TITHE REDEFINE

TITHE REDEFINE

Every church preaches tithe and offering and yet the congregation still misunderstand the message of tithing and offering. Pastors preach tithing in order to exploit their members. Even most preachers themselves do not understand the concept of tithing. Tithing has become a thing of controversy in the church as some believes that it must be done and others presumed it is not necessary. The sharing formula of tithe is another bone of contention because many church founders and clergy men love be the sole beneficiary of the tithe. They will say that tithe is for the priest because they are not allow to work and as such must eat from the church. Most time, there is no difference between the church account and that of the clergy men.

Our churches have stopped preaching the message of heaven and rapture because there is need to preach giving in other to increase the cash available to the pastor. These kinds of message have become the prominent prosperity preaching of our days. The pastor will tell you give and it shall be given to you, no matter what you do if the tithe is paid it is sanctified. For this reason armed robbers, prostitute, thief, corrupt public leaders, corrupt politicians will bring money from their dubious activities and pay as tithe and the pastor will gladly collect without asking for the source. Even if he knows the source, it doesn’t change his stand from collecting that money.

Most preachers are money minded and material centred. The quest to become rich has been the order of the day and as such there is no more truth in the church. Pastor look at the people that pays the highest tithe as the most spiritual and so these people are entitled to be given position in the church. In most churches, if we look at the church executive leaders we will discover that the men are all men of influence and affluence, highly place individuals in the society. The pastors don’t care if the ways of these men are not pure.

I do not have bias for money but i hate the fact that men crave for it. Money is not evil but the love of money is the root of evil. The uncontrollable crave for money is an issue. It is a shameful thing that all of this is happening in the body of Christ that would have been a light. Jesus said let your light shine before men that they may give glory to your father who is in heaven. This attitude of the church towards money has become a reproach to the name of lord. I use this book to sound an alarm once again that in a short while the lord will come and carry the righteous to the heavenly banquet and the sinners will perish with the earth.

Tithe is a concept of the scripture and must be strictly adhered to. There is no condition for exempting yourself from it except if there is no increase to you. Tithe is the one-tenth or ten percent of whatsoever increase you had. Tithe is not just on salary or wages; it includes other resources that are accessible to you in as much as it adds to you.

Abraham was the first to practice the law of tithing by giving the tenth of his booties from war to Melchizedek king of Salem, who was the priest of God, most High (Gens.14:18-20). Abraham opens for himself a window of heaven that cannot be shut for years over him and his descendants. That is why the blessing of the lord has not departed from his descendant.

After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him tenth of everything.

The encounter of Abram with Melchizedek was a life time impartation. Abraham have always known God as his Lord (Master: Gen 12:1, 4, 7, 17; 13:14) until Melchizedek introduce God as Most High. When the two met, Melchizedek didn’t ask for the tithe nor did he preach about it. He was the first to offer something which is a bread (Bread can be synonymous to the word of God but here it is the actual bread) and wine (wine can be synonymous to the life of God but here it is the actual wine). This is exact prototype of what Jesus did at the Last Supper with the twelve. The bread in the last supper was the body (the word of God) and the wine was the blood (the life of God). Thereafter, He blessed Abram.

Abram gave tithe not because he wanted a blessing but in response to a revelation that blesses him. Abram has been blessed both with Physical and Spiritual blessings and as such needed not to pay tithe to receive a blessing (Gen 12:1-3, 13:2-7). Abram and Lot were so blessed that their herdsmen struggle for spaces to feed their flocks. They needed not to bribe God to get blessing. Giving tithe to receive blessing is like giving bribe to get your way out of issues.

Abram got a revelation of God he never had before that God is a Most High. Most High means he is the source, creator and originator of all things and no one is as great as he is and all that we have came from him and belong to him. We are only stewards of God’s blessing including the defeat of the kings. The revelation propelled Abram to give a tenth of the booties. He didn’t give a tenth of all his income but a tenth of what he retrieved from the enemies.

This was a way God uses to start teaching Abram, later Abraham the acts of giving. How do we know the revelation propelled Abram to give tithe and not that he was instructed to do so? Genesis 14:21-

And the King of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “ I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, that i would not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘i have made Abram rich’. I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me; let Aner, Eschol, and Mamre take their share.”

Abram repeated the exalt statement of Melchizedek when the later was blessing him. And he went further that he sworn to God of the revelation not to get anything from the booties. This is to avoid another man taking glory for the blessings which God has given him. To avoid man’s claim that ‘i have made Abram rich’, he refuse taking anything. This revelation changes Abram entire life.

After this thanksgiving offering Melchizedek, God revealed a vision promising to reward Abram which he believed and was counted to him as righteousness. Abram grew from giving booties to giving his own properties when the three men visited him (Gen 18:1-8). As times goes on Abraham, now Abram have learnt the act of giving and as such God requested for his only son. If Abram didn’t pass the test of tithing, the test of giving his properties, how then will he pass the giving of his only son? Recall how that he longed to get the son and God demanding for it. It wasn’t that he has another to replace Isaac.

But standing on the long encountered revelation of Melchizedek that God is a Most High, he gave the son out. On the way to the altar, the son ask the father for the sacrificial lamb and Abraham responded,

God will provide himself the lamb for the burnt offering my son. Gen 22:8

This statement was an assuring fact that God may not make him sacrifice the child or even if he did, he can give him another instantly and if he didn’t he will work out things in a surprising way because he is the Most High. And God provided as Abraham believed (Gen 22:13-14). This is the only time Abraham gave tithe.

Abraham gave tithe, he didn’t pay it. It wasn’t an obligation, it was a revelation. His revelation grew from tenth to all that he has. His only son represented all that he has. He wasn’t compelled to give but was propelled by a revelation. He wasn’t force or manipulated to give but rather receive an incentive of revelation by sharing of bread and wine to give.

Why and how did tithe become a law? “To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance; the offerings by fire to the lord God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him” Joshua 13:14. The Levite were entrusted with the Service of God in the Tabernacle and they are not expected to own a land like their brethren, or do any other services other than those of the temple. The God of Justice can’t leave them to starve to death because they are serving God and he knows the heart of Men that it is desperately wicked hence the provision. God needed to find a way to provide for the need of the levites and as such he gave tithing as a law.

The tribe of Levi comprises of the Priests (That is Aaron Descendants), the singers, the gatekeepers (this age Ushers), temple servants and other Levites (Numbers 3:1-end, 1 Chronicles 9:1-end, Ezra 2:36-54).

God instructed Moses about tithe and Moses reminded the children of Israel about tithe that they shall tithe all the yield of the seed, which comes forth from the field year by year. He also shows the sharing formula for tithing which includes the priest, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow (Deut. 14:28-29). The priest that is the Levites are entitled to benefit from tithing because they are not allowed to work. The sojourners are entitled to benefit because the land is not his home country and as such need to be taken care of. The other two beneficiaries are the fatherless and the widow because they do not have source of provision and as such the community have to provide for them.

Historically, the Levite will collect tithe from the Israelite and out of the tithe they collected, they give a tithe to the Priests. The Priests then collect the tithe from the Levites and remove a tithe from what they collected to be stored in a house called the storehouse. What is stored in the store house will then be given to the sojourners, fatherless and widows. This is the order of the sharing of the tithe under the law.

But the Priest in the days of Malachi defaulted in giving their own tithe after receiving from the children of Israel and the Levites. Hence, the reason for Malachi’s warning about tithing.

Malachi 1:1-6 God words were written to the Israelite in which God recounted his love for them as oppose his hatred for Esau and his descendants. In verse 6 downward God began to narrow the message to those it concerned which are the priest, how they offered despiteful offering to him. God’s warning through Malachi continues in Chapter two to the priest and thereafter to chapter three. God promises to judge and purifies the Levites and the priest (Mal 3:3). He judges those oppressing the poor, sojourners and orphans (Mal 3:5). So, God needed to let the Priest understand what they will cause not just to themselves but the congregation they lead if they continue in their acts. God refers it as robbery because you collected the people share but refuse giving your own share.

So, God speaking to the Levites and Priests that they have robbed him in tithing and offering that if they obey the law of tithing (giving 10%) and Offering (giving any percentage), he will continue his blessing upon them. The emphasis wasn’t about tithing but giving in general.

Some says Jesus didn’t preach about tithing and others says he mentioned it in Matthew 23:23

Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

Jesus didn’t ask the Pharisees not to tithe but more than tithing they should consider justice, mercy and faith. Jesus was addressing the Pharisees and not the disciples hence his speeches are in accordance to the law and not one of the teachings of the kingdom. Jesus never spoke about the kingdom to the scribes and Pharisees, he answer their questions from their traditional legal perspective. Jesus didn’t support or rebuke tithing but rather says if the Pharisees wanted to practice this law because of what they will gain, they should consider more influential law than this and at the same time do this.

Jesus taught the disciples and those willing to follow him to sell all they have and give it to the poor. All they should leave everything and follow him. He wanted to take their attention from material distraction to kingdom focus (Lk 12:32-33, 18:18-30; Matt. 19:16-30, 4:18-22, 10:28-31). Everyone that has give all for the benefit of all. This help the disciples overcome greed and self-centeredness.

It was this teaching of Christ that the early Church imbibed and practiced, not collecting tithe but voluntarily the believers donated their belongings and dropped it at the Apostles’ feet. They remembered the feeding of the four thousands with seven loaves of bread (Mk. 8:1-10, matt.15:32-39) and the feeding of five thousands with five loaves of bread and two fishes (Matt 14:13-21, Mk 6:32-44, Lk 9:10-17, Jn 6:1-14).

These teachings made the Apostle’s through the Holy Spirit lead the early Church to that maturity of seeing God as the Most high and that all things belong to him. Hence the reasons they could sell all their possessions and bring it before the Apostle’s feet (Act 2:45, 4:32-37).  No one said what they have belong to them but they have all things in common. If you give all that you have there is no need taking about tithing. The tenth is part of the whole you gave. Therefore, there is no need for the Apostle talking or writing about it.

There is no curse attached to not tithing because in Christ, all curses has been nailed. He redeemed us from all curses and became the curse for us (Gal. 3:13). No believer in Christ can be curse. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings (Eph.1:3). The only blessing attached to tithing is the blessing of a giver. The blessing of a giver is that whatsoever you give return to you in multiple measures.

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back. (Lk. 6:38).

Giving is beyond money and in the above famous context it isn’t about money but on forgiveness. Giving includes teaching and other activities that help makes people life better. It is all about adding value.

Giving finance is a thing of necessity because it is a spiritual secret to immeasurable financial blessings. Mal. 3:8-12 reveals that Giving (Tithe) is a spiritual financial investment that can yield overflowing blessings. It an investment that causes financial blessings to flow down like showers of rains. Tithing is an act of storing your treasures in the heavenly bank called Storehouse. This will yield interest called opening of the heaven’s window. When there is an opening of the windows of heavens, there is a shower of blessings.

There are blessings attached to tithing which includes open heavens, the outpouring of overflowing blessings, rebuking of the devourer for your sake so that the fruit of your soil will not be destroy.  

In conclusion, Tithing is not compulsory but it is however important. Give it to your Pastor or preachers (1 Tim 5:17-18, 2 Cor. 11:7-11, Phil. 4:14-19) as a reward for service unto God, to your Parent (1 Tim 5:4, Mk 7:9-13, Prov. 23:22-25) so that your days might be long, to your enemy (Rom 12:20-21, Prov. 25:21, Lk. 6:35) in order to win their heart, to your family (Deut. 15:7-8, 1 Tim 5:8, 2 Cor. 12:14) lest you be worst than unbelievers, to the body of Christ (1 Cor 16:1-4, Acts 2:45, 3:34, Acts 6:1-15) as one body, and finally to the poor (Eph. 4:27-28, Prov. 22:9, 19:17, 28:27, Ps. 41:1-3, Matt. 19:21). Give cheerfully because the measure in which you give shall you receive.