QUESTION: Hello people, how true is this and how much of the Old Testament writings are not relevant today?
The true biblical (and theologically correct) position on tithes and tithing is both ended at the completion of the Age of Israel (from circa 2065 BC at the call of Abraham to 2 BC the birth of Christ). We are now in the Church Age , towards its completion, in fact (circa AD 33 to AD 2033). There’s absolutely no requirement to pay tithes in the Church Age, and there’s no evidence in the New Testament that anyone paid tithes AFTER Pentecost in AD 33. Whoever asks you for tithes today is either 1. a conman/conwoman or 2. theologically illiterate or 3. both of these
Beckie
RESPONSE: The Bible, with all 66 books, is still relevant today. The issue isn’t with the Bible itself, but with how we interpret it. To address your first question, the Bible (correct interpretation) is still relevant today, and the Old Testament has a lot to teach us.
The revelation of God, which is of interest to us, is communicated through particular cultures throughout the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, and it is easy to distinguish what does not bother (irrelevant) you from what does concern (relevant) you if we interpret the Old Testament literally.
TITHE FOR ISRAEL OR FOR THE CHURCH?
Tithing was practised by the Israelites long before the nation and religion of Israel were created. In many cultures, it was a tax.
Like the Israelites learned the priesthood from the Midianites, the tithe taxing system was acquired from surrounding civilizations and religionised.
Tithing was initially a socio-economic issue, not a spiritual one…until the Israelites took it up and religionised it, and the texts that indicate a blessing in tithing became religionised as well.
To tithe is to pay tax…the same reasons a citizen pays taxes should apply to tithing to their church or worship centre.
The 3 Tithes
There are three different forms of tithes in the Old Testament Israel economy, which are as follows:
- The Levitical, or sacred tithe (Numbers. 18: 21, 24).
- The tithe of the feasts (Deuteronomy 14:22-27).
- The tithe for the poor (Deuteromomy 14:28, 29)
The numbers vary depending on how long ago the Old Testament was written, but the normal amount of tithe is 10% (a tenth), and it is thought that the term Tithe itself signifies a tenth of your income.
So, much as our countries have various taxes and other financial assistance programmes such as NSSF (in Uganda), the Israelites had a taxation system similar to ours (tithe 2 and 3).
Let us concentrate on the first form of tithe, the sacred/Levitical tithe, for the time being.
TITHE IS A SUPPORT SYSTEM
Modern religions have institutionalised the tithe and offering practises, just as the Old Testament people religionized a socio-economic tax. Levites and priests collected the Levitical tithe in the Old Testament.
However, the accountability of this tithe was controlled through the Levites’ designated cities, not to enrich and make these wealthy. Their inheritance included forty-eight cities spread across the country (Numbers 35:6-7). Six of the forty-eight cities were designated as refugee cities. As a result, the Levites and priests were the country’s welfare agents.
Sadly, today’s Religious institutions are building empires, and pentecostal pastors are flying private jets. This is a tithing violation.
THE THEOLOGY OF GIVING
Giving has theological significance since it is based on the concept of Divine Providence (DP). This is the belief that God, the world’s creator, has established natural production systems through his act of creation, as implied in Genesis 1. In nature, there is productivity for sustainability, increase, growth, and wealth creation that is not the result of evolution (things evolving on their own), but the result of a purposeful designer’s creation intent. Because God intended for the resources in nature to be reproduced, the creativity to reproduce these resources in humans is likewise a creation of man. As a result, the concept of DP implies that the raw material we reproduce to create wealth is a creation of God and that it is God who has established systems (nature and its laws) in place within which we function: Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:5-15).
Providence is God’s active generosity in the creation and redemption of the world. He provided (gave) in nature when we needed WEALTH, and when we needed eternal HEALTH, he provided (gave) himself through redemption (John 3:16). As a result, the relationship between man and God is a GIVING RELATIONSHIP. God doesn’t give to us because we asked or because we are qualified in any way; he gives because he is the GIVER, and we are all positioned and placed under divine providence, from our physiology to our psychology. God’s blessings are with us, and the fact that some are interrupted (allowing some individuals to get more and others less) has nothing to do with divine providence.
When it comes to us, we don’t give to God because he requires it, but GIVING is an act of WORSHIP theologically. Man was made to WORK and WORSHIP, and when he goes out to work within God’s creation providence and contributes to the divine’s representative centres (your pastor or fellowship), he recognises that it is God who is behind his acquisition of whatever he has acquired in his work (Deuteronomy 8:18).
Giving back to God’s ministry in a sinful world, whether in the shape of standard percentages like Tithe or random figures, is a symbol of recognition of God as the one in control of all your success and prosperity. As a result, tithing (giving) has theological significance in the context of divine providence in a sinful world.
Giving is both the engine that propels the world forward and the one that keeps it running. A tree’s roots go into the ground for water and other nutrients, yet its leaves and fruits fall to the ground as manure. Such systems exist, and because there is an active God at work, everything works out for the good of his people. Regardless of how sin has broken these systems and continues to do so, there is a God who is involved in their repair and restoration to ensure that we are blessed and succeed.
Giving is thus SERVING WHAT SERVES YOU IN ORDER FOR IT TO SERVE YOU BETTER. Not giving for any reason is APOSTASY, REBELLION, and an ATTACK ON SERVICE. In our typical governments, not paying taxes (providing for the common benefit) is TREASON or REBELLION. You are proclaiming two things by not paying taxes: First, you are not a citizen of this country, and second, you are opposed to its government. Failure to tithe or give in your Christian life indicates that you do not believe you were created by God and that you do not acknowledge Jesus as LORD and SAVIOR.
As opposed to the history of tithing, this is the theology of tithing. It is poor ecclesiology (church study) and hence incorrect theology to presume that there was something known as ISRAEL in the Old Testament and something known as THE CHURCH in the New Testament, and therefore there was no church in the Old Testament. The Church of God is made up of believers, not religious anthropologies like Israel’s in the Bible, not current big religious institutions like Catholicism, Anglicanism, and so on. The church’s age does not begin with the New Testament or even the New Covenant; rather, the church has always existed and is as old as God’s revelation.
When God revealed himself, those who understood and believed the revelation at the time formed the church. So the church is not Israel’s or any other culture, but it was in these cultures that people like Abraham believed and were counted righteous (Genesis 15). Individual believers existed before, through, and beyond Israel, which is why God said in John 10:16, “I HAVE OTHER SHEEP NOT HERE.” In other words, there are and must be believers in Catholicism, Anglicanism, and other denominations who must eventually experience an Exodus and join the universal flock who know God and God knows them (John 10:27-28).
So when Israel employed a tithing system that it religionized with curses and blessings (Malachi 3:7-12), it abused a sacred thing of giving, yet the church never stopped giving and never gave for blessings or curses, so why should the same church today stop or give more for curses or blessings?
As a Christian, you should tithe to support your personal pastor (not the church pastor) because he or she is the one who ministers to your spiritual needs. Your pastor should not charge for his services in the same way that your lawyer, doctor, or engineer do, but you must minister to him or her in the same way that you minister to the others.
As a member of the fellowship and a missionary of God, you should give your Time, Talents, and Treasures to evangelism and church-based missions. This is not a call to enter into a prosperity contract with God, but rather a reminder of the great commission to all believers (the Church) wherever they are (Mathew 28:18-19)
You can do this by tithing (a consistent 10% percentage offering) or giving as your heart leads you (2Corinthians 9:7). Both are types of giving, and both are theological.
CONCLUSION
We ask people to choose what they are comfortable with at IN TRUTH AND IN SPIRIT WELL OF WORSHIP FELLOWSHIP (John 4:24) – (iTiS). Those who desire to tithe, those who have an offering, and those who pledge a sum on a monthly basis are all free. We do this because it is theologically acceptable to maintain a fellowship and spiritual centre, and people should choose how they do it.
Your financial and physical support will assist you in securing a worship space, worship instruments, seating, repairs, and other necessities, as well as keeping your useful ministers in place and performing their duties.
Your financial and physical support will assist you in securing a worship space, worship instruments, seats, repairs, and other essentials, as well as retaining and executing the tasks of your valuable ministers.
So, while the PERCENTAGE is optional and non-theological, the PRINCIPLE of GIVING is not. We must minister to those who minister to us and give to those who minister to us. You owe it to your pastor to minister to you if he or she has been helpful and ministering to you.
The church is made up of individuals, not institutions or structures. It is a flock with a shepherd. A shepherd shepherds his flock to pastures, and the flock supplies the shepherd with milk and meat.
The shepherd must not appear to be in better condition than the sheep, and the sheep must not appear to be in better health than its shepherd.
God bless you, I invoke TRUTH, WISDOM and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Priest Isaiah White
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
Questioning to Believe, Believing to Live
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 