TITLE: CHRISTIANS AND THE TITHE
Should we tithe today? How? When? Where? To Whom?

COPYRIGHT � JANUARY 14, 1995 All rights reserved.
Copyright � 01/14/'95; 01/12/�96  (Revised)
This file, in its entirety, may be posted on or copied off of
computer networks like Internet or WWW by anyone so
inclined.

By Lee Tyler   P.O. Box 620763, SanDiego, CA 92162-0763
 [email protected]   or [email protected]
or [email protected]

I understand why you don't want to hear about tithing from
the Old Testament.  Both the Spirit in you and your Bible
teachers have taught you that you are not under the Sinai
Covenant of laws. That's great and good, and we should start
with the New Testament, being children of the New Covenant
of Calvary.  So let's see what it says.

*Matthew 5: 17 � Do not think that I have come to destroy
the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to destroy but to
fulfill.
18 For truly I say to you, Till the heaven and the earth pass
away, not one jot or one tittle shall in any way pass from the
law until all is fulfilled.
19 Therefore whoever shall break one of these
commandments, the least, and shall teach men so, he shall be
called the least in the kingdom of Heaven. But whoever shall
do and teach [them], the same shall be called great in the
kingdom of Heaven.

Well now that shows Jesus saying He didn't come to destroy
the Sinai Covenant of Laws and hits those who teach
otherwise.  Is there a contradiction?   What else did Jesus
say?

* Matthew 23:1 � Then Jesus spoke to the crowd and to His
disciples,
2 saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and
do. But do not do according to their works; for they say, and
do not do.

Now the situation looks even more complicated.  Here Jesus
is telling the apostles in the New Testament that they are to
observe the Law, including the tithe, as the scribes and
Pharisees told them.  What does Jesus mean?

*Mt 23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For
you pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and you have
left undone the weightier [matters] of the Law, judgment,
mercy, and faith. You ought to have done these and not to
leave the other undone.
Lu 11:42 But woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and
rue and every herb, and pass over judgment and the love of
God. You ought to have done these, and not to leave the other
undone.

Ouch! Now Jesus says it straight out that they should not
leave the tithe undone! So Jesus tells the apostles and the
hypocrites to pay the tithe in the New Testament.  Wow!
That is heavy Truth! But He does go on to say that paying the
tithe for the wrong motive and out of an evil heart is
unacceptable in the Luke 18 passage.

*Lu 18:12 I fast twice [in] the week, I give tithes of all that I
possess.

So what proof is there that the apostles and believers paid
the tithe in the New Testament?

*Acts 21: 20 And hearing, they glorified the Lord, and said to
him, You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are
who believe, and they are all zealous of the law [including
the tithe].  21 And they are informed concerning you, that
you teach all the Jews who are among the nations to forsake
Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise [their]
children, nor to walk after the customs [including the tithe].
22 What is it therefore? At all events a multitude will come
together, for they will hear that you have come.  23
Therefore do this, what we say to you: We have four men
who have a vow on themselves;  24 taking them, be purified
with them, and be at expense for them, so that they may
shave [their] heads. And all may know that what they have
been told about you is nothing, but you yourself also walk
orderly and keep the Law.  25 And as to the nations who
believe, we joined in writing, judging them to observe no
such things, except only that they keep themselves from
both idol sacrifice, and blood, and a thing strangled, and
[from] fornication.  26 Then taking the men on the next day,
being purified with them, Paul went into the temple,
declaring the fulfillment of the days of the purification, until
an offering should be offered for each of them.

WOW!  LOOK AT VERSE 25! NON-JEWS ARE TO OBSERVE NO
SUCH THING! NO CUSTOMS OR KEEPING  OF THE LAW,
INCLUDING THE TITHE! ALRIGHT !!!
Verse 25 refers back to Acts 15 where the apostles, under
the leading of the Spirit, revealed that nonJews do not have
to keep the law or observe the customs of the Sinai
Covenant's Law, including all of its laws about the tithe.  But
why is there a distinction between Jews and nonJews? Aren't
we all one in Christ?  Was something new and unique
happening then that allowed for a difference between the
Christian Jews and the Christian nonJews?  What does the
Spirit say at this time about the Sinai Covenant of Laws?

*2 Corinthians 3:11 (NKJV) For if what is passing away [was]
glorious, what remains [is] much more glorious. 1.
Hebrews 8:13 In that he says, "A new [covenant]", he has
made the first old.
Now what is becoming obsolete and growing aged is nigh
unto vanishing away. 2.

So at the time of Acts 15 thru 28 the Sinai Law was passing
away, becoming obsolete, growing aged and near to
vanishing away.  So the destruction of the temple in AD 70
ended the temple priesthood, temple laws and all its
sacrifices.  No temple priesthood or sacrifices meant no tithe.
That's peculiar!  Didn't Jesus say His Word, His Law would
not perish?

*Mt 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer [it to be
so] now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.
Then he suffered him.
Mt 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

So Jesus made a point of fulfilling all righteousness, and it
was His stated purpose to not destroy the Law but to fulfil it.

*Ro 10:4 For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness
to every one that believeth.
1Ti 1:5* Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a
pure heart, and [of] a good conscience, and [of] faith
unfeigned:

Wait! If Christ was the fulfiller of the Law and  the END OF
THE LAW, the law must have an end, come to an end. But
what about what Jesus said about His Word in the  Law not
passing away?  Has there been an end to the Sinai Covenant
of Laws?

*Eph.2:14 � For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition [between
us];  15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the
law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make
in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace; 16 And
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the
cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Colos 2:13 � And you, being dead in your sins and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;  14 Blotting out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which
was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to
his cross;  15 [And] having spoiled principalities and powers,
he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

So Jesus WAS the end of the Law and ended it by fulfilling it!
He "abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of
commandments [contained] in ordinances"!  He "quickened
[us] together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;14
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us."  First He freed the nonJews from the Sinai Law in Acts
15 and 21, then in Ephesians 2 and Colossians 2, written
after Acts 15 or 21 or 28 had all taken place, He reveals that
on Calvary He fulfilled the Sinai Law and so became its end.
Allowing for human weakness and the difficulty we have
handling change He waits until Acts 15 to let the Jewish
apostles know that He had released the nonJews from the
Sinai Laws.  Then He waited until many of the Jewish
apostles had died, after the book of Acts had been
completed, and then revealed through the Jewish apostle to
the nonJews, Paul, that He had abolished the Sinai Law of
commands, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances.  So
was the Sinai Law destroyed and made meaningless,
contrary to Jesus Word?  Not at all!  He tells us in Galatians
and Romans that the Sinai  Law is still to be used to convict
us of our need of Jesus and to lead us to Jesus by showing
how holy God is and how unholy we are.  It is a standard to
which none of us can measure up to.  It shows us how
helpless we are on our own to be acceptable to God, and
drives  us to throw ourselves on the grace amd mercy of
Christ.

Now that we, Jews and nonJews, are freed from having to
keep the Sinai Law to please God and be acceptable to Him,
what about tithing?

*Heb 7:5* And truly they [who are] of the sons of Levi, who
receive the office of the priest, have a commandment to take
tithes of the people according to the Law, that is, from their
brothers, though they come out of the loins of Abraham.  6
But he whose descent is not counted from them received
tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the
promises.......8 And here men who die receive tithes; but
there he [receives them], of whom it is witnessed that he
lives.  9 And if I may say so, Levi, also, who receives tithes,
paid tithes in Abraham.

Wait a minute!  Abraham was before the Sinai Law of Moses.
What is he doing paying tithes?  He was like we are, living in
a period free from the Sinai Laws of Moses.  What does it
mean?  Why did He do it?

*Heb. 11: 2 For by it [faith] the elders obtained a good report.

Okay, I can see Abraham, the father of faith, acting in faith
and moved to give the tithe to the Priest.  But what does that
have to do with us?

*Hebrews 13:7 Remember your leaders, who have spoken to
you the Word of God. Follow [their] faith, considering the end
of [their] conduct:
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.

"Follow [their] faith" means to imitate and emulate their
convictions, the things they are persuaded of by God's Word.
So Abraham, as one of our leaders, left an example of His
faith by paying a tithe to the Priest, leaving us an example
for us to imitate and emulate.  So it is not a matter of LAW
for us, it is an exercise of his faith we are commanded to
imitate and emulate.
Is that the only reason we are to give/tithe to our Spiritual
leaders and feeders?

Ro 15:27 Truly it has pleased them, and they are their
debtors. For if the nations have been made partakers of their
spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in
carnal things.
1 Cor. 9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not
muzzle the mouth of the ox treading out grain." Does God
take care for oxen? 10 Or does He say [it] altogether for our
sakes? It was written for us, so that he who plows should
plow [in] hope, and so that he who threshes [in] hope should
be partaker of his hope. 11 If we have sown to you spiritual
things, [is it] a great thing if we shall reap your carnal
things?  12 If others have a share of [this] authority [over]
you, rather [should] not we? But we have not used this
authority, but we endured all things lest we should hinder
the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that those who minister about holy
things live [of the things] of the temple? And those attending
the altar are partakers with the altar. 14 Even so, the Lord
ordained those announcing the gospel to live from the gospel.
Galatians 6:6But let him who is taught in the Word share
with the [one] teaching in all good things.
1Ti 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of
double honor, especially those who labor in word and
doctrine. 18 For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle the
ox treading out grain," and, "The laborer [is] worthy of his
reward."

Okay, so that�s the why of giving the tithe to our Spiritual
feeders and leaders.  Is that all that God says about the Tithe
in His Word?

*2 Cor. 7:1 � And, brothers, we make known to you the grace
of God which has been given among the churches of
Macedonia;  2 that in much testing of trouble, the
overflowing of their joy, and the depth of their poverty,
abounded to the riches of their generosity.  3 For I testify
[that] according to [their] ability, and beyond their ability;
[they] gave willingly; 4 with much beseeching, begging us
[that they might] receive of us the grace and the fellowship
of the ministry to the saints.  5 And not as we hoped, but
first [they] gave themselves to the Lord, and to us through
[the] will of God,
......
        7 � But even as you abound in everything, in faith, and
in word, and in knowledge, and in all earnestness, and in
your love to us; you should abound in this grace also.  8 I do
not speak according to command, but through the eagerness
of others, and testing the trueness of your love.  9 For you
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was
rich, for your sakes He became poor, in order that you might
be made rich through His poverty.  10 And in this I give
[my] judgment; for this is profitable for you, who began
before, not only to do, but also to be willing a year ago.  11
But now also finish the doing [of it], so that, as [there was] a
readiness to will, so also the finishing, [giving] out of [what]
you have. 12 For if the eagerness is present, [it is] acceptable
according to [what] one has, [and] not according to [what] one
does not have. 13 For [it is] not that others may [have] ease,
but you trouble;  14 but by equality in the present time;
your abundance for their need, that their abundance also
may be for your need; so that there may be equality;  15 as
it is written, "He [gathering] much, he had nothing left over;
and he [gathering] little did not have less."

               2 Cor. 8: 6 � But [I say] this, He who sows
sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows
bountifully shall also reap bountifully.  7 Each one, as he
purposes in his heart, [let him give]; not of grief, or of
necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.  8 And God [is] able
to make all grace abound toward you, that in everything,
always having all self-sufficiency, you may abound to every
good work;  9 As it is written, "He scattered; he has given to
the poor; his righteousness remains forever."  10 Now He
who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for eating, may
He supply and multiply your seed, and increase the fruits of
your righteousness 11 you being enriched in everything to
all generosity, which works out thanksgiving to God through
us.
            12 For the ministry of this service not only supplies
the things lacking of the saints, but also multiplying through
many thanksgivings to God, 13 through the proof of this
ministry [they] glorify God for your freely expressed
submission to the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of the
fellowship toward them and toward all, 14 and [in] their
prayer for you, who long after you, because of the exceeding
grace of God on you.

           An equality?  Our gift is accepted on the basis of
what we have?  Okay, Abraham left the example of the tithe
for all those who follow him in the walk with God by faith,
but AN EQUALITY!?!?  Willful, cheerful and generous giving?
That goes beyond the tithe!  Do you really mean that all we
have really belongs to God (1 Cor. 6:19,20) and we are
appointed as God's stewards over all we have, stewards that
are to be obedient to the leadings of the Spirit, being
enriched in everything to all generosity??????????  The Old
Testament folks got off easy, just having to pay the tithe!
With us,  all we have belongs to Him and we just get to be
the faithful stewards of it all, following Abraham's example
in the tithe, striving for a material equality of needs met in
our local assembly, and abounding in generosity to the
believing widows, orphans, needy etc. first, and then
secondly to all the widows, orphans, needy etc. as He
enables.
       What does Jesus say?  Among saints, He established
the equality rule, the precedent for which He established
when He provided the manna in the wilderness for the
fugitive Israelites.  His equality rule is stated quite clearly in
2 Corinth. 8:8-15 where he states, in part, " For I do not
mean that others should be eased and you burdened; but by
an equlity, that now at this time your abundance may supply
their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack---
that there may be an equality."
       That is His rule for the Assembly, for the saints.  The
practical application of it is 1 Jn 3:16,17 "By this we know
Love, because He laid down His life for us.  And we also
ought to lay down ou lives for the brethren.  But whoever
has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and
shuts up his heart from him, how does the Love of God abide
in him?"The attitude of Jesus in us in the Body of Christ is
not "I owe you" or "You owe me".  Our attitude is to be "My
abundance is for your lack, brother, that we may be equal.  I
see your need brother and I share what I have for  your
need."
       Yes, there is a place for legal debts, but even they are
exercised in Love. Jesus and His people don't run debtors
prisons, put people out of their shelters, or deny food to the
hungry.    James 4 makes it clear that our behavior in legal
debts is, "Brother, if the Lord enables and I live, I will
repay."   If the Lord doesn't enable him to have enough to
pay a payment, or if he dies, Love and grace prevail.
       But is there really a hard and sure for debts and owing
in the family of God, in the assembly, among saints striving
to actualize an equality in their fellowship (can't do the
whole world but you can do your local assembly)?  What did
Jesus by His Spirit actualize among brethren in fellowship?
Hear this: "Now the multitude of those who believed were of
one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of
the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things
in common. . .Nor was there anyone among them who lacked
. .and they distributed to each as anyone had need." (Acts
4:32-37; 2:44-47).  That was His model for local assemblies.
       What a shame the local assemblies don't practice this!
What a testimony such a fellowship would have in this
selfish and self-centered society/world!   But there is no
excuse for a godly couple in a Christian marriage to fail to
practice both the principal of equality and the principles of
"not claiming as his own the possessions that he has", of
"having all things in common".   The assembly is one body in
Christ, but a husband and wife are one body in the assembly
and in the flesh!    How great the marital failure of a so-
called Christian couple who each claim as their own their
possesions and refuse to have all things in common"!  Theirs
is a pagan marriage.
       Did I hear you think "But what about those who don't
work, who refuse to work?  The Word says "If anyone does
not wish to work, neither let him eat!" (2Thess3:6-14).  Read
that again!  "If anyone does NOT WISH TO work, neither let
him eat!"    Those who are not to eat are those WHO WONT
WORK, WHO DO NOT WISH TO WORK!  In practical reality, in a
Godly assembly, that means that any saint out of work but
seeking  work and willing to work would be the beneficiary
of the principles of "not claiming as his own the possessions
that he has", of "having all things in common".  He would be
eligible for and the recipient of the sharing and providing of
the saints.  In a Godly marriage, if one mate were
unemployed but seeking work and willing to work, the
principles of equality and "not claiming as his own the
possessions that he has", of "having all things in common"
would be fully in force.
       Finally each steward is personally responsible for the
things under  his/her authority and will have to give an
account for his/her stewardship (2 Cor. 3).  A wife is to
respect and seriously consider her husband�s spiritual
leadership (Ephesians 5 and Romans 13) in tithes and
offerings and probably should follow it unless clearly led by
the Spirit and the Scriptures to do otherwise.  She should be
responsible for tithing to those who minister the Word to her
(Gal 6:6 and 1 Cor. 9:9-14) and for giving to the saints� needs
as she sees them (1 John 3).  So the tithe is for those teaching
us the Word and ministering to the needs of the saints, while
our offerings are for  the needs of the saints.l  Tithes and
offerings, doing an old thing in a new way in the newness iof
Christ.
           Mt 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the
gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and
many there be which go in thereat:  14 Because strait [is] the
gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and
few there be that find it.
           1 John 2:3 � And by this we know that we have
known Him, if we keep His commandments.  4 He who says, I
have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a
liar, and the truth is not in him.  5 But whoever keeps His
word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this
we know that we are in Him.  6 He who says he abides in
Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked.
            Hebrews 5:7* [For Jesus], in the days of His flesh,
when He had offered up prayers and supplications with
strong cryings and tears to Him who was able to save Him
from death, and was heard in that He feared,  8* though
being a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which
He suffered. 9* And being made perfect, He became [the]
Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him.............
       1 John 3:16 By this we have known the love [of God],
because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay
down [our] lives for the brothers. 17 But whoever has this
world's goods and sees his brother having need, and shuts up
his bowels from him, how does the love of God dwell in him?
18 My children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in
deed and in truth.

           John 14:15 and Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep my
commandments."

1. (Present tense sense of happening at the time of the
writing as in Wuest's Expanded New Testament; Berry's
IInterlinear Greek-English New Testament; American
StandardVersion)
2.  (Present tense sense  of happening at the time of the
writing  as in  the AmericanStandardVersion
,NewKingJamesVersion, Berry's Interlinear New Testament,
Darby
version,Young�s Literal Translation and Wuest's Expanded
New Testament)

Appendix: Another View On Tithing(Too severe and harsh
for me- I don't  believe most Christian pastors deliberately
mislead and misinform their congregations about tithing--
I believe that most have never been taught the truth about
tithing, but I believe you will find it to be very informative).

From [email protected]  Fri Jun 28 1996

       THE TRUTH OF TITHING

      Author: George Potkonyak
Sixth Edition: June 1996

                          1. INTRODUCTION

I have examined the Scripture on the
subject of tithing and have compared my
findings with the teaching on the subject
of the contemporary church. I have
found much of the church guilty of
committing a serious abuse when it
comes
to teaching on tithing, and in some cases
on Christian giving in general.
I wish I could present my case in a more
"loving" way and avoid confrontation
with those who teach lies, wittingly or
unwittingly, and at the same time
retain the honesty of this assessment.
Since it is an impossible task, at
least for me, I have chosen to preserve
the honesty of my assessment that
follows, running a risk of offending a
great many who may or may not be
guilty of a deliberate misrepresentation
of the word of God and the abuse of
their calling. This is my third or fourth
attempt at this issue and all I can
say: I am sorry if you get offended by
any of the statements that follow.

1.1. IS THIS A DOCTRINAL OR A
THEOLOGICAL DEBATE?

No, it is not, even though many would
like to present it that way. The issue
is: are we being told the truth or lies in
our churches concerning tithing?
It's as simple as that.

It is not even a theological debate on
whether tithing is valid for the New
Testament church - I have left this
question open, so as not to complicate
the matter and draw attention away from
the real issue: are we being told
the truth or lies. If you believe that
tithing is valid for the NT church you
will find this study very useful; if you believe
that it is not valid, you
will find a source of inspiration from
God's commandments to His people in
the Old Testament concerning the support
of those whom He has called into His
ministry and those who are less fortunate
than ourselves.

(Note: Bible quotes are abbreviated to
save space, however, you are
encouraged to read the full Biblical texts
quoted at your convenience.
Emphasis in CAPITALS is mine. All the
quotations are from the NKJ version).

                               2. TITHING

2.1. THE BASIC FRAUD

The principle that the most deceitful and
dangerous lies are those closest to
the truth is fully utilized when it comes
to the "teaching" on tithing. The
following text from the book of Malachi is
quoted often very accurately and
truthfully by most of those who "teach"
on tithing:

       Malachi 3:8-12 "Will a man rob
God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you
       say, 'In what way have we robbed
You?' In tithes and offerings. You
       are cursed with a curse for you
have robbed Me... Bring all the
       TITHES into the STOREHOUSE, that
there may be food in My house and
       try Me now in this... If I will not...
pour out for you such
       blessing... And all nations will call
you blessed..."

It is obvious from the above text that God
was not at all pleased with the
Israelites concerning their tithing
practices. Now, all those who believe
that tithing is valid for the NT church are
right in believing that the above
verses apply to them: if they tithe they
may expect blessings, if they don't,
they may expect curses.

One may ask, "What's wrong with the
above statement?" The answer is that
there is nothing wrong with the
statement; it is the word of God. The
fraud
comes from the re-definition of two
keywords, used in the above text, by
those who want to present tithing in their
own way.

The "tithes" are presented to be the tenth
portion of your income which is
given away and deposited into the
"storehouse". The "storehouse" is
presented
to be your church's account. BOTH OF
THESE TWO DEFINITIONS ARE FALSE.

The key to understanding this fraud is in
the verse preceding the above
quotation.

       Malachi 3:7 "Yet from the days of
your fathers you have gone away
       from MY ORDINANCES and have not
kept them..."

God is pointing Israelites (and us!) to His
ordinances concerning tithing.
Where are these ordinances found? You
wouldn't believe that they are actually
in the Bible! You may have NEVER heard
them mentioned in your church. Why? I
will not give you a direct answer - if you
wish, you may ask your "teacher".

2.2. TITHING ACCORDING TO GOD (GOD'S
ORDINANCES)

       Deu.12:17-19 (God's commandment
to the Israelites) "You may not eat
       within your gates the tithe of your
grain or your new wine... But YOU
       MUST EAT THEM before the Lord
your God... you and your son and your
       daughter, your male servant and
your female servant, and the Levite
       who is within your gates; and you
shall rejoice before the Lord your
       God..."

       Deu.14:22-23 (God's commandment
to the Israelites) "You shall truly
       tithe all the increase... year by year.
And YOU SHALL EAT before the
       Lord your God... the TITHE of your
grain and your new wine... that
       you may learn to fear the Lord your
God always."

       Deu.14:24-26 (God's commandment
to the Israelites) "But if the
       journey is too long for you, so that
you are not able to carry the
       TITHE... then you shall exchange it
for money... And YOU SHALL SPEND
       THAT MONEY for whatever your
heart desires; YOU SHALL EAT there
       before the Lord your God and you
shall rejoice, YOU AND YOUR
       HOUSEHOLD."

The above quotes are COMMANDMENTS
OF GOD concerning tithing: He has
instructed Israelites to EAT THEIR TITHES
before the Lord, rejoicing. We have
to bear in mind that these
commandments were given to Moses, to
pass them on
to the Israelites, while they were still in
the wilderness, and they were to
be observed after the Israelites crossed
the Jordan river and possessed the
promised land.

       Deu.12:5-7 (God's commandment to
the Israelites) "But you shall seek
       the place where the Lord your God
chooses... there you shall take...
       your tithes... and there you shall eat
before the Lord your God, and
       you shall rejoice..."

       Deu.12:8-9 (God's commandment to
the Israelites) "You shall not at
       all do as we are doing here today -
every man doing whatever is right
       in his own eyes - for as yet you
have not come to the rest and the
       inheritance which the Lord your
God is giving you."

The above verse is very interesting and I
will refer to it later on. For now,
let's summarize: The Israelites were
supposed to take their tithes to the
appointed place and EAT THEM there
before the Lord, rejoicing, TOGETHER with
their family, their servants and their local
Levite - "the Levite who is
within your gates". The Levites were to
be allocated cities within each tribe
("within your gates") where they were
supposed to live with their families.
These Levites were not those who served
in the Tabernacle (or, later on, in
the temple), but those who have chosen
to remain in their cities within each
tribal land. They would join the Israelites
on those special trips to the
appointed place of worship, where they
would join in the celebrations and
consumption of tithes. Considering that
there were about 30 to 33 Israelites
to each Levite (ref. Numbers, chapters 1
to 3), it is likely that each Levite
would consume a very small portion of
tithes - not even worth mentioning.

One thing is important to remember:
Israelites DID NOT LEAVE ANY PORTION
OF
TITHES at the appointed place - tithes
were supposed to be consumed in an
atmosphere of celebration, sharing and
the communion with God. Therefore, the
place of worship IS NOT the "storehouse"
spoken of in Malachi, even though
there were couple of instances when the
temple was used to store the tithes.
To clarify the point, let's look at the
practice of the "Remnant" who
returned to Judea from the Babylonian
exile:

       Neh. 10:37-38 "...to bring the
firstfruits... and to bring the tithes
       of our land to the Levites, for the
Levites should receive the tithes
       in all our farming communities. And
the priest, the descendant of
       Aaron, shall be with the Levites
when the Levites receive tithes; and
       the Levites shall bring up a tenth of
the tithes to the house of our
       God, to the rooms of the
storehouse."

It is interesting to note a couple of things
here: a) Some rooms in the
temple were referred to as the
"storehouse", but they were used to store
the
tithes of the tithes - the "heave offerings"
that the LEVITES were to give to
the priests. Therefore, these rooms in the
temple were not the "storehouse"
where the ISRAELITES were to bring
their tithes. So, if God (through the
prophet Malachi) was rebuking those who
failed to bring the full tithes to
the "storehouse", He was probably
rebuking the Levites. b) One of the
Aaron's
descendants was to be present as the
Levites received their tithes from the
Israelites. Why? Possibly, the priest was
present there as a kind of an
"auditor" or a witness who was to verify
that the Levites dealt honestly.

Another example of the tithing practices
of the Israelites is found in
2Chr.31. During the rule of king Hezekiah,
the nation of the southern kingdom
(Judah) returned to the Lord and, among
other observances of the Law, tithing
was restored. This time the rooms of the
temple were used as the storehouse.
I believe that the only reason for that
was that the tithes were brought in
from the cities of Judah only and it was
convenient to store them in one and
the same place (it was "within your gates"
- within the tribal land).

Before I return to the book of
Deuteronomy, I'd like to say a few words
on
the nature, types and the method of
selecting tithes.

       Lev.27:30 (God's commandment to
the Israelites) "And all the tithe of
       the land, whether of the seed of the
land or of the fruit of the
       tree, is the Lord's. IT IS HOLY TO
THE LORD.

       Lev.27:32-33 (God's commandment
to the Israelites) "And concerning
       the tithe of the herd or the flock, of
whatever passes under the rod,
       the tenth one shall be HOLY TO THE
LORD. He shall not inquire whether
       it is GOOD OR BAD..."

Firstly, there were several types of tithes,
according to the source of
Israelites' income: the tithes form the
land (seed and fruit) and the tithes
from the domestic animals (flock and
herd). In the later years, as other
income generating occupations became a
norm, we could have had the tithes of
other kinds. In other words, God expected
His people to set aside one tenth
of ALL "increase" (income).

The second point worth remembering is
the fact that the tithes are SELECTED
AT RANDOM. They are not supposed to
come from the "best portion" or the "fat
portion" as you may have often heard,
but it was a randomly selected portion
"whether it is good or bad".

The third and a very important point is:
the tithes are HOLY TO THE LORD.
What does this mean? It simply means
that they are to be used ACCORDING TO
GOD'S INSTRUCTION and not for any other
purpose, no matter how 'godly' that
purpose may appear. A frequent
argument is that everything we own is
God's
anyway, so it really doesn't matter how
much or how we give back to Him. But
God knew this when He gave His
commandments regarding tithing, yet, He
said
that a certain portion of our income (10%)
is holy to Him and He wants us to
use it in a way that He commanded. The
rest of it (90%) we could use in
whatever way we desire. The following
verses will make it clear:

       Deu.12:20-26 (God's commandment
to the Israelites) "When the Lord
       your God enlarges your border as
He has promised you, and you say,
       'Let me eat meat', because you long
to eat meat, you may eat as much
       meat as your heart desires. If the
place where the Lord your God
       chooses to put His name is too far
from you, then... you may eat
       within your gates as much as your
heart desires... Only the holy
       things which you have, and your
vowed offerings you shall take and go
       to the place which the Lord
chooses."

Now, having in mind the above three
points, let's get back to the book of
Deuteronomy:

       Deu.14:27-29 (God's commandment
to the Israelites) "You shall not
       forsake the Levite... at the end of
EVERY THIRD YEAR you shall BRING
       THE TITHE of your produce of THAT
YEAR and store it up WITHIN YOUR
       GATES. And the LEVITE, and the
FATHERLESS and the WIDOW... may come
       and eat and be satisfied, that the
Lord your God may BLESS YOU in all
       the work of your hand which you
do."

As you can see, God hasn't forgotten those
whom He has called into His
ministry, He has allocated them a just
portion - on average, about ONE THIRD
OF 10% of an ordinary Israelite's income.
The Israelites were to leave that
portion of tithes in the "storehouse" from
which the Levites and those in
need were to get their food. This is the
"storehouse" mentioned in Malachi 3,
and mind you, it is to be accessed not
only by the Levites but by the poor as
well. As already mentioned, Levites were
allocated cities within each tribal
land in which they were to live with their
families and, apart from houses,
they were allocated the "pasture land".
This pasture land was a part of the
"storehouse" in which the tithes were
deposited: some of the tithes were in
the form of grain, seed, wine, oil and
other farm produce, and some were
actually live domestic animals, rather
than killed meat. So, these
animals which were received as a tithe
were to be pastured till they were
taken and killed for food either by the
Levites or by those in need.

God repeats the statement on the "year of
tithing" - just in case...

       Deu.26:12 (God's commandment to
the Israelites) "When you have
       finished laying aside all the tithe of
your increase IN THE THIRD
       YEAR - THE YEAR OF TITHING - and
have given it to the LEVITE, the
       STRANGER, the FATHERLESS and the
WIDOW, so that they may eat within
       your gates and be filled..."

THIS is the portion of the tithes that is
actually GIVEN AWAY by the
Israelites - one tenth of their income of
every THIRD year, not of every
year - and this portion is not taken to the
place of worship, but to one of
the storehouses within the tribal land.

       Deu.26:13-14 "...then you shall say
before the Lord your God: 'I have
       removed the holy tithes from my
house, and also have given them to
       the Levite, the stranger, the
fatherless, and the widow, ACCORDING TO
       ALL YOUR COMMANDMENTS which
You have commanded me... nor have I
       removed any of it for an unclean
use... I have obeyed the voice of
       the Lord my God, and have done
ACCORDING TO ALL THAT YOU HAVE
       COMMANDED ME."

I don't think that I have to add any
comment to the above verses - God's
word
is so clear and specific. Anyone who
wants to obey His word, can do so
without any further interpretation. One
thing only I would like to mention:
God has instituted tithing not as a burden
to His people but rather as a
blessing: "...that it may go well with you
and your children after you
forever..."; "...that you may learn to fear
the Lord your God always.";
"...that the Lord your God may bless you
in all the work of your hand which
you do." There is one condition: that we
do it according to His word, not
according to some other definition.

2.3. ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATIONS

One may argue that the above verses
teach that there are more than one
tithe, i.e. that the Israelite was to take
10% of his "increase" more than
once: every year for himself plus every
third year for the Levite etc...
If we recall that the Lord had ordained
tithes to be holy to Him, we will see
that this "doctrine" cannot hold. God is not
a tax collector and the tithes
are not taxes and burden, but rather
blessings. He has ordained the tenth
portion, and there is ONLY ONE TENTH
PORTION in it, to be holy to Him, and to
be used according to His specific
instructions, the rest of it could be used
according to the free will of the believer -
unless he dedicated it as a
vowed offering - which is again, at the
believer's discretion.

There is another (heretical) teaching
which claims that God instituted three
tithes: a) 10% every year for the
believers themselves, b) 10% every third
year for the Levites and the poor, and c)
a full 10% every year for the
Levites.

There is NO SUCH COMMANDMENT in the
Bible which requires that Israelites
give away 10% of their income of every
year to the Levites. Those who claim
otherwise are telling lies and they have
no Biblical text to prove their
point. The text that possibly can be
interpreted as the "third tithe" is
found in:

       Numbers 18:21 (God speaking to
Aaron) "Behold, I have given the
       children of Levi all the tithes in
Israel..."

The above is clearly not a commandment.
It is just a statement by God to
Aaron, which is often presented as God's
commandment by those desperate to
"prove" that tithing is giving 10% of your
annual income to the church.
God's way of giving commandments in
the OT was through Moses and He
normally
made it clear that it was a commandment.
Besides, when you read those verses
in Deuteronomy, it is clear that a portion
of the tithes is consumed by the
Israelites themselves and some by those
in need - it is so clear, therefore,
ALL tithes ARE NOT given to the Levites.

It would be quite out of the character of
God to tell Aaron that Levites were
to get 10% of Israelites' income of every
year without either telling him in
more detail how to do it (He was quite
specific on the commandments on
tithing elsewhere) or/and without
informing the Israelites that He had
ordained it so. There would be a
ridiculous situation when the Israelites
would take their tithes to the designated
place to have a feast (as God
commanded), and the Levites would come
trying to take the tithes away from
them. Of course, the Levites were to
participate in the feast - if invited
by the Israelites - for the Israelites were
commanded by God not to forget
the Levites.

The word translated as "all" in the above
verse is a Hebrew word that sounds
like "kol" and may mean "of all", as in the
passage where God commanded
Israelites what to eat and what not to eat
when He said something like "...
you shall eat all [kol] the fish...", (eg.
Lev.11:9) meaning "...you shall
eat OF ALL the fish...". So, what "of all" the
tithes may mean? If we look up
Lev. 27 from verse 30 on, we will find
that God talks about tithes of the
land (grain and fruit) and the tithes of
herd and flock. "Of all the tithes",
therefore means that the Levites were to
receive their portion from every
kind of Israelites' income.

I must say again: God NEVER issued a
commandment that directs the Israelites
to give 10% of their income of every year
to the Levites, therefore, there is
no equivalent "principle" which instructs
believers today to give 10% of
their income to the church.

In Numbers 18, we can see that the tithe
that comes from the "best portion"
is the one that Levites are to give back to
God as a "heave offering" from
all the tithes they received, before they
were to use them as their income.
So, pastor, beware of this instruction, if
you "believe in tithing"! In the
OT it meant giving to the high priest;
today it may mean giving to someone
holding a "higher office" (if there is such
thing), or to the poor (as we
will see, giving to the poor is giving to
God).

Was God stingy towards Levites? No, not
at all. If we check Numbers, chapters
one to three, we will find that there were
approximately 30 to 33 Israelites
to one Levite. If each Israelite was to give
10% of his income of every year
to the Levite, the Levite would end up
with about THREE TIMES AS MUCH as an
ordinary Israelite! Was it God's intention?
He never said so.

               3. ABRAHAM'S "TITHING
PRINCIPLE"

We all know that Abraham gave to
Melchizedek, the priest of the most high
God, "tithes of all" (Gen.14:20). Many
proponents of tithing are using
this verse to "prove" that tithing is valid
(as some "eternal principle")
for the church today, because Abraham,
the father of our faith, established
the principle. They normally never
mention what God said about tithing in
the
book of Deuteronomy because it is "the
Law" - as if God didn't know about
Abraham's "eternal principle" when He
established the Law. I would think that
the real reason is that what God said
there contradicts what they would like
us to "know" about tithing. So, let's
examine the "Abraham's tithing
principle".

1. Abraham gave 10% to the priest.
    Comment: so far, so good.

#########2. Abraham gave from the
spoil he repossessed from the enemy
kings.
    Comment: somehow, this fact has been
ignored by those preaching the
    "Abraham's principle".

3. Abraham gave the remaining 90% to
those to whom goods belonged in the
  first place.
    Comment: as in 2 above.

4. Abraham gave only once in his lifetime
(as far as the Bible recorded).
    Comment: as in 2 above.

#########5. Abraham hadn't touched
his own property or income (and he was
an
  "exceedingly wealthy" man).
    Comment: as in 2 above.

It appears to me that the proponents of
"Abraham's principle" were very
selective: they adopted one out of five
points from the Abraham's example on
tithing - or possibly two out of six, if we
add the "principle" that
Melchizedek, after receiving the tithes,
didn't appear to be accountable to
anyone on the use of the tithes.

                       4. EQUALITY PRINCIPLE

Now, what shall we say? I will let you
dear brethren, decide for yourselves.
I would like to mention only one thing: I
personally believe that we should
consider the tithing instruction as God
Himself defined it in the books of
the Law, not as a legal obligation, but
rather as an eternal PRINCIPLE. It is
for the benefit and the blessing of the
donors and the recipients, and it is
for the PROTECTION of the donors AND
the recipients. It gives us all a good
measuring stick by which we may
determine how much is reasonable to
expect to
give or to receive.

       2Cor. 8:13-15: "For I do not mean
that others should be eased and you
       burdened; but by an EQUALITY,
that now at this time your abundance
       may supply their lack, that their
abundance also may supply your
       lack - that there may be equality.
As it is written: 'He who gathered
       much had nothing left over, and he
who gathered little had no lack'".

If we look at the above principle we will
find that it is the principle of
equality. In the OT there were ordinary
Israelites who were in majority, who
had received their inheritance, their land
on which to grow their produce.
Today, we have, in the kingdom of God,
ordinary people who have their secular
jobs or businesses from which they
derive their income. In the OT there was
a
group of people set aside by God unto His
service: the Levites. Today we
also have people whom God has called
into His ministry. In the OT God
commanded Israelites to give a fair share
of their produce to provide a
comparable living standard to those
whom He had set apart - one third of
10%,
according to their number. This
percentage - one third of 10% (or 10%
every
third year) God has fixed, which indicates
His intention to maintain the
number of those in His ministry
proportional to the number of "ordinary"
believers, so that they can maintain an
equal standard of living.

He also made provision for those less
fortunate by allowing them to partake
in the tithes set aside for those in His
ministry.

And, last of all, He has ordained that the
believers themselves take the
remaining two thirds of 10% of their
income and spend it on themselves and
their families in a special manner, giving
honour to God for His goodness
towards them. Even though, there is no
commandment that explicitly directs
the Israelites to get together with others
outside of their immediate
families, the actual practice of tithing
feasts was most likely a communal
celebration where people would share
with each other and rejoice before the
Lord in the material blessings that He had
provided for them.

These are the principles behind God's
ordinances on tithing, whether you are
under the Law or under the Grace - the
principles remain. Of course, if you
are lead by the Spirit, you may give more
to the church, or to the poor, or
you may spend more on you and your
family. And there may come special
occasions, as it happened in the early
church, when believers in one part of
the world suffer from natural disaster,
that you would be called (by your
compassion towards others) to contribute,
out of your free will, to help out.
That is the kind of giving Paul is talking
about in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.

                5. NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH

In the above texts I haven't mentioned
the NT verses which support the
notion that those who (are called to)
preach the gospel ought to live by
the gospel. I totally agree with this, and
hope most of you do. However,
if we read apostle Paul's account on the
matter, we will find that he himself
often worked the secular jobs to provide
for himself and the others, rather
than risk offending the immature Gentile
converts by asking them for the
material support.

Why is there no clear teaching in the New
Testament on tithing? There are at
least two possible answers to this
question:

a) Tithing does not apply to the NT
church. This may or may not be the
correct answer. If the tithing had been
abolished, it is likely (but not
necessary) that somewhere in the Gospels
or the epistles this fact would have
been mentioned.

b) The early church believers were all
Jews who knew the Law and all its
ordinances which they observed and,
most probably, continued to observe
until, so to speak, they were told not to.
So, it's possible that they
continued observing the law of tithing,
since they did not consider
themselves as if they embraced another
religion, but only that some of the
foretold prophecies were being fulfilled.

There is an interesting passage in the
book of Acts:

       Acts 2:46 "So continuing daily with
one accord in the temple, and
       breaking bread from house to
house, THEY ATE THEIR FOOD WITH
GLADNESS
       AND SIMPLICITY OF HEART."

Could the above practice be the practice
of tithing according to the book of
Deuteronomy? Could this be the
fulfillment of the law of tithing? It may
or
may not be the case.

I would like to draw your attention to
another verse in the OT, already
quoted:

       Deu.12:8-9 (God's commandment to
the Israelites) "You shall not at
       all do as we are doing here today -
every man doing whatever is right
       in his own eyes - for as yet you
have not come to the rest and the
       inheritance which the Lord your
God is giving you."

We, NT believers, are often referred to as
the "Joshua Generation", ie. those
who have entered the "rest and the
inheritance". This would imply that we
are
not expected to do, and therefore, not to
teach - every man according to what
is right in his own eyes, but rather
according to God's commandments.

5.1. "EATING" THE TITHES

Whether one believes that the OT tithing
is valid for the NT church or not,
application of God's commandment to the
Israelites to eat two out of three of
their tithes, sounds ridiculous. But, if we
take a closer look, we will find
that it makes a perfect sense; it is only
our "tradition" that makes it sound
silly. God commanded that one tenth of
an Israelite's income is HIS.
Therefore, He, as the rightful owner, is
entitled to decide how to spend it.
If He decides to give it all back to the one
who brought it in, who are we to
oppose Him? Besides, why is it any more
ridiculous to spend God's tithe on an
"ordinary" believer than on someone who
is in the ministry? If God said "eat
this portion of tithe and give the other
portion to someone else", we better
do it. When He declared Jericho to be
dedicated to Him, He commanded the
Israelites to bring all the gold, silver and
brass into His treasury and to
utterly destroy the rest. And the
Israelites obeyed - all except Achan: he
thought that he found a better use for
God's devoted things - and he found
out that he was terribly wrong! Today we
find that many in the churches that
"believe in tithing" have found a "better"
way to use the tithes: they use
them to "build the kingdom". THIS sounds
ridiculous! Does God really need our
money to build His kingdom? He who
created the whole universe, now depends
on
His creation to build Him a kingdom?

So, if we want to use the tithes according
to God's instruction, are we to
eat two thirds of 10% of our income? The
answer is, as usual, in the Bible:
In Deuteronomy 14 God allowed that
Israelites may sell their produce devoted
to tithing and take the money to the
appointed place and "...spend that money
for WHATEVER YOUR HEART DESIRES...".
He made a few suggestions which where
appropriate for that particular time and
culture, but those suggestions were
not all-inclusive. "Whatever your heart
desires" means exactly that: whatever
your heart desires: a holiday? a
conference? a bottle of best French
wine?...
(God actually mentioned "... wine or
strong drink..." - you can call it, if
you wish, "grape juice or cordial").

5.2. GENEALOGY OF LEVITES

Now, if we look back to the OT and tithing
we will see that God was the one
who separated Levites for Himself - and
He provided for them EXACTLY the
amount they needed to have a
comparable standard of living with the
rest of
the Israelites. Today, it is God who calls
those in the ministry and it
is He who brings people to salvation, i.e.
to each particular church. If
anyone claims that we need much more
(than one-third of 10% of our income)
today to support those in the ministry, he
is saying that God has lost the
account of His people.  Well, I would
argue this one. He knows EXACTLY whom
He has called to preach and He knows
EXACTLY whom He has saved. If we have
overproduced the "ministers" it is our
fault. In the time of Nehemiah they
checked the genealogy of those who
claimed to be Levites before they were
allowed to minister (Neh.7). How about if
we start checking the "genealogy"
of those claiming to be called of God to
preach? How? I know, it's not an
easy task. But to start with, it's not a bad
idea to check whether they
preach the truth - the full truth, that is -
and for this we need to know the
word of God. To check what they teach on
the doctrine of tithing could be a
good start.

                       6. GIVING TO THE POOR

There is so much talk on the subject of
giving (apart from tithing) in
the churches today. In my seven years of
"hard labor" in my ex church, I
heard this subject mentioned more often
than any other. Usually the Bible
was quoted, however, most of these
statements were incomplete: they
terminated before a little two-letter word
"to...". Give to whom? Sadly,
this is the case with many, if not most of
the churches that place giving
and tithing to a prominent position. I
examined hundreds of references
in the Bible in order to find out to which
kind of giving God gives most
prominence. One doesn't have to be a
skilled statistician to quickly
conclude that God speaks about giving to
the needy more often than about
all other giving put together. And He
stated, in the OT and the NT that
the poor will always be among us.
Anyone who teaches differently is
making
God a liar and Jesus a false prophet.

       Deu.15:11 (God speaking) "For the
poor will NEVER cease from the
       land..."

       Mark.14:7 (Jesus speaking) "For you
have the poor with you ALWAYS,
       and whenever you wish you may
do them good..."

Yet, we hear more and more frequently,
from the pulpit, that there are no
poor people, or "they are poor because
they choose to be so". Often, the
book of Deuteronomy becomes valid (all
of a sudden!) where it mentions the
poor "within your gates", supposedly
meaning that the poor should join
"my church" in order to be eligible to get
help. "Within your gates" in
the OT meant within the tribal land. God
didn't want to make it hard for
those needing help by sending them
across the land to get their food. Today
"within your gates" is as far as your bank
is (or even your telephone
or computer terminal). You can T-T your
money to any destination in the
world within minutes. Now, let's see first
what the OT says about giving
to the poor.

       Ps.41:1 "Blessed is he who considers
the poor; the Lord will deliver
       him in time of trouble."

       Prov.19:17 "He who has pity on the
poor lends to the Lord, and He
       will pay back what he has given."

       Prov.22:19 "He who has a generous
eye will be blessed, for he gives
       of his bread to the poor."

What is the Bible teaching us here? Those
who give to the poor can expect
only blessing, and more blessing and
more blessing; not from those to whom
they give, but from God Himself.

Even if the needy happen not to be in
your denomination, or your country,
or even if he is your enemy, don't let it
worry you.

       Prov.25:21-22 "If your enemy is
hungry, give him bread to eat; and if
       he is thirsty give him water to
drink; for so you will heap coals of
       fire on his head, and the Lord will
reward you."

Now, let's consider some more Bible
teaching on giving (or lack of it ) to
the poor:

       Prov.28:27 "He who gives to the
poor will not lack, but he who hides
       his eyes will have many curses."

       Prov.21:13 "Whoever shuts his ears
to the cry of the poor will also
       cry himself and not be heard."

The above two verses are worthy of a
long hard look. There is the "other
side of the coin" which must not be
ignored. This is the word of God! Now,
Malachi 3 makes sense: God was telling
the Israelites that they were cursed
because they robbed Him by not
following HIS ORDINANCES and not
having
food in His storehouse. In Deuteronomy
chapters 14 and 26 He speaks
specifically of the portion of the tithes
that goes to the storehouse, not
only to feed the Levites but also the poor.
So, part of the tithes given
away by the believers, belongs to the
poor.

The following verse is very interesting:

       Prov.22:16 "He who oppresses the
poor to increase his riches, and he
       who gives to the rich, will surely
come to poverty."

Have you ever given to any of those
"needy" ministries who claim to be in
debt, like $40 million, or whatever? How
many needy people do you know who
managed to get into such debt? Or, to
those ministries whose "head pastor"
flies his own private airplane?  Consider
the above proverb: if you help
their "needs" you are helping the rich.
And what is the consequence? You will
end up in the same boat with the one
who robs the poor, that is, in poverty.
Who is the one who robs the poor? If
someone is poor there is nothing to rob
him off - you may say. Not so! Poor have
their inheritance from God: they
stand side-by-side with the "Levite" to
get THEIR portion from the
"storehouse" where the tithes are stored.
So, whoever denies them access to
that "storehouse", he is oppressing the
poor. And what is his destiny? He
will come to poverty, says the Lord.

You may say, that is the Old Testament,
so, let's see what the New Testament
teaches on this subject. I wouldn't think
that the God of the New Testament
is any less concerned with the well-being
of the poor than the God of the Old
Testament - He is the same God and He
changes not!

       Mat.19:21 (Jesus speaking) "If you
want to be perfect, go, sell what
       you have and give TO THE POOR,
and you will have treasure in heaven;
       and come, follow Me." (refer also
Mark 10:21 and Luke 18:22)

       Luke 12:33-34 (Jesus speaking)
"Sell what you have and GIVE ALMS [to
       the poor]; provide yourselves a
treasure in heaven.. for where your
       treasure is, there your heart will be
also."

What is Jesus saying here? Give to
whom? Give TO THE POOR and you will
have a treasure in heaven! One may say
that Jesus contradicts Himself with
the statement that the costly perfume
which Mary used to anoint Him
shouldn't be sold and given to the poor,
but rather used to anoint Him for
His burial (Mark 14:3-9). There is no
contradiction here: Jesus was about
to be buried on that particular occasion -
and to never be buried again!

Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Galatian
church, recalls the commission
given to him and Barnabas by the elders
and apostles in Jerusalem, when
they were sent out to preach to the
Gentiles.

       Gal.2:10 "They desired ONLY that
we should remember the poor, THE
       VERY THING which I also was eager
to do."

Would anyone have a guess on where this
inspiration might have come from?
My guess is that it was from God. There
was no mention of making sure that
they (Paul and Barnabas) should stay in
the best hotels, use the best mode
of transport, get people to build crystal
cathedrals, get them to give
for the "extension of the kingdom" etc... so
that "the world can see that
the Christians are the head, not the tail".

Jesus' parable in Matthew 25 deserves
careful consideration. He talks about
two groups of people being judged: those
on the right (the sheep) were those
who took care of the poor and those on
the left (the goats) were those who
ignored the poor. What happened to those
on the left? They were thrown into
the lake of fire! Who they were? The
unbelievers ("the world")? We should
consider it carefully. Jesus said that the
world was already judged,
therefore there is no need for them to
come for the judgment . Consider
Matthew 25:44, they (the "goats") said,
"Lord, when did we see You
hungry...?". They addressed Him as the
"Lord". Were they really "the world"?

                       7. CHURCH EXPENSES

       Lev.24:1-2 "Then the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying: "Command the
       children of Israel that they bring to
you pure oil of pressed olives
       for the light, to make the lamps
burn continually."

The above commandment to the
Israelites is a clear indication that God
expected them to meet (some) running
costs of the place of worship. He
mentioned oil only. What were the other
expenses? I cannot think of any
except the wood for the fire on the altar
of the burnt offering. The
offerings themselves came from the
Israelites as per commandments relating
to the offerings (which is the subject of a
separate study).

       Neh.10:34 "We cast lots among the
priests, the Levites, and the
       people, for bringing the wood
offering into the house of our God..."

We see here how Nehemiah and the
elders solved the problem of the wood
supply. It was a matter of putting in
some work required to cut and bring
the wood in. All of the people
participated in the "draw", including the
Levites and the priests.

       Neh.10:32 "Also we made
ordinances for ourselves, to exact from
       ourselves yearly one-third of a
shekel for the service of the house
       of our God..."

Nehemiah and the elders also decided to
meet the running cost of the
temple in a prescribed manner - each
family a flat rate. Please note:
one-third of a shekel (of silver) is not
much by any standard. They were
very modest: no private donkeys (i.e.
airplanes), no glossy publications,
no fancy programs, etc...

So, in principle, the church running costs
should be met by the believers
according to the decision of the elders
(plural!) of the church, or better
still, according to the decision of the
congregation.

                       8. CHURCH BUILDING

8.1. TABERNACLE

       Ex.25:1 "Then the Lord spoke to
Moses, saying: 'Speak to the children
       of Israel, that they bring Me an
offering. From everyone who gives it
       willingly with his heart you shall
take My offering'."

This is God's call to the Israelites while
they were in the wilderness on
their way from Egypt. As we know, God
commanded Moses to build Him a tent
(tabernacle) and He gave detailed plans
to Moses. How were Israelites to
meet the building costs? They were on
their way from the slavery - they
wouldn't be expected to have much to
give from. But, as we read on, we'll
find that the Israelites, not only met the
needs, but they had to be told
to stop giving, for there was too much in
the offering (Ex.36:5-7). I'd like
to make a couple of observations here: a)
If the giving is truly to God's
purpose, people are willing to give even
above the requirements, and b) If
the giving is for God's purpose, the
leaders will acknowledge when the
requirements are met, and will ask
people to stop bringing in any more.

       Ex.35:21 "Then everyone came
whose heart was stirred, and everyone
       whose spirit was willing, and they
brought the Lord's offering for
       work of the tabernacle of the
meeting, for all its service, and for
       the holy garments."

Where did all these riches come from? If
we read Ex.11:2-3 we will see
that it was God who planned the whole
thing Himself, He told Israelites
(while they were still in Egypt) to go to
their Egyptian neighbors and ask
for the gold and silver, and God gave
them favor in the eyes of the
Egyptians. What I am driving at is this: It
was God's idea to build, He
gave the plan and He organized the
funding, the source of funds being the
people outside of His "kingdom", i.e. the
unbelievers.

8.2. THE FIRST TEMPLE

       1Chr.29:2-3 (king David speaking)
"Now for the house of my God I have
       prepared with all my might... I have
given... my own special treasure
       of gold and silver..."

As we know king David's desire was to
build the temple. The Bible doesn't say
whether this desire was inspired by God
or not, but it does say that God
provided the building plan (1Chr.28:12,
19), thus approving the building
idea. And where did the funds come
from? In the above verse we see that
king
David provided a large portion of the
funds and we know where these riches
came from: from the conquest of the
ungodly nations in the promised land. In
king David's own words:

       1Chr.29:16 "O Lord our God, all this
abundance that we have prepared
       to build You a house for Your holy
name is from Your hand, and is all
       Your own..."

       1Chr.29:6 "Then the leaders... the
captains... the officers...
       offered willingly."

       1Chr.29:9 "Then the people
rejoiced..."

The nobles and the rich of the land
followed the example of their king.
And what did the people do? They
rejoiced! They were not even asked to
consider "subscribing" to the building
fund. When it came to the actual
building work, who did it?

       2Chr.1:17-18 "Then Solomon
numbered all the aliens who were in the
       land... and he made... them bearers
of the burden... stonecutters..."

As we know, the aliens were the slaves
made up of the population of the
conquered nations. No ordinary Israelite
was asked to bear the burden. The
only time the Israelites were asked to do
something was when they were
sent to Tyre to bring the cedar wood, and
I believe they were paid for
that work. The slaves could not be sent
out of the land for fear that they
wouldn't return.

What do we see in the above example?
God provided the building plans (it
was His project) and He made sure that
the resources were available,
coming mainly from the "outsiders".

8.3. THE SECOND TEMPLE

       Ezra 1:1-4 "Now in the first year of
Cyrus king of Persia... [king]
       made proclamation... 'He [God] has
commanded me to build Him a house
       at Jerusalem...' ."

Again, it was God's idea or rather, it was
His commandment to build. Ezra
1:6-7; 2:67-68; 3:7 talks about king Cyrus
giving "articles of the house
of the Lord" and offerings of the leaders
of Israel and the freewill
offerings of the people. Where did the
resources for the building of the
temple come from? Again, mainly from
the "outsiders"!

When it comes to the building of the
places of worship, there is no direct
"perpetual" commandment in the OT and
not even an example of any building
project in the NT. So, what is my advice?

If there is a clear indication that it is
God's idea to build a place of
worship, you will find that (most of) the
finances will come from those
outside of the church. That will be a clear
indication that it is God's
plan. Then, if need be, get involved!
Otherwise, think twice before you
subscribe to any building fund. Why? I
have seen some extravagant spending
on the church buildings that borders on
lunacy. People were drained of
their resources so that they were not able
to meet their other expectations
towards God. And a big question is: to
whom do these buildings belong? To the
church? And what happens when the
"church" folds, as it is often the case???

Please don't misunderstand me. If it is
economically more sound to build
than to rent, it's fine. Let the elders and
the financial experts work out
what is the best solution and if it is to
build, then build. But, to be fair
to each contributor, in case he/she
decides to leave the church, let each one
who contributes hold shares in the
building ownership.

And, if the decision is that it is better to
build, once the church occupies
its own building, it would be fair to
advise the believers that the church
running costs have been reduced
(remember: it was an economical decision
to
build), so that they can adjust their level
of contribution to the church's
running costs.

                       9. MONEY CHANGERS

       Luke 19:45-46 Then He [Jesus]
went into the temple and began to drive
       out those who bought and sold in it,
saying to them, "It is written,
       'My house is a house of prayer' and
you have made it a 'den of
       thieves' ".

I have heard and read numerous
examples where so-called ministers of
the
word teach the most stupid and the most
ridiculous "giving principles" which,
astonishingly, many, even "the elect"
believers fall for. As we have seen
from the Biblical teaching on the subject
of tithing and giving there is
definitely a blessing for the giver - God
ordained it so. But also, if a
believer is not careful with his giving, he
will end up with curses rather
than with blessings, or, at the best, with
just some wasted money.

It is the ignorance of the people that
causes the excesses in the church as
much as the false teaching. If believers
would pay more attention to the
Biblical truth there would be less room
for those "teachers" to propagate
their selfish "doctrines" . It makes me sad
(and angry) to see so many
Christian forums (and churches!) that do
not allow discussion of the
"controversial" subjects for fear of
"division" - as if we were a united
body. The real reason is that those in the
position of "authority " (church
authority is another sticky subject!) don't
want anyone to challenge their
pet doctrines, whatever the motive for
those doctrines may be.

Some, so-called Christian ministries have
accumulated abundant wealth, not
by preaching the gospel but by teaching
the "prosperity doctrine". There are
books and circular letters written on how
to get "prosperous", of course,
each one ending with the invitation to
give to that particular ministry which
will in turn pray for you and you will get
blessed. They talk about "faith",
about "mixing giving with prayers", about
"agreeing" on your wish, about all
kinds of superstition for which many
believers fall. An often quoted example
is the account of the prophet Elijah and
the poor widow whose son was raised
from the dead, supposedly, as a result of
her giving to the "man of God". So,
if you give to the "man of God" you may
expect a miracle in your life. Few of
them mention that, in that particular
instance, God actually commanded the
widow to give food to the prophet, so she
did, she obeyed God's specific
instruction; therefore, the principle is:
"Obey God's commandment", rather
than "give to (any one who claims to be)
the man of God".

       1 Kings 17:8-9 "Then the word of
the Lord came to him [Elijah],
       saying, 'Arise, go to Zarephat, which
belongs to Sidon, and dwell
       there. See, I HAVE COMMANDED a
widow there to provide for you' ".

I'll quote here another example of a "man
of God" collecting an "offering"
for the building of the "prophetic
ministry". He quoted king David's giving
for the building of the temple and then
claimed that because of that God had
promised that David's descendants would
always sit on the throne of Israel.
He puts the sequence of the Biblical
verses back-to-front, twisting the fact
that God gave that promise to David
before he contributed to the building of
the temple. The preacher used the
example to "prove" that those who give
for
the building of a worthwhile cause (in
this case, the "prophetic ministry"),
God was going to bless their children. As I
was listening to the recorded
testimonies, people gave thousands of
dollars, some even $10,000, some were
taking off their jewelry, watches, giving
their cars... all for the
"blessing" to their children. Of course, the
preacher never mentioned what
happened to some less fortunate children
of king David: his daughter Tamar
was raped by her own brother, who was
in turn murdered by her other brother
Absalom, who rebelled against his own
father and slept (in public!) with
David's concubines, and he finally lost his
life in a most horrific accident.

Here is another example of a money
making scheme -  a "LEGAL DOCUMENT"
that
is being distributed among believers by
the office of a well known
"Christian" "financial freedom" "teacher".
This "document" is "The
Restoration Mandate, issued in the court
of heaven", which believer signs
and sends back (with donation!) to that
particular minister who "agrees" with
the believer in prayer, and the believer
gets his possessions "back from the
devil".

This particular "man of God" is
distributing another document in which
he
claims that there is a special room built in
the headquarters of his ministry
in which he keeps believers' photos. So, if
you send your photo, and your
donation, he will pray over your photo,
agreeing with you on your wishes,
which will, as a result of his and your
prayers, come true.

I can go on and on...

You may say that the above examples are
extremes. But what shall we say about
those "honest" preachers who use the
passage from Malachi 3 to either scare
people with curses or to entice them with
blessings into "tithing", without
explaining to their "flock" which
ordinances God was talking about
(regarding
tithing), or worse still, they lead them to
believe that tithing is giving of
10% of their income to the church? I'll
leave the answer to you.

I understand that all churches are not
well off financially, yet it should
not be an excuse for the preachers to
resort to dishonest teaching to get in
extra funds. Can you imagine a person in
a secular job resorting to a
dishonest method for getting some extra
money to feed his family? He would
end up on the wrong side of the law, and
possibly in jail. Yet, in our
Christian world, it appears that a
dishonest gain is OK, as long as it is
used for the "advancement of the
kingdom of God". I believe that an
offering
to God gained in a dishonest way is
considered unclean and an abomination
and
not acceptable to Him. With Him, the end
does not justify means.

I hope, dear brother or sister that you
have learned something valuable from
this message.

May God bless you all.

George Potkonyak
PO Box W123
West Pennant Hills, NSW 2125
Australia
Phone/Fax: 61 2 9875 3014
E-mail: [email protected]

******************************
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�       Abortion, Malicious Bias,  & Genocide (abortion.txt)
�       Angels, Demons & Spirits (AngelsDemonsSpirits.txt; YouAndAngels)
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�       Black Families' Crisis (PlightOfBlkFem-Fam.txt; BlackFamResrcs+.txt;
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�       Camelot, a Tale of Tragic Love ( A_Camelot_Dedication.txt)
�       Cherishing Your Women (CherishYourWomen1.txt)
�       Christian Divorce (Divorce_Remarriage.txt;
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�       Christians and the Tithe ( ChristianTithe.txt )
�       Common Law &Informal Marriages  (ComnlawInfrmlMarriage.txt)
�       Crisis Resolution in the Unity of the Spirit (CrisisResolution.txt)
�       Disciples and Their Suffering (Why_Disciples_Suffer.txt;
       WhyBelieversSuffer.html)
�       Divorce & Remarriage (Divorce_Remarriage.txt;
Divorce_&_Polygamy.html;    Christian_Divorce.txt; Christian_Divorce)
�       Easter Insights (Easter_Insights.txt; Easter_Insights)
�       How and When to Marry (WhenHowMarry.txt)
�       How to Survive Divorce (HowSurvive_Divorce.txt)
�       Husband Wife Relations (HusbandWifeRelatnsMngny.txt;
Husband.Wife.Relatns)
�       Husbands Rule Wives? (HusbandRuleWife.txt)
�       Interracial/Interethnic Marriage (InterracialEthncMarrg.txt;
RacelessMarriage)
�       Is Jesus Jehovah God? (IsJesusJehovahGod.txt)
�       Keeping One's Word (KeepingOne'sWord.txt )
�       Keys to Loving Unity in Families and Fellowships
(KeysMLovingUnity.txt;
Keys4LovingUnity.txt)
�       The "Let" command of 1 Corinthians 7:9 (Let_Command.txt )
�       Man's Need Of Woman (Man'sNeedOfWoman.txt; MenNeedWomen)
�       The Marriage of the Godly Lasts Until Death Separates
(Divorce_&_Polygamy.html)
�       Marital Intimacy Manual for Contributors (MrtlIntmcyMn4Cntrs.txt)
�       Matchmaker Resources (MatchmakerResrcsInt)
�       Me In Christ, What Does It All Mean Really? (WhatIAmInChrist1.txt)
�       Me In This World, Why? (Why_Me_&_This_World.txt;
Why_Me_Now.txt;     Why_Me_In_World.html)
�       No Wedding Vows (NoWeddingVows.txt )
�       Oaths, Swearings, Promises (OathsSwrngsPrmss.txt; MarriageOaths)
�       Plight Of the Black Family (PlightOfBlkFem-Fam.txt)
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�       Power Of Female Beauty (PowrOfFemBeauty.txt)
�       Prayers for Loved Ones (Prayers4LuvdOnes.txt)
�       Prisoner Abuse (PrisonerAbuse.txt)
�       Quotes On Polygyny (QuotesOnPolygyny.txt )
�       Racism, Nationalism and Bigotry (racsm.natnlsm.bigtry.txt)
�       Safe sex, Fact or Myth? (safe_sex.txt)
�       Seniors & Polygamy (senior_polygamy.txt)
�       Sex and Dependent Singles ( Youths_Singles_Sex.txt;
UnderageSexBurning.txt)
�       Song Of Solomon Part1 (SongOfSolomonPt1.txt)
�       Spiritual Warfare (Spiritual_Warfare.txt)
�       The Suffering of the Innocent, (Why_Disciples_Suffer.txt;
WhyBelieversSuffer.html)
�       The Tithe & Christians (Tithe&Christians.txt)
�       Truth vs Falsehoods (truth_vs_lies.txt)
�       Underage Sexual Burning and 1 Corinth. 10:13 ( Youths_Singles_Sex.txt;
UnderageSexBurning.txt)
�       Unequal Yokes, Interfaith Marriages (UnequalYokes.txt)
�       Unplanned Polygyny, a Trail of Tears (UnplannedPolygyny2.Txt)
�       Wedding Covenants (WeddingCovenants.txt)
�       Who is Tyler? (WhoLTyler.txt)
�       Why Only One Husband? (WhyOnly1Husbnd.txt)
�       Why Do "Good" People Suffer? (Why_Disciples_Suffer.txt;
WhyBelieversSuffer.html)
�       Why Would a Wife Share Her Husband? (WhyWifeShreHsbnd.txt)
�       Polygamy Resources ( PolyResources2.txt)
�       Polygamy, Divorce & Remarriage (Divorce_&_Polygamy.html;
Divorce_and_PolygamyPt1.html;  Divorce_and_PolygamyPt2.html;
    Divorce+PolygamyPt1.txt; Divorce+PolygamyPt2.txt)
�       Polygamy and Christians Today (ChristianPolyToday.txt )
�       Polygamy and Concubines in the Bible (PolygamyConcubines.txt)
�       Polygamy and the Law (Legal_Polygamy.txt)
�       Polygamy and the Reformation (reformationpoly.txt)
�       Polygamy in a Nutshell (minipoly.txt, Polygyny_core.txt;
polyamory_unknown.html )
�       Polygamy, Traditional Criticisms (objections2poly.txt)
�       Polygamy's Transition from Old Testament to New Testament times
(Ot2NtDivRemPoly.txt)
�       Polygamy, Morality and Pornography (PolyMoralityPorn76.txt;
polyandry)
�       Polygamy's/Polygyny's  Scriptures and Contexts (PolyScripsQuotes.txt;
PolygynyInScrips; Biblical_polygamy.html)
�       Polygynous Families: Keys to Loving Unity in Polygyny (
KeysLovingUnity;
Keys2LovingUnity.html)

These files are available at:
Tyler,  at [email protected]   or [email protected]
or [email protected]
http://www.etext.org/Religious.Texts/Polyamory
http://www.etext.org/Religious.texts/Polyamory
ftp: www.etext.org; User: Anonymous; Password: Your email add
http://www.mindspring.com/users/~oldservant
http://www.mindspring.com/~oldservant/
ftp.mindspring.com; User: Anonymous; Password: your email address;
Directory: /users/oldservant
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/6916/


PLEASE DON'T BUY PRODUCTS MADE IN CHINA BECAUSE  (1) THEY
SYSTEMATICALLY TORTURE AND KILL  BORN-AGAIN BELIEVERS IN
CHRIST FOR THEIR FAITH, (2) THEY SYSTEMATICALLY EXECUTE
PRISONERS FOR NON CAPTIAL CRIMES TO HARVEST THEIR BODY
ORGANS FOR SALE ABROAD,  (3) THEY FORCE MOTHERS/FAMILIES TO
ABORT ALL OF THEIR UNBORN INFANTS EXCEPT FOR ONE PER FAMILY,
AND FEMALE UNBORN INFANTS ARE THE MOST COMMON VICTIMS.

PLEASE DON'T BUY PRODUCTS MADE IN SUDAN, ESPECIALLY BY NOT
BUYING SOFT DRINKS AND JUICE DRINKS THAT CONTAIN ESTER GUM
ROSIN OR ESTER OF WOOD ROSIN, BECAUSE THEY ARE
SYSTEMATICALLY TORTURING, RAPING, ENSLAVING AND KILLING
SUDANESE BELIEVERS IN CHRIST SOLELY BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH. Want to help?
go to www.fitw.com.

PLEASE DON'T BUY DISNEY AND DISNEYLAND PRODUCTS AND
FACILITIES BECAUSE OF THE ANTICHRISTIAN AND ANTIGOD
PRODUCTS, SHOWS AND MOVIES THEY ARE PUTTING OUT NOW.

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