IS TITHING A BIBLICAL REQUIREMENT TODAY? – PART IV

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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