Resistance to the obligation of giving a tithe (a tenth of one’s income) away is a key evidence of opposition to God’s commandments- and hence, a key evidence of opposition to God’s authority and throne.  Yet many are confused over this matter because confusion over this matter abounds exceedingly for various reasons.  

A key reason for the confusion of some is that they discern how Christians are not under the ceremonial law of Moses while simultaneously failing to recognize that tithing was obligatory upon mankind as part of God’s eternal moral law- before the ceremonial law of Moses was given to Israel.  I have previously failed to understand the latter concept myself.  That is why a study I did on this topic approximately seven years ago didn’t stress the utter necessity of tithing.  At the time, I did not recognize the implications of the clear examples of tithing in the Book of Genesis (when people were bound to God’s eternal moral Law but not to the ceremonial Law of Judaism given to Israel- as is basically the case now).

Under the ceremonial law of Moses, God imposed a system in which the Israelites were to tithe which was given for very specific ends.  The expenses for Israel’s public worship and the support of the ministers of that public worship (the Levites) was to a significant extent provided for by Israel’s tithes.  Aid in the support of the genuinely needy in Israel was also a purpose of the tithe system imposed upon Israel under the ceremonial Law of Moses.  It is also evident from the Law of Moses that an Israelite fulfilling their duty of tithing did not relieve them of sacrificial giving beyond the tithe.  It is rather implied there that sacrificial giving can’t really even begin until after one has fulfilled the payment of their tithe.

Deuteronomy 15:11: “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.”

Obviously, none of us live under the ceremonial Law of Moses.  The Levitical Priesthood and the overall service of the Levites as the ministers in God’s public worship has ceased.  We can’t follow the tithe system given to Israel under Moses anymore than we could properly keep most other aspects of the ceremonial law of Moses if we tried (and we should not).  

God decreed through the Apostles in the Book of Acts that gentile Christians were not to come under the ceremonial law of Moses.  He also worked in His sovereignty to cause the Temple’s destruction through the Romans, the Jews were scattered throughout the world, and His worship ceased to be centered around the nation of Israel (and we have messages on the errors of Judaizing and of Zionism for those who want to look more specifically into these things).  

However, the obligatory tithe to be given to God as a practical recognition that He has a right to all of our income and even to our very own selves, preceded the tithe system imposed upon Israel as a nation through Moses.  This is easy to prove since tithing has its foundation in Genesis.  The events of Genesis predate Moses- though Genesis was written by Moses.

Genesis 14:8-20: “And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.  And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.  And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.  And when Abram (who soon after became Abraham) heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.  And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.  And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.  And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.  And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.  And he (Abram) gave him (Melchizedek) tithes of all.”

It is especially significant that Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedec.  Melchizedek was a priest who foreshadows Jesus’ High Priesthood rather than the Levitical Priesthood (and I think it’s almost certain that Melchizedec himself was one of those appearances of Jesus in Old Testament times- we see a few chapters later in Genesis 18 how one of the three men who met with Abraham before Sodom’s destruction was the Lord Himself).

Psalm 110:4 says concerning the Messiah: “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Look then at the New Testament commentary on Melchizedek in Hebrews 7:1-10: “For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.  Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.  And verily (truly) 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: But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.  And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.  And here men that die receive tithes (talking about the Levitical Priesthood); but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.  And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.  For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.”

Jesus’ Priesthood is of the order of Melchizedek.  This Priesthood is greater than, and supersedes, the Levitical Priesthood which was installed under the ceremonial Law of Moses.  

This Priesthood not only receives tithes, but the Levitical Priesthood even figuratively paid tithes to this Priesthood when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek.  

We have sufficient reason then to conclude that the mandatory tithe is upheld rather than negated under Jesus’ High Priesthood- which is of course of the order of Melchizedek.

We also see in Genesis chapter 28:20-22 how Jacob understood that faithfully worshiping God requires paying a tithe to Him.  Jacob was not broken and unconditionally surrendered at this point in Genesis 28- yet he surely knew what God requires from the faithful worship he had seen in his grandfather Abraham and in his father Isaac.

Genesis 28:20-22: “And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment (clothing) to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”

Therefore, the principle of the required tithe is upheld for those who lived before, and those who live after, the time in which the ceremonial law of Moses was binding upon Israel.  The concept spoken of then in Malachi chapter 3 that not tithing is robbing God remains true all the same.  

This is no less true even though we are not under the tithe system which Israel was under and God’s public worship is not inherently associated with a national political entity like it was with Israel from Moses’ time until the times of the Messiah (whom Israel was raised up as a nation to bring forth- this also makes the Jews who reject Him especially wicked).  

As there were storehouses for tithes and freewill offerings in Israel that were supposed to be for the expenses related to public worship, the support of those who ministered in that, and for the support of the poor and needy, a Christian church is likewise to take tithes and freewill offerings of its members for the same basic purposes.

The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 9:9-14: “For it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.  Doth God take care for oxen?  Or saith he it altogether for our sakes?  For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.  If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things (that is, things pertaining to the body)?  If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather?  Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.  Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple?  and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?  Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.”

The principles related to how Israel used the tithe under the ceremonial law of Moses also carry over in relation to how Christian churches should collect tithes of their members and use those for the same basic purposes as Israel was supposed to use them.  

This brings us to another big issue which the issue of tithing should naturally lead one to squarely face.  

Many are confused about tithing also due to how many false pastors will preach strongly on tithing.  Preachers who preach on tithing often don’t prove the necessity of tithing well on a Biblical basis either, even though such a basis exists.  The false pastors who preach tithing are also among the wolves who are in ministry for their own gain.  Their own high standard of living, their own unnecessary building projects, and other unnecessary endeavors for their own glory are at stake in their preaching of tithing.  They often put great emphasis on the tithe for their church- while neglecting personal giving to the poor and other obvious Biblical issues related to holiness and obedience.  They don’t even mind their members being idolaters who live for money and pleasure- as long as they get their tithe from them.  

In many cases, it is the very false pastors who are saying that Christians need not even be subject to the eternal moral law of God (and they often confound the moral law with the ceremonial law) who are also commanding their church members to tithe.  They don’t believe Christians are obligated to keep the moral nor the ceremonial law of God- yet they are harping upon the necessity of tithing.  Oh, the utter, shocking inconsistency and hypocrisy of this.

If a church is committed to false doctrine or is not living consistent with the right doctrine which it preaches, you shouldn’t be there- let alone giving your tithe there.  If you can’t trust the church with your money, why are you there anyways?  No matter how right a pastor is on tithing, if he is an unfaithful pastor of an unfaithful church, you should be out of there and taking your tithe elsewhere.  

Look for a faithful church, make sure you are ready and willing to join, participate in, and overall be a Christian consistent with a faithful Christian church.  Do all you can to be faithful to the Lord in whatever ways you can- whether you have found a faithful church or not.  All of the things which a church should be doing with its tithes are things which you can do to at least some degree on your own.  There are people who are faithful in preaching the Gospel somewhere, people who need Bibles somewhere, needy Christians somewhere, and countless people suffering from starvation and disease all over the world.  You can still help them with your tithe, as well as beyond your tithe- with or without a church.  Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

James 1:27: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

Consider also how the Apostle Paul continued in 1 Corinthians 9:15-19: “But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.  For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!  For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.  What is my reward then?  Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.  For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.”

The Apostolic example and instruction requires that the ministers not be unnecessarily burdensome on their congregation nor take money they don’t need when there are other needs which ought to be attended to.  They also should not request money from those without the church whom they preach the Gospel to.  This is also only consistent with the attitude which the Levites were supposed to have in God’s service under the ceremonial law of Moses.  

God’s moral principles never change, though His covenant arrangement with man has.  The Book of Hebrews emphasizes the change of that covenant arrangement which happened in the first century AD, while also emphasizing near its closing in Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

Aaron’s email is: [email protected]

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DON’T GET CAUGHT INTO THE SIN OF NOT GIVING YOUR BEST TO JESUS, TITHING IS REQUIRED BY GOD.