Is Tithing for
Today?
By James R. Faulkner
What is tithing?
How many tithes are there and what is purpose of each tithe?
Should we be tithing today?
Did Jesus believe in tithing? What should be tithed upon?
Why does God want us to tithe?
What should we be learn from tithing?
Using God’s word, the Holy Bible,
I intend to answer these questions today,
(1) What is
tithing?
The word Tithe, means one tenth or 10%.
The act of tithing is saving a tenth of your income
for some purpose.
(2) How many tithes are there and what is purpose
of each tithe?
In my studies I have found 4 tithes:
1st, 2nd,
and 3rd and the Tithe of the tithe.
Leviticus
27:30-34 (RSV) 30: "All the
tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the
trees, is the LORD's; it is holy to the LORD. 31: If a man wishes to redeem any
of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. 32: And all the tithe of herds and
flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall
be holy to the LORD. 33: A man shall not inquire whether it is good or bad,
neither shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it, then both it and that for
which it is exchanged shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed." 34: These
are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the people of Israel on
Mount Sinai.
Second Tithe: 2nd
tithe is for the keeping of the Annual Holy Days
Deuteronomy 14:22-26
(RSV) 22: "You shall tithe all the yield of your seed, which comes forth
from the field year by year. 23: And before the LORD your God, in the place
which he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of
your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstlings of your herd and
flock; that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. 24: And if the way
is too long for you, so that you are not able to bring the tithe, when the LORD
your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD
your God chooses, to set his name there, 25: then you shall turn it into money,
and bind up the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God
chooses, 26: and spend the money for whatever you desire, oxen, or sheep, or
wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves; and you shall eat there
before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.
Deuteronomy 12:17-18
(RSV) 17: You may not eat within your towns the tithe of your grain or of your
wine or of your oil, or the firstlings of your herd or of your flock, or any of
your votive offerings which you vow, or your freewill offerings, or the
offering that you present;
18: but you shall eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD
your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and
your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your towns; and you shall
rejoice before the LORD your God in all that you undertake.
Third Tithe: 3rd
tithe is for the Levites and the poor and needy
Deuteronomy14:28-29 (RSV) 28: "At the end
of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your produce in the
same year, and lay it up within your towns; 29: and the Levite, because he has
no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the
widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled; that the
LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
Deuteronomy26:12-15
(RSV) 12:
"When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third
year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the
fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your towns and be filled,
13: then you shall say before the LORD your God, `I have removed the sacred
portion out of my house, and moreover I have given it to the Levite, the
sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all thy commandment
which thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed any of thy commandments,
neither have I forgotten them; 14: I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of
it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead; I have obeyed the
voice of the LORD my God, I have done according to all that thou hast commanded
me. 15:
Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel
and the ground which thou hast given us, as thou didst swear to our fathers, a
land flowing with milk and honey.'
Is this kind of assistance still expected to be
given today, in New Testament times?
1 Timothy 5:4
(RSV) 4: If a widow has children or grandchildren, let
them first learn their religious duty to their own family and make some return
to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.
1 Timothy
5:8 (RSV) 8: If any one does not
provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned
the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy
5:16 (RSV) 16: If any believing
woman has relatives who are widows, let her assist them; let the church not be
burdened, so that it may assist those who are real widows.
The family is supposed to take care of this support
first, but if there is no family to do so, then the church is supposed to step
in and help.
Tithe of the Tithe: Tithe
of the tithe is the Levitical tithes that go directly to the high priest.
Numbers 18:25-29
(RSV) 25: And the LORD said to Moses,
26: "Moreover you shall say to the Levites, `When you take from the people
of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then
you shall present an offering from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe. 27:
And your offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the
threshing floor, and as the fulness of the wine press. 28: So shall you also
present an offering to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from
the people of Israel; and from it you shall give the LORD's offering to Aaron
the priest. 29: Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every offering
due to the LORD, from all the best of them, giving the hallowed part from
them.'
Nehemiah 10:38
(RSV) 38: And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the
Levites receive the tithes; and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the
tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, to the storehouse.
This Tithe of the tithe clearly shows that
ministers are not exempt from tithing!
They should be tithing right along with the rest of us!
(3) Should we be
tithing today?
I think every true Christian believes we should be
keeping the 10 commandments today.
Exodus 20:15
You shall not steal.
The 8th commandment makes it clear we
are not to steal.
The things of God belong to God and for us to take
them would make us thieves.
And what are the things of God that we are not to
steal?
Malachi
3:7-12 (RSV) 7: From the days of your
fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return
to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, `How
shall we return?' 8: Will man rob God?
Yet you are robbing me. But you say, `How are we robbing thee?' In your tithes
and offerings. 9: You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me; the
whole nation of you. 10: Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there
may be food in my house; and thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of
hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you
an overflowing blessing. 11: I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it
will not destroy the fruits of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not
fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. 12: Then all nations will call you
blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.
It doesn’t get any simpler or clearer than
that. God tells us to put him to the
test and see if he will stand by his word.
He PROMISES that if we pay him what is his, then he will bless us!
Can we not see that Jesus Christ, Yahshua the
Messiah was the God of the Old testament and that this statement is really from
him? Are you going to believe your
savior or are you going to believe the lying thief Satan, who says you don’t
have to pay your tithe to God anymore?
We should not
believe the lies of Satan.
We should believe the truth of God as spoken by our
savior in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Put God to the test and see if he will not
bless you.
My mother taught me to tithe from the scriptures
when I was a child and I have tithed since I was a child. I have put God to the test and he has always
provided, just as he said he would. We
should be teaching our children to tithe and put their TRUST in GOD, not in
man. I teach my children to tithe and I
hope when they become adults and on their own they will continue to honor God
in this manner.
Did Jesus teach tithing was done away?
Matthew 23:23 (NRSV) 23“Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and
cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy
and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the
others.
….this you should have practiced without
neglecting the others….
Jesus chided the Pharisees for neglecting the most
important things, while getting down to the greatest detail to keep other
things. Jesus did not say tithing is
done away, instead he clearly stated they should NOT have neglected this
practice. Anyone who teaches differently is teaching counter to what our savior
clearly taught and should be corrected, just as Jesus corrected these
Pharisees!
Need more proof?
When Jesus was asked whether we should pay taxes
what was his response?
Mark 12:13 - 17 (RSV) 13: And they sent to him
some of the Pharisees and some of the Hero'di-ans, to entrap him in his talk.
14: And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true,
and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men, but truly teach
the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?
15: Should we pay them, or should we not?" But knowing their hypocrisy, he
said to them, "Why put me to the test? Bring me a coin, and let me look at
it." 16: And they brought one. And he said to them, "Whose likeness
and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's."
17: Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,
and to God the things that are God's." And they were amazed at him.
And they were utterly amazed at Jesus, why, because
he told them they should pay their taxes and their tithes, both. He did not give them an excuse to be tax
cheats or tithe cheats. God expects us
to pay BOTH. That’s what Jesus Christ,
Yahshua the Messiah our savior taught and I believe him. I don’t believe FALSE ministers who teach
otherwise.
We should be tithing on Net, not gross. Remember,
Jesus said, “pay unto Ceaser what is Caesar’s.”
Christ considered taxes, Caesar’s money not
ours. And the IRS feels the same way as
Caesar did, they believe that taxes are their money not yours and they get
their grubby hands on the money just as soon as they can, don’t they? Usually,
we don’t even see it.
After Caesar has taken his money, then Christ tells
us to pay God his money. Christ did not
say we could use high taxation as an excuse to evade tithing. He simply taught to pay your taxes first and
then pay your tithes as well.
Some
say we should only tithe on agriculture?
Did
Abraham believe that? He tithed on the
spoils of war.
Gen 14:18-20
(RSV) 18: And Mel-chiz'edek king of Salem brought out
bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. 19: And he blessed him and
said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; 20:
and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your
hand!"
Heb
7:1-7 (RSV) 1: For this Melchiz'edek,
king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the
slaughter of the kings and blessed him; 2: and to him Abraham apportioned a
tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of
righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3: He
is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor
end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest for ever. 4:
See how great he is! Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe of the spoils. 5:
And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a
commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their
brethren, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6: But this man who has
not their genealogy received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the
promises. 7: It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.
Did
Jacob believe tithing only on agricultural? He promised God to tithe on ALL
his wealth, not just his agricultural wealth.
Gen 28:20-22
(RSV) 20: Then Jacob made 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 clothing to wear, 21: so that I come again to my father's house in
peace, then the LORD shall be my God,
22: and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and
of all that thou givest me I will give the tenth to thee."
Does God want us to tithe because he really needs
the money?
Psalm 24:1-2 (RSV) 1: The earth is the LORD's and the fulness thereof, the world
and those who dwell therein; 2: for he has founded it upon the seas, and
established it upon the rivers.
God created the heavens and earth and sustains
everything. He does not need our
tithes.
Did you realize that God learns about us when we
tithe?
Can God Trust you with his Kingdom?
Can God trust you with his tithes?
How does he know he can trust you?
How does he know he can’t trust you?
Luke 16:10-12 (RSV) 10: "He who is faithful in a very little
is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest
also in much. 11: If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon,
who will entrust to you the true riches?
12: And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who
will give you that which is your own? He that is
faithful in little, will be faithful in much and he that is unfaithful in
little, will be unfaithful with much.
When you truly understand this saying of Christ you
realize:
Can God Trust you with his Kingdom?
Can God trust you with his tithes?
These are really the same question and God is
finding us out.
Pretty wise of God, isn’t it?
I
Corinthians 4:1-2 (RSV) 1: This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and
stewards of the mysteries of God. 2: Moreover it is required of stewards that
they be found trustworthy.
We may not know who is or isn’t trustworthy.
But God knows, doesn’t he?
1st tithe teaches us to put God
first. To trust him to take care of us
and bless us, if we obey what he commands.
2nd tithe teaches us that God is a
loving and generous God and that his annual Sabbaths are a great blessing and
to be celebrated with rejoicing with our families.
3rd tithe teaches us to do without, that
others may have.
Let me give you a modern day parable. Let’s say, Ted Turner went to church one day
and donated 1 million dollars to the
church. Bill Gates, the CEO of
Microsoft went to the same church and donated 2 million dollars to the
church. A nameless widow went the same
church and dropped 1 penny in as an offering.
It was all the money she had.
Who gave the most?
Let’s be honest, whom would the world respect
more? Ted Turner, Bill Gates or the
nameless widow? Who’s offering would
the world have more respect for? The
world would probably consider the widow a fool for giving her last remaining
money to a church and the world would probably make very public the spectacular
offerings of Ted Turner and Bill Gates gave.
But how would God see it?
How about we let Jesus Christ the Messiah answer
this question:
Mark
12:41-44
(RSV) 41: And he sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the multitude
putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42: And a
poor widow came, and put in two copper coins, which make a penny. 43: And he
called his disciples to him, and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this
poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.
44: For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty
has put in everything she had, her whole living."
Brethren, Let’s not think like , or act like, or be
like the world.
Let us be like our master, the soon coming King of
Kings, Jesus Christ the Messiah.
Let’s be sure that we as Christians today,
pay unto Uncle Sam, what is Uncle Sam’s
and pay unto God what is God’s.