Does God Command You to Tithe to Your Church?
As a pastor, one of the first things I would teach young believers when I discipled them was tithing. I would give them all the Biblical reasons why they had to give ten percent of their income to our church. I felt this was necessary because it helped them be vested in our church and the church needed the money to fund all of its programs.
Although I would adamantly proclaim “God says give ten percent to your church” inside I had an uneasy feeling. An uneasy feeling in my stomach would warn me I was not speaking for God. The main passage I would run to as a proof text was I Corinthians 16:2 which says “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him.” This text does not refer to giving ten percent to one’s church but refers to the collection Paul was gathering for the poor, oppressed believers in Jerusalem. This passage clearly refers to Biblical giving. God commands us to give to meet the needs of others. This is different than tithing. The New Testament talks much about giving (Matthew 6, II Corinthians 8, Luke 3:11, Acts 20:35, etc.) but mentions tithing only three times (Matthew 23:23and its parallel passage Luke 11:42; Luke 18:12; Hebrews 7).
I would then quickly run to the strongest passage on tithing which is found in Malachi 3:10. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing , that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” It is amazing how we say the Old Testament and the Law is not for us but yet we run to it when we can make it fit our program! What was God saying in Malachi? Was He commanding Christians to give ten percent of all they make to the Church? I am not saying stop giving to your church. We need to give to our church and to those in need around us. Biblical giving involves much more than ten percent.
God commands those that believe in Him to tithe to the work of the Temple. Believers in Jehovah God brought their tithes from all over the world. They would bring it in the form of grain, olive oil, sheep, oxen, doves, silver, and gold. All of the tithes were holy and belonged to God. Some of it was sacrificed. Some of it fed the Levites who served in the Temple. Some of it funded the Temple work. Some of it became part of the Temple Treasures. All of it went glorify God! The tithe was used for worship in the Temple.
The Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. The Bible says this will happen before the Messiah returns. According to Malachi 3:10 it is the responsibility of those who believe in the God of the Bible to fund the rebuilding of the Temple. Have you ever wondered why we haven’t experienced the windows of Heaven being opened and blessings poured out so abundantly that we can’t take them all? I have given ten percent of my income to the church most of my life and I have never experienced blessings of that magnitude. I have been blessed greatly but not so much I can’t take them all! I have often wondered why this promise doesn’t work for me. The problem has been I have been giving my tithe to the wrong place. It belongs to the Temple in Jerusalem!
It is time for God’s children to fund the work of rebuilding the Temple. God promises that when we do He will bless us beyond our imagination. Please keep giving to your church and helping the needy. Maybe its time we start tithing the Biblical way! Next week I want to look at the prophetic aspects of Malachi 3. I have never heard anyone call Malachi 3 prophetic but in my next article I will show that it is prophetic. I will show you what is going to happen according to the Bible and how it affects you.
© Dr. Steven L Smith 2016
Although I would adamantly proclaim “God says give ten percent to your church” inside I had an uneasy feeling. An uneasy feeling in my stomach would warn me I was not speaking for God. The main passage I would run to as a proof text was I Corinthians 16:2 which says “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him.” This text does not refer to giving ten percent to one’s church but refers to the collection Paul was gathering for the poor, oppressed believers in Jerusalem. This passage clearly refers to Biblical giving. God commands us to give to meet the needs of others. This is different than tithing. The New Testament talks much about giving (Matthew 6, II Corinthians 8, Luke 3:11, Acts 20:35, etc.) but mentions tithing only three times (Matthew 23:23and its parallel passage Luke 11:42; Luke 18:12; Hebrews 7).
I would then quickly run to the strongest passage on tithing which is found in Malachi 3:10. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing , that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” It is amazing how we say the Old Testament and the Law is not for us but yet we run to it when we can make it fit our program! What was God saying in Malachi? Was He commanding Christians to give ten percent of all they make to the Church? I am not saying stop giving to your church. We need to give to our church and to those in need around us. Biblical giving involves much more than ten percent.
God commands those that believe in Him to tithe to the work of the Temple. Believers in Jehovah God brought their tithes from all over the world. They would bring it in the form of grain, olive oil, sheep, oxen, doves, silver, and gold. All of the tithes were holy and belonged to God. Some of it was sacrificed. Some of it fed the Levites who served in the Temple. Some of it funded the Temple work. Some of it became part of the Temple Treasures. All of it went glorify God! The tithe was used for worship in the Temple.
The Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. The Bible says this will happen before the Messiah returns. According to Malachi 3:10 it is the responsibility of those who believe in the God of the Bible to fund the rebuilding of the Temple. Have you ever wondered why we haven’t experienced the windows of Heaven being opened and blessings poured out so abundantly that we can’t take them all? I have given ten percent of my income to the church most of my life and I have never experienced blessings of that magnitude. I have been blessed greatly but not so much I can’t take them all! I have often wondered why this promise doesn’t work for me. The problem has been I have been giving my tithe to the wrong place. It belongs to the Temple in Jerusalem!
It is time for God’s children to fund the work of rebuilding the Temple. God promises that when we do He will bless us beyond our imagination. Please keep giving to your church and helping the needy. Maybe its time we start tithing the Biblical way! Next week I want to look at the prophetic aspects of Malachi 3. I have never heard anyone call Malachi 3 prophetic but in my next article I will show that it is prophetic. I will show you what is going to happen according to the Bible and how it affects you.
© Dr. Steven L Smith 2016