Today a new article has been posted at my website on the subject of tithing. I believe that this is a subject which has been much misunderstood and misapplied in modern Christian churches for a long time. The article is actually more of a research paper as it is 32 pages long. The article examines this topic from a literal biblical perspective which also seeks to communicate to the reader the actual historical contexts in which tithing was given and practiced in ancient biblical times.
There will be a number of surprises in this article for many people, I trust. Clearly, there was a mandatory tithing system in place in ancient Israel during the time of the Judges; however, were all types of income subject to tithing laws? Did everyone pay tithes or were the tithing laws applicable to a special, biblically-identified class of ancient Israel’s society? The answers are in the Bible and Christians have generally missed these clear biblical instructions. However, Jewish reference sources have not missed these clear (and surprising) answers and I marvel that Christians have not bothered to consult the Jewish reference sources which make the answers to these questions quite easy to see and understand. My article will give you these (and all other) reference sources in the Endnotes of the new article so you can “be a Berean” and check the facts yourself.
Can you pick from your memory the biblical chapter where a famous prophet of God gave the Israelites a word from the Lord that God himself was abolishing the tithing laws of Moses “until further notice?” Did the early New Testament Apostolic church practice tithing? If so, how come Paul never even mentions the words “tithe” or “tithing” in any of his New Testament epistles? Malachi 3:8 says “will a man rob God?” as the prophet Malachi addressed the Judean enclave that had settled around Jerusalem in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Modern churches cite this scripture often when exhorting people to give to churches today, but do they have this statement in proper context when they try and apply it to modern society? Again, if modern Christians would check some authoritative Jewish reference sources about how tithing was understood and applied in ancient biblical times, they would find it eye-opening. I think it is safe to say that the material presented in my article is never given to Christian pastors as they are prepared for their positions in seminaries. How much of the Old Testament tithing laws, given to an ancient agricultural society to support a rigorous system of animal sacrifices, is applicable to our modern society that is based on wages and salaries and has no system of animal sacrifices? The biblical answers will surprise you.
I am aware that the readers of my website include people from widely-varied Christian backgrounds, belief systems and denominations. Because this broad spectrum of readers includes different beliefs about tithing and different experiences with tithing practices, not every part of my article on this subject will be applicable to every reader. However, I believe that I can state with assurance that parts of this article will be of great interest to every reader, and I will add that some of the best material is toward the end of the article. The article has subhead titles for each topic covered so if something is not of interest to you, you can skip down to the material under the subtitled portions that are of interest to you. Many readers will find my discussions of a “second tithe” and “third tithe” to be non-germane to their experience or Christian lives, but I know that it is of great interest to a section of my readers so that is why it is included. These topics were definitely on the minds of people who were alive in Judea in the lifetime of Jesus Chris, and I think he obliquely referred to these subjects in some of his statements to the Pharisees of his time. Some may not like the facts and evidence presented in this article, but to those I say; “Is what I have presented biblically true or not?” If it is, we must submit to the authority of the scriptures on the subject of tithing, and not cling to denominational dogmas or long-held assumptions and doctrinal clichés simply because they have been present in Christian churches for a very long time. There are many biblical truths and historical realities about tithing that Christian churches have ignored for a very long time. Its time that they were ignored no longer.
It is my view that the vast majority of those who read this article will find it to be liberating and will give them both a great sense of relief and a much happier and more cheerful attitude about giving to God. Indeed, I think that after you read this article, you will agree and want to send it to your Christian friends so they can have this information as well.
