The Lie Of The Tithe
Fleecing The Flock Of God By Deception
By: Bill Price
One of the most widespread beliefs within Christianity today is that of tithing. It is the doctrine that a person must give the first 10% of their income to the Church in order to remain in the blessings and favor of God. You hear this taught from pulpits around the country, by televangelists, and from financial seminars. It is a teaching of fear and torment that has bound the Body of Christ for almost 16 centuries now. It has believers believing that if they do not tithe their income, they are cursed. They believe God will in some manner strike them down if they do not pay their tithe. This is what many would call an extortion racquet, and it has been a prevailing teaching in the Church for too long.
The truth is, tithing as we know it today, is unscriptural and contrary to the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. It is an invention of the 4th century Roman Catholic Church that was brought over to the Protestant movement, and was then brought from there to the Pentecostal movement. It was not ever taught or spoken of as a law for the believer anywhere in the New Testament, and is not in effect in the Church today, despite what some teach from behind the pulpit. The tithing doctrine is a deception, is a lie, and is a source of bondage for far too many believers. It is a disgrace for the Church to continue this horrible lie, because it is anti-Christ, anti-New Covenant, and anti-Cross in nature.
THE SOURCE OF THE BIBLICAL TITHE
Biblical tithing can only be found in the Old Testament, in the Law. And even there, it is not taught as it is taught in the Church today. In fact, the tithe that we find in the Bible is completely and totally different than that we have been taught in the Church, as is the application of the tithe.
"You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. {
Deuteronomy 14:22-23}
What we see here is the tithe is not monetary in nature, and never was. The tithe was agricultural in nature, meaning it was involving food, not money. The tithe was to be set aside to be eaten in Jerusalem at the Temple. It was not to be just brought up to the priests, but was to be eaten before the Lord. The Lord designed this as a celebration before Him of His goodness to the people of Israel. The tithe was not some financial gain that was to be given to the Temple, but was a feast to be eaten before the Lord.
This rolls contrary to modern tithing teachers. They teach that Israel brought all their tithes before the Lord and left them there at the Temple. They do not teach that the tithe was eaten before the Lord. But, these scriptures make clear that the tithe was eaten before the Lord, and was shared for the priest’s needs.
And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God chooses, to set his name there, then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the LORD your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire--oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you. {
Deuteronomy 14:24-27}
The above scripture brings forth another point. The Lord ordained that if the distance to carry the tithe is too far to travel with it, then the tithe could be sold, and the money brought to Jerusalem. There, the money would be used to purchase that which the individual desired, and the tithe would be eaten there at Jerusalem in that manner. The money of the tithe was not given to the Temple, but instead was turned into food and drink, and enjoyed at the Temple.
Both of the above scriptures show that the tithe was never monetary giving to the Temple, but was a feast brought to the Temple, shared with the priests, and ate before the Lord. Most modern tithe teachers never once teach this, but teach the giving of money. This seems to contradict what the scriptures say.
THE SOURCE OF MODERN TITHE TEACHING
The modern tithe teaching clearly is not based out of the tithe taught in the Bible. So where did the tithe come from? The answer lies in church history.
The Catholic Church had been run on what we will see later as the New Covenant giving, which is spontaneous and heart led giving. However, the church grew and needed funds to build the lavish cathedrals and sanctuaries that we see standing even today. The church decided to begin an ‘adaptation’ of tithing, by making all members of the church give the first 10% of their income to the church. This became the law of the Catholic Church through the gathering of the bishops at Tours in 567, and the Council of Macon in 585.
From that point on, those who were members of the Catholic Church were required to pay this tax of belief. Men and women would scrounge and claw to pay this mandatory tax to the Church. This process was passed on to the Protestant Churches during the Reformation and Martin Luther, though Luther himself taught against tithing as mandatory, and considered it a tax.
When we look at the modern prosperity doctrine, we see the same thinking as we see in the Catholic Church in the 5th century. Churches are teaching the tithe as mandatory, some even teaching it as a salvation issue. All one has to do is hear the pastor teach/preach on the tithe to see how serious modern preachers continue this early deception and tax on the believers.
When I was a part of the legalist church, I came against tithing initially, and was booted out of one fellowship because I called a certain elder to the floor about tithing. When I did, another preacher came forward and said that unless I was a pastor, I would not know why the tithe is taught. In other words, this pastor advocated lying to the people, putting them in bondage, and cursing them if they did not pay to have the lavish churches many have today. He did not care if it was true or not, so long as his pockets and the churches pockets were well lined. This is what the tithe is today, and it all started in the Catholic Church in the 5th century. They knew it was a lie then, and modern pastors know it is a lie now.
USING MALACHI 3 TO FLEECE THE FLOCKS OF GOD
One of the best used methods that men use to fleece the believers is a perverting of the Cross. They will use
Malachi 3, and say that if one does not tithe, one is cursed with a curse. The scriptures they use, though, betray our faith in Christ and make us in bondage to a law not found even within the pages of scripture.
Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. {
Malachi 3:8-11}
This is the above scripture used to brow beat believers into tithing 10% off of their income. Yet, as I said, this scripture betrays those who use it. When we read it, we see it comes into alignment with
Deuteronomy 14. The people were to bring their agricultural goods to the storehouse, so that the priests would be taken care of. The people were to continue to eat the tithe before the Lord, but they were also to provide, from their food, portion to the priests.
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-- so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. {
Galatians 3:10-14}
The curse was that of the Law. For modern preachers to proclaim a curse that was under the law on those who do not pay the ecclesiastical tax we know as tithing tramples underfoot the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and brings them back under the curse of the Law. Christ is no more of avail to them, because they have sought to bring a curse from the Law to the New Covenant. Yet, as I also have said, the tithe of modern churches is not even found in the Law. These are fleecing the flock in fear, and bringing upon themselves the curse of the Law.
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