Wednesday, January 23, 2013

"THIS IS WHAT TITHING IS AND IS NOT ACCORDING TO THE TEACHINGS OF THE BIBLE"



(i) THE "VOLUNTARY TITHERS" IN THE BIBLE BEFORE THE LAW OF MOSES OR THE NATION OF ISRAEL:Two individuals were reported by the Scriptures to have tithed ONCE, VOLUNTARILY, and never REGULARLY OR by the direct COMMAND of God before the Law of Moses was given to the nation of Israel for their spiritual and secular life. They were Abram who was already very RICH materially. Abram gave a tenth of his own spoils of war not from his own true riches voluntary to Melchizedek, the king of Salem. Isaac voluntarily vowed a tenth to God without any influence, directive and divine instruction from God t do so. These tithings that were done before the Law of Moses was given to the nation of Israel were all voluntary, personal and were never required, directed or commanded by God, his law, mandate or commandment.

(ii)‎ THE "MANDATORY TITHES" IN THE BIBLE THAT WERE BASED DIRECTLY ON THE LAW OF MOSES FOR THE NATION OF ISRAEL ONLY:The first FIVE BOOKS of the Bible are the LAW of MOSES that were directly given for the DAILY LIFE of ISREAL by God. Tithing was made MANDATORY and was COMMANDED in the LAW of MOSES for ISREAL only. Tithing was part and parcel of the Law of Moses and tithing cannot be separated from the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses expired, became obsolete and was finally abolished, set aside and replaced by the NEW COVENANT of JESUS CHRIST that EXCLUDED TITHING for the CHURCH AGE BELIEVERS. The Lord Jesus Christ and the New Testament Scriptures never commanded Christians to tithe either once or regularly.

(iii) THE ‎"MANDATORY TITHES" THAT WERE DIRECTLY REQUIRED BY GOD FROM THE NATION OF ISREAL AND WERE BASED DIRECTLY ON THE LAW OF MOSES:ISREALITES paid a GENERAL TITHE to the LEVITES (Numbers 18:21). The LEVITES paid a GENERAL TITHE to the PRIESTS (Numbers 18:25-31). People of ISRAEL kept a TITHE for their ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE to Jerusalem (Deut 14:22-26). The people of Israel paid a tithe to the POOR, ORPHANS and WIDOWS (Deut 14:28-29). ALL these were the MANDATORY or God's commanded tithes that were based on the Law of Moses for the nation of ISRAEL ONLY.

(iv) ‎THE MANY "UNBIBLICAL PRO-TITHING ARGUMENTS" THAT ARE USED TODAY BY CHURCHES AND PROSPERITY GOSPEL TO DEMAND TITHES FROM CHRISTIANS IN THIS CHURCH AGE:(i) Tithing is the only way through which the gospel of Jesus Christ can be financed and propagated all over the world.  (ii) Tithing was commanded and is made mandatory for all Christians. (iii) Any refusal by a Christian to tithe will result in the personal destruction of that Christian's finances by the devourers that God will send to that Christian. That particular Christian who refused to tithe will be guilty of the sin of divinely robbing God and a divine curse from God will be placed upon the life of that defiant Christian. (iv) Tithing is the divine key and the godly secrets to solving the problem of abject poverty and to enjoying high finances, divine blessings and good health in the life of any Christian.

(v) THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF TITHING AND DEVOURERS FROM THE BOOK OF MALACHI:God commanded the nation of ISRAEL under the Law of Moses (Old Covenant) to tithe. All the available biblical and historical records showed that the nation of  ISREAL lived in the era of FARMING ECONOMY and IRON AGE TECHNOLOGY. Prosperity teachers and many Churches teach erroneously that the devourer will destroy the finances of any CHURCH AGE BELIEVERS or Christians that refuse to TITHE. The DEVOURERS of ISREAL were the LOCUSTS and the PESTS that destroyed their AGRICULTURAL CROPS and FARMING ECONOMY.

(vi) THE DOCTRINE OF TITHING IN THE BOOK OF MALACHI AND THE CHURCH:The opening sentence of the Book of Malachi, the last prophet of God to the nation of ISRAEL under the OLD COVENANT or the LAW of MOSES said it all. That body of divine truth that is known as the Book of Malachi was directly and primarily written to ISREAL that refused to follow the God's mandatory commandment to tithe according to the Law of Moses given to Israel. The Book of Malachi was never directly WRITTEN to the CHURCH of JESUS CHRIST or the Christians under the NEW COVENANT.

(vii) TITHING IS NOT FOR THE CHURCH AGE BELIEVERS:How did the Early Church give according to the Bible? Did they practice tithing as their standard and mandatory form of giving? The Acts and the Epistles recorded the full records of all their givings in this light, manner and order:they gave voluntarily, willingly, continuously, freely, sacrificially and according to what they individually decided in their hearts to give. 

An objective study of the entire New Testament Bible that depicted the history of the Christian early Churches and the gospel of Jesus Christ that was preached successfully all over the entire Roman Empire did not show that tithes were needed, collected and used to finance and to propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ in the 1st century human world. The preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ that officially started on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem and continued to the end of the Book of Revelation that showed the full history of the Early Christians or Church did not show any single biblical evidence of tithing anywhere.


(viii) THERE ARE ‎"NO BIBLICAL EVIDENCES THAT SHOWED THAT THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST WAS FINANCED BY TITHES" IN THE EARLY CHURCH:There is no single biblical evidence of tithing ever practiced once or regularly in the entire early Church according to the accounts of the New Testament Bible, but the gospel of Jesus Christ according to the same New Testament Bible and from the many credible, reliable and secular historical records of that era showed clearly beyond any single doubt that the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached successfully and worldwide in the entire Roman Empire that ruled the whole world of that time without using the tithes of the early Church or Christians to finance and to propagate this gospel.


(ix) IS "TITHING" THE ANSWER TO YOUR FINANCIAL LACK? Prosperity teachers and many Churches teach that financial abundance and the practical answers to the problems of abject or chronic poverty in the life of a Christian comes by tithing. What roles do a person's occupation, education, work experiences, skills, career types, salaries, wages, job responsibilities, sales commission, financial prudence, money management skills, investments, personal savings, personal financial plans and goals, business acumen, entrepreneurial spirit, local economic systems and the global market forces play?


(x) ARE FAITHFULLY TITHERS TRULY RICH OR WEALTHY IN ALL REALITY?:Why are the "faithful tithers" worldwide not living in the unlimited wealth, luxury or high finances that they were promised for tithing? Why are the "prosperity preachers" the "only ones" that live in the true reality of those promises of material and financial blessings that they promised others for tithing? Why are these Christians refusing to investigate these fraudulent men and search their own Bibles for the truth like the Berean Christians of the early Church?

The Supporting Bible Verses:

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
And blessed be the most high God, wh...ich hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all - Genesis 14:18-20.
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee - Genesis 28:20-22.
  
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be ...food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty - Malachi 3:8-11 (NIV Translation).

A prophecy: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi - Malachi 1:1 (NIV Translation).

In all labor there is profit: but the talk of the lips tends only to penury - Proverbs 14:23.

"And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down (global impacts of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Roman Empire without any evidence of tithing) are come hither also" - Acts 17:6. The paraphrase is mine own addition.

"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" - 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV Translation).
"He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he that gives to the rich, shall surely come to want" - Proverbs 22:16.
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ" - 2 Corinthians 11:13.

No comments:

Post a Comment