Introduction
First and foremost: I 100% believe in the blessing of the Tithe, but I question the validity of the
curse and subsequent fear that is cultivated in preaching the Old Testament
tithe message without New Testament revelation, specifically pertaining to the
scripture reference in Malachi 3:10.
Malachi 3:10 (Amp)
10 Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the
storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says
the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour
you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
I believe there are various types of belief systems
when it comes to tithing; however, I’d like to highlight two of the main
groups.
Both these groups believe in the New Covenant i.e. that one must
accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour and believe that He died on the Cross and rose
from the dead on the third day. They further believe that He then rose to
heaven where He presented His blood to His father to buy all who accept Him
back from the dead. This in itself has the legal implication that all people
are free from the curse of the Law of Moses and cannot do a single “work” on
earth to buy this right standing with God, other than “choosing Jesus as Lord
and Saviour”.
Although these two groups agree on this fundamental belief, they have
very different views on a few other significant facts.
The first group believes…
We have to work at our Christ-likeness, and make sure to grow from
“glory to glory”, knowing that God has abundant grace for our misguided steps.
But we have to be sure not to fall into the trap of repetitive un-repented sin
because it could cause spiritual death in the long run, as it influences our
personal love relationship with the Godhead if we are constantly and
purposefully going against what God’s will is for us.
The Old Testament gives us wisdom in the Law of Moses. “The Law” which
Jesus said He came to fulfil and not to do away with, now serves as kingdom
principals (or guide) rather than a Law, as the Law in itself carries
punishment when overstepped. Rather it stands to help us tap into God’s way of
doing things. In a way God was training us to be disciplined Christians who are
not controlled by our instincts and flesh but rather our Godly knowledge of the
way God’s system runs at full capacity.
Tithing is a good example. If we had to give 10 percent under the law,
should we not want to give more under grace and love? After all, it has many
benefits. You are sowing into the building of God’s kingdom, you are supporting
the people who work day and night to bring you the uncompromised Word of God
and as an added benefit, it teaches you to, not only bring order in your
finances but, it will serve as a point of contact for your faith to rise in
trusting God to prosper you financially.
In a sense you are saying to God, “Because You said, that “what we sow
we shall reap”, God I lovingly, with gladness in my heart sow into the building
and the sustaining of your kingdom on earth, knowing that you are a God of love
and you will bless me with wisdom, for I have sown in wisdom, and you will
bless my finances, because I have sown finances etc.
It is not the “nithe” or the “fithe” it is the “tithe” the word
“tithe” is derived from the word “tenth” and according to Gods wisdom it is
just enough to keep the pesky spirit of mammon off our shoulders. It is
interesting that when God mentioned that we “cannot serve two God’s”, he did
not mention Satan as His no. 1 nemesis when it comes to being worshiped by man,
but rather He chose Mammon (the evil spirit of the love of money).
Isn’t it sad that Cane killed Abel because Abel’s offering was
accepted but not Cain’s? Why did God prefer Abel’s offering despite the fact
that they gave the same quantity? Could it be the love factor?
If God can trust you with the tithe, then surely he will see you as a
good steward and entrust you with more…
The second group believes…
Although this group also believes in the New Covenant, they also
believe that the power of sin could be brought back if a clean slate,
pertaining to sin, isn’t kept. When one sins, God stands back folds His arms
and says, “I can’t help you, now the devil has free reign in your life, because
you have personally resurrected the power of sin, I want to help you… but I
can’t…”
Here are a few quotes I have personally come across over the years (all of these people are amazing Christians):
“If you do not tithe, your prayers will not be answered” - Pastor –
morning offering message. (Direct quote)
“My husband and I had trouble falling pregnant. Doctors didn’t have
hope for us ever conceiving. We never use to tithe, and when I lost my baby
during my pregnancy, God told me that it was not Him who killed my baby, but
rather that He was powerless
to stop the devil’s attack, because I put myself outside His protection because
I didn’t tithe. We choose not to be under the protection of God if we don’t tithe.”
– Pastor in a cell meeting (paraphrased)
“You cannot be under God’s protection, the protection of the Covenant
of Abraham if you don’t tithe. You step outside the boundary of God’s power
over your life, by choosing not to tithe.” - Pastor (paraphrased)
“I am a single woman who works for tips. I have been tithing for over
15 years. A few months ago I physically just could not afford to tithe as well
as pay my rent. For that entire month I was in fear of even driving my car. I was sure that I might
be in an accident, as I was outside the protection of God, because of my
disobedience.” – Long-time church member
This second group believes that they have the power to undo what Jesus
did for you by overstepping some of the more prominent ordinances, laws and
commandments.
These people rightfully believe that we don’t have to worry about the
animal sacrifices because Jesus became our offering. Also don’t worry about the
“abomination” of eating lobster and snails, Jesus said that the problem is not
what goes into our mouths that is foul but rather what comes out of it that is
wrong. Don’t worry about burning frankincense when you pray (Lev 2:2), and
don’t worry about dressing up your Minister, Pastor or Priest in pointy hats
and scarves because we are free from those “little ordinances” (Lev 8:8-9)...
... but be sure to tithe because the tithe
“somehow” still carries the curse.
What does the Word say in the
New Testament?
2 Corinthians 3:9
9 “For if the service that condemns [the ministration of doom] had
glory, how infinitely more abounding in splendor and glory must be the service
that makes righteous [the ministry that produces and fosters righteous living
and right standing with God]!”
In other words righteousness exceeds condemnation…
Colossians 2:14
14 “Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting
of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and
stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and
demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to
[His] cross.”
Romans 8:1
1 “THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty
of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the
dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.”
I understand that we cannot just walk and do as we please. We should
do as Jesus did and even more importantly we should do it for the same reason
Jesus did it. Jesus often didn’t go according to the letter of the law, yet He
was without sin and God said that He fulfilled the whole Law. He chose not to
stone the adulteress woman because love and compassion supersedes the letter of
the law. I know that tithing was there before the Law, but the moment it became
a part of the Law it became a curse at the same time, IF we think that
without it we are not righteous (i.e. in right standing with God).
Romans 5:17
17 “For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death
reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God's]
overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting
them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one
Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).”
Galatians 3:10
10 “And all who depend on the Law [who are seeking to be justified
by obedience to the Law of rituals] are under a curse and doomed to
disappointment and destruction, for it is written in the Scriptures, Cursed
(accursed, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment) be everyone
who does not continue to abide (live and remain) by all the precepts and
commands written in the Book of the Law and to practice them.
Romans 11:29
29 “For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never
withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about
those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]”
We can become faithless Christians because of the religious
doctrine of tithing
and all the threats and accusations that accompany it, because we then believe
that God’s hand is not upon us if we don’t tithe, and because it is our belief
that God needs
the tithe in order to
save and help us, that in itself becomes the curse. That in which you have
faith becomes your downfall. We have faith in our own works that leads to a
self inflicted curse that God warns us about when He tells us not to be
deceived by our lack of knowledge and understanding.
The Malachi issue
Context is very important when reading Malachi. At the time when
Malachi was written, Jesus had not yet presented His blood to become the
righteousness for His people. Burnt sacrifices for atonement and the keeping of
the entire Law of Moses was the only way people could be in right standing with
God in the time when Malachi was written.
The people spoken of in the book of Malachi became “religious” about their
giving and doing of the Law because they lost their reverent fear of the Lord.
Instead of giving their best animal in their flock to God, they would give a
blind useless animal, so that they would not “feel” the sacrifice in their
pockets. They had become selfish.
Malachi also talks about their moral decay. The priests were not in a
‘right-heart-condition’ towards God. Husbands were leaving their Hebrew wives
for heathen wives. Malachi also mentions that there was a general feeling that
people who were not doing God’s Law seemed to get away with it unscathed. The
people to whom this letter was written, were questioning why they must do all
the tedious ordnances of Moses’ Law, when in fact, those who didn’t were, as
far as they could see, getting away with it. Also they made up excuses to get
away from their duties by saying ‘we have not, therefore we give not’.
God then speaks through the prophet Malachi in Malachi 3:9 (Amp) “You are cursed with the curse, for
you are robbing Me, even this whole nation.”
Barnes' Notes on the Bible:
“Ye have been cursed with the curse - (not "with a
curse"). The curse threatened had come upon them: but, as fore-supposed in
Leviticus by the repeated burden, "If ye still walk contrary to Me,"
they had persevered in evil. God had already shown His displeasure. But they,
so far from being amended by it, were the more hardened in their sin.
Perhaps as men do, they pleaded their punishment, as a reason why
they should not amend. They defrauded God, under false pretences. They were
impoverished by His curse, and so they could not afford to pay the tithes; as men say,
"the times are bad; so we cannot help the poor" of Christ. "And
Me ye still are defrauding" Me, ye; man, God. And that not one or other,
but this whole people. It was a requital as to that in which they had offended.
"Because ye have not rendered tithes and first-fruits, therefore ye are
cursed in famine
and penury." "Because the people did not render tithes and
first-fruits to the Levites, the Lord saith, that He Himself suffered fraud,
whose ministers, constrained by hunger and penury, deserted the temple. For, if
He is visited by others in prison, and sick, is received and cared for, and,
hungry and athirst, receives food and drink, why should He not receive tithes
in His ministers, and, if they are not given, be Himself deprived of His
portion?"
– Barnes
Why where they robbing God?
Because they took something that was owed to God,
in order to be in right standing with Him.
Do we as pure reborn Christians still owe God anything under the New Covenant
today? This is what God says about “external religious worship”:
James 1:27
“External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward
acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to
visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and
need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.”
… I have to say “no” we do not owe God anything, not even the tithe… Salvation is a free
gift! We are not subject to the wrath of God for bringing Him lame and
blind offerings any more. We have fallen short and will fall short according to
Moses’ Law till Kingdom come. The Good News is that we have been redeemed not
to need fleshly works at all to earn our place in God’s Supernatural covering
and protection. We have done all we can do to earn our “free gift” by purely
accepting Jesus as our Lord and saviour.
Sanctification, holiness and Christ-likeness is
a whole different story…
Yes, don’t bring your lame, unloving offerings and fear based tithes
to the Lord, because we cannot “fool” God into believing that we are
worshipping or loving Him, just as Cane could not “fool” God by giving in the
same volume as his brother Abel, but without love. Without love and the joy of
giving, nothing we do means anything.
2 Corinthians 9:7
Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or
sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving].
As a matter interest rather
than pure theology…
I read through the whole of Leviticus in a single stretch to really
get a feel for the subject matter being discussed in this article, and I found
something very interesting…
Up until Leviticus 26 the Law is laid out. Some trespasses are called
sin others are called abominations, some sins are warned against and others
have penalties or death sentences attached to them. Then in Leviticus 26 God
explains the blessings attached to the obedience of The Law, and after that,
also the extent of the curse for those who overstep The Law given.
This is what I found interesting - nowhere before the reading of the
blessing or the curse, (that appears in chapter 26) is tithing mentioned… only
after chapter 26 in chapter 27 the last 4 verses of the entire book of
Leviticus it is explained. And what God has to say about the tithe explains
exactly how I think we should look at the tithe:
- “it is holy to the Lord”
Leviticus 27:30-34
30 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 to the Lord.
31 And if a man wants to redeem any of his tithe, he shall add a
fifth to it.
32 And all the tithe of the herd or of the flock, whatever passes
under the herdsman's staff [by means of which each tenth animal as it passes
through a small door is selected and marked], the tenth shall be holy to the
Lord.
33 The man shall not examine whether the animal is good or bad nor
shall he exchange it. If he does exchange it, then both it and the animal
substituted for it shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.
34 These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses on
Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
1 Corinthians 13
1 “IF I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but
have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is
inspired by God's love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging
cymbal.”
Why then do I personally tithe?
Because the Word says that it is “Holy unto Him”, in other words, it
is very special to our Father. This is a high priority and intimate moment
between you and your Father where you present an offering from your HEART.
When is dreaded unbiblical
“religious” behaviour born?
Manmade religion is birthed the moment we think that right standing
with God can be bought or earned or even guaranteed by any other means rather
than Jesus’ blood and God’s unconditional, unmerited, undeserving LOVE and
boundless MERCY AND GRACE. This idea that sin removes us from the power that
God has over our lives and that our disobedience leads to His “pulling away and
leaving us, so the devil can have a “Job-like dance” with our lives and the
lives of our children” is nothing short of heresy in my opinion! We all sin all
the time, just looking around in a church at the way people are dressed can
lead to lust, not to mention “sticky sin” that almost every human combats on a
minute to minute base, like pride, un-forgiveness and jealousy.
We are all sinners, all the time, and there is no such thing as “more”
or “less” condemning sin, except maybe to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, which the Bible
says is unpardonable.
Why didn’t tithing make the “top 10” most
focused-on points in the Old Testament?
If, not tithing as a Christian, can leave you out there like a sitting
duck, with no protection from God, why didn’t God warn us in the 10 commandments?
Surely such a trap and threat with such a dire-some curse attached to it should
at the very least be mentioned with - not worshipping idols, and killing
people?
Old Testament teaching on the tithe without New Testament revelation
(not just scripture on being a cheerful giver, but true revelation on grace in
the tithe message) to me is the equivalent of rape versus love, it might be the
same in its mechanics, but in essence is not the same thing at all…
Are we using FEAR to draw out our tithes? Or are we using FAITH and
our commitment to the GREAT COMMISION? And do we need to use FEAR as a tool, if
we give people enough revelation on the subject of building God’s physical
churches. Wouldn’t it be more efficient if we just point out the reality of the
cost involved in bringing His Word and His Love to others?
This is not rebellion or an attack on any church in any way. I do
believe that we unwittingly curse our congregations by saying things like, “If
you don’t tithe your prayers will not be answered” and “If you don’t tithe, you
render God completely powerless over your finances and life”. Doesn’t the Word
say that what we bind on earth is bound in heaven?
In my opinion people don’t leave churches because they are
uncomfortable talking about money, prosperity or even parting with their money.
They leave because they feel like they are put under condemnation, and are tied
under a “give or just see what happens if you don’t …” curse. Especially those
who come from conservative background churches, who are not completely
desensitised to the constant threats that God will leave them “out in the cold”
without His 10% payment.
“Do not perplex the weak
believer”
As a church, we rarely have any idea what a new converts life was like
before they entered the doors of our building. It is my personal conjecture
that you have 2 extremes to deal with, those who need a measure of
sanctification and those who need even more...
Example: You have person “A” walking out of a boardroom, with
beautiful wife and children, who have had a fairly normal childhood, and
“Christian morals”. They know the Bible because of years of attending a
conservative church, but had never had true revelation or ever really
understood the power of the Holy Spirit until they walked into your Spirit
filled church. This person has sin in their lives. Maybe they smoke, maybe they
don’t love their family like they should etc. Righteousness is instant the moment they surrender
themselves to Jesus but sanctification is the road the Holy Spirit will walk with them. I
believe that God’s mercy tailor-makes each one of our “top 10 lists” of things
we need to do or lay down, to be closer to Him and when we get done dealing
with those things, He will update our lists with “10 more things” we must do.
Is it fair to say then, that Tithing might make person A’s so called
“top 10 list”? It might... But what about a person who was sold into
prostitution by their own parents when they where 7 years old? Would tithing be
on their “top 10 list”? It’s harder for me to imagine that.
It is our duty as the body of Christ not to perplex people by
confusing them with our own ideas of the shortest road to reaching
Christ-likeness, versus the more excellent plan the Holy Spirit already has in
mind for every new person who is saved.
My point is that we as ministers of the Word cannot force revelation,
on the topic of tithing, onto new believers purely because we personally
benefit from it in the flesh. It is our duty to teach the principle of the
tithe as we would any other revelation the Word gives us on how to be a
successful Christian. I believe that we have to teach the principal of the
tithe, with all the truth and New Testament grace that the Bible has to offer,
and add no curse brought forward from the Old Testament.
In Conclusion:
Our fight is not against “flesh and blood” it is against a spirit
realm dominated with truth-like lies of which the worst are inherited lies. I
thank God for planting me into a Spirit-filled church, and pray that until He
comes to fetch me, I will be renewed in my mind and views on every letter of
His Holy Word, daily.
