Do You Understand The Concept Of Tithing?

[The Irish Ram]

The Bible clearly shows that the tithe ENDED at the cross in the Book of Hebrews. The ONLY place in the Bible, after Calvary, that tithing appears is in Hebrews 7. In the first nine verses of Hebrews 7 the words tenth or tithes appears SEVEN TIMES.

Hebrews 7:5 (KJV) “And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:”

Verse 5 is the first occurrence of the words TITHES, COMMANDMENT and LAW.

Hebrews 7:12 (KJV) “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.”

Hebrews 7:18 (KJV) “For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.”

The word COMMANDMENT in verse 18 must be referring to the word COMMANDMENT in verse 5 which is referring to the tithe.

Therefore, the COMMANDMENT to TITHE was disannulled.

The "disannullment" you speak of was the change in the law concerning priestly lines, not tithing. And pertains to Jews/Hebrew audience, not Gentiles. The Law was that priests had to come from the Levite line( the line of AAron, Moses' brother). Jesus was from the line of Judah, and from the order of Melchizedek. The priesthood changed.

I think I'll follow what Christ had to say about it:

Luke 11:42
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

Luke 18:12
I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

^ (Another place where it is brought up in the NT).

Here is a case of a second tithe:

Numbers 18:26-28
“Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe.

Once a tithe was tithed, something had to happen with the tithe.
And if a person/s was nomadic and not near a temple, then God would pick a spot for them to tithe, and then they were permitted to enjoy the tithe among themselves.

and your statement that:

The firstfruits went to the priests at the Temple while the TITHE went to the Levites who lived in the Levitical cities. Proverbs 3:9 says absolutely NOTHING about a tenth, and verse 10 confirms that the firstfruits is FRUIT FROM CROPS. Nothing else.

is incorrect.
The Levites were the priests, whether in the temple or in shelter cities, and they received the first fruits of everything, crops, firstlings of livestock, and fruit from cultivated trees.

 

[GaryArnold]

The "disannullment" you speak of was the change in the law concerning priestly lines, not tithing. And pertains to Jews/Hebrew audience, not Gentiles.

I think I'll follow what Christ had to say about it:

Luke 11:42
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

^ (Another place where it is brought up in the NT).

The firstfruits went to the priests at the Temple while the TITHE went to the Levites who lived in the Levitical cities. Proverbs 3:9 says absolutely NOTHING about a tenth, and verse 10 confirms that the firstfruits is FRUIT FROM CROPS. Nothing else.

is incorrect.
The Levites were the priests, whether in the temple or in shelter cities, and they received the first fruits of everything, crops, firstlings of livestock, and fruit from cultivated trees.

1 - The tithe was also addressed to the Jew/Hebrew audience, not to the gentiles.

2 - You seem to think the New Testament (New Covenant) begins while Jesus was still living. Not so. The New Testament began AFTER calvary. When Jesus addressed the Scribes and Pharisees, THEY WERE UNDER THE OT LAW.

3 - While you are technically correct that the priests were "Levites" since they came from the tribe of Levi, once God chose Aaron and his sons to be the priests, they are no longer referred to as "Levites" in the scriptures. Otherwise, the scriptures don't make sense:

Nehemiah 10:38: 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, to the chambers, into the treasure house.

Nowhere in the scriptures did the priests tithe. Today, all born-again believers are part of a Royal Priesthood.

 

[tyroneweaver]

Tithing of tithe, is the concept of giving God 10 percent of your increase.

That is, ten percent (10%) of everything you earn, monetarily of course.

So if you make 3,000 a month, your tithe should be 300 a month.

Do you find yourself wondering why would God need your money?

Do you understand what's this all about?

What's your understanding of this?

everything belongs to God in the first place, so it's his money to begin with.

 

[GaryArnold]

Tithing of tithe, is the concept of giving God 10 percent of your increase.

Just look at the statement above. What does it say, and what did the writer mean it to say?

Tithing of tithe means to take a tenth of the tenth. That would mean if you start with $100, first take a tenth which is $10, then tithe from that $10 which results in giving 1%, not ten percent.

What the writer really meant to say is "Giving of tithe is the concept....."

This is one problem with this topic. Many church goers seem to think the word tithe means give. I have seen on many blogs where church goers say they don't "tithe any particular percent." Others have said they "tithe more than ten percent." Show total lack of understanding what the word tithe even means. IT IS A MATHEMATICAL TERM. However, God defined WHERE HIS TITHE WAS TO COME FROM, and commanded WHERE TO TAKE HIS TITHE. Man, or should I say church leaders, don't like to use God's instructions.

 

[tyroneweaver]

I very well understand the concept of tithing, and I also understand well what the concept of tithing is not.

God commanded three different tithes. In each case, the tithe came from HIS increase of food from crops and animals, NOT from man's income. Income does not equate to increase. When someone works, there is an exchange of labor for money. That is not an increase. Increase is when the seed grows into the fruit.

When God gave the Israelites the promised land, He RESERVED, for Himself, a tenth of the crops and every tenth animal. They NEVER did belong to the Israelites. In other words, the tithe was from God's increase of FOOD, not from man's income. It was a way to distribute FOOD to the Levites and priests who did NOT inherit any land.

No one, not even the farmers, tithed from their income.

The farmers made their income by SELLING and/or barter-exchanging their crops and animals but did NOT tithe on that income.

Today, ALL born-again believers are priests. ALL of us are called to be disciples of the Lord. No one of us is greater than another. Our bodies are the Temple where the Spirit dwells. According to the scriptures, priests do not tithe.

Now, the three tithes commanded by God:

THE FIRST TITHE
Leviticus 27:30-33 defines this tithe as a tenth of crops and animals in herds and flocks.
Numbers 18 gives the ordinances, or instructions, for this tithe, and commands this tithe be taken to the Levites.
Purpose of this tithe: to support the Levitical Priesthood.

SECOND TITHE
Deuteronomy 14:22-27: aka The Festival Tithe - a tenth of crops, plus add to that the firstborn animals, and take to the yearly feasts.
Purpose of this tithe: “that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always”

THIRD TITHE
Deuteronomy 14:28-29: aka The Three-Year Tithe aka The Poor Tithe - a tenth of crops, kept at home, and invite the Levites, widows, orphans, stranger to eat.
Purpose of this tithe: to feed the poor.

There is no way to justify making some “principle” out of the Biblical tithe and then apply it to Christians today. It is just flat out wrong and makes no sense at all.

The New Testament teaches generous, sacrificial giving, from the heart, according to our means. For some, $1 might be a sacrifice, while for others, even giving 50% of their income might not induce a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, ONLY the farmers tithed, and it was a tenth. The New Testament teaches the principle of equal sacrifice instead of a tenth. Equal sacrifice is much harder to achieve, if not impossible, than giving a tenth.

Matthew 23:23
23: Woe unto your scribes and pharisees hypocrites for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin 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

I take exception to your interpretation of scripture. It's apparent tithing came from all types of income; mint, cummin, anise, weren't crops of the field. And for the most part the groups he singled out weren't farmers.

When Jesus told told the scribes and pharisees they were not to leave the other undone this seems to be a direct reference right back to the tithing issues.

The apostle Paul said
Heb 7:8
And here men that die receive tithes but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth

In my church the guy that dies is the Bishop, in other religions I suppose it's the Pastor
As a witness that he liiveth.
In other words the Bishop, the guy that dies, is to receive tithing just the same as if the Lord himself were receiving them.

The scriptures are pretty abundant that tithing is a new covenant expectation.

 

[GaryArnold]

Matthew 23:23
23: Woe unto your scribes and pharisees hypocrites for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin 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

I take exception to your interpretation of scripture. It's apparent tithing came from all types of income; mint, cummin, anise, weren't crops of the field. And for the most part the groups he singled out weren't farmers.

When Jesus told told the scribes and pharisees they were not to leave the other undone this seems to be a direct reference right back to the tithing issues.

The apostle Paul said
Heb 7:8
And here men that die receive tithes but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth

In my church the guy that dies is the Bishop, in other religions I suppose it's the Pastor
As a witness that he liiveth.
In other words the Bishop, the guy that dies, is to receive tithing just the same as if the Lord himself were receiving them.

The scriptures are pretty abundant that tithing is a new covenant expectation.

The Holy Bible, King James Version
Leviticus 27:30: And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.

Mint, cummin, and anise come from "the seed of the land." Webster's definition of crop: "the cultivated produce of the ground, while growing or when gathered: the wheat crop." The herbs are, in fact, crops, not matter how small.

The "other undone" that Jesus was referring to are judgement, mercy and faith. It's right there in the verse. Jesus never told the Scribes and Pharisees they should have been tithing from their income as teachers and lawyers.

Heb 7:8
And here men that die receive tithes.....
The Book of Hebrews was written BEFORE the Temple was destroyed. Up until that time, the Jews continued taking the tithe to the Levites. The "here men that die" is obviously referring to the Levites. This is in contrast to Melchizedec.

 

[tyroneweaver]

Matthew 23:23
23: Woe unto your scribes and pharisees hypocrites for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin 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

I take exception to your interpretation of scripture. It's apparent tithing came from all types of income; mint, cummin, anise, weren't crops of the field. And for the most part the groups he singled out weren't farmers.

When Jesus told told the scribes and pharisees they were not to leave the other undone this seems to be a direct reference right back to the tithing issues.

The apostle Paul said
Heb 7:8
And here men that die receive tithes but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth

In my church the guy that dies is the Bishop, in other religions I suppose it's the Pastor
As a witness that he liiveth.
In other words the Bishop, the guy that dies, is to receive tithing just the same as if the Lord himself were receiving them.

The scriptures are pretty abundant that tithing is a new covenant expectation.

The Holy Bible, King James Version
Leviticus 27:30: And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.

Mint, cummin, and anise come from "the seed of the land." Webster's definition of crop: "the cultivated produce of the ground, while growing or when gathered: the wheat crop." The herbs are, in fact, crops, not matter how small.

The "other undone" that Jesus was referring to are judgement, mercy and faith. It's right there in the verse. Jesus never told the Scribes and Pharisees they should have been tithing from their income as teachers and lawyers.

Heb 7:8
And here men that die receive tithes.....
The Book of Hebrews was written BEFORE the Temple was destroyed. Up until that time, the Jews continued taking the tithe to the Levites. The "here men that die" is obviously referring to the Levites. This is in contrast to Melchizedec.

not really These ye ought to have done refers to judgement, mercy, and faith
the other is obvious a reference back to tithing,

if your going to use that argument( which I don't accept anyway) Abraham paid tithing before the lesser law was giving.

Are you Church of Christ. I've heard this argument before from them?

 

[GaryArnold]

not really These ye ought to have done refers to judgement, mercy, and faith
the other is obvious a reference back to tithing,

if your going to use that argument( which I don't accept anyway) Abraham paid tithing before the lesser law was giving.

Are you Church of Christ. I've heard this argument before from them?

I agree. The "other" is referring back to tithing as MATTERS OF THE LAW.

I belong to no church denomination. I have my own financial ministry which deals with this topic 7 days a week.

Let’s look closely at Abram’s tithe. First, the goods that Abram gave the tenth from didn’t even belong to Abram:

Genesis 14:21 (KJV) - And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

Notice in verse 21 the king of Sodom didn’t ask Abram if he would give back to him the people, but rather said GIVE ME the people and keep the goods for yourself. The way that is worded indicates that the king of Sodom was claiming that the people and the goods belonged to him, but he offered the goods to Abram.

It would normally have been the custom that the victor owns the spoils, but normally the spoils would have belonged to the enemy. In this case, Abram was RECOVERING goods belonging to the King of Sodom.

NOTE: The king of Sodom had an original right both to the persons and to the goods, and it would bear a debate whether Abram’s acquired right by rescue would supersede his title and extinguish it; but, to prevent all quarrels, the king of Sodom makes this fair proposal (v. 21).
--Should the Church Teach Tithing by Dr. Russell Earl Kelly, pages 24-25

Genesis 14:22-24 (KJV)
22And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
24Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

Notice in verses 23 and 24 Abram also acknowledges that the goods belonged to the king of Sodom. But the king of Sodam offered that Abram could keep the goods for himself. Abram declined the offer. He didn’t want man to take credit for his wealth. By not accepting any of the goods for himself, Abram was putting all his faith in God to provide for him rather than man.

Therefore, it is clear that both the king of Sodom and Abram acknowledged that the spoils of war did NOT belong to Abram, yet he gave a tenth of the spoils to King Melchizedek. This would seem that Abram did something wrong, if not even illegal, but Biblical historians agree that it was custom in Abram's day to give the king a tenth of the war spoils. Had Abram not given the tenth, he would have gone against custom.

Conclusion: Abram did NOT give a tenth of his income, or his wealth. Abram gave a tenth of the spoils of war that didn’t belong to him and declined to keep the goods offered to him. That is NOT an example of tithing for Christians to follow today. By declining to keep any of the goods for himself, Abram showed his faith that God would provide. That is the example of faith that Christians should be following. Furthermore, the law did NOT require a tenth of war spoils to be given, so to say that tithing was before the law and then in the law is not true. What Abram did was NOT even codified into the later law.

 

[tyroneweaver]

I guess my question is : Do you pay tithing in your church.
I do in mine, based on the gross.

 

[GaryArnold]

I guess my question is : Do you pay tithing in your church.
I do in mine, based on the gross.

Being Spirit led instead of using outdated OT law, I give in excess of 30% of my gross income, consistently, month after month. Some months I am led to give even more, resulting in having to use retirement savings to pay for part of my own living expenses.

I have found that teaching tithing puts a hardship on the poor, and makes the well-to-do feel they are doing their share when they give their tenth. Without praying and seeking the Spirit, how can one possibly know how much the Lord wants them to give?

 

[The Irish Ram]

how can one possibly know how much the Lord wants them to give?

You know by reading the instruction manual.

Teaching tithing is a remedy for poor, not a burden, if you truly believe. Not teaching it is robbery, of the poor and God.
If the poor can't tithe 10% of their gain, teach them to cheerfully give what they can, and then let God favor them with increase, so before long they'll have plenty enough to tithe on.

2 Corinthians 9:7
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

You don't have enough money to meet God's plan for them, so while it is nice you give, (as well you should), explain to the needy what a flood gate looks like when it is opened and then stand back so you don't get wet.

And God Bless your heart for being such a gracious giver.

Proverbs 11:24-25
There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.

(My only caveat might be Matthew 6:3-4)

 

[CMike]

Really? And what specifically did Jesus endorse as far as mortgages, houses of worship and commercial ventures?

Bascially render unto ceasar what is ceasar's, in this case, the property for a church, operating costs etc. I know he wasn't a big fan of moneylending.

This is what I love about our Christ. He was no wimp. He went into those temples. He was furious and He kicked ass when he turned all those tables over.

And yes I know my verbage isn't always the best, but you get my drift.

That was a really stupid thing to do.

 

[CMike]

The "disannullment" you speak of was the change in the law concerning priestly lines, not tithing. And pertains to Jews/Hebrew audience, not Gentiles.

I think I'll follow what Christ had to say about it:

Luke 11:42
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

^ (Another place where it is brought up in the NT).

The firstfruits went to the priests at the Temple while the TITHE went to the Levites who lived in the Levitical cities. Proverbs 3:9 says absolutely NOTHING about a tenth, and verse 10 confirms that the firstfruits is FRUIT FROM CROPS. Nothing else.

is incorrect.
The Levites were the priests, whether in the temple or in shelter cities, and they received the first fruits of everything, crops, firstlings of livestock, and fruit from cultivated trees.

1 - The tithe was also addressed to the Jew/Hebrew audience, not to the gentiles.

2 - You seem to think the New Testament (New Covenant) begins while Jesus was still living. Not so. The New Testament began AFTER calvary. When Jesus addressed the Scribes and Pharisees, THEY WERE UNDER THE OT LAW.

3 - While you are technically correct that the priests were "Levites" since they came from the tribe of Levi, once God chose Aaron and his sons to be the priests, they are no longer referred to as "Levites" in the scriptures. Otherwise, the scriptures don't make sense:

Nehemiah 10:38: 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, to the chambers, into the treasure house.

Nowhere in the scriptures did the priests tithe. Today, all born-again believers are part of a Royal Priesthood.

The Levis became assistants to the Kohanim who were then the priests.

Levis are from the tribe of Levi, Kohanim are direct descendents of Aaron, Moses' brother.

I am a Kohan.

The Tribes Today: Kohens, Levis, and Yisraels

Also I don't recognize "OT Law". Jews have the Torah and/or Tanach, not OT law.

The Tribes Today: Kohens, Levis, and Yisraels

From the tribe of Levi, Aaron and his descendents were singled out to be the priests and serve in the Temple (see Exodus 28). Originally, God intended that the first-born of every Jewish family would be a Kohen, the priest who would serve as that family's representative to the Holy Temple (Exodus 13:2, Exodus 24:5). The decision to make the descendants of Aaron serve as priests, however, occurred after the Golden Calf incident at Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:26). At Sinai, only the Levites remained loyal to G-d by not worshipping the Golden Calf, and therefore the Levis were designated as the priestly tribe.

Today, Leviim are believed to be the direct patrilineal descendents of Levi, while Kohanim are Leviim who descend directly, through their fathers, from Aaron. Other Jews are assumed to come from one of the other tribes and are called, simply, Yisraelim. A convert to Judaism takes the status as a Yisrael. The only valid method of being a Levite (or Kohen) is to have an unbroken tradition, passed from generation to generation, stretching back to the time of Moses. In many Jewish communities, meticulous records were kept throughout the generations to ensure that ancestral lines remained clear. If one has no clear evidence, such as a family tradition, of descending from Levi or Aaron one should assume he/she is a Yisrael. Traditionally, women adopt the status of their husband, thus if a bat Kohen (daughter of a father who is a Kohen) marries a Yisrael, she and her children are Yisraelim.

 

[CMike]

I guess my question is : Do you pay tithing in your church.
I do in mine, based on the gross.

Being Spirit led instead of using outdated OT law, I give in excess of 30% of my gross income, consistently, month after month. Some months I am led to give even more, resulting in having to use retirement savings to pay for part of my own living expenses.

I have found that teaching tithing puts a hardship on the poor, and makes the well-to-do feel they are doing their share when they give their tenth. Without praying and seeking the Spirit, how can one possibly know how much the Lord wants them to give?

The Torah is not outdated for Jews.

Obviously Christians have little to do with the Torah.

 

[Sarah G]

Tithing of tithe, is the concept of giving God 10 percent of your increase.

That is, ten percent (10%) of everything you earn, monetarily of course.

So if you make 3,000 a month, your tithe should be 300 a month.

Do you find yourself wondering why would God need your money?

Do you understand what's this all about?

What's your understanding of this?

The concept is the more you give, the more you get. 10% is a lot and I wouldn't start out at that just to test the waters.

I read a Suze Orman book once and that was one of the things she recommended. She didn't call it tithing but the concept of giving some of what you earn to a good cause seemed to be an important component of her financial advice.

The root of the word tithe is 1/10.

You expect us to give 3-5 times that amount to government, yet God cant have a measily 10%?

The blessings for tithing come after faithfully obeying the law. If you aren't paying a full tithe, you aren't going to get the full blessing.

1. 10% isn't measly and you aren't giving it to God. You're giving it to man to distribute as he sees fit. Your taxes are voluntary compliance but if you don't pay up, you go to jail. There is a difference between giving to a church and paying taxes.

2. I'm sure God would understand if we couldn't afford the full 10% and give back appropriately. Work up to the 10% slowly to see whether you are not being ripped off by the people who are taking your money.

 

[GaryArnold]

Again, God NEVER commanded a tithe of money, or a tithe from income. Increase does not equate to income. (Leviticus 27:30-33).

God NEVER commanded a tithe of any kind to be given to a church or pastor. God commanded His tithe be given to the Levites.

Plain and simple. Only those who pervert the gospel will say that God commands a tithe from your income, or a tithe of money. Only those who pervert the gospel will say that God commands a tithe be taken to the church.

ONE OF THE WORST CRIMES OF ALL TIME:
1 - It is done by pastors who are trusted to be honest and right, and done in the name of Jesus.
2 - It is legal only because the government (in the US) can't interfere with religious beliefs, and the pastor only need claim he is teaching his beliefs.
3 - It has spread world-wide and this crime has more victims than any other that I know of.
4 - Those who have been scammed almost always take sides with the scammer.
5 - It's a crime where the victim thinks he/she is the beneficiary, not the victim.
6 - The crime is so carefully crafted and executed that the victim falls for the same scam every week, week after week, month after month, year after year, and never even questions the scammer.
7 - The crime is so carefully crafted and executed that most church goers will yell AMEN!
8 - The crime is so carefully crafted and executed that most church goers believe their pastor is the best pastor around. Their pastor really knows the truth. They trust and believe everything he says.
9 - The crime is so carefully crafted and executed that the victims convince others to join in and be a victim like they are, all the time thinking they are the beneficiary.
10 - The crime is so carefully crafted and executed that the victim thinks they are robbing God if they don't comply with the scam.
11 - The crime is so carefully crafted and executed it is very difficult to convince the victim that they have been a victim.

The crime? Pastors teaching that God requires Christians to tithe to the church. With tithing, the victim is so ignorant of the truth, they have no clue they've been a victim. And if and when the tithing scam victims realize they are victims, there is really nothing they can do about it. The scammer keeps the money.

 

[The Irish Ram]

Bascially render unto ceasar what is ceasar's, in this case, the property for a church, operating costs etc. I know he wasn't a big fan of moneylending.

This is what I love about our Christ. He was no wimp. He went into those temples. He was furious and He kicked ass when he turned all those tables over.

And yes I know my verbage isn't always the best, but you get my drift.

That was a really stupid thing to do.

Not if you understand why He did it.
The money changers were a necessary part of the sacrifice ritual. People came from all over, and to buy a dove or a lamb or what ever was required, they needed to convert their currency.
What infuriated Jesus wasn't that the money changers were there, but that the money exchangers were cheating people by giving them less than the people should have been getting from the exchange. In His father's house no less.......
We do stupid things. Jesus, never.

 

[The Irish Ram]

I guess my question is : Do you pay tithing in your church.
I do in mine, based on the gross.

Being Spirit led instead of using outdated OT law, I give in excess of 30% of my gross income, consistently, month after month. Some months I am led to give even more, resulting in having to use retirement savings to pay for part of my own living expenses.

I have found that teaching tithing puts a hardship on the poor, and makes the well-to-do feel they are doing their share when they give their tenth. Without praying and seeking the Spirit, how can one possibly know how much the Lord wants them to give?

Odd that God would lead you to tithe to all those criminals.

Abraham's tithe did not go to a Levite.
God told priests under the Law to keep about 1/3 of the tithe inside the gates of the sanctuary cities for not only a Levite, but traveling Levites, orphans, widows, others.

Increase does not equate to income.

Increase can and does refer to anything capable of being increased.

Christ came to fulfill the Law. He is our tithe. If you never give a dime to the church, it will not prevent you from entering the Kingdom, by grace alone.
If Christ told His disciples to tithe with love and not by law/fear of the Lord, or obligation, then do not forsake one for the other. Do both, was his message. Tithe out of love, not obligation. That is the difference between the Old and New Testament.

You telling me 'what the writer meant to say' (that it was just a concept), makes me wonder why the writer didn't just say what you interpreted him to mean.
Tithe is a blessing from God. A conduit for receiving floods of His favor and increase. Why would you not tithe is the question.

 

[GaryArnold]

Teaching tithing is a remedy for poor, not a burden, if you truly believe. Not teaching it is robbery, of the poor and God.

You must think you can buy blessings from God. This is one of the problems with the local churches today. The pastors who teach you tithe to get blessings are merchandising God.

When you give your money to the local church, you are giving it to man, not God. You are giving most likely to a corporation organized TO DO BUSINESS as a church. Jesus told us the ONE way we can give to Him - what we do for the poor we do for Him.

When you truly give, you expect NOTHING in return. Otherwise, it isn't a true gift. It would be an investment.

The false and fraudulent teaching of "opening the floodgates, pouring out blessings" etc. really shows lack of scripture understanding. The blessings spoken of in Malachi 3 is RAIN for the crops. Nothing else.

If you really study the scriptures you will find that the NATION tithed AS A WHOLE NATION. The blessings from tithing went TO THE NATION, AS A WHOLE. It was not the individual.

It's amazing how man can be deceived by those who pervert the gospel.

 

[GaryArnold]

Odd that God would lead you to tithe to all those criminals.

Abraham's tithe did not go to a Levite.
God told priests under the Law to keep about 1/3 of the tithe inside the gates of the sanctuary cities for not only a Levite, but traveling Levites, orphans, widows, others.

Increase can and does refer to anything capable of being increased.

If Christ told His disciples to tithe with love and not by law, or obligation, then do not forsake one for the other. Do both, was his message. Tithe out of love, not obligation. That is the difference between the Old and New Testament.
.

1 - Since I have made it clear that I do not tithe, how can you say, "Odd that God would lead you to tithe to all those criminals."? I give NOTHING to the organized church. I give to God the only way Jesus said we could. I give to those I know who are in need.

2 - Abram gave a tenth BEFORE God gave His definition and instructions. What Abram did had nothing to do with what God later commanded. In fact, God did not want a tenth of the spoils as shown in Numbers 31.

3 - Increase, as used in the scriptures in reference to firstfruits or tithing is very clear. Increase comes from God, not man's labor. In every single case, in the scriptures when referring to either firstfruits or tithing, increase is referring to the seed of the land. NOTHING ELSE. If you disagree, give scripture.

4 - There is NO scripture where Christ told His disciples to tithe with love and not by law, or obligation. NONE. Where do you come up with such a statement? There is NO scripture where Christ even mentions tithing to His disciples.