Bashan Ministries - Tithing on trial

I was speaking with a dear friend and he asked me about tithing, saying that there is much confusion about this controversial topic. He was wondering if I had any teaching on the matter, which of course I had, but not as a page on my web site.
Over the years, many people have asked me similar questions.
Some are confused and others are questioning the practice. It seems that my friend was correct.

As a result, I put tithing on trial and ask, “Are we being taught the truth?”

Such teaching is necessary because of the abuse and misuse that has crept into many parts of the church by many “prosperity preachers” and by sincere leaders who have not researched the matter completely. For generations perhaps, many Christians were taught that we must tithe, referring to money and that this amount to tithe is ten percent of our income. That in itself is often debated, asking if we should tithe on the gross amount or the net amount of our money.

We then have the issue of where we are to pay such money and so on.

The first mention of the tithe is seen in Genesis fourteen when Abraham rescued Lot.

Malki-Tzedek king of Shalem brought out bread and wine. He was cohen of El ‘Elyon [God Most High], so he blessed him with these words: “Blessed be Avram by El ‘Elyon, maker of heaven of earth. and blessed be El ‘Elyon, who handed your enemies over to you.” Avram gave him a tenth of everything. Genesis 14:18-20

This tithe was made by Abraham to a priest. Later in this presentation we shall see the role of priests with regards the tithe.

Abraham had no sooner presented his gift, when the enemy came saying:

And the sovereign of Seḏom said to Aḇram, “Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself. Genesis 14:21

The battle is not about money or possessions but about the hearts and minds of God’s people. The temptation is to keep the goods for ourselves.
If that is true, then the things that motivate our giving should be scrutinized. Do we give, thinking that we shall receive something in return?
We often hear of sowing into a ministry and told that when we do we can expect a 30, 60 or 100-fold return, but is it really about money? No!
In Matthew 13 and Mark 4 where this is mentioned it is in association with the word of God.

The principles of sowing and reaping are indeed correct, but the motives are to be right before God—and acceptable to Him.

Cain and Abel both made offerings, one of which was accepted and the other rejected.

If perchance we tithe out of a sense of duty, we need to ask if our heart is really in it and if not, if God accepts an unwilling offering.

Rightly divide the word of truth

We need to lay a sound biblically based foundation. When studying the word of God, one of the most important steps is to ascertain to whom God is speaking. This is essential because we may think that He is speaking to us, the church, but He may be addressing Israel or vice-versa. Paul said:

Do not be an obstacle to anyone—not to Jews, not to Gentiles, and not to God’s Messianic Community. 1 Corinthians 10:32

God can and does speak with three different groups of peoples. He has established a covenant with the Jews that is still valid and such covenants are described as lasting for a thousand generations, or an everlasting covenant and so on. Therefore many of those promises made to Israel are still valid today, despite the erroneous and dangerous replacement theories that abound.

He has made a covenant with the Church that differs in many aspects from that with Israel, but there are similarities. Therefore, many things we think apply to us do not. To correctly understand scripture, including the portions referring to the tithe we must read scripture accordingly. In other words, do the tithing scriptures apply to us? Not necessarily.

We are creatures of habit. We dislike change and we do not like getting out of our comfort zones and some people just do not dig deep into the truth for themselves, so accept anything a preacher tells them. Always check it out. Test the spirit. If you do not have a clear conscience about a topic and it does not add up with God’s word, you have to decide for yourself as an individual if are hearing the truth or not. Determine if you are being a man-pleaser of a God pleaser. If you are attending a church that does not tell the truth and allow the Holy Spirit to move, or exercises control (that often leads to bondage), get out and find a good one.

Paul’s advice to pastor Timothy is good advice for us too. Take note of my emphasis.

So then, you, my son, be empowered by the grace that comes from the Messiah Yeshua. And the things you heard from me, which were supported by many witnesses, these things commit to faithful people, such as will be competent to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:1-2

The term “rightly dividing the word” is found in Paul’s letter to Timothy where he said:

Do your utmost to present yourself approved to Elohim, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Truth. But keep away from profane, empty babblings, for they go on to more wickedness. 2 Timothy 2:15-16

There are three elements involved—witness, trustworthiness and competence. It seems to me that three elements of witness are always required. Jesus said this. John said this and Paul said this. In the matters of church structure and organization and government, finances and tithing, this witness is required. Let us continue.

No one serving as a soldier gets involved in the affairs of this life, in order to please only him who enlisted him as a soldier. And if anyone competes in a game, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be first to receive his share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Master shall give you understanding into all this. 1 Timothy 2:4-7

We should thus not become involved in the world system, but follow God’s rules and understand the principles of sowing properly. The farmer sows his seed for a specific purpose and that is to get his harvest. He expects and deserves it for his hard work, but the first thing he does is to save the best seed to sow again later for return crops. He then eats some, thus providing for his temporal needs and the remainder goes to market. When a church tells you to sow your money, or give your tithe, ask yourself if they follow such guidelines. Do they really teach you how God operates in such matters as the laws of reciprocity— the laws of sowing and reaping God’s way (see Galatians 6:1-10)? At offering time, we should ascertain if this is because of tradition, to keep the church and the pastor afloat, many of which should not exist, or are they sowing into the Kingdom for specific Kingdom purposes and reaping Kingdom rewards? Such Kingdom rewards do not necessarily mean financial prosperity. Tithing is not a get rich scheme.

The KJV says to “rightly divide” the word. The meaning is taken from the word orthotomeō from which we get the term orthopedic surgery. It means to cut straight. The word is derived from two words orthos that means straight and temnō that means to cut. It is not dividing Scripture from Scripture, but teaching Scripture accurately, separating truth from error.
If we do not dissect scripture sharply and accurately, we can form opinions and accept anything others tell us. Test everything as seen in Acts 17:11 and by doing that when anyone preaches, we are testing the words to see if they are accurate. Apply such testing to the “tithing doctrine”.

The KJV says to study (spoudazō) meaning to do your best or utmost or all you can to find out the truth—and apply it.

The reason is to prove that you are pleasing God in the way you live and handle your life—by faith. The part about rightly dividing or orthotomeō is like making sure you cut a straight line the way a surgeon makes a clear precise incision when performing an operation. Good teaching does not leave you in doubt. It spells out the truth and gives the listener direction and blessing and hopefully a desire for more. If you come away wondering, it might not be rightly divided.

When we therefore read scriptures, we need to be mindful of a few key issues. (a) To whom is God speaking? (b) Under what conditions is He talking? (c) When did He say it? As I said before, it is possible that we can think God is talking to the Church, whereas He is talking to Israel and vice-versa and get our theology messed around.

Israel has a covenant that is still valid. The church has another covenant and there is a third group of people who have no covenant as such with God. He usually deals with the three groups differently. See 1 Corinthians 10:32.

When it comes to the tithe therefore, we need to apply such check mechanisms and determine if God is dealing with Israel only or not. Is it an Old Testament requirement only or does it apply in the New Testament? Let us see.

The Tithe

The tithe is usually mentioned at a certain time during a church service, with some kind of commentary, urging people to give.

The oft-quoted portion of the third chapter of Malachi is only partially used. The whole chapter in its entirety should be read as it reveals what God was really saying to His people. Let us break it down a little.

“Look! I am sending my messenger to clear the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Yes, the messenger of the covenant, in whom you take such delight— look! Here he comes,” says ADONAI-Tzva’ot. Malachi 3:1

I believe that this spoke of Elijah and that it alluded to John the Baptist. The prophecy of Isaiah chapter 40 also has such connotations, so if this passage is referring to the ministry of John, then we need to consider all of what Malachi said in its entirety.

John preached to God’s covenant people— not to the heathen as did Isaiah.

Everything related to God’s covenant people and if we consider ourselves to be God’s people (which we are), we must take heed to the message in its entirety and not to selected “favorite” verses.

Isaiah’s prophesy was in essence telling God’s people to get their collective acts together. So too was John’s message and if we go back further, this was what Elijah was doing!
Ahab and Jezebel had led God’s people astray and their spirits are still with us in churches.

The priestly leaders of God’s covenant people had erred!
They had forgotten the terms and conditions of the covenant and had strayed off the original pattern! It sounds all too familiar to me.
If we are truly honest with ourselves, the church has strayed off the original pattern and whilst this sounds old hat and perhaps boring to you, take a look around you.

Malachi was speaking to God’s people, but especially to the priests. Look at what he said next:

But who can endure the day when he comes? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like the soapmaker’s lye.
He will sit, testing and purifying the silver; he will purify the sons of Levi, refining them like gold and silver, so that they can bring offerings to ADONAI uprightly.
Then the offering of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim will be pleasing to ADONAI, as it was in the days of old, as in years gone by.
Malachi 3:2-4

He was speaking to the sons of Levi. Moses came from Levi and Levi’s heirs carried the Ark of the Covenant. No one else could even touch it! The rod of Aaron, who came from Levi blossomed in that ark in Numbers 18. The sons of Levi ministered to the Lord.

We’re talking of such things as the priesthood and inheritance and today, if we are the blood washed redeemed saints of the Lord, we are now priests and kings to the Lord. That priesthood as such does not exist any longer, because our Kohen Gadol, The Lord Jesus is our great High priest who fulfilled everything in His ministry. Our priesthood today is different. If it is different, what about the tithe?

Through this prophet, God said that He would refine and purify the priests—so that they could bring the Old Testament offerings to the Lord in the proper manner. There is a right way and a wrong way to offer something to God that pleases Him as it once did.

If something pleased Him before, we need to know what that was. Turn with me then to Deuteronomy.

Here are the laws and rulings you are to observe and obey in the land ADONAI, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess as long as you live on earth. You must destroy all the places where the nations you are dispossessing served their gods, whether on high mountains, on hills, or under some leafy tree. Break down their altars, smash their standing-stones to pieces, burn up their sacred poles completely and cut down the carved images of their gods. Exterminate their name from that place. Deuteronomy 12:1-3

It started with separation from the world system and total dedication to God. We can’t treat God any old way we want.

But you are not to treat ADONAI your God this way. Rather, you are to come to the place where ADONAI your God will put his name. He will choose it from all your tribes; and you will seek out that place, which is where he will live, and go there.
Deuteronomy 12:4-5

Notice my emphasis. God stated that His people had to go to the place—a specific place—that He chose where He would place His name. He further said that His people were obliged to seek out that place. We are not living in Israel thousands of years ago, but we are God’s people nevertheless and similar principles are still involved. Where do we attend Church? Do we go just anywhere that is convenient or suits us, because of tradition, or where the music is great, or you like the way the pastor dresses and says the nice things that tickle your ears?
Not at all. Go where God tells you to go.

Sometimes He might instruct you to go to a place you do not like! He’s done that to us and it is not always easy.
God told Jeremiah to do things that many pastors today dislike, because of his assignment:

Look, I have put my words in your mouth! Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms.
Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant. Jeremiah 1:9-10

The important point to remember is that obedience is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams!

If That’s the place He wants you to be, go there and keep going there until He says otherwise.

He won’t tell you to go to some weird place and expose you to risk.
In our modern society, going somewhere God never sent us, could lead to getting your head cut off. It’s real!

It is at the place that He chose, that the people were to bring their offerings.

There were many, not just a tithe.

You will bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tenths [that you set aside for ADONAI], the offerings that you give, the offerings you have vowed, your voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your cattle and sheep. Deuteronomy 12:6-7

Notice that God said tenths. To be specific, it is the tenths that the people deliberately set aside for the Lord. That’s the tithe!

The Hebrew word is maʿaśēr that we first see in Leviticus chapter 27. The whole chapter talks about special offerings to the Lord and verse 30 specifies the tithe of the land, be it seed of the land or fruit of the tree, stating that it is holy to the Lord.

In Leviticus 27, God told the people what to do and how to go about it. It spoke of making an estimation of the worth of the offering and once the decision was made, not to change your mind.

It then spoke of what happened in the Year of Jubilee (Shemittah). In that year—everything changed. Debts were canceled. Slaves were freed and a whole new chapter in one’s life commenced. If you look at it, most humans would only experience one or possibly two Jubilees in their lifetime. Shemittah came in our year of 2015. The last one would have been around 1965! I was not saved then (I was born again on September 1st, 1968)! Think of the implications.

Verse 26 gives an indication of what the tithe is all about. The first...belongs to God! God further instructed:

There you will eat in the presence of ADONAI your God; and you will rejoice over everything you set out to do, you and your households, in which ADONAI your God has blessed you. You will not do things the way we do them here today, where everyone does whatever in his own opinion seems right; because you haven’t yet arrived at the rest and inheritance which ADONAI your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 12:7-10

The inference is, “don’t do whatever you want! Do what I say. Do it when I say and how I tell you—because you have not arrived there yet! You haven’t received your inheritance yet.” If you read on yourself, you will see that God then said that once they crossed the Jordan River and took possession of their inheritance and had rest from their enemies and the like, they were to rejoice in the Lord, bring their offerings, including the tithe and eat together in a thanksgiving meal.

On the very day they crossed Jordan into their Promised Land, the manna ceased. God had started something new. Surely there has to be a message in that to us. This way, provision was made for the widow, the orphan, the stranger living in their midst and for the Levite.

The Levites did not receive an inheritance as everyone else did. Their inheritance was in essence, their ministry.

He told them not to muzzle the ox that treads out the corn and Paul referred to this in 1 Corinthians 9.

Don’t you realize that those who work in the temple get their meals from the offerings brought to the temple? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings. In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it. 1 Corinthians 9:13-14

We’re now starting to see what the tithe is really about. Sadly, things degenerated over the years and the priests had forgotten what God had instructed them. This is what Malachi had said.

“See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire and like cleansing lye.
He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.
And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD as in days of old and years gone by.
“I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. They do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
“Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed. Malachi 3:1-6

God announced that He was going to send His messenger before Him to prepare the way for His coming—and in the process was going to refine the priests! John came with a blunt message aimed right at the religious leaders. Jesus did likewise and they didn’t like it. Nothing has changed. The leadership was oppressing the widows and the fatherless. Hard working families were being cheated. Justice was being denied and the reverential fear of the Lord had disappeared. Religious observances, traditions of men, selfish greed, manipulation, domination and control had replaced what God wanted for His people. Similar things are happening today.

He told them—the religious leaders, that they were robbing him. They had reached the point in life when they thought serving God was pointless. “Why bother? God doesn’t answer my prayers! He doesn’t care about me! I’ll look after my own affairs and do things my way” I will create a substitute religion that pleases me.” They also became creatures of (religious) habit. Those were the kinds of attitudes the religious leaders had adopted and sadly, many ordinary people were dragged down with them. Does anything sound even slightly familiar? It’s happening today.

The tithe was produce of some kind. It was food. The concept was that God told the people where they had to go for worship and bring their tithe there for consumption in worship and for distribution to others. If it was not possible for them to take their produce to that stated location, they could sell their produce, take the money with them and purchase what they wanted when they got there and there eat it before the Lord! It really had little to do with money...as such!

Robbing God

Many preachers tell the congregation that if they do not tithe, they are robbing God. That is both foolish and dangerous, because it is fear mongering and controlling. People then give out of a sense of duty or fear and God does not give us a spirit of fear. It places people in bondage. Paul spoke of this saying:

All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to bring you back again into fear; on the contrary, you received the Spirit, who makes us sons and by whose power we cry out, “Abba!” (that is, “Dear Father!”). The Spirit himself bears witness with our own spirits that we are children of God; and if we are children, then we are also heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with the Messiah—provided we are suffering with him in order also to be glorified with him. Romans 8:14-17

He told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7 that God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control. The other extreme is encouraging people to give for selfish purposes quoting certain passages as this:

Give, and you will receive gifts—the full measure, compacted, shaken together and overflowing, will be put right in your lap. For the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure back to you! Luke 6:38

That may be taken completely out of context, but even if it is not, it is motivating people to give for selfish reasons. We should be willing to give even if God never gives any return.

The storehouse

We are often told to bring the tithes to the local church, likening it to the storehouse. In some translations, God said to bring the Full Tenth into the storehouse to ensure that there would be food (or meat) there. What is this “full tenth” (full tithe)? The Hebrew word is kōl.
The word in itself means literally all or everything, but as usual, many other derivatives speak volumes.

It talks of perfection, about being gorgeous and all kinds of things. It also speaks about all sorts of armor. If it relates somehow to armor, then the action of tithing offers some kind of protection and this is consistent with what God said about rebuking the devourer so that he would not destroy your substance, the crops.

The question remains, “What is the storehouse?” Well, it “could” be the local church today, but is it...really?
We’re still dealing with Israel, remember?

The Hebrew word bayît means a house, a home, a palace, a family, an inward place and a temple. Derivatives give us the familiar names of Bethel and Bethlehem (that means house of bread). God calls bayît His house. We’re bringing it to God in His House!

This house does not always mean a church because we are His house. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

The storehouse is the place where food is kept to distribute to the people. Joseph build storehouses in Egypt to feed the people.

In Malachi, God told them to bring this tithe into His House to provide literal food (meat) for His people. The Hebrew word for meat is ṭerep.
The primary meaning of this root is “to seize a creature with predaciousness, tear the flesh and consume it.”

It is talking about prey such as venison and food.

Modern teaching says that the storehouse is the local church—but this might not always be correct. Modern teaching says that the local church is where we are fed the meat of the word—but if there is no real sound teaching and no impartation of revelation from the word, the people are not being fed the meat of the word. The New Testament itself teaches us that we must progress from the baby stage in our belief and walk with God to maturity. 1Peter 2:2 is a good example.

Hebrews chapter 5 talks about the excellency of Jesus’ priesthood mentioning Melchidezek and as we saw earlier, Abraham gave him tithes, but let us see what is said about maturity and meat.

There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.
Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Hebrews 5:11-14

In the local church, regardless of denomination, if there is no sound teaching, the meat in mine house cannot be what they say it is.
The storehouse cannot be the church and the meat in the house cannot be what is said. Where is the harvest? Where is the 30-60-100 fold return and similar matters Jesus taught on? As I said earlier, Jesus mentioned this when speaking about the word of God.
The seed is the word according to Luke 8:11. See also Mark 4:14 and Matthew 13:19.

What constitutes sound teaching must be determined. If we look at Jesus as our role model, He taught in such a way that it had profound affects on the hearers. His words convicted. His words gave hope. His words inspired and His words produced results. People’s lives were changed. People were healed. People were raised from the dead. People were fed fish and bread miraculously.

When we attend church, we should come expecting fellowship and companionship; we should come to worship God corporately; to partake of communion as often as possible to commemorate Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection—and we should leave there better off than when we arrived. Pause for a moment and think of how often you leave a church and can remember the message and how it impacted your life.
Did it really change you?

For a short period of time, we are treated to songs and music of varying kinds. Music can set the stage for people to come into God’s presence, but all too often the music ministry is more of a show, or a form of entertainment and the focal point of the church. I am a musician and love most forms of music (I used to play banjo and pedal steel guitar) and know at first hand that proper music can usher in the presence of God and evoke worship that is acceptable to Him.

The point I want to make is that the preaching of the word is the objective to lift the level of faith, inspire and bless the people.

We can thus walk in sick, sad and disgusted and leave totally changed. Sadly, many leave the same way.

Meat in the Father’s house was literal food then and it can be the same today. Conditions have changed today of course, so we can apply this meat to both literal food and good preaching. Whilst we can and do share a proper nutritious meal in church, we should strive for excellence and have sound, solid teaching—impartation of revelation. Only then is this the meat of the word. There is a vast difference between giving a sermon and imparting life-changing and faith producing revelation. After all, faith cometh by hearing the word of God (see Romans 10:17).
I put it to you that if this is not the kind of thing that happens, then the phrase saying you should “bring the tithes to the local church because that is where the pastor feeds you” might not be correct.

What then is the tithe today? Does it still apply? Are we obliged to give? If we are supposed to tithe, then we need to know all the details.
By way of answer I will touch on what Abraham did when he met Melchizedek.

Melchidezek

In Genesis 14, Lot was taken prisoner in a war. Abraham rescued him and took plunder. Two things happened. Firstly, Melchizedek came and produced bread and wine (a type of our communion today).

Malki-Tzedek king of Shalem brought out bread and wine. He was cohen of El ‘Elyon [God Most High], so he blessed him with these words: “Blessed be Avram by El ‘Elyon, maker of heaven of earth. and blessed be El ‘Elyon, who handed your enemies over to you.” Avram gave him a tenth of everything. Hebrews 5:11-14

That was a tithe. The very next thing that happened was that the king of Sodom came asking for the people. He did not want their money. The battle is for the minds and wills of the people. One of the most powerful struggles we have is over “stuff”. It is the relative value we place on things. That is why God wants us to put Him first, by giving Him the firstfruits of our substance. It represents what we are and what we do. God does not need the stuff we cling onto. He wants our hearts, but we fight over issues. Whilst the battle is over our minds and hearts, the expressions of what is inside us, usually comes out in the way we handle “things”, or money.

Little wonder there is so much controversy over tithing.

Not long after these events, God cut the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. This is very powerful. I hope you see how closely linked these events are. Hebrews 6 and 7 reveals that God swore that oath to Abram by Himself, because there was no greater.

What Abraham and Melchizedek did was enacting a future function in the church with Jesus being our Great High Priest—forever!

Avram gave him a tenth of everything. For every cohen gadol taken from among men is appointed to act on people’s behalf with regard to things concerning God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and with those who go astray, since he too is subject to weakness. Also, because of this weakness, he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as those of the people. And no one takes this honor upon himself, rather, he is called by God, just as Aharon was. So neither did the Messiah glorify himself to become cohen gadol; rather, it was the One who said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”
Also, as he says in another place, “You are a cohen forever, to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.”
During Yeshua’s life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions, crying aloud and shedding tears, to the One who had the power to deliver him from death; and he was heard because of his godliness. Even though he was the Son, he learned obedience through his sufferings. And after he had been brought to the goal, he became the source of eternal deliverance to all who obey him, since he had been proclaimed by God as a cohen gadol to be compared with Malki-Tzedek. Hebrews 5:1-10

The Old Testament Priesthood served its purpose and was fulfilled in Jesus. He did not abolish The Law, but fulfilled it.

We could therefore say that tithing as it was in the Old Testament, no longer applies to us today—but the spirit of it continues. In fact is taken to a higher level. The Law was often mechanical. People did things because they had to. The royal law of love is much higher.

Nehushtan

Another common statement is that if people don’t give, they won’t be able to keep the ministry going. Let’s be transparent about this. If God has asked a ministry to do a certain thing, He will pay the bill, but if it is a man-made ministry venture, then God is not obliged to finance it. I never ask for money and never will, because the Lord told me not to do that. Partnership is a good thing, but it should function when people see what God is really doing and choose to become involved.

How do we tell the real from the fake? Trust the Holy Ghost! How do we know who to support or not? Ask the Holy Ghost.

Don’t let your emotions or any form of coercion rule your decisions.

Then there is the timing factor. Some people could start a ministry venture that God asked them to do—but to wait first!

He could also ask them to do something only for a season and, once what was required has been accomplished, they are not to continue doing that. God could have a new assignment for them. Far too many preachers keep on keeping on, doing the same things and wonder why it isn’t working any more.

Consider a building project. The site preparation ceases when the foundations need to be laid. Once the foundations are complete, the walls can go up and then the roof goes on. Every aspect of the building program has its time, function and purpose. The scaffolding is only needed during the erection processes and is then dismantled to be used on the next project.

We could liken some people in God’s building program as scaffolds. Others are plumbers. Other are painters. I am not suggesting instability in any form, but when pastors and church members get locked into a set way of doing things, or a set vision and are inflexible, God could have something else ahead for them and they miss it. When they miss it, the people also miss it.

If such principles are not followed, people risk creating a Nehushtan! When Moses was leading the Israelites through the wilderness, they were muttering and murmuring and angering God. They arrived at a certain place and walked into a den of poisonous snakes.

If a snake bit someone, they died. When they cried out for help, God told Moses to make a brass serpent and tell anyone who was bitten to stand and gaze at it. When they did, they were healed. When God moved on, they had to follow along or be left behind.

Once they moved on, they left those snakes behind and the brazen snake was no longer required. It should have been left behind, but they took it with them. 400 years later, see what had happened.

Hezekiah son of Ahaz began to rule over Judah in the third year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twentynine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
He did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done.
He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles.
He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it.
The bronze serpent was called Nehushtan. 2 Kings 18:1-4

The tool that God used once for a specific task was no longer required, but the people made an idol of it!

Many parts of the church are doing exactly the same thing. God may have done something wonderful once, but is no longer doing it.
The people want to stay there, build a monument of it and that is often turned into a false form of worship.

Someone could have prayed in a certain way and a miracle happened (let us say it was for healing), so every time a similar situation arrives, they try to do it that same way every time, only to find it does not work. That could be a nehushtan too!

If we look at Jesus’ ministry, we can see that He often did things differently to achieve a similar result. He once spat on the ground, made clay that He placed on the man’s eyes and told him to wash it off in the pool. On another occasion, He laid His hands on the blind man’s eyes and asked him what he saw and then there was blind Barty. Bartimaeus yelled out to Jesus to help him and Jesus asked him what he wanted. All the Lord did was speak and Barty was healed.

We’ve got to learn what Jesus learned and follow suit. If Jesus received fresh instructions from His Father every day—why can’t we?

It’s not that God changes His mind. He does not change. He is merely going onto a new phase of His plan—an extension, or a renovation for the overall good of His Church. I hope you see this. Many don’t. If you doubt this, look at John the Baptist. He was “God’s man for the hour” but once he had done his job, Jesus came. John had to go!
I have to stay with this assignment, namely, tithing. It Is important! Perhaps the tithe often preached on was for a certain time, to be done for a certain reason, by a specific group of people. Perhaps is it different now. Let’s see.

The Law

The Law said not to commit adultery, but Jesus said not to even think of it. The Law told us not to kill, but Jesus took it to a higher level by telling us our hatred of a brother is tantamount to committing murder. If anything, we have a greater obligation today because every one of us are able ministers of the New Testament as Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 3. Here he said that it is not of the letter (of the Law) but of the Spirit. The letter kills, but the spirit produces life.

We must look at the issues of church government, leadership, worship, service and all the various ordinances, including tithes and offerings, in this light. There really should not be any debate, but on the practical level, how do we go about it?

Again, Paul comes to the rescue.

Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.
You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.
So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.
As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ.
And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words! 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

I hope the way I emphasized that explains things. I never saw a reference to 10% (the tithe) there, but I did see much mention of

Unbridled generosity by a willing heart that led to thanksgiving to God and blessing Him and others in the process.

It is a commitment. It is a way of life. It is part of the experience of every believer.

The issues are how, where and when we do it. Again, there are many schools of thought that, on analysis, make no sense.

In the Old Testament, people were obliged by God’s Law to deliberately set the tenth of their substance aside for God. That was the very first thing they did. If it was a herd of sheep, the shepherd made the sheep go past him (under his shepherd’s rod) and counted. The first 10% was God’s and that was it! If it was corn, then the first of the harvest belonged to God. The farmer could do what he wanted after that. If they had to go to a distant city that God chose and the crop was too much to take, then they couldsell it, go there and buy what they wanted to eat! That was how they tithed!

Bring the whole tenth into the storehouse, so that there will be food in my house, and put me to the test,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
“See if I won’t open for you the floodgates of heaven and pour out for you a blessing far beyond your needs.
For your sakes I will forbid the devourer to destroy the yield from your soil; and your vine will not lose its fruit before harvest-time,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
“All nations will call you happy, for you will be a land of delights,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot. Malachi 3:10–12

What we need to remember is that it was not an option. The tithe belonged to God. Even if it never produced a “return”, it was His! The “return” came from the freewill offering.

The process was to (a) Bring the tithe to the storehouse so that there would be literal food in God’s house and (b) to put God to the test later, when He would open the windows of the heavens (plural). The Hebrew word is shāmayim and it refers to heaven as in God’s abode and also to heaven as in the skies (from which comes rain). He said that He would then pour out boundless blessing.

This blessing referred to their whole way of life. Everything was based on the land—their crops, cattle, water—everything.

God promised to ensure that the insects and plagues, droughts and natural disasters that destroyed their crops and thus their lifestyles would not affect them. When they tithed, their crops flourished. When their crops flourished they had a harvest, but they still had to do the work involved in farming!

The actual tithe did nothing, because it was God’’s! All we do is give God back what already belongs to Him.

What followed then produced the blessing. It sounds the same perhaps, but it is not.

It is like the manna that fell. God sent it, but they had to collect it—and do that in the way God told them.

Things are different today. Most of us have a job and payday comes regularly without us having to exercise our faith.

We sign on, do our work, sign off, go home and do whatever we do. The pay is (usually) there automatically.

God’s laws however do not change. The law of gravity still works even if you do not believe it. The law of seedtime and harvest still works, because God made a promise way back when. He promised Noah in Genesis 8:20-22 that for as long as this planet existed, seedtime and harvest, the seasons, daytime and night time would exist. If you look at His promise. It is seed—then time—then harvest. It does not always happen overnight. Everything has its season.

Therefore when payday arrives, the principle remains the same. If we are to tithe, then the first thing to do is to deliberately set aside one tenth of that pay packet. That’s God’s—not the pastor’s or the church (although it usually goes there). It should go to the needy.

It is the spirit of the word that counts and not the letter of the Law.

People split hairs asking if we should tithe in the net or the gross and if one has to ask such questions, I suspect their hearts are not really in it. I think of Jesus’ words:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Matthew 23:23-24

Law or Grace?

There is a debate about whether we are still “under the Law” or not, living “in days of grace”. What many Christians forget is that The Law still exists and by that, I refer to the Mosaic law of the Old Testament in its original format and there were hundreds of elements. Many of them were ceremonial and sacrificial, requiring different kinds of offerings whereby the shedding of blood was involved. Others related to practical everyday matters such as establishing the boundaries of properties, buying and selling, water rights, marriage and the like. Practical matters like bathing and personal hygiene, women’s health, the preparation and consumption of food were part of The Law. Be very wary of anyone who tells you that you are cursed if you do not tithe.

Statements like that of themselves are tantamount to trying to curse others. It is trying to control you and instill fear.

Jesus fulfilled all of the ceremonial and sacrificial elements of The Law. We may therefore say that those aspects have been fulfilled or even abolished, but many of the civil elements remain.

Are we then obliged according to The Law to tithe? If we are “under grace”, is tithing required?

I suggest that we are not obliged at all to tithe and say so because of the reference to the Priesthood in Malachi. He was speaking to the priests who had not been following God’s commands and principles properly. God was rebuking them—telling them that they had been robbing Him. I suggest that preaching about “robbing God” if we do not tithe, is erroneous, because we are not in that group of priests.

From what Paul said about giving, we are free to choose and should not give under any form of pressure. I put it to you that if you want to tithe, then to do—but do it by caring for the widow, orphans and needy as previously discussed. If you want to make freewill offerings then you are also free to do so. Whatever you do, do so as unto the Lord.

It seems that God does give seed to seed sowers, so by implication it may mean that anyone who does not sow may not reap.

This now brings us to the leading question:

Who do you give to?

This is a touchy subject in many ways, mostly due to lack of understanding. Many pastors want their people to give into their own ministry and this is usually acceptable. I am a pastor and I will accept what is given to me, but I never ask for money.

The Lord spoke much of this many years ago and told me not to do that as it offends Him. It is begging and we are not beggars. He told me to trust Him and He has never failed me.

What is necessary is determining the kind of soil into which your precious seed is sown. Don’t give your hard-earned money to something that does not meet the criteria, regardless of what church it is.

Look for what is done with the money. I recommend that you test everything. Put the principles I have shared in summary form to the test. You have a right to ask the pastor what happens with your money. He has a duty or a responsibility to be open and accountable with what happens to it. Some ministers dislike being questioned, so be wise and careful if you ask pertinent questions and don’t gossip and criticize.

I spoke with a pastor who had been regularly asking people in the church to increase their giving because they were struggling to keep the office going. It was embarrassing. Many people started to leave that church, offended about it. The extra finances never came and although the church is still going, it is only a handful of followers and office closed down.

I do not want to sound critical, but15 to 20-minute sermons that were totally uninspiring were all that the people were receiving.

The people were being slowly starved to death, dying of spiritual malnutrition. Sadly this is common.

Personally, I believe that you should not sow seed into such ministries, but that’s your choice.

Find a place that really does feed the Lord’s sheep. Ask God what He wants you to do. He could surprize you with the answer and it might not always be your local church and, as a pastor myself, that is a profound statement!

Although tithing was something that happened in the Old Testament according to The Law, the principle of putting God first is even more stringent today. The Old Testament tithe was a type or a shadow of what was to come.

Today, we have a higher law—the royal law of love and it can be harder to keep than blindly adhering to the Old Testament Law.

Everything we do should ideally be motivated by love. We minister out of love for others and for the brethren.

We operate in the Gifts of the Spirit by love. We should ideally be a servant to others and not demand to be served. In so doing we emulate the life and ministry of our Lord.

We honor Jesus, our High Priest, who is a priest forever after the order of Melchisedek.

I hope that this has shed some light on a difficult and sometimes controversial topic. Pray about it.

I hope this has both challenged you and been an inspiration to you.

Blessings,

Robert