All the arguments and counterarguments on tithes won’t have been coming up now and then, assuming some persons are not hijacking the payment of tithes and making it look like our salvation is tied to it.
We are also having all these back-and-forth arguments on tithe because people have cherry-picked what suits them in the Bible. If we follow strictly the Bible on tithe, then the argument will be lost on Christians because:
1. First, to pay tithe, we must have Levites: It is only the Levites that collect tithes. And they do this in the presence of the priest (Nehemiah 10:37-39).
The Levites were given this mandate because they have no inheritance (Deuteronomy 14: 27,29).
In the strict sense of what necessitated the giving of tithes to the Levites, no minister in any of our Churches today qualifies to be a Levite.
To be a Levite, you must be from the tribe of Levi. Levites still exist to date, but they don’t believe that Jesus is God, unlike priests and pastors in our churches.
2. Secondly, in Deuteronomy 14:22, tithes are supposed to be paid annually. If we are really interested in following the Bible strictly, then it can’t be monthly even if you claim you are paid monthly.
3. The Israelites don’t just drop their tithes and leave. No! In Deuteronomy 14: 23-26 you are mandated to eat your tithe with the poor, the orphans, etc. It is usually the tithe of your tithe (10% of your tithe) that the Levites collect and take to the storehouse of God. (Nehemiah 10:38-39).
For example, assuming your tithe is N100, N10 will be taken to the storehouse, and the remaining N90 is what you will eat with the poor.
4. Tithe was NEVER monetized. You are mandated to eat your tithe (produce) with the poor. In the case where you live far away and may not be able to carry your produce to the place designated by God, you are to sell the produce, convert it into money and travel light, so that upon reaching the place Yahweh had designated, you will use the money and buy things which you will use to eat and drink with the poor and your household. Nowhere was the payment of tithe monetized, even though they had money then. Please try and read Deuteronomy 14:22-26 and see for yourself.
5. And finally, Malachi 3:8-10 was not in any way referring to today’s Christians. I will show you why.
If you take your time to read Nehemiah Chapters 9 and 10, you will see that the people of Israel assembled and, on their own VOLITION and WILLINGNESS and without COERCION, made promises to God.
They called it a “firm agreement” about what they will be offering God every year. They made these promises in writing.
I will quote some of the agreements they made in Nehemiah 10. Remember, they made this agreement FREELY.
In Verse 32 they said: “We also lay on ourselves the obligation to charge ourselves yearly ONE THIRD OF A SHEKEL for the service of the house of our God.”
Verse 35: “We obligate ourselves to bring the FIRST FRUITS of our soil and the first fruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year.”
Verse 36,37,38: “Also we OBLIGATE OURSELVES to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the FIRSTBORN OF OUR SONS and our LIVESTOCK. . .And to bring to the LEVITES the TITHE from our soil. . .And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the LEVITES shall RECEIVE the TITHES.”
So, when the Israelites were NOT keeping all they wrote and swore to do, especially with paying tithes, and when the Levites were not bringing the tithe of tithes to the storehouse of God, it necessitated those words from Malachi that they were robbing God. Other versions used “defrauding,” “afflicting”, etc. Of course, when you make a promise and adamantly violate it, what is it called?
This is why when Christians of today begin to quote Malachi 3:10 and apply it to themselves as though they are still under the law, it just shows their ignorance of the scripture and in that process, they make a mess of the death and resurrection of Christ that ushered in a new Covenant where tithe is not emphasized, offering firstborn son or animals and laws on the Sabbath are not emphasized.
But in case you want to follow the tithe law because according to you it is in the bible, remember to bring also the firstborn of your sons and livestock. . . And there are many other things the people of Israel promised God in Nehemiah 10. Please read it and follow it strictly. Paying of tithe is just one out of many. Don’t cherry-pick.
Peoplesmind
