TITHING 

Malachi 3:8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tithing in the Bible is first mentioned in the book of Genesis. Today some Christian religions use the word to more generally refer to any offering, however great or small; nevertheless, the commandment to pay a full 10 percent tithe is still in effect. The Bible and other scriptures explain that tithing is about more than money. Tithing teaches important principles such as obedience, self-discipline, and sacrifice. It demonstrates love for God and others. And when you pay tithing, your faith grows as God delivers to you both temporal and spiritual blessings.

 

Case Study:

 

Genesis 14:18 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the Most High God. 19 And he blessed him (Abram), and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all…

 

Leviticus 27:30 - And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

 

Why Pay Tithe?

 

Numbers 18 20 And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel

 

God Owns Everything!

 

We are merely stewards over His possessions!

 

Psalms 24:1 - The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

 

Psalms 50:9 - 9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine and the fulness thereof.

 

HAGGAI 2:8 `The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the Lord of hosts.

 

EZEKIEL 18:4 "Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die.

 

ROMANS 14:8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.  

 

1 CORINTHIANS 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.  

 

Romans 2:22 - Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou, commit sacrilege? The Greek word for sacrilege is hierodules, to rob a temple, to rob God, to commit sacrilege

 

Deuteronomy 14:23 - 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, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

 

Nehemiah 10:37 - And that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.

 

Acts 5:29 - Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

 

 

Supporting Scriptures

 

Numbers 18:24 - But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.  

 

Deuteronomy 12:6 - And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:  

 

Abuse of TITHE 

Text:  Malachi 1:6

 

Isaiah 28:7  7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. 9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

 

Leviticus 10:1; 1 Sons on Aaron Samuel 2:12-17       Sons of Levi

 

Malachi 2:8               “You are departed out of the way; you have caused many to stumble at the Torah; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi"

 

1 Timothy 5:17        17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. 18 For the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.

 

 

A Restricted Priesthood

 

In the Old Testament, no one volunteered for the priesthood. There weren't any applications to fill out and file with Moses. No one voted on who the priests would be. No spiritual or intellectual aptitude tests were given, God sovereignly chooses His own.

Old Testament law restricted the offering of sacrifices to the priesthood. Anyone who attempted to usurp the office of a priest was in danger of severe judgment.

 

• King Saul tried to function like a priest so God cursed his lineage, promising that no king would come from his loins (1 Sam. 13:8-14). 

• When Korah and his rebellious followers attempted to act as priests, the ground opened and swallowed them (Num. 16).

 

Some stumble over this because they fear ministers will abuse the tithes. Surely there are some that have abused the power of the tithe, but not only today.  Poverty, like sin and disease, is the result of the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden. From then on mankind had to make his living in pain and fear because "Cursed is the ground for your sake. In sorrow, you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread" (Genesis 3:17-19).

 

The ground is divinely cursed, for which reason there is normally famine and disease. Food contamination brings every form of plague. Any society with out enough good food is eventually destroyed. The "cursed ground" problem fosters ripples of strife in all segments of the economy and has eventually brought poverty and general hardship to every nation and person. Therefore, God provided His covenant people with a way to overcome this curse, just as He has provided us with covering for sin. The way out of the poverty curse is to give back a portion of the "cursed ground" to Him. When we pay tithes the LORD blesses the "ground" and brings forth an abundance of provision, thereby overturning the curse! This is what is being talked about in the famous "tithes" verses in Malachi 3:9-12, "You are cursed with a curse, because you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. You must bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now with this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open to 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…   

 

The "curse", that the prophet says they are cursed with, is already in place because of the fall of Adam.

• Because of the curse, the "fruit of your ground" is destroyed. A prior condition placed on every person on earth.

• Tithing to the Most High overturns this curse! Tithing is the remedy to the poverty that is due every person because of the fall.

• An individual or a nation is not specially cursed when they do not tithe.  Instead, they fall back under the prior curse placed on Adam.

• God gave us a way out of that curse and it is the tithe!