Just a thought…

Yesterday I had a discussion with a Pastor who teaches tithing, and as used by many tithing teachings, he claimed that we should be tithers because, and I quote; “the Bible, our New Covenant, doesn’t tell us to stop tithing.”

My answer was…

“That is not proof that a Christian should be tithing because we were never told to tithe in the first place. How can we continue something we never started, and were never told to start?
Tithing, as God established and organized it, was part of the Law, the Law were the details of a Covenant between the Nation of Israel and God. In that Law, Gentiles were never commanded to tithe.”

The debate abruptly ended at that.

It appears the pastor could not refute the evidence and decided not to engage Todd anymore on the subject. Here’s more from the Terrence Todd about questions. So if you are discussing tithing with hardcore believers in the doctrine ask them these questions:

Question; The tithe(s) was established by God as fruits, vegetables and clean animals grown on the Promise Land. In the Law alone, this is stated 16 times in various scriptures (see examples below). Even in Deut 14, where the tithe was temporarily converted to money for purposes of transportation to the feast where the feast tithe (the second tithe) was given to a Levit Priest and their family, the tither was told to “bind it to their hand,” that is to say, not pay it in the form of money, and then go out and buy wine, strong liqueur, meat, and what ever the tither wanted to buy with the money, and then share the purchased tithable items with a Priest.

Answer: Deuteronomy 14:23-26 “bind up the money in thine hand”

“And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it into money, and BIND UP THE MONEY in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,”

Answer: The tithe is “fruits, vegetables, clean animals” (no mention of money, wages, gold, silver, etc.)…

“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 unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. – Leviticus 27:30-33

“Lies About Tithing.” Here is lie Number Five…

Lie – “Tithers (which tithing teachers claim all Christians are required to be) must pay 10% of their paychecks, that is to say monetary income, to God via a church or some ministry.” Some tithing teachers such as “word-faith/prosperity gospel” ministers additionally claim that you MUST tithe off your gross salary, not just the net, or God will not help you with your taxes.

Truth – Under the law (which ALL tithing teachers refer to when teaching tithing), monetary tithing was not permitted. Even if they had to convert their tithe to money (by selling it so they could carry it to the location of the feast), it was to be “bound to their hand” and not given to a Levite/Priest until it was converted back to fruits, vegetables and clean animals.

They were NEVER permitted to tithe money of ANY KIND… > As God states…

“And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:

Then shalt thou turn it into money, and BIND UP THE MONEY IN THINE HAND (do not give it to anyone), and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose:

And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.” (This is one place, at the feast, the Levite/Priest was tithed to).

– Deu 14:23-27

Notice how the Children of Israel were to “BIND UP THE MONEY IN THINE HAND” and tithe ONLY what was permitted to be tithed on; fruits, vegetables and clean animals grown on the Promise Land. They were NOT permitted to pay their tithe in the form of money.

Next time your Pastor asks for a tithe, ask him to prove he is of the Tribe of Levi. If he can, hand him a Chicken Salad from Israel, if he can’t, call him a thief, and warn him to stop stealing money.

Of course there are hundreds of lies taught about tithing but this short list should give your an idea what is at stake in this teaching. Your financial future is at stake  and the more you know the better prepared you will be when facing people who believe and teach tithing as a mandatory practice. In an effort to help your understand how the tithe ended read these steps below to put the nail in the coffin of tithing.

Six Steps That Prove Tithing Ended

Step 1: Hebrews 7:5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; (NKJV).

Hebrews 7:5 confirms that levi received tithes according to the law under the levitical priesthood.

Step 2: Hebrews 7:12  For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law (NKJV).

Hebrews 7:12 tells us changing the priesthood will also change the law.

Step 3: Hebrews 7:18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. (KJV)

Hebrews 7:18 verifies that the command to tithe was disannulled. In other words, disannulling of the commandment cancelled the tithe. 

Step 4: Ephesian 2:15: Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in the ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (KJV).

Colossians 2:14: Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross (KJV).

Since tithing was an ordinance of the law it and other ordinances of the law were nailed to the cross. As Christ became the Lamb of God, he in effect was the final perfect type and shadow of the tithe as a sacrificed lamb, which ended tithing on the cross, but the physical tithe ended when the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Romans.

Step 5: Galatians 4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (KJV).

Galatians 4:5: Tells us that the Messiah redeemed those who were under the law at the Cross.

Step 6: 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” (NKJV)

There is not curse for not tithing because Galatians 3:13 says, “13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), (NKJV).

Paying Tithes Vs Paying ALMS

How to Refute the Lies of Tithing

It is a fact that the tithe in the Bible was always livestock and crops and never money, and Duet 12:17-18 is the nail in the coffin of monetary tithing which reads:  You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand.  But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands. It looks like a whole lot of tithe eating took place in the Old Testament. So my question to all the people who practice pay what they think is a tithe, show me the tithe money? And to don’t day that crops and cattle were Israel’s form of money but since we are not an agricultural economy we pay tithe in money. I would respond by saying, show me chapter and verse where God commuted the tithe to income?

But before you start pontificating the merits of monetary tithing, let me show you chapter and verse in Duet 14: 22-29 that God’s tithe was about eatible items not cash.

22 “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. 23 And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. 24 But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26 And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. 27 You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. 28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Let me present the evidence of what the tithe is according to scripture in Leviticus 27:30-33:

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 If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it. 32 And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD. 33 He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.’ ” 34 These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

As you can see based on exegesis, hermeneutics, context, the tithe consisted of the seed of the field, the fruit of the tree, the herds and flocks. If money was required as a tithe, a form of the Hebrew word for money would have been included in the list. The Hebrew word money is Kesafim, which means that the list would have to include some form a money such as gold, silver.  And if you think the term first fruits has anything to do with the tithe or money in any way, let me clear that up for your in 2 Chronicles 31:5-6, which says:

5 As soon as the commandment was circulated, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. 6 And the children of Israel and Judah, who dwelt in the cities of Judah, brought the tithe of oxen and sheep; also the tithe of holy things which were consecrated to the LORD their God they laid in heaps.

This scripture proves that tithes and fruits are not the same thing, so they can never be interchanged because they are distinctly different. The tithe was herds, flocks (oxen and sheep) and produce, the fruits were grain, wine, oil and honey. And as you can see all of these tithe items were goods you eat. So if someone tells you can’t eat your tithe, the answer is you can eat your tithe because God commanded the tithe to be eaten by the Israelites. The tithe will forever be food in the Bible that is eaten and there is no mention of gold, silver,  or any form of money being tithe to the Levites or priests. Notice also that the tithe command was only given to Children of Israel and not the New Covenant believers in Leviticus 27:30-33.

And if you want proof that Paul took care of his own needs as an itinerant preacher, read Acts 20:33-34 closely:

33 I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. 35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak.

Paul worked and preached in the cities where he preached. And he also took care of those who went in preaching journey’s with him. He was clear that he did not covet no one’s  money or clothes but worked as a tent maker to earn a living. If this post does not set the record straight about the lies of tithing and giving, then it nothing else will until the blinders are removed from those who have eyes and can’t see and those who have ears and can’t hear.