Gifts of Love, Not Tithes
Every good thing
we have or ever will have is a gift of love from our Heavenly Father. The
greatest treasures we are given are spiritual blessings. Spiritual blessings
include the greatest gift that has ever been given to the world, eternal life
in Heaven with our Lord. This great gift is given to all who believe in Jesus,
who become children of God. The Holy Spirit introduces us to Jesus and gives us
the spiritual gifts of faith, love, hope, peace and assurance that enable our
Savior to live within our hearts. Allows Jesus to guide us
through the good and bad times of our life. Our Heavenly Father also gives
us all of the physical needs necessary to survive in this world, as we ask Him
in prayer for food, clothing, shelter, and all of our basic necessities. We
should work for our daily needs and if we do not work neither
should we eat. Our Lord also gives all the rest of our physical possessions,
both those needed for our work, and those we have for our comfort and pleasure.
Our Lord would
have us show our love to Him by doing His will. Giving the good news of Jesus
Christ is the greatest gift we can give to any. Praying for all that they might
find the Lord, helping in any way we can to bring them to the grace of our
Savior, and keep them children of God. Our Savior would also have us visit the
sick, the elderly, those in the hospital, those in jail, and any person who is
lonely, who needs comforting. We should take care of our own families, our
parents, grandparents, and our relatives. Our Master would also have us help
with young children, babysitting those when their parents are unable to watch
over them, taking care of them when they have no parents. Lastly we should give
to those less fortunate then we are. We should love our neighbors as ourselves,
helping them, giving to the needy as we would want to be helped if the
situation were reversed. Our neighbor is any one who needs our help, even our
enemies. We should give as much as we are able, giving more when we have it,
giving to the one who asks us, who needs to borrow from us. Anything given to
the poorest, least important person in this world is the same as giving
something directly to our Savior. Giving what a loving Christ centered heart
would give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, but cheerfully. Giving as our
Lord has given us. Giving all we can give, being satisfied with food and
clothing, the essentials of life. Letting the Spirit help us balance out what
we need, what we have, what we should give others who need our help.
Giving is not a
duty or requirement of the Lord, this includes any of the Old Covenant
ceremonially laws of which tithing (see bottom of page) is a part. Anything not
given out of love, out of faith to the Lord is not acceptable to Him. Our
giving merely reflects the love we have in our hearts for our Savior. Always
knowing when we give out of love for the Lord, we will be rewarded richly when
Jesus takes us home to Heaven above. Our Lord wants to give blessings to those
who love Him and do His will. When we give we should do it quietly, no one but
the Lord needs to know, and the Lord will graciously bless us. But any who
desire to be personally honored, to be important, or to be a leader for the
gifts they give, will not receive a blessing from the Lord, their only reward
is the human praise they receive.
We should not give
because we expect to get something back, for what we are giving is but a
portion of what the Lord has already given us, for no one has ever given enough
to God that God should pay them back. Godliness is not a means to financial
gain. For it does no good to obtain all the riches of the world yet lose your
own soul, and there are no earthly riches one can exchange to have their sins
forgiven, to make their soul whole again. It is not the amount that you give,
but how precious the gift is to the giver. The widow gave but two small coins
worth only a fraction of a penny, but Jesus said her gift was greater than all
others, even the rich who gave much larger amounts. For she gave all she could
give, she gave out of her poverty, she gave out of
love trusting the Lord to take care of her.
Life for Christians is not meant to be an abundance of possessions,
which can lead to greed. God will give earthly possessions to both believers
and unbelievers, including those who do evil.
But only believers can have the greatest possession one can ever obtain,
the love and grace of Jesus Christ. We
must be very careful about the lure of what money can buy, instead of being
content with what we have, knowing the Lord will take care of us. The love of
money will grow in the last days, yet all should willingly serve the Lord
without being greedy for all the riches this world will have to offer. Earthly
riches merely pull us away from our greatest treasures, spiritual blessings we
store away in Heaven. For when we give to others our Lord gives us blessings in
Heaven that will never end, never be taken away. Jesus told His disciples that
it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, then for the rich
to obtain eternal life, another words humanly impossible. This confused the
disciples for in the Old Covenant God gave physical gifts to those who followed
the law, did what the Old Covenant ceremonial laws required, the rich were considered
the blessed of God. But in the New Covenant of grace through Jesus Christ,
riches only hinder us, for we are judged by the intent, the love of Christ in
all hearts alone. The rich believe their treasures provide the security in
their lives, instead of trusting the Lord to provide for them. They do not
share with the needy, using their wealth to get them through life, a life of
luxury compared to the poor. The choice between the Lord or
earthly riches is a losing battle, with Satan easily winning. The only hope for
the rich is to come to the grace of Jesus Christ, for with God all things are
possible. The Holy Spirit can open our hearts to love Jesus, to love others as
ourselves, give us the assurance when we do our Savior’s will our Lord will
take care of us. Many who are rich and powerful on earth will be last in the
We should pay the
Christian worker their fair wage. Always remembering Jesus never had His own
great big fancy church to preach from, nor a house, nor
any great possessions. Jesus gave, told others to give to the needy, the poor.
Our Lord never told us to build physical structures of beauty which through
their cost and upkeep can use up the majority of offerings given. The souls of
all who believe in Jesus Christ are Christ’s Church of the New Covenant, with
our individual bodies being the
*The Old Covenant
laws including tithing cannot be modified, changed, or amended except by the
Lord. No person can change what the Lord said a tithe was, how it was to be
used, or where it was to be given. Without changing what was written in
Scripture there is no way tithing can be used in the New Covenant. Tithes can
no longer offer us any forgiveness, nor can we receive any blessings from them,
or incorporate them into our worship. This is how our Lord had it planned from
the beginning, to usher us out of the Old Covenant into the New Covenant of
spiritual grace through Jesus Christ.
*No one gives
tithes which are 10% of the actual crops of we grow on the land for us to eat,
and 10% of the actual animals we raise that feed off the land which we eat.
*No one gives
tithes to the Levites as their inheritance, for they were given no land when
they entered the Promised Land.
*No one gives
tithes to Levite Priests to approach God for them, to offer sacrifices for
their sin. Jesus is our Mediator, through Him we can
freely and confidently approach God.
*No one guarantees
their tithe is holy, that nothing of the tithe is unclean or any person while
they were unclean has touched their tithe.
*Moreover no one
needs tithes to provide sacrifices for the atonement of their sins. Jesus died
for our sins, His blood is our atonement.
*No one brings
their tithes to
*No one for two
years uses their tithe in a celebration festival, including fermented drink. No
Levites come the third year to pick up the tithe and store them in storehouses.
*No church
receives a tenth of the tithes given to the Levites.
*All should give
offerings to the Lord, and are blessed when they are given out of love.
When we try to go back and use Old Covenant ceremonial laws for any
purpose we insult Jesus. For we are telling our Savior His holiness, His blood
alone did not save us, we still need the tithe’s holiness, the tithe’s
sacrifice, blood of the tithe’s offering to save us. Today church leaders need
money for their church buildings,
the church’s work, their work, sometimes for themselves personally. Requiring
one to give an offering, or telling one they will receive ceremonial blessings
that are no more, produces more money than enticing one to give out of love to
Christ. But Paul clearly tells us Old
Covenant ceremonies and celebrations are needed no more. They were but a shadow
of what was to become. Jesus Christ is the reality we are to follow.
History of the
Tithe:
Lev
27:30-34 - The tithe came from the land, the herd and flock. The tithe included all grains, fruit,
nuts, herbs, juices, wine, anything grown on the
ground. The tithe also included all livestock who ate pasture, cattle, sheep,
goats, any animal who fed off the land.
If one were to give money in place of the produce of the land a fifth
more of the tithes value must be added. The tithe was holy to the Lord because
some were offered as sacrifices to Him until Christ came. These instructions
were given on
Nu 18:20-32 - When
Moses’s authority was challenged in the desert (Nu
16:3), God made Aaron’s staff bud with almonds, thereby choosing Aaron and his
tribe of Levi to be in charge of the
Nu 28:1 thru 29:40
All the sacrifices the Levite Priests had to offer.
This was a lot of work and a large amount of produce off the land and animals
were needed.
Dt
12:4-18 - As the Israelites were coming out of the desert to the promised land
they were instructed to worship and bring their tithes to one place which the
Lord would chose. There they should eat, rejoice and be blessed by the Lord. It
goes on to list what may be eaten on their trip to the central place. Dt 12:32.
Dt
14:22-29 - The tithe of produce was to be taken to the central place God would
chose and eaten at a celebration for two years. If the trip was too far one
could exchange the tithe for silver and then buy what they desired for the
celebration, including strong drink. Any of the tithe
that was left over was to be given to the Levites in their towns. Every third
year the tithes were to be brought to the store houses of one’s town to support
the Levites, poor, and needy.
Dt
26:12-15 - Reemphasizes giving a tithe on the third year to the Levites and
poor. Also requires the giver of the tithe to promise that the sacred portion
the Levites would use to sacrifice was kept holy, nothing unclean touched it
before it was given.
2Chr 31:5-12 –
Brought in tithes, everything produced off the ground. Was a great amount and the
storehouses were filled. There was plenty for the offerings on the Sabbaths,
New Moons and appointed feasts as written in the law of the Lord (Nu 28:1 thru
29:40). Same as Paul in
Amos 4:4 - confirms at this
time the tithe was still given every three years to the storehouses.
Ne 10:37-38 – Tithes reestablished with the
exiles who return.
Ne 12:44 – Tithes were brought in which were
required by the law for the Priests and Levites.
Ne 13:5-12 – Storerooms were purified and the
tithe brought in back for the Levites.
Malachi 3:8-12 -
God told His people that if they would tithe once more He would bless their
land and make it produce great crops. Giving bumper crops were also connected
with other ceremonial laws such as resting the soil every 7 years, who may own
the land and conditions of the year of the Year of Jubilee must also be
observed (Lev 25 18-28).
Matt 23:23, Lk 11:42 – Jesus was under the law and told all to obey the
law until He could fulfill the law (Matt 5:17-18). In these chapters Jesus
tells those under the law of tithing to give the tithe with mercy and love.
Also letting us know the tithe was still the produce of the land, garden herbs
and spices of mint, dill, cumin, and rue.