Tithing…Is it a command?

[jediwill83]

Originally Posted by Sean

Was this O.T. "eternal principle".....



8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.



A N.T. principle?.....



Romans 12:14-21King James Version (KJV)

14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

[Sean]

Whoah.

Benny Hinn just cursed himself.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by jediwill83

If preachers believed what they preached about the principles of giving, they would be the ones writing the checks and sending them out to people.

Waiting for my Joel Osteen check...itll be here any day...my psychic done tole me.

LOL

Right, it is the elders job to care for the weak.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by jediwill83

Funny thing is that Malachi wasnt written to the "normal citizens "....it was written to the ones that were receiving the tithe and misusing it....go back to the beginning where it tells you who its written to.

Right, and the entire nation suffered for their misuse of funds.

[Esaias]

Didn't he get caught using crack or something?

[peter83]

Originally Posted by Sean

It is funny how folks use "eternal principle" for only 1 particular Law of over 600 Laws.....money.

I use this word in order to speak politely.
I mean that tithe is a TRADITION of men today. It is NOT a law. It was a law of old testament but never in the new.

[peter83]

Originally Posted by Tithesmeister

The tithe is defined in the scripture, by God. That definition of tithing is not one that is observed today in any church that I am aware of. Also the tithe (as instituted by God) was not a custom or a principle, nor was it ever money, what it was is a LAW! Did the Bible give anyone the authority to change the definition of the tithe? No!! God forbade that His words would ever be added to or diminished aught from. Do we think we have a better idea . . . than God?!

Although it was a LAW. and we are not under law so i call it a TRADITION.
Is not something different than keeping the Sabbath or any other law.
But i say that is respected by me because before the law was given some people had this custom(or tradition) to give a tithe. See that when Abraham or even Jacob was tithing there was not any LAW given yet.

[JamesGlen]

Originally Posted by peter83

Although it was a LAW. and we are not under law so i call it a TRADITION.
Is not something different than keeping the Sabbath or any other law.
But i say that is respected by me because before the law was given some people had this custom(or tradition) to give a tithe. See that when Abraham or even Jacob was tithing there was not any LAW given yet.

Please explain from the scriptures how the tithe tradition should work nowadays.

[peter83]

Originally Posted by JamesGlen

Please explain from the scriptures how the tithe tradition should work nowadays.

Personally i dont agree that works today.There is not scriptur that says tithing for today!
I dont even have clear scriptures that the preachers,musicians etc must be paid! I can see the reason to get paid as Apostles but never understand the reason for a pastor.
I saw churches growing without any tithing! But from the other site i understand people are afraid that "how we should make sure to keep money for the church needs?" and so they put the tithe.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by jediwill83

Funny thing is that Malachi wasnt written to the "normal citizens "....it was written to the ones that were receiving the tithe and misusing it....go back to the beginning where it tells you who its written to.

Amen!

You are exactly right.

I think Malachi 3:5-10 deserves a closer look. And I welcome anyone who would like to challenge this. Here goes...

Malachi was a prophet who wrote this letter to the Levitical Priests about the sins of the entire nation, including the sins of the priesthood itself. It is important to note that the tithe that Malachi is talking about is related to the "storehouse". So we know that this wasn't the tithe given to sustain the priesthood. How do we know this? Because the storehouse is where they stored every third year's "poor tithe". This tithe was to provide for the nation's poor and needy. And so we know that it is this tithe that was being neglected. With this in mind, now read the passage:

Malachi 3:5-10
5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.
6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

What is happening here is that the nation, including the priesthood, had become corrupt. They had fallen into sorcery, sexual sin, and false religion... but more notably... they had chosen to oppress the hireling in his wages (paying less than a living wage). They had also denied the widow, the orphan, and the stranger their "right". What was that "right"? Under the Law of Moses, these needy classes (widows, orphans, strangers) had entitlements. They had a right to glean from the edges and corners of the fields. They had a right to collect anything dropped during the harvest. They also had a right to the poor tithe that was collected and gathered into the storehouse. What had happened is that the landowners had bribed the judges to allow them to shew away the poor and the needy from their fields. In addition, the priesthood chose to remain silent about this oppression and began collecting the poor tithe for themselves. These polices of corruption had left the hired workers, widows, orphans, and the strangers struggling for their very survival, languishing in poverty, lack, and hunger. By robbing the workers and the poor... they were robbing GOD. And so the whole nation was cursed with a curse. God promises that if they bring "all of the tithe" (including the poor tithe) into the storehouse for the poor, God would forgive their sin and bless the entire nation by pouring out a blessing, such a blessing there wouldn't be room enough to receive it.

So, this passage is about national polices of corruption practiced by the national authorities and the priesthood that deprived workers and the needy of their rights and entitlements under the Law of Moses.

I wonder, does this "national sin" sound familiar? Do we not see the very same "national sin" being perpetrated on the elderly, fatherless homes, aliens, and even workers today? Dare I say that... to cut Medicare and Social Security to pay for massive tax breaks for the wealthy... to pay workers less than a living wage or to undercut their hours to boost profit margins although record profits are being reported... is... robbing God?

When a nation's polices rob the people, especially workers and those in need, that nation robs God Himself.

It reminds me of something Jesus once said:

Matthew 25:32-46
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

In short, entire nations are judged by their compassion, or lack of compassion, towards the most vulnerable in their society. We must understand that whatsoever is done unto the most vulnerable in a society is done unto the Lord. Therefore, to rob the worker, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger by depriving them of their "right" to function and survive in a society is... robbing God.

Like it or not. Agree or not. This is the message of Malachi to an entire nation.