Tithing (by Olulade Ebenezer)

There has been a lot of controversy with regards to tithing, just recently. I happen to come across Olulade Ebenezer's posts on this subject, and I'll be sharing the posts today.

-----

I have been reading and seeking to breathe from the cloud of words on the subject of Tithing. My timeline contains no other posts these days...not even on Salvation or Faith. I've come to accept the metamorphosis the Church must compulsorily undergo. It is ugly at this stage.

My posts are precious to me and I would like them to contain views I have concretized. And here are a few.

Does God really care what particular percentage I give to him? No.
The money I divide into ten and drop in a box for the church; is it different from those who don't actually calculate but give a tenth mindlessly on one random Sunday? No.

Matthew 23:23 was not Jesus' instruction to Christians to tithe. He was rather making a comparison regarding Kingdom values between Tithing and the ranks of Judgment, Mercy and Faith to Pharisees.

Neither was Hebrews 7 and 8, a New Testament injunction to compulsorily give 10%.
Like we all may agree, Abrahamic Tithing was used as a historic backdrop to expound on the supremacy of Jesus' priesthood over the Levitical.
No direct instruction to Tithe or give 10%. The clearest instruction we read of is to GIVE....to give cheerfully...to give bountifully.

2 Corinthians 9:7 – Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, SO LET HIM GIVE; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Don't be stuck with percentages. God isn't. He would be a taskmaster to do that.
If you can afford 10%...GIVE
If you can afford less...GIVE
If you can afford more....GIVE
If you can afford giving ALL...GIVE

It is impossible to be stuck with giving 10% compulsorily and give cheerfully every time because you'll sometimes have money you CAN'T GIVE A DIME FROM. Will you not feel guilty if you can't slice it down to 90%? Try shaving off 10% from your school fees that came as a RARE AND MIRACULOUS monetary gift!
If God understands that you cannot touch that money, He surely understands when you CANNOT afford 10% or more on occasions.

Tithes are "offerings" with a 10% fetish around it. And we know fetish is RELIGION. Faith is Spiritual.
Drop the fetish. Pick up FAITH. GIVE.
God loves you just as much when you give 10%, 5%, 2%, 25%, 52% or any random percentage you can afford...as long as you give heartily, not grudgingly like many obligate tithers secretly do. It takes Faith to believe that God loves tithers and non-tithers.

In Christ, tithing is not our distinction. We have no distinction but Christ.

Galatians 3:
28 – There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

But wait...
29 – And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

So shouldn't we tithe like Abraham since I'm his seed?
Give 10% (a tithe of all) like Abraham to Melchizedek or MORE than that (your only son) to God or LESS (a cup of water and a morsel of bread) to 'two angels' passing by on a hot afternoon. You are Abraham's seed! Be like Abraham, your father. Give what you can afford as the occasion arises...and never feel guilty for it!

-----

Does giving have to be to Church alone?
No.
You can give to a neighbor, a friend, a colleague, an organization, even a country.

When you give to the Church, you give to the course of the gospel. This is because the church is charged to preach the gospel.

In Acts 4:34-37, they gave and brought to the Apostles'.

In 2 Corinthians 9:

9 – (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.

10 – Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

11 – Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. note

12 · For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;

Verse 12 is crucial. Our giving should do two things:

1. Supply the want of the saints.

2. Be abundant unto God.

Giving in church is the means by which this is best fulfilled. The church distributes to the necessity of saints according to Romans 13:
13 – Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

So, you can give everywhere else. But it is good to give in church too.

-----

For the Grace folks, 10% is too small for God. We give our ALL to God. So yes, tithe is too small to give to the yielded child of God.

When I explain the Malachi scripture and how it doesn't portray New Testament giving, you will say it is logic, sense knowledge...just because it doesn't agree with what you believe.

How is Bible study ever done without our brains? How did we know we don't need to sacrifice cows and goats again without reading the bible and understanding with our minds?

We don't rationalize scriptures. If we did, anyone would point our flaws with biblical accuracy. Our beliefs won't endure.

Enough said. I should do a post on Malachi 3.

-----

I will bid a befitting farewell to the conversation on Tithing by answering a recurring question from Malachi 3.

10 – Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Keywords:
ALL THE TITHES
WINDOWS OF HEAVEN
POUR OUT A BLESSING.

"All the tithes" means clearly that there are various types of tithes God wanted them to bring. In levitical priesthood, there are three types of tithe. One to priests, one for feasts and one for the poor. When you add their percentages together, you get 23.3%. This is what God demanded of the Israelites through Malachi. Not 10% but 23.3%!

Abraham didnt give "all the tithe". Rather, Abraham gave 'a tithe of all'.

Genesis 14:
20 – And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes (singular -TITHE - in Hebrew) of all.

It was better explained in Hebrews 7:
2 – To whom also Abraham gave A TENTH PART OF ALL; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

Abrahamic tithing is ONE TITHE – a tenth part. Levitical tithing is THREE TITHES. So, Malachi instructs that they should bring all three varieties of tithes into the storehouse.
The reward of doing this is that God will open the WINDOWS OF HEAVEN. This always meant Rain in the old Testament.

See an example out of many.

Gen 7:11 – In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Check Gen 8:2; 2 Kings 7:2.

POUR OUT A BLESSING
In the old testament, they proved God to send a blessing. The legal contract between Jews and God was a 'carrot and stick' approach. They did right so that God will bless them. That was the motive for obedience. They gave to get blessings from God. See the famous Deuteronomy 28. It gives us graphic details of that.

In the New Testament, we don't give to be blessed. We are already blessed! We don't prove God before He blesses us. No, we are blessed in Christ already.

Eph 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

We give BECAUSE we are blessed. We don't give to be blessed, like Israelites.

Abraham didnt give a tithe to get Melchizedek's blessing. If this were so, he would have given to Melchizedek before he got the blessing. Actually, Abraham gave a tithe AFTER Melchizedek blessed him. Abraham was blessed before He tithed.

This order is crucial for us who are Abraham's seed. We don't give to be blessed. We give because we are blessed.

Now it is clear that Malachi 3:10 wasn't referring to New Testament giving or even Abrahamic Tithing. It was rather a call to Isreal to bring all the types of tithes stipulated in old testament scripture. This is no longer applicable to us, New Creation saints today. If that were so, we are supposed to bring 23.3% compulsorily. But No.

In New Testament, we give as we have
I hope this is clear.

-----

You feel like asking a question? Contact Olulade Ebenezer on Facebook.

By: Olulade Ebenezer