The first time I had to share the understanding God had given me about tithing, I was excited because I knew people would be liberated to be cheerful givers.
Thank you friend for coming to read from me. Please don’t have a defensive posture while reading this. Just read, reason, study and pray.
First, as I aim to make the mind of God known to you through the Holy Spirit about these very controversial matters, I want you to know that there’s nothing “spiritual” about the word “Tithe”.
Half, quarter, cube, root, tithe, one fifth, all fall in the same category of what you can call mathematical expressions. Tithe simply means ⅒ (one over 10). Meaning you split something you have into 10 pieces and a piece of the 10 pieces now is called a tithe.
And we make statements like “I pay 30% tithe” because we don’t think tithe as a calculation instead we think of it as the name of a particular kind of offering that is compulsory… I was there too, so…
By the way, this is the article “The Christ in Me ” that led me to write about tithe and tax.
I’m not here to tell you not to pay “tithe” or to pay. I want you to see what’s important to God.
Although when some say they can’t pay tithe because they are not under the law anymore, those that are for tithe payment use the argument that tithe precedes the law because Abraham paid tithe, but they forget that Abraham split the booty into 10 and gave the king and priest of Salem a portion as a free gift of honor (meaning he decided and chose to give that amount)not a compulsory levy as being taught today.
We need to understand the compulsory levy called tithe that was upon the Israelites that has since been shipped to the church and how it really applies to us believers. Although some teach it out of a pure heart while others out of covetous motives, one thing remains,the spirit is still missing and men are in bondage.
Remember that God called a people out of Egypt called Israelites and was taking them to a land He had promised to their fathers. God was going to make a nation out of them… In a more contemporary language, God was just about to create a new country called Israel.
I really feel I’d have explained more if this was a podcast…
So a country was to be made, they were going to be God’s own people so there had to be a structure for godly operation. There had to be a government to represent God in administration as He instructed them. Also we know that where there are two or more people, there is bound to be a set of rules to guide, hence, God gave them laws to guide their daily living and relationship with others.
The beautiful thing about being God’s own people is that the laws God gave them were a representation of the kind of spirit He expected in every human in every nation but man is wicked and fallen…I hope you’re following me so far... Read that again please.… Therefore, for every law, God had a spirit, a motivation, a driving force, a reason for it and ultimately, an expectation of it in the seeds of Abraham; seeds not by natural descent but by faith. Seeds borne of the Spirit of God!
So now guess what, God didn’t put the strongest men in government, He put the priests to represent Him as the government. He said they were not to work, they were not to have fields or inheritance, their inheritance was God.
Don’t miss what I’m about to say…
Now God had commanded that the priests must not work, it means they wouldn’t earn anything to live on, the “administration” also needed resources to run. They needed oil for the lamps, flour for bread, food for those who couldn’t work (the helpless and widows… The “government/priests” were to care for them).
But because these priests were not working, God commanded the Israelites to pay TAX to the priests which was ⅒ of whatever they “earned”. From this tithe, the Priests ate and also gave a portion for the running of the administration (their own tithe which was spoken about in the popular Malachi 3).
What some of us don’t know is that there were 2 types of tithe the Israelites were to take out of their earnings and another ⅕ but only one tithe went to the priests. Let me not go into all that.
Listen to me brethren, God used Israel through the instructions He gave them to show us His spirit concerning governance and nations. You will notice that the three times the word “tithe” was mentioned in the new testament (Matthew 23:23, Luke 18:9-14, Hebrews 7:5-9), none was an encouragement to pay tithe. You would notice that Paul never told any Gentile Believer to pay “tithe” but he says to them and Jesus said to those who heard His teachings to pay their taxes and owe no man! (Romans 13)
Listen to me brethren, your tax to the government is the tithe God honours because that is the spirit behind the tithe God commanded the Jews. The end was that Christians everywhere would pay the stipulated amount made compulsory by the government called Tax, because the government give themselves to governance and there’s absolutely no government except ordained by God. (it’s scriptural). God expects a willing and cheerful payment of tax borne out of this understanding just like it is with giving.
Where a Christian is found defaulting in his tax, no matter how much he pays as “tithe” and how diligent he is, he is robbing God!!
How could Jesus forget tithe but talk about tax and giving to neighbors and offerings to the church? How could Paul forget tithe yet explain to the brethren in the various churches to pay to their overbearing government whatever amount they demanded for tax?
Brethren, pay your tax and stop bribing God with a portion of your income for security from cankerworms and caterpillars. And for you giving it from a pure heart, the Lord has sent you this Truth so you may know His mind and follow His way.
Someone is probably thinking, “so what happens to giving to the Church?” . If God wills, we’ll talk about “The Spirit of Tithe” next week. Till then, read this again and again. Also remember, there is a spirit of and for every instruction given.
Thank you for coming up here. I believe you were blessed, a little bit rattled, yes but ultimately blessed and changed. Share with your friends when you’re convinced of this Truth of God.
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Ancient Word 