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This is Part IV of the article on the Tithe entitled,  “Is Tithing a Biblical Requirement Today.” Because of the extensive Biblical research involved, it will be posted in 15 Parts.  Although this subject may be controversial, the Bible tells us to, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15).  “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32).

Money was never a tithe commodity.

II Chronicles 31:5, 6, 12, “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.  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. And brought in the offerings and the tithes…”

Nehemiah 10:37-38, “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. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers into the treasure house.”

Please note that the above scriptures do not mention a tithe of money, only agricultural products of the fields, and only the Levites and priests could have access to these tithes and offerings in the house of God.

Nehemiah 12:44, “And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the fruitfruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited.”

Nehemiah 13:5, 12 “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.”

Amos 4:4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years.”

The whole system changed under the New Covenant.

Jesus said the temple would be utterly destroyed

“And, coming out, Jesus sent from the sanctuary. And His disciples approached to exhibit to Him the buildings of the sanctuary. Yet He, answering, said to them, ‘Are you not observing all these? Verily, I am saying to you, Under no circumstances may a stone here be left on a stone, which shall not be demolished.’” (Mathew 24:1-2).

Under the New Covenant, God does not dwell in man-made temples

“The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inonherent of heaven and earth, is not dwelling in temples made by hands…” (Acts 17: 24).

Christians are now under the New Covenant and are God’s temple

“For you are the temple of the living God, according as God said, that I will be making My home and will be walking in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (II Corinthians. 6:16).

When the temple ceased because of the New Covenant, the Old Testament priesthood also ceased.  The New Covenant forms a new priesthood

“Yet you are a chosen race, a ‘ROYAL PRIESTHOOD’…” (I Peter 2:9).

Paul tells us in Galatians 6:15, “[F]or in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”  We are a new creation and were never instructed to tithe in the first place.  In fact, I have not read in any of the thirteen books of the apostle Paul to the gentiles where he instructed Gentiles to tithe money to anyone.  Remember, Christians are either Jews or Gentiles in Paul’s writings.

As we previously noted under the Old Testament teachings, everyone, including the Levites, was to partake of all the tithes and good things of the herd, of the land and of the trees. There was never any “money” in the list of things that were to be brought before the Lord to rejoice.  It was also not just Levites who were the recipients of the tithes and offerings, but for everyone to share of these things.  Rejoicing and eating one’s own tithe before God was a very personal and reverent act of worship and communion with God.

We also previously noted a practice initiated by God to accommodate those traveling long distances to the Festival Sites where they were to eat their Tithe and rejoice before the Lord . They could sell their tithes of the land for money and carry that amount of money rather than the bulky and heavy tithes themselves, to the Festival Site (Deuteronomy 14:22-29). There they were to  purchase whatever their hearts desired and to share their Tithe with the Levites and the less fortunate.

PART V TOMORROW

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This is Part III of the article on “Is Tithing a Biblical Requirement Today.” Because of the extensive Biblical research involved, it will be posted in 15 Parts.  Although this subject may be controversial, the Bible tells us to, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15).  “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32).

Only Levite priests could collect tithes.

Numbers 18:24-28, “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.

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, 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. And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. 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.”  According to these Scriptures, only the Levites could collect tithes.

Only food products from the land were to be tithed.

Deuteronomy 12:6, 7, 11, 12, 17, 18, “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 flock.  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.  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.  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.  You may 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 the flocks, nor any of thy vows which thou vow, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of your hand: But you must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose…”

Deuteronomy 14:22-29, “Thou shall truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field brings forth year by year.” “And you shall eat before the lord your God, in the place which He shall choose to place His name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of your oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks: that thou may learn to fear the Lord thy God always.  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: Then shall thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: And thou shall bestow that money for whatsoever your soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever your soul desires: and you shall eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shall rejoice, thou, and thine household.  And the Levite that is within thy gates, thou shall not forsake him; for he has no part, nor inheritance with thee.  At the end of three years thou shall bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shall lay it up within thy gates: 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 your hand which thou doest.”

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

Israel never tithed from their poverty, but only on their increase.  According to what we read, God never intended for people to tithe on what they didn’t have, but only on the increase of what God gave them.

PART IV TOMORROW

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This is Part II of the article on “Is Tithing a Biblical Requirement Today.” Because of the extensive Biblical research involved in the Tithe, it will be posted in 15 Parts.  Although controversial, the Bible tells us to, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15).  “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32).

Jacob didn’t tithe until God blessed him first.

Genesis 28:20-22, “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, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shall give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”

This is the very first Scripture in the Bible that I have found that gives an account of someone giving a tenth or tithe of his personal possessions back to God, but it is surely different from the teachings of most pastors.  First Jacob recognizes God as God. He then begins to proposition God. He states that “IF” God will do this and “IF’ God will do that, “THEN” Jacob says, “shall the Lord be my God.” Jacob concludes his proposition to God, should God meet all of his requirements, by saying that of all the things that God will first give to him, Jacob will give God back a tenth.  Of course, God honored Jacob’s proposition and continued to honor this same principle of tithing all through Israel’s history.

One question that comes to mind is:  How did Jacob actually give a tithe to God?  Did he take it to the local church?  There was no local church. There was no temple. There were no priests.  There were no Levites. According to Deuteronomy and Leviticus, this is how Jacob gave his tithe to God.

“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: 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” (Deuteronomy 12:6-7).

Even though there were no Levites in Jacob’s day, nonetheless, there were “…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” (Deuteronomy 14:29).

“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. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it…”(Leviticus 27:30-33).

The above scriptures reveal how God acknowledged the tithe from Jacob: Jacob taking a portion himself and his family in communion and thanksgiving to God, and by sharing his fortune with those who were unfortunate, poor, strangers, etc.

These scriptures teach us that: (1) tithing comes from the “land;” (2) it was the “seed” or agricultural products from the fields that was holy to God and what were to be given in a tithe; (3) products from “trees” were to be tithed including fruit, etc. and (4) of “herds or flocks” it was the “tenth” that passed under the rod that was holy and dedicated to God.  Here is a big inconsistency between what is scripturally required and what the clergy teaches related to tithing.  It was not the first tenth, but rather the one after the ninth that belonged to God.  In addition, if a herdsman had only nine cattle, he was not required to tithe at all.  Also note that God did not even require the best of the cattle, just the tenth one to pass under the rod regardless of the condition it was in.  We are talking about tithing and not sacrificing, so it didn’t matter if the animal was blemished.  In addition, there is no mention of tithing of money in Leviticus.

PART III TOMORROW

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