- 10% was not the minimum amount for Israel. They gave less than 10% at times. (Hebrews 7:4; Numbers 31:28-30)
- The New Testament does not command, address, or mention tithing to the Gentiles who are unfamiliar with Jewish practices.
- Jesus’ own ministry operated from freewill offerings. He also commanded the disciples to receive freely. (Luke 8:1-3, Matthew 10:8-10)
- The children of God under his family are not taxed. They are free to give (Matthew 17:25; Galatians 4:5)
- Tithing was not a requirement prior to the Mosaic law considering Jacob freely offered God 10%. (Genesis 28:20)
- None of the Israelites tithed while outside of the promised land. (Deuteronomy 12:5)
- Abraham’s tithe was under the Old Covenant, which was established before Moses and was also fulfilled (Genesis 3; Hebrews 8:13)
- Giving would be the only spiritual gift with a minimum requirement and not led by the Spirit.
- There are no commands to modify tithing with how we practice it today, so people have to make up correlations to get it to fit into the church.
- Israelites who did not grow food or raise animals did not tithe. (Leviticus 27:30)
- Giving is not by compulsion. (2 Corinthians 9:6-9)
- The Levitical priests were required to serve 25 years, and just like tithing, the New Testament doesn’t recall this requirement either
- Unless giving 10% is the spiritual nature of God’s holiness, then it falls under the same classification of other interim tokens in the Old Covenant that Christ fulfilled
Do you think people are going to give up going to see their favorite movie on Friday evening or the Football games on Saturday nights or even their Ham dinner on Holidays. Giving ten percent of their money is easier than doing this. Some pro-tithe or else person might be having a ham sandwich even at this very moment. Gentiles are not going to be talked into keeping the Sabbath from Frid. evening to Sat. evening they love pork and football too much to swallow that lie from the Pulpit, plus everyone knows that the major days for women to shop is on Saturday this just would not fly, not even if they got bragging rights for Sabbath keeping in return!
Oh, I forgot about the devout Seventh Day Adventist, you all keep the Sabbath so my hats off to you for at least being consistent to your pro-law-keeping and even not eating pork.
I am really impressed by your lack of double-speak and lack of contradictions.
Doesn’t it say somewhere in the bible that the thing you fear the most will come upon you, so if you think you are cursed for not paying God ten percent of your money then you will be! If you think God will bless you just by asking Him to then you will be I am pretty sure it says somewhere that when you pray believe that you will receive it then you will have what you say.
At the risk of sounding redundant and repetitious, Gentiles were not given any of the Laws of Moses. Neither were they adopted into the a Covenant with God till after Jesus died and the temple of his flesh was torn as well as the Jewish temple curtain that separated us from God was torn from top to bottom. This gave access to all to come boldly into the throne of God’s grace an obtain mercy. This mercy will redeemed you from the curse of the law. Laws you broke and may still break by sinning in your thoughts or actions. This mercy has a name, Jesus Savior and Lord. Now pray for what you need and receive it free of charge! We can try to stop sinning and not give in to our old nature but Civil wars are the hardest battles to fight.
I have a hard time believing that someone is saved and born again if they do not financially give when it is in their power to do so. Faith without works is dead.
Love is an action. Otherwise it is just all talk and no walk.
Tyrese
Giving 10% to ones fellowship or charity is wonderful but it is not tithing. This blog celebrates giving. Christian leaders expecting payment from other Christians and demanding it by teaching that Christians are obligated to give to their ministry is what anti-tithers are against. Giving is good God loves a cheerful giver. But everone can set in their heart where and what to give. That is all.
This is what Jesus and the Diciples taught none of them asked for a tithe of money like most evangelical Christian leaders of non profit organizations do today in America.
The poor and Jews who did not own land in Israel did not pay these food taxes from their land in Israel. Preist receved a tenth of the tenth from the levites and they too did not pay the tithe of Moses.
Tithes were food payments under the Jewish law sytem given to the priest and Levites. All Christians are priest so expecting 10 percent of another priest money is an un Christian concept.
Obligated Moneytithe Traditions take the priesthood giving athority away from non profesional paid Christians who believe in them. Giving is good Tyrese Expecting 10% and demanding it is bad.
Has anyone read 2 Cor. 9:7? “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Why would God ask us to “decide” in our heart what to give if He had already commanded us to give a base amount of 10% of our gross income? Are we under a curse of we don’t give this amount? Are we “robbing God”? No of course not! Rom. 8:1 tells us “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” If a church can not survive by receiving free will offerings (not tithes) it may not be something God want’s to bless. Stop tithing, start giving!
Jesus the good Sheppard laid his life down for the sheep. Superior Christian leads expect to pastor by decreasing while Jesus increases. High pastor expectations of others money sounds a lot like the leadership of Judas. Judas was very concerned with other peoples giving to Jesus.
Any Christian that expects 10% of another Christian’s money as their entitlement from Jesus must be incorrect. All Christians are priest and should be ready to suffer. How can expecting 10% from others be better for a Christian leader than not expecting 10%? Did Jesus really teach his priest to expect a percentage from other priest? If the leader expects monetary rewards as an entitlement how can the followers ever grow beyond worldly entitlements and dependences.
Christian leaders should be instructing all in Jesus to make themselves the leadership, obsolete because their leadership is no longer needed. John the Baptist said he must increase so I must decrease. It seems quite hard to decrease when one gets very good at obligating others to give ten percent of their money. How is that Christian Jesus like ministry? People are the church not organizations.
Giving is best when given to people because it cuts out the middle men. Giving to ones Children, Parents family, the poor, Christian Schools, Missionaries, are all ministries just as worthy of Christian dollars as our so called Local churches.
Please say something with love…. I realised that God never curses anyone. He wants all people to be blessed in Christ. However, curses and blessings was already been set. It is our choice which one to happen to us. Although Jesus Christ redeemed us from the curse, it doesnt mean you are free from the curse if you intend it to happent to you. Example, you suffered for beeing poor, I believe this is one situation of being cursed not becuase God has cursed you but because maybe you are lazy or you are sick maybe because you do not eat properly or you abused your body. Even if you are born again believers if you did these you have chosen curses not that God has cursed you. It is the same in giving, you do not harvest because you do have not planted.
I agree with what Just a comment.
In summation:
All Willful Sin Brings A Curse. The ultimate Curse will land you in Hell if you are refusing to be forgiven of the debt Jesus paid as your substitute on the Cross! “JESUS SAID PAID IN FULL.” OTHER TRANSLATIONS SAY: “IT IS ACCOMPLISHED”. JESUS PAID A DEBT HE DID NOT OWE FOR A DEBT YOU COULD NOT PAY!
Included in that payment is described in Romans 8:32-33 Read it for yourself no charges against you, and you are freely (some translations use the word graciously) given all things !
Thank you for sharing truth from Gods word with us.May Gods grace increase more and more in your lives.
Peace to you all.
It is sad when people try and manipulate others with their interpretation of scripture. Especially when their interpretation is driven by their lack of faith. Yes Jesus died for our sins and freed us from the law. Does that mean we can now murder, steal and worship idols? Of course not. Likewise we should still give back to God even after Jesus freed us from the Law. Make no mistake God does not need your money to accomplish anything. Your giving is an act of faith and obedience. Period. Seeing as we owe everything to God it seems petty to not freely give something back to him. I would argue that 10% of your income is less than .00000000000000000000001% of what God has provided to you.
What God really wants from you is a personal relationship where he is the savior of your soul through Jesus Christ. Once you have received him and spent enough time in his word and time speaking with him he will reveal to you the value of tithe and giving back to him. You will not understand this until he reveals it to you. He reveals many things to those who spend a lot of time in his word.
Still don’t want to give. Keep your pennies and don’t criticize those who have been rewarded for their faith in giving. On second thought go ahead and persecute us for our faith. It is another way for us to glorify God.
Until Jesus returns!!!!!!!!
Michael, God’s word has never asked you to give 10% of your money to Him, however you are welcome to do so. God’s word has never asked you to give 100% of your money to Him, although you are welcome to do so. Please understand that you will find no favor with God for the amount you give, only that you give with a cheerful heart. Cor. 9:7. If you give cheerfully 1.5% of your money then God bless you. If you give 98.5% grudgingly or under compulsion than keep it all and ask God to change your heart about giving. There is NO Tithe mandate in scripture for you or me. Please be free from this misguided teaching and give whatever you have decided in YOUR heart to give! Visit http://www.nomoretithing.org and read your Bible! God bless.
Hebrews 8:6-13 (King James Version)
6But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
He (Jesus) is a Mediator of A Better Covenant! DeWayne please read with understanding.
Better than the Old which includes Old Covenant tithing!
2 Cor. 9:7 has always been God’s plan for giving (new covenant). I will never tithe again, be free brother! (or sister of your a woman) Stop tithing, Start Giving!
Praise Jesus Dewayne
2 Cor. 9:7
This scripture Makes Christians free from any money to preachers mandate. Please people you are priest if Christ is in you. You all have ministries which are to those closest to you and those who you do not know. Preachers should ask for support not demand it through a law not found in Christ. Church tithing traditions destroy many relationships which could be more like friends and Family. If you are free from tithing please tell many others and our leaders will become more accountable.
Christ in US!
Rock on brother! Be free from the tithe mandate! Stop tithing…start giving!!!
Some of the comments are profound and I agree with them.
This is the way I see it-
Tithing was an old testament command to the Jews in order to finance the temple offerings and sacrifices and pay towards the priests. They would collect that as temple tax. They used Theocracy where religion and government was hand in hand. There were priests in the days of Malachi who were going to other professions because they were not being sustained so God rebuked them about robbing Him.
We today pay the same as taxes to the state. The new covenant is better than the old one, as some earlier posts had mentioned.
The early church never imposed these rules on new believers or gentiles. The Jerusalem council did not ask the gentile believers to pay tithes. Only 4 things check your bible.
You cannot earn your salvation by paying tithes neither can you lose salvation if you do not.
Besides all of these arguments and explanations the reason I stopped to tithe was when I saw the lives of these so called evangelist and preachers. how was the money i paid being used? I began to question…
Preachers like Benny Hinn go to third world countries and live in their best hotels.I was in the London conference 2007 where he announced that when we give to them they will write our name on the private jet and we will be in effect going to all the world to preach the gospel. You turn the so called Christian television God TV, TBN, Daystar you have preachers who are giving miracle waters to holy handkerchief. I dare you to write to any preacher and you will get at least one request for ‘Urgent Plea’ or urgent need to pay our last crusade bills.
If you are tithing in your church please look at the financial records as to how the money is being spent. Are there lazy good for nothing full time workers eating off that money, is your church a recognized charity. You can see their past years records and payments.
Be wise do not be foolish! Jesus in his parable asked the wicked servant why he did not invest the talents in the bank and earn interest? Be a good steward because there are real needy people out there whom you can touch and be a blessing to. Faith with works!
1.Abraham gave 10% of the spoils of war while Israel was required to give less from the spoils of war. (Hebrews 7:4; Numbers 31:28-30)
i always laught every time i read this article of Russel concerning the tithes in Num 31 as he allegedly a compromised tithes of God. poor analysis and lacled of supported evidence to accuss God of inconsistency and to bend his commandment to the lowest level as an ordinary human ordinances.
what kind of God does Russel worship?
let’s analyze his proof of evidence and learned if there’s really a valid reason to accuss God of his living words.
let us read in Numbers 18:26-28
v26 says: `When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you (Levites) must present a tenth of that tithe as the LORD’s offering.
…..so from the people’s tithe that the Levites received, a tenth from it will go to the Lord. that means 2 X 10% or two tithes.
in v28 says: “In this way you (Moses) also will present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the LORD’s portion to Aaron the priest.”
analyse: from the peoples tithes that moses received will go to the Priest ..that means 1 X 10%? why? because the common between these two verses were the people’’s tithe.
the arrangemet would be:
the peoples tithe + the Levites tithe + the Priest tithe =3 x 3 tithes!
we can now apply this formula to Number 31:32-26
v32 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,00=
0 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys 35 and 32,000 women who had ne=
ver slept with a man.
v36 The half share of those who fought in the battle was:
337,500 sheep, 37 of which the tribute for the LORD was 675;
v38 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the LORD was 72;
v39 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the LORD was 61;
v40 16,000 people, of which the tribute for the LORD was 32.
……..lets try the 675000 sheeps for the 3 tithes of num 18.
10% of 675000 =67500
10% of 67500 =6750
10% of 6750 =675! of Num 31:36 very simple!
according to your article that the ordinance of the Mosaic Law which sets the spoil-tax at only one percent (1%)(1/50th of one
half, or 1/100th) and not ten percent ”
where did you get this calculation?
lets read in Num 31:
v27 Divide the spoils between the soldiers who took part in the battle and
the rest of the community.
v28 From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the LORD one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats.
v29 Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the prie=
st as the LORD’s part.
v30 From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the LORD’s tabernacle.”
v31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
analyze: “From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the LORD one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats.
Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the LORD’s part.”
……1/500 will go to the Priest.
From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether persons, =
cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the LORD’s tabernacle.
……1/50 will go to the Levites.
so 1/500 of the Priest and 1/50 of the Levites = is not equal to tenth percent????
do you think there was no tithe on these two fractions?
it appears that you didnt notice that the tenth percent of God was still in1/500!
to make the distribution equal to both the soldiers and the people we must remove first the tenth from the 1/500!
thus 1/500 would be 1/10 and 1/50.
so now the total would be 1/10 of God and 1/50 of the soldiers and 1/50 of the people.
are these fractions equal to the formula given in Num 18 which constitute 3 x 10%?
what is your answer?
my answer is YES!
how? simply combine the two fraction of the 1/50 and 1/50 would be 2/100.
( it maybe resulted to 1/25 but we are only clarfying the three tithes in Num 18 )
but the 100 is equal to 10 x 10 or by square root.
so 2/100 can be express as 1/10 and 1/10.
so now 1/10 of God, 1/10 of the soldiers and 1/10 of the people thus equal to 3 X 10%
this conclude that the number 18 is equal to numbers 31 and therefore the tithe of God still stand.
now compare:
Num 18
10% of 675000 =67500 from the people to the levites
10% of 67500 =6750 from the levites to moses
10% of 6750 =675! from moses to the Lord represent by the priest!
Num 31
675000 / 2 = 337500
337500/50=6750 from the people to the levites,
337500/500=675 from the soldiers to the Lord!
so the common answer between in Numbers 18 and 31 would be 675 tithe tothe Lord!
RUSSEL LOST!
willis
I just want to ask a question, Willis do you beleive tithing is for christians today or is it no longer required ?
joel, if the tithing laws can be limited to the israelites only why would Malachi have to render Man instead of jews or israelites in his writings. his message covers the entire race of human just as moses had rendered man in the creation: “let us make man….”
as long as we are human tithings would be an active command in life which mean death and animal are the only way of not to tithe. satan was clever when he put up Charles Darwin to write that man was the higher animal kind in his theory and finaly employed in some level of learnings in science. and if tithings are for the jews what was Paul said in his Galatians book?
Galatians 3:29
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
who were the seed and heir to the promise given to abraham?
the jews and israelites!
what about the gentiles inheritance?
the gentiles can also be made heir to the promise through jesus christ’s adoption. that’s why in Roms 11 we are only called a wild olive twig grafted in the natural branch.
Romans 11:17
If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,
it’s a very simple logic of what we are to share from them.
now i should be the one to ask you, do we have to tithe when every descendant of abraham accustom to tithing?
No Russell did not lose read and re-read 2nd Corinthian 9:7 Each man is to give as he decides and purposes in his own heart!
you’re always babbling that verse to excuse yourself of obligation when there’s no even a single line that says it replaced the tithing laws by this give method to believe in your man-made doctrine. not Paul or Jesus had taught the people of no more tithes in this regard. you are full of deception to show by twisting the scriptures and be fitted to your self greed. yes to your pocket! all of Russel’s works are futile and short of worthiness. a blasphemy and rebellion toward God the motive of his book. he can not even prove that the tithes in num 31 are compromised. this is where he lost his ground to annul God’s commandmnt.
How do you know what we give, you are baring false witness! We are speaking on New Testament instructions of giving voluntarily, no one is saying to not support Ministry or their Churches, we are just saying teach it right. Giving is now to be done in worship not in fear of a curse or Jewish Old Covenant law.
Hebrews 8:6 the better covenant is the finished work of Jesus. Jesus summed up the entire Law Old and New when HE SAID IT IS FINISHED. Did he say I partially finished it now you finish the remaining ten percent? You lose unless you understand what all Jesus did and give glory to him not your own works.
wow! really? he finished them all or your false church finished them up?
alright how can you explain this?
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
who asked jesus about eternal life?
the teachers of the law or probably the jews.
what was he responded?
26″What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27He answered: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'[d]”
whaaat?
what the book of law that can be able to inherit ETERNAL LIFE?
it can not be a NT book for they were not written yet when jesus asked the jews.
i ask you again what the book of law that can also earn a man an eternal life?
you’re getting DUMB this time!
You guys have to see this! Stop tithing…start giving!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3xAiSLG9N8&feature=related