Malachi 3:8-11 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. (9) You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. (10) Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this," Says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. (11) "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the Lord of hosts.”
So what about tithing? The above quoted passage of scripture is a favourite that is quoted by those who would teach the church that she needs to tithe. There is one major problem with quoting this passage of scripture however, i.e. it is from the law, and the church is not under law. And so if the Lord were to expect His church to observe this particular law then He would also expect us to observe all of the law, for the scripture says that the man who does them shall live by them (Galatians 3:12). But under the new covenant the just shall live by faith (Galatians 3:11) and not by the law. Someone said, but tithing was introduced before the Law of Moses, for both Abraham and Jacob tithed and so that proves that tithing is not under the law. If the argument is put forward that because tithing is mentioned in the bible before the Law of Moses, that the church should practice it, then that same argument should apply for circumcision. For God also introduced circumcision through Abraham, long before the Law of Moses, and yet in the New Testament the gentile believers are strongly warned against practicing circumcision (Galatians 5:2).
Genesis 14:18-20 “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. (19) And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; (20) and blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all.”
Genesis 28:20-22 “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, (21) so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. (22) And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
The above two quoted passages are the accounts recorded in scripture of when Abraham gave his tithe to the Lord, and when Jacob committed to give his tithe to the Lord. In both accounts, both Abraham and Jacob decided of their own accord to give one tenth to God. For at no time did God instruct them to do so, but rather this was their own freewill offerings to the Lord. Under the Law of Moses things changed however, for now God commanded the children of Israel to present their tithe before Him (Deuteronomy 14:22-29), and so tithing became a part of the law. There can be no doubt that the passage in Malachi is addressed to the children of Israel who were under the law. It is interesting to note however, that even the Jews that are currently under the old covenant, no longer pay tithes. For under the law God instructed them to pay their tithes to the Levitical priesthood, and in the current dispensation that priesthood has been suspended. So the question is asked, even though clearly the passage in Malachi is under the law, can it be applied to the church today? If the passage in Malachi is applicable to the church it would mean that believers that do not tithe are under a curse, for the scripture says “you are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation”. And yet under the new covenant the scripture says that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). And for the passage in Malachi to be applicable to the church it would mean that only believers that tithe can expect to be blessed financially, for the scripture says “I will open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it”. And yet under the new covenant the scripture says that Christ has become poor that we may become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). And for the passage in Malachi to be applicable to the church it would mean that only believers that tithe can expect to have the devourer rebuked, for the scripture says “I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field.” And yet under the new covenant the scripture says that we are to resist the devil and he will flee from us (James 4:7), for greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. The book of Malachi was written to the old covenant saints who were not in Christ and had no access to the blessing of the new covenant in Christ. And so for the saints under the new covenant to go before God and to expect Him to bless them because they are observing the law under the old covenant is foolishness. For in effect they are saying to God that their tithing carries more weight than that which Christ has already done for them. God will not honour that, for God will not violate the new covenant which is in His Son.
Galatians 4:21-26 “Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? (22) For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. (23) But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, (24) which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar-- (25) for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children-- (26) but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
Tithing, as all the law does, produces bondage. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul warns the churches in Galatia about this fact, for he says that Christians who desire to be under the law will subject themselves to the same bondage that the Jews are currently under. I have seen baby believers being placed under bondage financially because they have been taught that they must tithe, and so they try give beyond their ability and land up in financial trouble. I have also seen other believers being placed under bondage of condemnation, because they cannot afford to tithe. Anything that produces bondage is not the new covenant, for we have been called to liberty (Galatians 5:13). The message of tithing is very manipulative, because it promises blessing to the one who practices it, while it warns of the withholding of blessing and pronounces a curse on the one who does not practice it. Most believers want to be blessed and avoid being cursed, and so they will comply with that message. But the truth of the matter is that all believers have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), and all have already been redeemed from the curse of the law. The ones that really benefit from the message on tithing are those who teach it, for that message assures them of a steady income from the believers who have been placed under the bondage of that law. And so because it is such a lucrative message to preach, there are many that take advantage of the ignorance of believers and continue to teach it. In fact some of them place an even greater burden on the church by telling them that they not only have to tithe, but they also have to give offerings over and above their tithe, thus pressurizing believers to give even more. Nevertheless, there are many genuine preachers that teach the church to tithe, not because they want to manipulate the church, but because they themselves are ignorant about the truth of the gospel in this area. And those same genuine preachers also practice tithing themselves and they will testify that God has blessed them because they tithe. You will find in most cases however, that those preachers actually give far more than ten percent of their income, and so God blesses them for their giving and not for their “tithing”. In other words God recognizes their ignorance and blesses them in spite of it, but nevertheless God does not take kindly to those preachers who try to manipulate His church in this area, and they will have to give an account for their actions. There are many examples in scripture of those whom the Lord blessed who never tithed. Job would be one such example. God blesses our giving not our tithing. He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly while he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully, i.e. the one, who sows one percent of their income will reap less than the one who sows twenty percent of their income, nevertheless both will still reap a harvest. Ten percent is not some magic number that if reached, only then releases the blessing of God in our lives.
Hebrews 7:4-10 “Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. (5) And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; (6) but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. (7) Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. (8) Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. (9) Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, (10) for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”
So if tithing is not for the church why did the writer mention it in the book of Hebrews quoted above? It is significant that the Holy Spirit mentions the subject of tithing in the one letter in the New Testament that was specifically addressed to Jewish believers. In context, the Holy Spirit was teaching them the difference between the priesthood of Aaron and the priesthood of Melchizedek. Our Lord Jesus is the high priest after the order of Melchizedek; and in the above passage the scripture it says in verse eight that He received the tithes in heaven while at the same time the Levitical priests received the tithes here on earth. In other words, when the Jews under the old covenant presented their tithes and offerings at the temple, those tithes and offerings were also received in heaven, which is entirely correct, for it was God that gave them their covenant. The same principle applies to the saints under the new covenant, for all of our giving is received both by men here on earth and at the same time is received by our High Priest in heaven. Nevertheless under the new covenant, it is entirely scriptural for Jewish believers to observe the Law of Moses (Acts 21:20). Even the apostle Paul kept the law, for he said, that to the Jews he became as a Jew that he might win Jews; and to those who were under the law, as under the law, that he might win those who were under the law (1 Corinthians 9:20). You will recall the account of Paul hastening to Jerusalem so that he could be in time to keep the feast of tabernacles (Acts 18:21). And so as Jewish believers, the Hebrew church, who still went to the temple daily to pray, also paid their tithes to the Levitical priesthood. God recognized that as part of their freewill offerings to Him, which is why Jesus received their tithes. But the Holy Spirit counsels the gentile believers not to attempt observing the law (Galatians 3:2-13), for that is not how God called us into His kingdom. And so just as gentile believers are instructed not to observe days, months, seasons and years (Galatians 4;10), neither are we to observe tithing. But rather as gentile believers, we are to give from our abundance, which may initially be a small amount, but as God gives us increase that amount will steadily grow, and eventually the believer will find that they are giving far more than merely a tenth of their income.
Michael E.B. Maher