The Truth And Nothing But The Truth

I’ve written about this before and have continued to study the subject. 

The truth your pastor will not tell you....

“And My people shall know the truth and the truth shall set them free” John 8:32


  “ will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say where in have we robbed thee?  In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed me even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the store house and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of hosts if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing, that there would not be room enough to receive it” Malachi 3: 8–10

  The above quoted scripture is probably one of the most (mis)quoted scripture in the bible. Unfortunately it is being quoted out of context and used as a weapon of mass intimidation, manipulation, extortion, oppression, flattery and outright lies and deceit by some church leaders to collect ten percent of the gross income of their church members who have been hoodwinked into believing that they are doing God’s will.  Hogwash! 

  Before I go into the details of this post, I want to say emphatically that I am a God loving, bible believing Christian who reverences God and has Holy Spirit living in her heart. I am also not writing this to undermine any church or pastor but to let people see and understand the truth about tithes and remove the yoke (of tithes) being placed by some pastors upon them. I also want to state emphatically that I strongly believe in giving to the church for the purpose of spreading the gospel and the Christian ministry.  

  Now back to Malachi 3:8–10, the first question one should ask is that who was this message directed at?  Exactly who was God talking to? The answer lies in the book of Numbers 18:25-28 which states that “the lord commanded Moses to say to the Levites when you receive from the Israelites the tithe that the Lord gives you as your possession, you must present a tenth of it as a special contribution to the Lord. This special contribution will be considered as the equivalent of the offering which the farmer makes of new grain and wine. In this way you would also present the special contribution which belongs to the Lord from all the tithes which you receive from the Israelites. You are to give this special contribution for the Lord to Aaron the priest” from the above it is clear that it was the Levites that were directed to pay a tithe of the tithe they collected from the Israelites to the priest who represents God and not the people of Israel. It was these Levites that were being referred to in the book of Malachi as those who rob God. A thorough study of the book of Malachi would reveal that in those days the Levites were collecting the tithe from the people of Israel and not giving a tithe (tenth) of it to the house of God, hence Malachi’s statement which is now being quoted out of context. To understand what tithes really means one would have to understand the social reasons and cultural/religious setting within which it was set. *note (I say this in reading all scripture)This concept of tithes was properly explained in the bible as stated in the laws of the tithe which can be found in the books of Leviticus 27: 30–34, Numbers 18:25–31 and Deuteronomy 14: 22–29. Upon reading these passages, one would understand what tithes really means, but unfortunately most pastors prefer to neglect these passages that tell us the true meaning of tithes and emphasize on Malachi 3: 8-10 which was directed to the Levites of that time to give the priest’s share of the tithes they collected to him. It’s worthy of note that Malachi doesn’t even define what tithes is and how it should be paid. The definition of tithes as practiced today was manufactured by modern day pastors to suit their purpose as it goes completely against what’s written in the bible and it only seeks to manipulate Christians to believe that God requests 10 per cent of their gross income from them.  Can I tell you something...God doesn’t want or need your money...He wants you and not just 10 percent but all of you. 

  So what is tithes and why did God request it be paid to the Levites? The answer can be found in the following passages : Leviticus 27:30–32 which states that “one tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit belongs to the Lord. If a man wishes to buy back any of it he must pay the standard price plus an additional 20 percent. One in every ten domestic animals belongs to the Lord when the animals are counted, every tenth one belongs to the lord.” And Deuteronomy 26:12 which states that “ every third year give the tithe (a tenth) of your crops to the Levites, the foreigners, the orphans and the widows, so that in every community they will have all they need to eat” The above quoted passages clearly tells us what tithes is and the reason why God directed the people of Israel to pay tithes. It is very evident that it was a social arrangement for the less privileged in the Jewish society of that time, it was also meant to take care of the Levites because they have no land or property of their own. (today pastors are amongst the wealthiest property owners in Nigeria). This social arrangement is obviously not relevant to us today. It also states that every third year is the year of tithing not the weekly/monthly tithes being extorted from church members today. Another passage that illustrates the true meaning of tithes properly and also states clearly that tithe is not money is Deuteronomy 14: 22-29 which states that “ set aside a tithe a tenth of all that your fields produce each year then go to the one place where the Lord your God has chosen to be worshiped and there in His presence eat the tithes of your grain, wine and olive oil and first born of your cattle and sheep. Do this so that you may learn to have reverence for the Lord your God always. If the place of worship is too far from your home for you to carry there the tithe of the produce that the Lord has blessed you with, then sell your produce and take the money with you to the one place of worship spend it on whatever you want beef, lamb, wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desires, and there in the presence of the Lord you and your family are to eat and enjoy yourselves. Do not neglect the Levites who live in your towns for they have no property of their own. At the end of every third year bring the tithe of all your crops and store it in your towns. This is food for the Levites since they own no property and for the orphans, foreigners and widows who live in your towns. Do this and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do” from the above passage, it is very clear that tithe is not money and it is not for the Levites (church) only. It was a religious practice in those days to give reverence to God and to celebrate God in His place of worship. The Levites were only included for the main reason that they have no land of their own and that reason is not applicable in today’s society. Yet some pastors would tell you that you are cursed and will not go to heaven if you don’t give them 10% of your gross income. (The Lord laughs in derision!) All this hypocrisy wouldn’t bother me if all the money being collected was being used to enhance God’s work, but the truth as we all know today is that this money is being used to finance lavish, flamboyant and exotic life styles and to fill their own pockets.  Jesus calls them hirelings, caring not for the sheep but are after their own reward.  

  Also, I want to refer us to the book of Hebrews which was written to the early Christians, this provides irrefutable proof that Christians are not meant to pay tithes as the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ does not require it. Hebrews 7:5,which states that “ and those descendants of Levi who are priests are commanded by the law to collect one tenth from the people of Israel  that is from there own country men even though their country men are also descendants of Abraham” from this verse we can jump to verse 11-13 which states that “it was on the basis of the Levitical priesthood that the law was given to the people of Israel. Now if the work of the Levitical priests had been perfect there would be no need for a different kind of priest to appear, one who is in the priestly order of Melchizedek not of Aaron. For when the priesthood is changed, there also has to be a change in the law. And our Lord of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe and no member of His tribe ever served as a priest. It is well known that He was born a member of the tribe of Judah and Moses did not mention His tribe when he spoke of priests”. The above passage needs no explanation because it states clearly that the practice of tithing has no place under the priestly order of our Lord Jesus Christ, in fact the passage suggests that the collection of tithes is belittling of the priestly order of our Lord Jesus Christ. It states that it is wrong for us as Christians to receive or pay tithes and is not relevant to us as Christians because we belong to a superior priestly order. And it tells me that Jesus legally couldn’t accept tithes if He wanted to beings He’s from the tribe of Judah (Praise) and not the tribe of Levi (Law). 

  Once again I would like to state that this post is not meant for us as Christians to revolt against the church or our pastors, it’s just meant to establish the biblical truth about tithes and remove the yoke from people who labor and sacrifice to pay tithes (not required of them by God) while their pastors are living luxurious lives and taking expensive vacations. Today many pastors see the church as their personal business and even fraudulent (self called) people are opening up churches so that they can have access to people’s tithes and use it for their personal gain. But if you believe your tithes save you or believe that God will only bless you if you pay tithes, then I say....go for it. Knock yourself out! 

  But in closing..I want to encourage all of us as Christians to remain vigilant, prayerful, and continue to worship God in spirit and in truth with faith to the glory of His holy name. Amen.


Conclusion:
  Another point is: How come out of the 613 biblical laws of Moses which were handed out to the people of Israel, it is only an adulterated version of the law of tithe that is still being practiced today, apart from the Ten Commandments? How come we are no longer required to offer burnt sacrifices? How come we no longer stone people to death for sinning? The truth is that only tithing was dug out of the laws of Moses because it presents material benefits to the collectors of tithes. Given that most Christians do not study their bibles and depend on their pastors/preachers to guide them through, it was easy for pastors to pick a passage in the bible (Malachi 3: 8-10), quote it out of context and use it to manipulate the flock into parting with 10 percent of their income. Furthermore, it is worthy of note that neither Jesus Christ nor any of the apostles ever preached about or collected tithe. In fact, in the bible, Jesus Christ only spoke about tithes in Luke 11:42 which states that: “But woe unto you Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Here we can see that Jesus Christ is rebuking the Pharisees for laying emphasis on tithes instead of the more important things of the spirit, like most pastors are doing today.

In His love,
Elizabeth