INSTITUTION OF THE TITHE AND ITS PURPOSE
We first come across God’s
specific instructions concerning the tithe in the book of Leviticus. 27:30. It
is here were God instituted the tithe and we first hear that he set it aside to
be His own. He instructed that any use or conversion of the tithe would be
treated as a loan repayable at 20% interest. Agricultural products could not be
converted to money. They were supposed to be tithed in their natural form.
That means that wheat had to be tithed
as wheat or wheat flour and oil as oil. Nobody could tithe these in the form of
money. If at all one had to tithe with money, 20% of the value of the
agricultural product had to be added as interest. This only applied only in
circumstances that left the worshipper with no other alternative other than
converting his tithe into cash. Tithes of livestock, however, could not be
converted to money no matter the dictates of circumstances. Lev. 27:32-34.
In Deuteronomy 14:23 God
says that we must tithe our earnings so that we ‘may learn to fear the Lord …
always.’ In Malachi 3:10 we are also told that we tithe in order to bring food
into the house of God. The words that God spoke to Moses in Deuteronomy14:
22-23 are, ‘Thou shalt truly tithe all
the increase of thy seed, that the
field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy
God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of
thy corn: that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.’ In this
scripture God is giving specific instructions that we are required to tithe our
harvest every year without fail and that we must eat the tithes at designated places so
that we may learn to fear him. It is interesting to note that in all
the two scriptures mentioned above God made reference to food thereby
suggesting that there has to be a link between tithes and nourishment. There
also must be a link between tithes and obedience. I believe that God will bless
us if we fulfil his purpose for tithing which is honouring him as the Lord and
him alone. It is a requirement of every saint to fear God because honouring God
and keeping all his commandments is the whole duty of men. Christ also taught
us the great doctrine of the fear of God going to the extent of saying, ‘do not
fear those who can kill the body only, but fear God who can destroy both soul
and body in hell.’
We therefore must never
worship any other God but Jehovah whom we must follow and fear and whose law
and voice we must obey and keep. We must forever cling to him because we who
stand in faith must always revere the almighty God and never exalt ourselves
now that the end is nearer than when we first believed and Christ could any day
appear, we must therefore fear and serve the great God who created the universe
and all that fills it. One wise man of yesteryear said that the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom so let us make our first step into the riches
of wisdom.
The Lord who says we must
learn to fear him by eating the tithes of our earnings in his presence is the
one who says that tithes provide food in his house; food that we must feast
upon in thanksgiving to the Lord. See Malachi 3:10. God desires that we bring
food to his house so that his flock will not starve. In Isaiah 40:11 God said,
concerning Jesus Christ the great caring shepherd, ‘He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he
shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and
shall gently lead those that are with young.’ It is because of this reason
that we can boldly say that he causes us to lie in green, tender and nourishing
pastures and leads us to cool and satisfying waters. From previous discussions
we discovered that tithes belong to God and that the tithes provide food to
God’s flock; we can therefore technically say that God feeds his people with
tithes. Now if God says that Christ shall feed his flock like a shepherd we can
also safely say that he will feed us both spiritually and materially.
The material nourishment
could come from tithes. Psalms 68:10 further says that God has prepared his
goodness for the poor whilst Psalms 72 says that he takes care of the needy.
Then comes Psalms 132:15 with the promise, ‘I will satisfy her poor with bread:’ and knowing that God works
through men we can assume safely that the tithes we bring to the house of God,
apart from other sources, bring nourishment and satisfaction to the needy. When
we bring our tithes to the house of God, the destitute and poor will be fed
from the increase of our seed. During the Mosaic era the destitute understood
and admired the custom because it showed them the love of God displayed through
men. Those who had some wealth did not tithe in order to become richer but
because they feared God and they loved to share what they had with the less
privileged in society. What the God and father of the fatherless gave them;
they shared with orphans and widows. Blessing and prosperity is therefore not
the ultimate purpose of tithing but is only a fringe benefit to the obedient
and God fearing saint. The feeding of the less privileged with our tithes is
pleasing to the Lord because he is a father to the fatherless who gives justice
to widows and liberty to captives. Because of his caring love Christ lamented
the Pharisees and Scribes’ attitude towards tithes and their lack of concern
and love. That is why he was forced to say in Mat.23: 23, ‘woe unto you scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
pay tithes of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgement, mercy, and faith: these ought ye
to have done, and not to leave the other undone.’ God’s justice demands
that all men be treated equally. It demands that the rich and poor be treated
as persons who are at par. The rich must share with the poor freely what the
Lord has also freely given them. See Deuteronomy 15: 7 – 15. His justice
demands that when those who are fortunate enough to own fields go to harvest,
the less fortunate and landless must also harvest. Lev. 19:19-10; Exodus 13:
10-11. God himself is so upright that he gives rain and sunshine equally to
both the righteous and the wicked and in the same proportion to those who serve
him and those who scorn him. Mat. 5: 44,45.
God’s judgement and mercy
are inseparable. When we all sinned and fell short of the glory of God,
ordinary justice would have demanded that we bear our own punishment but the
justice of the everlasting God called for a mediator, Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
to carry our sins on the cross of Calvary and because of the mercies of God we
are now the children of God. His justice therefore demands that those who have
received mercy must also show mercy to their fellow men. (Romans 11:30 – 31;
James 2:12, 13; Matthew 18:23 - 25). The merciful often identify with those in
adversity. Mercifulness is a sign of pure and unpolluted religion. James says
‘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.’ (James 1:27). It thus cannot be disputed that mercy is a
catalyst of faith and faith is what constitutes the Christian religion.
Mercy is an act of faith.
Faith can either be active or dormant. Active faith is genuine and dormant
faith is mostly a counterfeit. The act of faith, which displays our devotion,
is mercy. James says that faith is dead without this act. In his own words,
James wrote, ‘what doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath
faith, and have no works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked,
and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye
warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give him not those things which are
needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath no
works, is dead, being dead. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have
works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my
works.’ (James 2:14 - 20). This is the Biblical meaning of faith with works and
not, the claim and get it theory. Faith with works gives whilst faith without
works claims everything selfishly. When we fail to give the needy what they
lack and instead say, “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled” we often call
it positive confession or prophesying in to the needy’s life. But dear fellow
believers, is it true that such action is prophesying in to the poor man’s
life?
Jesus taught that the God
ordained way of tithing contains the three ingredients, (1) judgement, (2)
mercy and (3) faith. Tithing which lacks any of the three is not Biblical
but something else. May be it is some fundraising gimmick. Judgement, mercy and
faith are one when it comes to the law of tithing. No one can carry out the
Lord’s justice without the Lord’s mercy and no one can show forth
the mercy of God without the faith of Christ. The three are hard
to separate.
If the sole purpose of
tithing were to prosper the person bringing the tithe, mercy and judgement
would not have had a place in the practice. If the purpose were to bribe God
for a blessing, it surely would never have been compatible with the Lord’s nature
of righteousness. Those who claim that the purpose of tithing is to become rich
surprisingly quote Malachi 3:10 which actually portrays a picture which is in
total variance to their teachings. The scripture does not read, ‘bring
ye the tithes so that I will open the windows and pour a blessing.’ Such
wording would have denoted the reason for tithing rather than a call to tithe.
Instead the wording is, ‘Bring ye all the tithes… and prove me… if I will not open the windows’ thus
suggesting that the blessing is not the reason but just proof that God has been
pleased by our obedience. When Moses’ rod became a snake it never was a display
of the purpose of God to turn it into a serpent but mere proof that the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had appeared to Moses. The parting of the Red sea was
in no way for the reason of drowning the Egyptians but proof that God had
delivered the nation of Israel and cut off the nation’s bondage to Egypt.
Blessings that follow tithing are therefore in no way the reason for tithing
but just proof that our obedience has pleased the Lord.
I have often wondered why
preachers and teachers teach us to tithe for the sole reason of prospering and
ignore the reason laid plain in Malachi 3:10. God says, ‘Bring ye all the
tithes into the storehouse, that
there may be meat in mine house…’ this is a very clear message and in
complete harmony with all laws which govern tithing in the books of Leviticus,
Deuteronomy and Numbers. Why does God want food in his house? He desires the
food in his sanctuary so that his people may have meals in his presence and
learn to fear him all the days of their lives. Deut. 14:22 - 25. Because we
missed this true purpose, we have introduced a new material and pecuniary
purpose and have often told the innocent that if they eat God’s tithes, they
will reap numerous curses of poverty.
Such statements are in absolute contradiction to Deuteronomy 12: 1 -
7,11,12,17 – 21 & 14: 22 – 29 which command us to eat God’s tithes so that
we learn to fear him the rest of our lives. Those threats of poverty in no way
vindicate Numbers 18: 21 – 32 which limits the priest’s share to a tenth of the
tithe. If the present day threats of curses of poverty and teachings of tithe
to get rich contradict the just mentioned scriptures, my question is,
‘whose doctrine are we daily exposed to in this day and age?’ Is it of Christ
or of men? When are we going to turn Biblical with reference to tithes and
start to obey the Lord? We are going to allow the poor, destitute and those
with no inheritance to feast on tithes we bring to the Lord’s house when? It
now is the right time to get rid of this leaven from mammon that we added to
the pure doctrine of Christ. Teachers of stray doctrines will indisputably get
a hiding on the day of reckoning. James 8:1.
During Biblical days the
tithes provided food and nourishment to the Levite and priest because they had
no inheritance. It provided the same to the stranger, the needy, the destitute,
widows and orphans because God cared for them. Deut. 26: 12,13. It also
provided satisfaction and enjoyment to the worshipper who brought the tithe and
to his family and that is why it was conducted within a spirit of celebration.
It never was intended to put the worshipper at a disadvantage or loss. If
properly practiced, it never will enrich somebody at the expense of another.
Instead it is a benefit to all parties to it. Deut. 12:12.
Will God not bless you if
you share your food with the hungry? Remember the Lord’s words, ‘I was hungry
and you gave me food.’ I am convinced he will unquestionably bless you. The
promise in the book of Malachi 3:10 is fulfilled when there has been food in
the house of God. We do not tithe because we desire prosperity but because we
fear and love the Lord. In any case the Master told us not to waste our time
gathering worldly riches that can be corroded and stolen. Righteousness and the
approval of God is greater wealth than silver and gold. The king of kings and
the giver of life in Matthew 9:13 said. ‘Go ye and learn what that
meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice’.
I always ask myself why the
modern day saint’s mind is always obsessed with the desire to become rich. Why
are we always seeking the latest automobile and not who to provide transport in
the cars we currently own? Which one of the early apostles and believers became
stinking rich through tithes and offerings? An honest examination of us and an
examination of our lives and theirs will reveal a vast difference. Why? During
the days of the Acts of the Apostles no church member lacked anything because
those who had property sold the excess and shared the proceeds with the needy.
In our societies such a spirit is not present. Instead we seek to possess more
and more where they sought to share time and again. Are we serving a different
God from theirs? Is our practice and conduct not a commercialisation of the
free gospel of liberty? Will God hold us guiltless? It is high time we examined
our conduct and motives and took the required corrective action. We must judge
ourselves and return to God because God is not mocked. Have we sown to the
flesh or to the spirit?
It is a common sight today
to walk into a church and see poor widows and orphans receiving no assistance
from the church but from the Department of Social Welfare. Had the church
played its role the Department of Social Welfare would have had less headaches.
How can the world believe that we are Christ’s disciples if we neglect the less
privileged members of our own churches and if we lend no help to our own blood
relatives? I personally do not think that poverty is a curse but an opportunity
for those blessed and more privileged to show forth the mercy and love of the
great God and creator. Stephen and his six colleagues had a ministry of serving
the hungry. Now is the right time for us to return to God. ‘Fear God and keep
all his commandments because that is the whole duty of men’, wrote the wise
king.
DISTRIBUTION
With the information so far
gained we can safely say that tithing is a direct command from God. He has specific
instructions that tithes must be brought for unambiguous reasons to his house
or to the place he has chosen to place his name. It has further been noted that
tithing was observed centuries before Moses during the days of Abraham. It is
generally believed that Abraham lived during the dispensation of faith whereas
Moses was of the dispensation of the law. If Abraham observed tithing before
Moses’ era it thus means that tithing was practiced before the law, i.e.
during the dispensation of faith. It is therefore also a practice that can be
associated with the era of grace. The Law of Moses served to clarify certain
procedures of importance in each particular tradition. Observing tithing in
accordance with the instructions of God is a display of the fear and love of
God. No one can dispute that a person who disregards the commands of God has no
fear of God. Observance and adherence to the orders of God is a mark of the
reverence of God.
Let us now explore further
the utilisation and the distribution of tithes. How and when was the tithe
observed? Who was supposed to bring tithes and to whom? We must find the
answers to these and many other questions from the Bible.
The tithe, as has been
seen, was and is for the benefit of all of us in the presence of the
Lord. As he gave directions concerning bringing tithes to his designated place,
God further gave instructions regarding distribution of the tithes. The
distribution was to be among those elected to benefit from it and the manner of
distribution, as we shall see, was and is a very fair one.
The beneficiaries of tithes were: -
The person bringing the tithes and his family,
The stranger or traveller,
The orphans and widows
The destitute and the poor, and
The Levite
The Levite was a beneficiary because according to the Law of Moses,
he was not entitled to an inheritance. He owned no land in Israel and
consequently could not farm and harvest so that he could be able to tithe.
Numbers 18:22 and Ezekiel 44:28. The indigent and needy were beneficiaries because
they were poor and possessed nothing from which they could tithe. These groups
are specified in the book of Deuteronomy 14:28 – 29 and God, as we will soon
see, appointed a process whereby these various groups would fairly share and
enjoy the Lord’s tithes.
Worshippers used to bring
their tithes to the house of God where they would place it before the Levite
who would in turn take out from the Levitical share of the tithe a tenth as
a heave offering to the Lord which the Levite would in turn hand over to the
priest as the tenth of his own proceeds of the work he conducted in the house
of God. This heave offering was also known as the tithe of the tithe
because it represented ten percent of the Levite’s tithe. The worshipper, his
family and the less privileged members of society would then feast on the
remaining share of the original tithe after
leaving the Levite with his share
of the tithe and the tithe of the tithe having been given to the Levitical
priest. The priest and the other Levites feasted on the heave
offering or the tithe of the tithe and the Levite’s portion of the
tithe together with their families
in any place they wanted. Numbers 18:26 – 32.
To some Numbers 18:26 – 32 may seem to imply that the worshipper’s
share was ninety percent of the original tithe and the priest and Levite’s
share was the tithe of the tithe or one percent of the worshipper’s profit or
increase of his harvest. I at one time was also of the same opinion but I have
since concluded that this, however, is not the position of this scripture. The
tithe of the tithe is actually the tithe that the Levite paid to the priest and
was to be counted as that which was removed from the Levite’s own income. I do
not really know why the Bible does not specify the quantum of the Levite’s share
in comparison to the worshipper’s original tithe. Probably the Lord intended
the worshipper to come up with a fair means of sharing honestly among the
Levite, the needy and his family since tithing as in fact a celebration and as
such God had to provide inward guidance since God has to come first in all our
decisions. This is merely my own opinion and not doctrine but it is, however,
factual that the worshipper, his family and the less privileged members of
society were required to feast on the
worshipper’s tithe hence there is no
dispute that that the Levite was not given one hundred percent of the original
tithe otherwise there would have been nothing remaining for the
worshiper, the needy and his family. It is the same reason why the Levite
did not give the priest one hundred percent of his share otherwise there would
be nothing remaining for the Levite’s family.
Numbers 18 verse 21 makes it plain that the Levite’s wage for his
work in the tabernacle was the tithes the children of Israel brought. However,
in verse 24, the Lord qualifies verse 21 by explaining that that wage or
reward would consist of ‘the tithes of the children of Israel, which they
offer as an heave offering’ thus making clear that the Levite
was only entitled to the heave offering. The heave offering was
the Levite’s share of the original tithe and was regarded as the Levite’s wage.
It is this same principle that required the Levite to also offer a heave
offering of his own tithe.
Since that heave offering was regarded as the Levite’s harvest or
wage, it also was subject to tithes. Verse 28 put across the fact that the
Levite was therefore required to set aside ten percent of his earnings as the
Lord’s tithe or his own heave offering. The Levite’s heave offering was given
to the High priest also as the priest’s wage for his service in the tabernacle.
As long as the Levite remembered to do this he would remain guiltless.
Nowhere in scripture did the priest take all the bulk of the tithe
for his own consumption but was only entitled to the tithe of the tithe. The
original balance of the tithe after
giving the Levite his share
of that tithe was the responsibility of the worshipper to entertain his family
and needy people of society in accordance with Deuteronomy 14: 22-29. Hardening
one’s heart against the underprivileged is not at all saintly. Deuteronomy
15:17. Abuse of the tithe by the priest attracted stiff penalties from the Lord
as specified in Numbers 18:32 and Ezekiel 34:2,3 & 10. Likewise abuse of
the tithe by the worshipper attracts similar consequences as stated in
Galatians 6:7-8.
For two consecutive years,
tithes were brought to the house of God but during the third year, which was
regarded as the year of tithing, tithing was celebrated at home where
the Levite, orphan and the other underprivileged were invited to banquette
before the Lord. In other words, two tithes were brought to the house of God
and the third was celebrated at home.
During the Mosaic era,
Israel had an agrarian economy and therefore tithes then consisted of
agricultural products and not money. If the distance to the Lord’s house was
far from the worshipper’s home, the worshipper could convert his tithes to
money and add to the money twenty percent of the value of the tithe as interest
which was a requirement of Leviticus 27:31 to 34 and Deuteronomy 14:24 to 25.
The worshipper would then carry the total money with him to the temple where he
would buy food of his choice and celebrate tithing like all the others present.
Deuteronomy 14: 26 – 27. Teachings which discourage worshippers from eating
tithes or which make tithes the personal possession of the minister possibly
originated from a human mind. Could it be that such dogmas are a result of
human short sightedness or outright demonic infiltration of the church? One certainty, however, is that those
teachings are a complete contradiction of what we have just read above and are
therefore a contradiction of the teachings of Christ.
Man cannot change the pure,
sound and true doctrine of tithes; only God has the final say. Matthew 5:17-
20. Blessings that follow tithing only reach fruition after we have done
it the God ordained way or have fulfilled the Divine purpose. After tithing the
appointed way, the Lord’s servant prayed in the following manner. ‘I
have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them
to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless and the widow, according
to all your commandments which you commanded me; I have not transgressed your
commandments, neither have I forgotten them: I have not eaten thereof in
my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any
unclean use, nor given ought thereof to the dead: but I
hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to
all thou hast commanded me.’ Deuteronomy 26 verses 12 to 15.
Only a person who
celebrates tithing in the Biblical way can say this prayer. You cannot tithe
some other way and then pray, ‘I have given to the fatherless according to
all your commandments.’ Would you truly have the courage to pray, ‘I have
hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God,’ when you have done it some other
way and still expect a blessing? Would
that not be testing the Lord’s patience?
It is interesting to note
that in verse 12 God makes reference to the third year as the year of
tithing and he points out that the way of tithing involves ‘giving the
tithe to the Levite, strangers, orphans and widows so that they would
eat the tithe within the worshipper’s premises and get filled.’ Only
after the beneficiaries of the tithe had eaten and had been filled would
one pray the prayer in verses 13 to 15. In verse 14 the worshiper would pray,
‘I have not eaten thereof in my mourning.’ Please note that the Bible is not
reading, ‘I did not eat your tithe,’ but, ‘I did not eat the tithe in
mourning,’ thereby revealing that it is eating in mourning which is
despicable and not eating the tithe. To me the phrase could refer to either
eating the tithe not in the spirit of celebration or whilst one is ceremonially
unclean and I am heavily inclined towards the earlier assumption. Tithing was
supposed to be carried out in a spirit of festivity and not with a heavy heart
because tithing time was a joyous occasion. The worshipper would thus end up
saying, ‘I hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done
according to all thou hast commanded me,’ because he would truly have fulfilled
the purpose of tithing in light of God’s law.
From the information so far
gleaned, I can boldly say that tithing was a thanksgiving celebration. Tithing
time was thanksgiving and love giving time. It was a time to say, ‘God thank
you for such a good harvest,’ and also a time to say, ‘fellowman I love you,’
by sharing one’s gains with the impecunious. It was not only the farmer who
harvested his field; the Levite and the needy also received a harvest of love
from the farmer. This was a time of joy hence tithing was more of a festivity
than a duty. Unlike vows, which were a duty, tithing was a thanksgiving
celebration therefore tithing is celebrated whilst vows are paid.
This subject of festivity
brings me to yet another point of fellowship. The point the practice of tithing
was emphasising was that there has to be fellowship among the people.
Fellowship involves companionship, partnership and social interaction among
people. It calls for communication, sharing with others, friendship and
openness or sociability. This is the practice reported by Doctor Luke in the
book of Acts when he says that the early church continued in fellowship.
Fellowship is not just a ritual or tradition but a simple way of life. Tithing
thus instead of just being a tradition, rite or ceremony, was intended to
promote good and acceptable social interaction in which God’s people would
meet, dine together, discuss, worship and share amongst themselves God’s
blessings.
Therefore tithing is
supposed to be a form of fellowship rather than a rite or religious payment.
More than is necessary we often turn tithing into some religious compensation
or reparation. We even claim that it is a religious enchantment of obtaining
profit or prosperity from God. It is high time we accept that tithing is an act
of fellowship. Fellowship is the central theme behind tithing and it is God’s
wish that his people engage in fellowship with him and among themselves.
That is why he commanded
his people to invite the disadvantaged to their premises for fellowship. The
year of tithing was a year of fellowship. It was a year of social interaction,
relationship and friendship. It was a time of buttressing friendships,
relationships and unity between God’s people. This was not and is not repayment
time but simply fellowship time.
Our problem today is that
we seek to pay tithes instead of celebrating them. The same goes for offerings;
we pay offerings instead of giving offerings. Because of this tithes,
offerings, and vows have been jumbled up. The result is confusion. Vows are
what should be paid and not tithes, offerings and alms. Please take note that
what we call pledges is what the Old Testament calls vows. See Deuteronomy 23:
21 to 23 and compare with Matthew 5:33 to 37 and James 5: 12.
Sometime in 1988 I began to
query the way and manner in which tithing was practiced and taught. Somehow I
felt that the doctrine, which says, ‘tithe and give in order to receive a
hundred fold,’ was and is still not compatible with Biblical perception.
The more I practiced the method I had been taught, the greater guilt I felt. I
could not reconcile teachings that encouraged the desire to become rich with
Biblical warnings against worldly riches. Afterwards I decided not to tithe at
all but I could not quench the great desire to learn about the subject, which
by now was building up within me. The desire continued to grow until in June
1989 when I embarked on a private and independent study of both tithes and
offerings. My only source of study was the Bible. Sometime in late 1989 or early 1990 we
carried out a Bible discussion study with friends, which confirmed what I was
still learning in my private study and I resolved to complete the study at any
cost. What I discovered during my period of study, which ran until December 12,
1991 shocked me. What the Bible taught was not what I had been taught before.
The Biblical doctrine was in harmony with the Lord’s nature of righteousness
whereas human doctrines nevertheless purporting to be Bible centred had some
cosmetics added to it to make it more appealing. A little leaven was thrown in
order to ferment the doctrine. These pages are a product of those studies I
painfully undertook during those one and a half long years that I now wish to
share with you. I am thoroughly convinced that many had this knowledge ages
before I was also exposed to the same understanding.
When I noticed the
difference between God’s pure doctrine and man’s leavened doctrine I wondered
why it is so. I wondered why practices contrary to the Bible had been allowed
to carry on in the church without any checks. I concluded that this was because
the modern day saint is not concerned with the purity of doctrine but the
advancement of his church movement’s teachings. No one is ready to examine his
movement’s doctrine in the light of Biblical doctrine hence the existence of
too many movements with conflicting doctrines. Each time a new church movement
is founded nobody is prepared to examine or find out why the new movement has
been started. Everyone attributes it to the calling of God. The Jewish and
Gentile churches in the New Testament were not two different movements or
denominations but one single body yet our groups are numerous unrelated
movements always discrediting each other so as to preserve their own identity.
Paul never discredited Peter’s teaching and neither did Peter nor James but
instead they essentially complemented each other’s teachings because their
source was one.
Today each movement is separated from the rest. It has its own
unique teachings it seeks to protect in an attempt to preserve its identity.
Sometimes I wonder if they ever seek to preserve the identity of Christianity.
No member of the movement can stand scriptural rebuke of the movement’s
teachings; instead scriptures are forced to conform to the movement’s
doctrines. The same applies to the leaders since they are the source of such
teachings. Instead of scriptures forming doctrines it now is doctrine to which
scripture must conform. This often leads to many church movements and splinter
groups which is no solution at all but an expansion of the problem. What often
happens is that movements with harmful teachings that appeal to the human mind
become popular and in the process others with plans of opening their own
movements copy the untested teachings with a hope of achieving the popularity
enjoyed by their predecessors. So when somebody promised people that they would
become multimillion-dollar wealthy men through tithing and people flocked to
that church movement others copied the entire doctrine without checking for
scriptural precision because they also wanted to achieve a similar membership
growth.
Let me at this point put it on record that not all new movements are
a production of the human mind but a majority of them originate from the
calling of God. It thus means that we have no justification to judge and
conclude others to be in error. It is only the Lord who has the right to judge
and not man.
False teachers, false prophets and conmen thrive where conditions
are as just explained above. Frankly speaking, some of the dubious doctrines
are peddled by conmen bent on heaping personal wealth under the cover of God’s
name. Indeed some teach the same doctrine honestly believing it is the right
thing but I am convinced that some, if not most, of those teachers are people
of questionable integrity. Many of the get rich quick doctrinarians
could be false teachers and conmen who do not serve the Lord but their own
bellies. Be warned, you could be associating with a religious conmen.
Peter says in his second epistle chapter 2:1- 3, ‘there shall be
false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the truth shall
be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words
make merchandise of you…’ A church leader who desires nothing else but
wealth must be looked upon with a suspicious eye. Do those promises of
limitless wealth arising from the tithe to become rich formulae truly
come from the Lord or it is someone using feigned words to con you of your last
cent. It could be that Peter’s prophecy and warning is being fulfilled in your
own day and before your own eyes so never ever say that you were never warned.
Today there could be some church leader somewhere enriching himself
from your tithes whilst your family and the needy are starving to death. Do
such teachers serve the Lord or their own bellies? Stick to the Lord and to him
alone or else you will be ripped off by some unprincipled conman purporting to
be a servant of God. If your tithe does not provide for those specified in the
holy book, you could be in a partnership of fraud with whoever is enriching
himself with those tithes. You are both defrauding God. Even if you derive no
benefit from the fraud you remain a criminal partner with the fraudster because
you have the power to obey or disobey God. The choice remains yours.
The blessing of the Lord will only be bestowed on us when we fulfil
his will. When the purpose of tithing has been accomplished God will then
reward us with his blessings and blessings are not always money.
Only a person who does not fear God has the nerve to pay no attention to God’s
directives and that is also the person with the guts to cheat the almighty God.
If tithes are withheld or misused people especially the deprived may be
malnourished. When tithes are brought to
the house of God and distribution is properly done, there will always be
plenty and surpluses. 2 Chronicles 31:5 – 10. History bears record that such
surpluses have resulted in the need for storehouses or treasure houses where
the excess was stored. Read Nehemiah 10 verses 37 to 39 and 12 verse 10 to
confirm this claim. Even during the days of Nehemiah, centuries after Moses,
giving and distribution of tithes was based on the instructions set out in the
books of Numbers, Deuteronomy and Leviticus. Only the portion apportioned to
the Levites according to Numbers 18: 26 – 31 was stored in these treasure
houses.
A long time ago after
Nehemiah discovered the will of God concerning tithing he and the people of his
day returned to the law of God. Nehemiah instructed that tithes should be
offered according to the instructions of Jehovah and this is what he said in
Nehemiah 10:38; 12:44, ‘And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the
Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto
the house of our God, into chambers into the treasure house.’ ‘And at that
time were some appointed over the chambers, for the chambers for the treasures,
for the offerings, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into
them out of the fields of the cities the
portion of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for
the priests and for the Levites that waited.’ This was done to ensure that no
deviation from the Lord’s commandments would be made. Deut.12: 32. Tithing
which is a deviation from the instructions of the Lord is sinful and I believe
that is why Amos once said, ‘hear the word of the Lord you…who oppress the
poor, who say to their masters, bring let us drink. Come to Bethel and
transgress, bring your…. tithes and publish the free offerings: for this liketh
you, oh ye children of Israel, saith the Lord.’ Read the book of Amos 4:
1- 4 and compare with Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42. A defeat of God’s purposes
for tithes is robbery, broad daylight robbery. Malachi 3:8,9.
