Why I Was Wrong About Tithing

I recently felt convicted that my teaching about tithing might be causing others to sin I realized I was wrong about tithing and I decided to make this video to correct my mistakes it's popular in many churches to teach that you must tithe 10 of your paycheck but is that really what the Bible teaches if you're like me you've seen a lot of abuse in the church when it comes to tithing and that's why I've struggled in the past to even talk about tithing it also caused me to err in what I taught in my video about tithing I actually find it ironic that Christians who don't believe we should keep the Torah teach that we should tithe yet tour keeping Christians who say the Torah is still valid don't believe in tithing that was me for quite a few years as well so I understand where those people are coming from but it's still ironic the ties were given to the Levites as their inheritance because they were not given a land inheritance these ties were regarded as wages for the work they did in the Tabernacle many people only know about the tithe for the Levites but there are actually three different ties described in the Bible the first tithe goes to the Levites for their work in the sanctuary this second tithe is for you and your family to celebrate the Feast days and the third tithe is every three years and it's to help the poor the Widow and the orphan now let's look at what the Bible says about these three different tithes the first tithe is for the Levites for the work of the ministry behold I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform the work of the Tabernacle of meeting numbers 1821 the Levites serve God in Ministry and the ties were given to them as their wages but the Levites were also required to give a tithe from what they received speak thus to the Levites and say to them when you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the Lord a tenth of the tithe numbers 18 26 now the second tie that was kept for you and your family to celebrate the Feast days but if the journey is too long for you so that you are not able to carry the tithe or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you when the Lord your God has blessed you then you shall exchange it for money take the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses and you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires for oxen or sheep or for wine or similar drink for whatever your heart desires you shall eat there before the Lord your God and you shall rejoice you and your household Deuteronomy 14 24-26 The Journey it's referring to is the pilgrimage festivals of Passover Pentecost and Tabernacles if the journey was too far for you to carry your food you would take money instead and buy food when you get to the feast this money was used for you and your family to celebrate the Feast days these feasts were meant to be a huge celebration the Feast of unlimited bread and the Feast of Tabernacles were both week-long celebrations and the idea was to have a Thanksgiving style feast all week long the third tithe was given every three years and it was to help the poor the Widow the orphan and others who were in need at the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your Gates and the levite because he has no portion or inheritance with you and the stranger and the fatherless and the Widow who are within your Gates 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 Deuteronomy 14 28-29 if everyone in the church would practice these tithing principles everything would work correctly if we all gave 10 of our income to the church the church wouldn't struggle financially if we all set aside 10 percent of our income for the feast days we would never struggle to have enough to celebrate the feasts and if everyone gave the third year tithe to help those in need the poor and less fortunate would be taken care of all three ties are commanded by God therefore it's a sin not to tithe and I've been convicted about not teaching it this way in the past the biblical tithe was part of the temple service and was given to provide the Levites and the poor with food however the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D and we have no Levites to give our ties to so is tithing even a Commandment that we can keep these were honest questions I had concerning ties is a preacher qualified to receive ties he's not a levite and since ties were part of the sacrificial service in the temple how would we even participate in it today my attempt to reconcile those questions was to abandon the idea of tithing as a requirement and to teach giving as a general principle I was afraid to teach a 10 tithing principle and simply encourage basic generosity instead the principle of tithing has to do with providing for those in need and those in ministry again I'm not saying we need to give a tithe to those in Ministry but I am saying the principle of giving to support Ministry is biblical this is God's design and plan for how Ministry is funded I still agree that we need to teach the principle of tithing but I was an error for not teaching the principle of tithing 10 of your income everything we have belongs to God and all he asks is that we tithe from what he has given us however we still need to address those questions concerning the Levites in the temple if the tithe was part of the temple service and we have no Temple can we tithe this is actually flood thinking because we do have a temple and a high priest now this is the main point of the things we're saying we have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the heavens and minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man Hebrews 8 1-2 but Christ came as high priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands that is not of this creation Hebrews 9 11 if the law required God's people to give tithes to the Earthly Tabernacle which was only a copy and a shadow of the true Tabernacle in heaven why would we not also be required to give ties in regard to the true Tabernacle and the great high priest Yeshua what's interesting is the book of Hebrews shows that even the Levites pay ties to Melchizedek through Abraham for this Melchizedek king of Salem priest of most high God who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the Kings and blessed him to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all now consider how great this man was to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the spoils and indeed those who are of the sons of Levi who received the priesthood have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law that is from the Brethren though they have come from the loins of Abraham but he whose genealogy is not derived from them receive tithe from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises now beyond all contradiction the Lesser is blessed by the better here mortal men receive tithes but there he receives them of whom it is witness that he lives even Levi who received tithes paid tithes through Abraham so to speak for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him Hebrews 7 1-10 the levitical priesthood is inferior to the priesthood of Yeshua because Yeshua is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek and even the Levites gave ties to him through Abraham the argument here is that even though the Levites received tithes on Earth Yeshua has an even greater priesthood and he receives ties in heaven here mortal men receive tithes but there he receives them of whom it is witness that he lives forever Hebrews 7 8 so we have a high priest and a temple but do preachers qualify as Levites to receive tithes we actually find the answer to this question in First Corinthians when Paul makes a direct connection between the Levites and those who preach the gospel do you not know that those who Minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel First Corinthians 9 13 those who minister in the temple and serve at the altar are the priests and Levites they partake of the offerings at the altar because that's the ties that belong to them as Levites likewise those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel in other words the Ministers of the Gospel have the same rights to receive ties as the Levites did this chapter actually gives us several really strong Arguments for why ministers should receive wages for their service and he bases his argument on what the Torah teaches whoever goes to war at his own expense who plants a Vineyard and does not eat of its fruit or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock do I say these things as I'm your man or does not the law say the same also for it is written in the law of Moses you shall not Muslim Ox while he Treads at the grain is it oxen God is concerned about or does he say it all together for our sakes for our sakes no doubt this is written that he who plows should plow in Hope and he who threshes in Hope should be a partaker of his hope if we have sown spiritual things for you is it a great thing if we reap your material things first Corinthians 9 7-11 the argument is that the labor of the Gospel is meant to provide for the minister of the Gospel just as a Shepherd drinks the milk he receives from the Sheep so also the Shepherds of God's flock are expected to be provided for by the people they shepherd if a beast of burden such as an ox is compensated for the work he does in the plowing of the grain should not God's ministers also be compensated for the work they do the question is should those who sow spiritual things for you reap material things from you think about it it this way God appointed the Levites to serve in the temple and he commanded that they received Provisions in exchange for their service likewise God has also appointed his ministers over his church and they are expected to receive Provisions for their service as well so now that the questions concerning the temple and the Levites have been addressed we need to address the lack of faith that keeps us from obeying god with our finances when we look at our finances our flesh tells us we don't have enough I don't care how much or how little you make we all struggle with a lack of faith about our finances when we say we don't have enough we're actually saying that God is not a good provider giving our tithes to God is an act of gratitude and if we don't tithe we're showing God that we are not grateful for what he has given us now consider what God says about testing him concerning the ties bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in my house and try me now in this says the Lord of hosts if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it and I will rebuke the Devourer for your sakes so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field says the Lord of hosts and All Nations will call you blessed for you will be a delightful land says the Lord of hosts Malachi 3 10-12 this is the only time in the Bible where God encourages us to test him in something the test is this if we do what God Says with our ties he will provide for our needs the Bible says if you give all of your tithes then God will pour out blessing on you however the Bible also says if you don't give your tithes then you're robbing from God and he will curse you because of it will a man rob God yet you have robbed me but you're saying what way have we robbed you in tithes and offerings you are cursed with a curse for you have robbed me even this whole nation Malachi 3 8-9 is it possible that you're struggling financially because you are cursed for not tithing the Bible Compares finances with scattering or sowing seeds in a couple of places and I want to consider what that means there's one who scatters yet increases more and there's one who withholds more than is right but it leads to Poverty Proverbs 11 24 the principle here is if you scatter your seeds you can grow more produce but if you withhold your seed and keep it for your own consumption you'll eventually eat all of it and you'll run out therefore one who scatters increases more but one who withholds too much leads to Poverty but this I say he who so sparingly will also reap sparingly and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully so let each one give as he purposes in his heart not grudgingly or of necessity for God loves a cheerful Giver Second Corinthians 9 6 and 7. again the metaphor of sowing seed is applied to giving of your finances if you so sparingly you'll also reap sparingly but if you sow bountifully you will reap bountifully the Bible also addresses our attitude towards giving when it says give with a cheerful heart if the idea of tithing makes you upset then you have a heart issue you need to deal with all three ties have a purpose in the Kingdom the first tithe is given to provide for the ministry and those who Minister the second tie the save for your family to celebrate the Feast days with joy and abundance and the third tithe is given to help others who are in need we all need to submit our finances to God and tithing is the method God established for us in the scriptures I hope this teaching has helped to clear up the subject of tithing and has given you a new perspective on the principle of giving to support those in Ministry if you like this video then check out some of my other videos and remember the truth will set you free