I believed in Tithing... and then I looked for myself...

Why hasn't your church taught you this about Tithing?

Of all the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levite was designated
by God to serve as the Priesthood

Because of the sacrificial duties of this assignment,
this tribe was not able to own land, raise crops,
or tend to herds and flocks as the other tribes
God therefore instructed Israel:

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

Not just anyone could claim to represent God
and receive the tithes-only the Levites!!

Where did these tithes come from?

Leviticus 27:30-33
"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
(the 10th one that was counted as it passed under the rod)
He shall not search whether it be
good or bad, neither shall he change it..."

The tithe was from the land, the herds, and the flocks
Not from the air or the sea

(fishermen were not required to tithe fish)

It was the "seed" or agricultural products
from the field that was holy to God and tithable
Products from "trees" were to be tithed
This not only included the fruit, but oils etc

NOT YOUR MONEY!!

(does anyone see money listed here?)

Also, notice, where our churches today
instruct us to pay the ..FIRST.. tenth to the church-

God said ..the tenth one...
of the herd or flock that passed under the rod,
as they were counting, was to be the tithe!!

It was not the first tenth, but rather
the tenth tenth that belonged to God

If the herdsman only had nine cows
he didn't have to tithe at all !!

In the old testament, the Day of Atonement
revealed the future salvation through Jesus

Once a year, the High Priest
would lay his hands on the head of a living goat
called the "scapegoat"

This act, was to pass all the sins of Israel
for that year onto the sacrifice

John the Baptist, through his father
Zacharias and his mother Elisabeth,
was a descendant of Aaron ther High Priest

He was the last Levite Priest
in the line of Aaron; and it was he,
who put the sins of the world
onto the head of Jesus at his baptism

Jesus then proceeded to the cross;
shed his blood, and died for the sins of the world

The Levitical system of sacrifices ended
when Christ died on the cross,and the veil in the temple
was torn from top to bottom

No longer was there anymore
a need for the animal sacrifices

No longer was there a need
for the sacrificial system

No longer was there a need
for the Levite Priesthood

No longer was there a need
for tithing to the tribe of Levites

No longer was there Tithing!!

Notice this remarkable story
of the only time the temple tax
came up in the ministry of Jesus

Most Christians will never hear
an explanation of these verses
as long as they live!!

These verses are highly incriminating
to those who teach the tithing of money to the Church:

Matt 17: 24-27
"And when they were come to Capernaum,
they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said,
Does not your master pay tribute

(Greek: 'pay the double drachma'
which was the exact amount
of the annual Temple tax)?

He says, Yes

(Peter was embarrassed and apparently
not honest with his answer)

And when he was come
into the house, Jesus prevented him

(Greek: prophthano-to get an earlier start of,
forestalls or anticipated him)

saying, What do you think, Simon?
Of whom do the kings of the earth
take custom or tribute (taxes)?
Of their own children [sons] or of strangers?

Peter said unto Him, of strangers

Jesus said unto him,
THEN ARE THE CHILDREN FREE

Notwithstanding,
LEST WE SHOULD OFFEND THEM,
go thou to the sea, and cast an hook,
and take up the fish that first comes up;
and when you have opened his mouth,
thou shall find a piece of money
that take and give unto them
for Me and thee"

What an amazing truth!!

No wonder most Christians
have never heard this Scripture explained

The reason Peter said "yes" to the tribute collector
was because it was embarrassing to Him
to say, "NO, my master does NOT pay temple tax"

It was such a small amount of money

(less than a dollar)

But then Peter has to go into the house
and give Jesus an appraisal of what had just happened

Jesus being merciful to Peter
does not reprimand him for not being honest
with the tribute collector, but rather, cuts him off
(forestalls him) before he can speak
and saves Peter the embarrassment

The point is this:
Jesus did not pay temple tax...because
Jesus is the King of the kingdom!!

And if the children are free, certainly; the King Himself is free!!

THE CHILDREN ARE FREE!!

Malachi 3:8-12
"Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me.
But you say, Wherein have we robbed thee?
In tithes and offerings
Ye are cursed with a curse:
for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat 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

It is obvious from the above text,
that God was not at all pleased with the
Israelites concerning their tithing practices

Now, all those, who BELIEVE ...that tithing is valid
for the New Testament Church-
are correct in believing that the above verses APPLY to them

If they tithe they may expect blessings,
if they don't, they may expect curses

But what is wrong with the above statement?

The "error" comes from the re-definition
of two keywords used in the above text;

by those who want to present tithing in their own way

The "tithes" are presented to be the tenth portion
of your income which is given away and deposited
into the "storehouse"

The "storehouse"
is presented to be your church's savings account
BOTH OF THESE TWO DEFINITIONS ARE FALSE

The key to understanding this is in the preceding verse:

Malachi 3:7
Even from the days of your fathers
ye are gone away from mine ordinances,
and have not kept them

God is pointing the Israelites (and us)
to his "ordinances" concerning tithing


Tithing according to God's ordinances

Deu12:17-19
Thou mayest not eat within thy gates
the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine...
But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God...
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

Deu14:22-23
Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed
that the field bringeth forth year by year
And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God
in the place that he shall choose to place his name there,
the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine...
that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always

Deu 14:24-26
And if the way be too long for thee,
so that thou art not able to carry it...
Then shalt thou turn it into money,
and bind up the money in thine hand,
and shall go unto the place which
the Lord thy God shall choose:
And thou shalt bestow 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.

Those were the commandments of God
concerning tithing which were given to Moses

I find this verses to be worthy of thought:

Deu12:8,9
Ye shall ..NOT..do after all the things that we do here this day,
every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes
For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance,
which the Lord your God giveth you

So, the Israelites were supposed to take their tithes
to the appointed place, and eat them there before the Lord,
rejoicing, with their family, their servants and their local Levite
who was within their gates

The Levites were to be allocated cities
within each tribe ("within your gates")
where they were supposed to live with their families

These Levites were not those who served
in the Tabernacle (or, later on, in the temple),
but those who have chosen to remain
in their cities within each tribal land

They would join the Israelites on those special trips
to the appointed place of worship, where they would join
in the celebrations and consumption of tithes

The Israelites
were commanded to ..EAT.. their tithes

The tithes were supposed to be consumed
in an atmosphere of celebration, sharing, and
communion with fellow Israelites and with God

Therefore, this is not the tithe
spoken of in Malachi given for the storehouse

Was the temple used as a storehouse?

Neh10:37-38
And that we should bring...
the tithes of our ground unto the Levites
that the same Levites might have the tithes
in all the cities of our tillage

(farming community)

And the priest, the son of Aaron,
shall be with the Levites when the Levites take tithes:
and the Levites shall bring up the tithe (10th) of the tithes
unto the house of our God, to the chambers,
into the treasure house

Some rooms in the temple were indeed referred to
as the "storehouse", but they were used to store
the tithes of the tithes (10th of the tithes)
which were called the "heave offerings"
that the LEVITES were to give to the priests

Therefore, these rooms in the temple
were not the "storehouse"
where the ISRAELITES were to bring their tithes

The Levites were to receive their tithes
in the places where they lived in their farming communities
from which they would give tithes to the priests

additional reading:
http://www.caic.org.au/biblebase/abuse/tithing.htm


William Wilbur
http://myspace.com/water_spirit_blood