Do we have to pay tithe according to the New Testament?

Scripture: Matthew 23:23, Malachi 3:8-12
Do we have to pay tithe according to the New Testament? It's important to ask if these Old Testament laws were ceremonial and tied to the sanctuary services. Tithe actually is spoken of before the Israelites at Sinai. The New Testament also speaks of paying tithing.
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9 Comments
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Luc
the tithe is not currently viable my brother. The tithe is connected with the temple and sacrifices. Ask any Jew if he pays tithes. No. there are 4 dime. Leviticus 27 read carefully Deuteronomy 14. first tithe was never money. never. only those who had harvested produce and small livestock who gave the tithe, not money.In Matthew 23 Jesus describes the tithe but after his death all that is abolished. it's the voluntary offering if you want to make a gesture. if we do the tithe we must have the 4 dime:1-dime for orphans, widows and foreigners, 2-a personal tithe that can be changed into money if a long trip, 3-a tithe for the Levites 4- the tithe of the tithe (1%) for the priests. So Malachi 3 is for the priests. Malachi 1 Malachi 2 and 3 is for priests. the storage house is not the church. Abraham give tithe Not money.
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nguemajones
My greetings to you all dear brothers and sisters.
Tithing has become a rising controversy over these last years, as many preachers and churches have turned it into a gospel. Many people wonder whether to pay, continue paying or stop paying tithes.
But first, let’s look at the most popular bible verses that talk about tithing:
Malachi 3:8-10 "Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are cursed: for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. 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 receive it."
Deuteronomy 14:22-29 22 "Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away), then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own. At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Deuteronomy 26:12 - When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, [which is] the year of tithing, and hast given [it] unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;
Leviticus 27:30-34 “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’ These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites’.
Leviticus 27:30 - 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 unto the LORD.
Numbers 18:26-28 “Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering. Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. In this way you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord’s portion to Aaron the priest.
Now, coming back to our topic, should we pay or continue paying tithes? Is paying tithes a New testament command? These are some of the questions people ask. The contradictions between believers regarding tithing is so vast. We have heard from great and mighty preachers to the smallest member in the church, all having different views.
Whether we should tithe or not is not the right question. We ask wrong questions and we get wrong answers. The question is why did God at a point in the history of mankind instituted tithing? That is the question. Why? What was the purpose at that time? What was to be achieved? Remember, God does nothing without a purpose. As you must have read above, it is clear that tithing was a command from God. There were tithes on different many things (Matthew 23:23), being the basic equation the 10% of whatever you ought to tithe for. Originally tithing had nothing to do with money, I guess modern life in urban cities has forced it to migrate to money, instead of food crops and cattle and drinks. Going back to the question of why God instituted tithing, we know for sure that, although Leviticus 27:30 states that “all tithes is the Lord’s”, God does nothing with our tithes. Yes, God does nothing with it. No-one can claim that God has ever come down to earth to collect what was due to Him as tithes. Neither has anyone ever transferred to God what was due to Him as tithes. Then, why would God request for Himself for something that there will be no way for Him to collect? Why will God ask for food if He will not be able to eat it? Do you think God actually intended to collect the proceeds from tithes? No. Let’s read Deuteronomy 14:28-29 again. It is clear that the proceeds from tithes were never intended for God Himself, but for the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows, in fact, the needy. What was the reason behind this? The same as in Mathew 25: 30-45. God wants us to be loving and caring, because when you give to a needy, you give to God, and you will be rewarded in the life to come, even yet, you could also be rewarded in this present life. Tithes were never meant to be a law, but something we could practice from our hearts, something we could do out of free will. The essence of it is to help the needy. The Levites had no office, no inheritance, no farm, no cattle, their only job was to serve God, and for that reason part of the tithes and offerings was due to them, because that was their means to sustain their lives. We can say the Levites of today represent anyone serving God as a full time job. These people are eligible to receive tithes. The needy (orphans, poor, widows and widowers, the foreigners who has nothing to sustain their lives), etc.…this group of unfavourable people in society are eligible to receive tithes and offerings as well (Deuteronomy 14:22-29 22).
Now, we see in our modern days a distortion and twisting of the ways and concept of tithing. I understand that churches need funding and that the men of God who dedicate full time in serving the Lord need financial support to sustain their basic needs. We need to be very careful here with the way we deal with this issue in our modern era. Remember that the love for material things (money) is the root of all evil. Tithe was instituted to assist the clergy men, the homeless, fatherless, widows and widowers and the strangers who needed help.
Preachers use scriptures with the aim to ,at times, persuade congregants to assist in the support of the financial burden of running the ministry, which at inception always falls on their shoulders. This practice is not bad, neither it is good, because along the line it losses its genuineness and is not in accordance any more with the advancement of our spiritual progress. Let me explain:

  • A generation of people that stills needs to be reminded in the form of tithing to support the clergy men who dedicate their full time to serve God, the homeless, fatherless, widows and widowers and the strangers who needed help; and a generation who needs to be reminded to support the ministry’s needs, is a generation of people of lower spiritual rank. For this reason, they need to be persuaded in the Old Testament way. Meanwhile, If we persist in this practice, it would mean that we have not yet received the gospel of Jesus.
  • Secondly, many people tithe not with a good heart, but because it is imposed on them via the Old Testament. God wants us to be cheerful givers (2 Corinthians 9:6-7 “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”). This verse alone should tell you that tithing is not something that God established to remain permanent, but it was for a season, because the final aim is for us to give out of free will. Tithing in the Old testament way, in a sense, is a hindrance to exercise free will.
  • Many ministers of God and those who a serving with material interest, have imposed tithing on congregants and even preached long sermons about tithing in a conning way, just to persuade, even intimidate and menace congregants to pay tithe or be cursed. These “men of God” have gone to the extent to preach tithing as a bait to get financial blessing from God in return. A lot of people tithe today not because of free will, not because they wish to support the work of God or the needy, but because they expect a hundred fold in return (a business investment).
  • Many ministers should also be careful in the collection of tithes using scriptures as an imposition from God, saying tithes belong to God alone, but they themselves making free use of the proceeds from tithes at their pleasure. If something is for God, make sure you give it to God. Do not use God’s name to collect things from people and then use them without God’s consent. Moreover, no minister of God have ever transferred money to God. If tithe is God’s money, make sure you do not possess it, because you will be judged by your own mouth.
  • Many minister will tell you that tithes should be paid in the church alone and should be given to the ministers alone. They will add that tithes could not be given to anyone other than them. This is not true, is not biblical. We have read in Deuteronomy 26:12 and Leviticus 27: 30-34 that tithes should be given to the Levites, foreigners, the fatherless and the widows. But God’s aim is that we should offer assistance and help not by compulsion but out of free will.
  • Many ministers have even neglected to teach people to make decent gains, all they care about is your money but not interested on how you make your money.
    The most popular bible verse that is mostly used by preachers to encourage tithing is Malachi 3:8-10 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. 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”.
    This scripture has been misunderstood and twisted.
  • First of all, God was talking to the Levites to stop stealing from Him, and not the children of Israel, as mostly misunderstood.
  • He said, "you have robbed me, even this nation you have robbed as well". The Levites were in charged to collect the tithes and store it in the chambers or storerooms, but they would rob part of it,
  • Bring the whole tithe, meaning they used to keep part of it and not bringing the whole of it to the storehouse of God, and there was lack in the house of God. If we can interpret this to our modern era, it would mean that the tithe and offering collectors (ministers) are the only ones that could steal from God, and not the congregants. But today, they will tell you that by not tithing you are robbing God. This is to go out of the context and twisting the scriptures because of thirst to collect money from people.
    Jesus Christ is the new covenant from God, rendering the old one obsolete Hebrews 8:13 “In speaking of a new covenant,” He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear”. The Old Testament tithing will soon disappear, not because I said so or desire so, it is because God never intended it to be the ultimate end. The ultimate aim is to give out of free will, just as in Act 2:44-45 "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need". This is what Jesus preached. Jesus never preached on tithe; his disciples never preached on tithing. There is nothing like that in the New Testament. Notwithstanding, if someone is willing to tithe, let him do so, for there is nothing wrong with that. But we should not make it a gospel, a preaching and an imposition to others, because in that case we are going backward with the spiritual progress designed by God to all his children.
    Preach and teach love, by so doing, people will realize that to love God is to love his fellow brother and no-one will lack or be in need. There will be no need to request for money or other goods, people will do it out of free will and without being asked for. When mankind is able to do so, then the end will come (Mat. 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom of God will be preached throughout the universe, so that all unbelievers may learn to know the truth, and the end will come for this generation).
    Stay blessed.
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Anonymous
tithes was given to only levites family or all family in this modern world .
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carmenlitakaipat
which tribe collected tithes during Jesus day according to the law of moses? Did Jesus and his apostles collect tithes from their followers?
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carmenlitakaipat
malachi 3:8 -10 who is robbing who? malachi was addrresing the levites of israel, not the christian church!
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shawndelusherwood
what would happens if I don't pay my Tithe?
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AFacts_Editor
Hi, friend—take a look at our Study Guide here: https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/study-guide/e/5002/t/in-god-we-trust. If you still have questions, write our answer team here: https://www.amazingfacts.org/about-us/bible-questions. God bless you!
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Anonymous
Are faithful Christians supposed to be blessed by the Lord financially (rewarded - be rich here on earth)?
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AFacts_Editor
Thank you for your question, friend. We don't seem to have an online resource that deals with this specific question—so we invite you to contact our Bible answer team here: https://www.amazingfacts.org/about-us/bible-questions. We'll leave your comment up for other guests to address. God bless you!

Caller:  I know they had to pay Tithes in the Old Testament.  I was wondering what's the New Testament application of that?

Pastor Doug:  Well I believe there is.  First of all, keep in mind that when God makes a law in the Old Testament that you've got to ask a few questions.  Was it a ceremonial law?  The ceremonial laws were built around the Sanctuary and the Temple during the Exodus.  Many of those laws were nailed to the Cross.  We don't need to sacrifice lambs anymore.  We don't need a literal priesthood because we are all priests.  We're a kingdom of priests.  But Tithe, the principle of Tithe goes back to the very beginning.  You look at Abraham and it says that Abraham - he paid Tithe.  Jacob paid Tithe.  That goes back pretty far.

And then Paul in the New Testament - he talks about Tithe and he never says that it's done away with.  There's no New Testament writer that says we no longer pay Tithe.  Jesus, speaking of Tithe, it's sort of a secondary answer but He does really give us an answer.  In Matthew 23:23, He says woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you pay Tithe of the mint and anise and cumin those are herbs in their garden but you've omitted the weightier matters, justice, mercy and faith.  Then He goes on to say these you ought to have done, and not leave the other undone.  Well the other was Tithe.  He says I'm not saying don't pay Tithe, but don't forget about justice, mercy and faith.  So it's interesting.  Christ really answered the question on Tithe in that statement - He says do not leave the other undone.

And then of course you've read in Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, God promises to open the Windows of Heaven for those who pay their Tithe.  Why would God say that in the last book of the Old Testament - you turn the page to Matthew and say well I don't need to worry about this anymore?  See what I'm saying?

Caller:  Oh, yes.

Pastor Doug:  So I believe the principle of Tithe was to support the ministry.  Do we still have a need for that?

Caller:  Yes.

Pastor Doug:  Well then, we still need missionaries and pastors and Christian teachers.  That's what our church uses the Tithe for - so obviously the need is still there.

Caller:  Oh okay.

Pastor Doug:  And God will bless you.  Don't miss out on paying Tithe because you don't gain, you loose by doing that, okay?

Caller:  Okay thank you very much.

Pastor Doug:  God bless.

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