The Christian, Tithing, and Offerings
0. Introduction
Hebrews 7:5: “And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham.”
Normally, this verse alone should end the debate on tithing. It is in the New Testament and reminds us that the tithe is due to the Levites and paid by their Israelite brethren.
If a pastor is not a Levite dedicated to the priesthood and you are not an Israelite according to the flesh, he should not claim to collect the tithe, nor should you give it to him. We can understand why no apostle collected tithes in the New Testament and why tithing was never taught to Christians in the Bible.
Pastors who self-proclaim as Levites to collect tithes make themselves liars.
To me, the one who gives a tithe does not sin, but the one who receives it without being in the Levitical priesthood and without being a son of Levi could incur God’s wrath and curse, similar to the leprosy of Naaman that clung to Gehazi, who deceitfully took a portion of the gifts that the prophet Elisha had refused.
Pastors or others who insist on taking tithes show a lack of faith or a dangerous love for money. Lack of faith because they do not understand that without the tithe, God can take care of them even better than when they were collecting the tithe. God does not need the tithe to take care of them.
In Christianity, another mechanism was put in place to care for the brethren of Christ: donations, liberality, and offerings, all made freely and without constraint.
Assistance to the Saints
With Christianity, we speak rather of assistance to the saints, donations, and liberality, which each person gives freely as they have resolved in their heart and without constraint.
Assistance to the saints is good and useful and is not the tithe. It follows the model of the early church, where people sold their possessions and shared everything in common, distributing according to need. It was not reserved for the preacher, and even deacons were appointed to handle this while preachers focused on the word. This assistance ensured that no one in the church was in need (I am speaking here of the brethren in Christ, also called Christians, and not only the clergy). It allowed those who became Christians not to be hindered by the financial persecutions of those they depended on financially, who might use that dependence as leverage against their faith.
Its model is well described here:
2 Corinthians 8:11-15: “Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.”
But today, many tithe-loving pastors are excessively rich, even stripping the poorest disciples! This has nothing to do with the Christian model.
2 Corinthians 9:5,7: “Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
There are, however, promises for those who participate in good works and contribute to supporting Christians. They do so freely, not according to a rate related to a tithe, but according to their own choice. Even if someone gives 50% of their income, it is up to them. Even 1%, it is still according to their freedom.
Proverbs 19:17: “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”
2 Corinthians 9:6,8: “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
Each one therefore freely brings their contributions, not as paying a tithe, but as caring for the poor or the Church of God, according to this word of Christ, reminding us that assistance is not exclusively for pastors but for all Christians in need.
Matthew 25:35-40: “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Tithing is not a requirement of Christian life. The apostles did not preach it to Christians.
The logic of calculating the tithe in the Levitical priesthood
I have already said, for me the institution of the Jewish tithe follows a precise calculation based on the fact that God had dedicated one tribe out of twelve to His service, and that the tenth of the income of the others should allow this tribe not to be in need. The own tithe of this tribe contributed to the priests and to the works of God. This restored equity and justice. A simple mathematical calculation demonstrates this (1/10 * 11 = 1.1 minus 1/10 (tithe of the tithe), we have approximately 1. This makes the Levites end up with the average income of the tribes. It is a tribe that has the average income of another, not an individual).
The danger
Today, pastors act as if they are a tribe and demand the tithe to build personal wealth and not to meet needs or the work of God. The preaching of the tithe has ended up giving people the impression that salvation is sold and making Christianity look like a form of commerce or that prosperity can be bought with it. Many wolves in sheep’s clothing have used it to create churches of frauds, and the resulting spectacle contributes to many people fleeing from Christianity, keeping their distance, and even slandering it.
Nowhere in the New Testament was the tithe prescribed by the apostles to Christians. Are those who preach it on the foundation of the apostles or on another foundation?
The tithe as a condition for blessings or receiving divine grace
2. Some personal additions
Matthew 10:7-8: “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”
Acts 3:6: Then Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”
Peter performed great miracles. But because he did not collect money for it, he said to the beggar who asked him for alms that he had neither gold nor silver. And without asking the beggar for a penny, he gave him healing.
Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me.”
Isaiah 59:1-2: “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
Nowhere in the New Testament was a miracle or a blessing from Jesus or the apostles conditioned by any financial or material gift previously given to the man of God to whom the request was made. Even the prophets in the Old Testament were used to refusing gifts (Elisha refused Naaman’s gifts after his healing, Daniel refused the king’s gifts for his interpretation…). The gift received from God is not subject to financial conditions.
Those who choose to bring offerings as seeds can do so, but they should not believe they are buying God’s favor or bribing God. It should rather be in acknowledgment of the favors received from God, and not as if to bribe God regarding requests to Him. If not in acknowledgment, let us be rich in liberality and assistance in our way of living, not aiming at the fulfillment of a particular request, but expressing our love for God and our neighbor.
They should remember that God does not receive the hire of a whore or the price of a dog, and Cain’s offering was fundamentally rejected because he had a wicked heart. This was shown in his murdering his brother and also in not giving the best of what he had to God.
What God wants above all is ourselves, that we repent, walk in righteousness and holiness, so that our offering may be like that of Abel, the righteous.
You want to come out of curses, receive blessings, do what Peter answered to the question, “What shall we do?” Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
However, it is possible to make a vow to God when we have made a request to Him, expressing through this vow a promise we make to God, which we will fulfill if our request is granted. It is in this case after the request has been granted that we fulfill our vow. It is absolutely necessary to note such a vow where we cannot forget it. For it is obligatory to fulfill our vows.
Beware, however, of someone who asks you to make a vow related to their person so that they pray for you, under the pretense that through their person it is to God that you are making the vow. Many wolves in shepherd’s clothing will make you believe this.
2. An excellent article on tithing, very clear, even in the interpretation of Malachi 3, the verse invoked to collect tithes
3. Another article https://www.bible-ouverte.ch/messages/livresretranscrits/91-livres-retranscrits-donner-selon-dieu/672-donner-3.html
4. Beware of the pastors denounced in Ezekiel 34: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%C3%89z%C3%A9chiel%2034&version=LSG
All this is very clear, and the first link concludes exactly what the attitude of a Christian should be.
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