2008 ©
All scripture taken from KJV unless otherwise stated
TITHING -IS IT NEW TESTAMENT?
In this teaching I will highlight or enlarge various words to bring out some important points .
Tithing was a command under the Old Testament Law .A severe punishment for disobedience to this law is seen in the book of Malachi. The term The Law, actually refers to the first five books of the Bible. I’ve read someplace that the Old Testament actually had about 613 laws. In any case, Tithing was definitely one of those commands under that Law .
We see this severe punishment mentioned in the Old Testament in Malachi 3:8-11 ; Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say how have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse; for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house and prove me herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord of hosts.
Like the last will and testament of someone used in our laws today. So also the New Testament is exactly the same thing .At the reading of a will, someone reads the last will and testament of the deceased person. A testament is a will, and the New Testament is the will of God .It is His plan, his purpose and tells us all He has provided for us, through our redemption in Christ .
Tithing was something commanded to those who were under The Law in the Old Testament. Christians today are under the New Testament and are not under the Old Testament Law, Rom 6:14, Heb. 8:13 & Gal. 2:16. Actually ,the entire books of Galations and Ephesians clearly proves this out.
Before we look at New Testament scriptures, let me mention that the word Tithe literally means 10%. Here is a question that has been asked many times. Does the New Testament in any way command a Christian to Tithe [give 10% of his goods or money] to the church?
Some have been taught, that the scripture in Mat. 23: 23 is a command to Christians in the New Testament to Tithe 10% of their income to the church. Some have even went so far as to say that the Malachi 3 curse will come upon those who fail to tithe. But is this really what the New Testament teaches?
Lets take a look at this verse in Matthew 23 in its proper context. In many of the verses below, I will use bold print or underlining to bring out some important points in each scripture.
Lets start in verse 23;
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees , hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint, anise, and cumin and have omitted the weightier matters of The Law, which are justice, mercy, and faith; these you should have done [under the Old Testament Law] and not let the other things undone.
Notice something very important here, all in the same sentence , Jesus is speaking to the Pharisee’s about The Old Testament Law and the required Tithing ( giving 10% ) under that Law. In context in this verse, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisee’s, who were men, who were at that point in time still under the Law .
To see this clearly, look at all the verses before and after verse 23, so you can see the proper context, and setting it is placed in. You will find that Jesus was discussing with the Pharisee’s in detail, the things written in, and concerning The Law, and rebuking them in this verse for obeying The Law only in the area of their tithing and neglecting the weightier matters of The Law, namely justice, mercy, and faith.
Read the entire context of where this verse 23 sits, Start reading at verse 13 to 39. Simply stated, He is addressing the Pharisee’s concerning The Old Testament Law.
To help clarify my point, take a look in Matthew 8:1-4; here again is another similar account in the gospels, where Jesus was speaking to someone under The Old Testament Law and instructing the man to do what is required of him by that Law, but, this time it concerns healing instead of tithing .
Before I continue there is something else to add of great importance to help you understand the difference between the Old and New Testament, and its application for us as Christians . The New Testament did not go into effect until after the death of Jesus .
In Heb. 9: 16-18, it tells us; For where a Testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator [ Jesus ] for a testament is enforced “ after men are dead ; otherwise it is of no value at all while the testator [ Jesus ] is alive . Whereupon neither was the First [Old] Testament dedicated without blood. You can see in Hebrews Chapters 9&10 that it goes into full detail on this topic.
Lets look at the same verse again in the Amplified Bible ;
For where there is a [ last ] will and testament involved, the death of the one [ Jesus ] who made it must be established , for a will and testament is valid and takes effect only at death , since it has no force or legal power as long as the one [ Jesus ] who made it is alive. This scripture is saying that while Jesus was alive, the New Testament was not yet in effect.
In Mat 23, Jesus was very much alive and not only were the Pharisee’s he was speaking to under The Law, but Jesus himself was also under The Old Testament Law { Gal. 4:4 } right up until his own death as the above scriptures show us. So, when Jesus was speaking to these Pharisee’s in v.23, he was speaking to them about The Law that these men were still bound under.
Again ,we see the same situation in Luke 11: 42 - 44 & 18: 11-12. Jesus was addressing the Pharisee’s concerning The Law and the Tithe .
If you carefully read all scriptures in the New Testament that mention Tithing you will see they are always referring to the Old Testament Law.
Abraham and the Tithe to Melchizedek –
Very little is said of the priest Melchizedek. In Gen.14:20 scripture tells us;
And he [ Abraham] gave him [ Melchizedek] a tenth of all. In many churches today from this incident in Genesis it is taught;
1- That Abraham predated Moses by some four hundred years so tithing was established before The Law and therefore apart from it.
2- They do acknowledge that Christians are not under the Law of Moses but they teach that they are still to follow Abraham’s example in tithing.
There are some serious flaws in this teaching.
Firstly, those who teach this principal have to completely ignore other practices of Abraham, which were just as surely established before and apart from the Law and yet not for New Testament Christians.
Lets take the example of circumcision; in the flesh of your foreskin ,Gen. 17:11 . This was clearly the most important practice of Abraham, being the very condition of the entire Abrahamic Covenant, Gen. 17: 9-14. It was established before and apart from the Law, yet do those who teach tithing also teach that all male Christians must be physically circumcised? No they do not. Also, Abraham offered animal sacrifices before and apart from the Law, Gen. 12:8, 22:7 . Do these same teachers today, advocate that we do all these things as well? Of course not, and I agree with them.
On top of all this, there is no record anyplace of Abraham giving tithes to Melchizedek the priest any more than once in his entire lifetime.
In all sixty six New Testament references to Abraham, the only practice of his we are told to follow is that of having faith, Rom 14:11, 16 , & Gal. 3 : 6-10 .
Lets look at what Hebrews says of Melchizedek and Tithing ;
Carefully read starting at Hebrews. 6:20 over to chapter 8: 13 . There is nothing in there telling New Testament Christians to tithe ( give 10%) of their income to the church . One example, is to look at verse 5, it says; The sons on Levi [the Old Testament priests], who receive the office of the priesthood, have a ommandment to take tithes of the people ACCORDING TO THE LAW … , .This scripture is referring to the Old Testament Law and it plainly says so . None of these scriptures in their proper context are speaking or teaching tithing instructions for the New Testament church . If you carefully read it all in its proper context, the entire thing is actually speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ and His ministry as our superior Great High Priest. It is comparing the ministry of Jesus under the New Testament, as superior to any Old Testament practice or priest, and has nothing to do with commanding the church to tithe whatsoever. The whole thing is completely all about the ministry of Jesus.
The book of Hebrews was written from a Jewish perspective, and directly to the Jewish [ hebrew ] people who had an understanding of the Old Testament Law and its practices . The focus of the entire book, is that of comparing covenants, showing that Jesus is the mediator of a new and better covenant [testament], that was far superior to the Old Covenant ( testament) and established on better promises, Heb. 8:6. Watch for that little word ‘better’ throughout the entire book of Hebrews as they compare the two covenants .
Tithing and First Fruits ;
Some also teach today that Christians must tithe ( give 10%) on the First Fruits of their labor.
Or to put it in today’s language; they must give the Church 10% of their paycheck. Some even insist you must tithe on the Gross amount and not the Net.
As an example of First Fruits Tithing, they give as the example the Old Testament stories of Cain and Able who offered a First Fruits offering to God or Noah who offered sacrifices to God.
My question to them is this; What does that have to do with anything in the New Testament and a command to Christians on tithing ?
Actually, concerning Cain and Able, if you look at the story as told in the Old Testament, its lesson says nothing about tithing ( giving 10%) on their first fruits at all. The New Testament brings to light its intended lesson. In Hebrews 11:4 it tells us; “ By Faith Able offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
This scripture tells us its lesson was on the subject of faith, not tithing on his first fruits.
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Here is a point I would like to make, WE ARE NOT TOLD TO FOLLOW EVERTHING WRITTEN IN SCRIPTURE, BUT WE ARE TOLD TO FOLLOW ALL THAT GOD COMMANDS US TO FOLLOW IN SCRIPTURE. An example of what I am trying to say is this; In Mat. 27:5 it says; Judas went and hanged himself, but God does not instruct us to “ go and do likewise’’.
Here are some interesting scriptures I found concerning the Tithe and the First Fruits:
The main purpose of the tithe [10%] was not to support the Levites [ Old Testament priest ] , as is presently taught today in many places. It was to provide the Israelites with the feast for the Feast Of Tabernacles [ or Feast of Ingathering Exodus, 23:16 & 34:22.] Two out of every three years the tithe was not GIVEN AWAY ,BUT WAS EATEN BY THE TITHER and his family, this feast was to be enjoyed in the presence of the Lord.
First, take note that tithes were only given away ONCE EVERY THREE YEARS.
Second, In Deut. 12:15- 19,we see the tithes , free will, first fruits, and heave offerings , were to be brought to Jerusalem and there EATEN BY THE TITHER as well as shared with others.
V;18- … “ you shall eat them before the Lord your God …. You and your son and daughter, and…. Your servants, and the Levite “
Here is another scripture, in verse 22-23-
You shall surely tithe … and YOU SHALL EAT [ it] in the presence of the Lord your God ….. the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil and the firstborn of your herd and your flock……”
Also if you as the tither lived too far away from Jerusalem to take your tithe there, you were to sell it, take the money to Jerusalem and there buy “ WHATEVER YOUR HEART DESIRES “ and there “ eat in the presence of the Lord and rejoice [ v. 26]. Others who partook of the feast along with you were widows, orphans, servants, strangers as well as Levites[ O.T. priest].
I would like to present one last point concerning Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek [a priest].
If we were called to follow the Old Testament practice of Abraham in giving tithes to “ Melchizedek the priest “ then ALL BELIEVERS should be receiving tithes because the New Testament tells us “ WE ARE A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD” a holy nation…..1 Peter 2:9.
On the heels of this, the New Testament describes Jesus as our GREAT HIGH PRIEST after the order of Melchizedek, Heb. 5:6, 9:11. So how does the New Testament tell us that we can give to Jesus [who is our Great High Priest] ? In Mat 25:40 Jesus said; “ Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these MY BRETHREN, you have done it unto me.”
If we are not careful we can make the Bible say anything we want it to say.
So our final question is this; What instructions does the Bible actually give to Christians, about the subject of the amount we are to give under the New Testament ?
In 2Corn. 9 :5-7 , the New Testament clearly addresses the subject of giving. I will use 3 different translations of the Bible, so that you can have a clear picture of what is being said, and highlight some specific instructions that are given.
The NIV Bible says ; ‘’So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one given grudgingly. Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. EACH MAN SHOULD GIVE WHAT HE HAS DECIDED IN HIS HEART TO GIVE not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
The Amplified Bible says ; ….Let each one GIVE AS HE HAS MADE UP IN HIS OWN MIND AND PURPOSED IN HIS HEART …..
The NLT Bible says ; …. You must EACH DECIDE IN YOUR HEART HOW MUCH TO GIVE ….
If Tithing [10%] were a New Testament command to Christians , it would have said it right here when Paul was specifically addressing the topic of giving to the church. But instead, it simply says to give ‘’WHAT YOU HAVE DECIDED in your heart and HOW MUCH , there is no demand for 10%.
Let me close with this:
There is no dispute that Christians are instructed by the Lord to give generously. Absolutely no doubt about it! There are many more New Testament scriptures that admonish us to be generous givers.
We should give generously to faithful ministries that are preaching the gospel as well as give to the poor, the needy, to widows, to strangers and orphans and others that God leads us to help and brings into our lives. If we are attending a good church that is preaching the word of God and winning souls to Christ and helping the needy we should wholeheartedly support that work. Get behind them with your time, money and prayers.
Some Christians may decide to set aside 10% or even more in order to do this , but the main point here is; God desires it to be their decision and not something God is demanding of Christians as is being preached from many pulpits today.
Keep this in mind as you give- He that sows sparingly [a little] shall also reap sparingly, and he that sows bountifully [lots] shall also reap bountifully. And God loves a cheerful giver. This is what the Lord says !
Blessings Julia . 
A word of caution- I word not advise any born again believer to donate money to any organization that is secular. If you are going to donate funds to the needy, orphans and widows etc. I would make these suggestions to you. Either donate money or goods for these things through your church, or give them personally to the needy ones yourself along with spiritual help and share the Lord with them personally ,or give to a ministry that you know will give them the gospel as well as meet their material and physical needs.
This material may be printed out for personal reading but must not be altered in any way