave the answer: Pay tribute to a human king and
you’re automatically working for some man as his servants, bound to his
demands for more and more money.

Greedy tithe teachers insist tithing is “giving unto the Lord”. Well, I seriously
doubt God needs a BMW, fancy artwork or a second vacation home. It must
bring tears to His eyes every time some disillusioned tither goes to the church
office desperate for help because they can’t feed their families, only to be told to
go get an extra job. This “giving unto the Lord” really means GIVING TO THE
PREACHER. When the preacher has a need, all he has to do is boldly share it with
the church and they dig deep in their pockets. But when some ordinary
Christian’s own back is up against the wall after so many years of giving “unto
the Lord”, they are heaped with shame by church people. They’re told they got
themselves into their own mess by not working enough, giving enough, etc.

They say “one hand washes the other”. Not true, in the case of church leadership
and pew Christians. One hand giveth and the other taketh away.

Preachers are spiritual wizards who magically transform misapplied scripture.

The brainwashed mind confuses apples with oranges because both look round.
The human brain tends to generalize in its view of something and overlook the
fine details. It takes years of careful study to become a professional portrait
artist. A small child tends to draw all faces the same: a perfect circle. His picture
of Mommy might look just like his drawing of Aunt Susie because both have two
arms and two legs and one round face. The human brain sometimes sorts
differing things into the same category. A brainwashed Christian can
subconsciously equate the preacher with God Himself, as a powerful religious
authority whose good side you’d better stay on.

Preachers count on people not slowing down, taking a deep breath and sorting
vague generalities from truth. Once the soul-stirring music is played (yes, much
music is soulish, not spiritual!) and the Curse of Malachi is bellowed from a tall
pulpit (Notice how the preacher looks down on everyone else) the FEAR OF THAT
CURSE motivates people to dig deep to give to the imposter who is playing god.

For years I saw it that way, because I’d swallowed the teaching of “prosperity”
preachers. It’s only logical: Giving to a preacher is giving to God, so if you love
God you’ll give him a lot. Giving to your own family doesn’t count as giving unto
the Lord, even if your family are Christians! Odd, isn’t it? The plain truth is:
Once you equate your pastor (or other religious leader) with God, that’s
IDOLATRY! Your pastor didn’t die on the Cross for you (1 Cor.1:13). Whenever
he encourages you to pamper him with tithes and offerings, he’s causing you to
sin against the Lord and God won’t reward you with good things for doing that!
Tithes are ALWAYS wrong because they’re a distortion of an Old Testament Law
we aren’t under anyway. Offerings are fine so long as they’re used to support
true charitable works of God and to relieve the poverty of the saints.

As for this misapplied scripture about God pouring out the windows of heaven in
response to tithing: Tithing had everything to do with food and nothing to do with
money. Could it be God promised RAINFALL to water literal crops, not a deluge of
dollars out of heaven? Could it be that tithing was a social welfare ordinance He
gave to ancient Israel to ensure that no poor widow need go to bed hungry in His
own land?

Social welfare, ugh, some “conservative” Christians might think. Surely the Lord
frowns on welfare because He’s supposed to be a staunch pull-yourself-up-by-
your-own-bootstraps Republican. Snippets of the book of Malachi are isolated
from their context and misapplied to fatten the church bank account. But why do
you never hear preachers mention the Third Year Tithe which was to go strictly to
feed the poor of the Land (Deut.14:28-29; 26:12)? One cult, the Worldwide
Church of God, distorted even the Third Year Tithe to the point they filched
THREE money tithes out of their church people, reducing them to rags and
hunger. And if they failed to pay enough, they were punished with double tithing!
All that abuse went on while the leadership of this group lived in luxury at their
expense. Instead of relieving hunger they CAUSED it!

Before you go looking for other places to spend your money, first take care of the
needs of your own household. Your own kids are your first mission field.

I Tim.5:8: But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own
house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Nowhere does Paul or any other apostle ever call anyone an infidel for failure to
put money in the offering plate. That verse is the ONLY place “infidel” appears in
all of Scripture.

Jesus NEVER rebuked anybody for failure to donate to His ministry. Not one verse
about Him passing ice cream buckets at His crusades to “take up a love offering”.
But Jesus did have something to say about consecrating money to the Temple
when it ought to have gone to relieve the poverty of family members.

Mark 7:11: And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God,
that ye may keep your own tradition.
10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father
or mother, let him die the death:
11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to
say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
12 And ye suffer (allow) him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have
delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Church tithing is a manmade TRADITION which appears nowhere in the Word of

God. Keeping manmade traditions makes it impossible to keep God’s REAL
commandments to the church. Because tithers set aside ten per cent of their
income for the preacher, that money is unavailable for meeting the needs of
their family. Especially for poorer Christians, that ten per cent could be the thin
margin of after-bills income left between eating and going hungry.

Mark 7:27: But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not
meet (fitting) to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.

Mark 23:14: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour
widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive
the greater damnation.

James 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled;
notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body;
what doth it profit?

In ONE far-fetched sense the conniving tithe preacher does teach that the tithe is
about food. Instead of the King James Bible, he preaches out of the Burger King
Bible: HAVE IT YOUR WAY. He leaves off the onions of truth and adds his own
foreign ingredients to the Word of God to create one whopper of a lie to milk the
cash cows dry and shake out their last twenty. Some preachers toss in a few
fries, too, saying you’ll fry in hell if you don’t obey men rather than God. I doubt
Peter would have swallowed that (Acts 5:29).
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