By Hubert Agamasu

“And for this reason, they (the Jews) had indeed the tithes of their goods consecrated to Him, but those who have received liberty set aside all their possessions for the Lord’s purposes, bestowing joyfully and freely, not the less valuable portions of their property, since they have the hope of better things [hereafter]; as that poor widow acted who cast all her living into the treasury of God.” — Irenaeus, disciple of Polycarp, disciple of John the Apostle, in his book Against Heresies.

1. What are Tithes?

A tithe refers to a tenth of one’s farm produce set aside for God. Depending on the recipient, we identify three tithes in the Bible:

• Feast tithe: Farm produce to be eaten by the giver and his household at a place appointed by God (Deuteronomy 14:22-23).
• Poor tithe: Farm produce to be stored in the giver’s house for the poor, widow, orphan, stranger, and Levite to come and eat (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).
• Levitical tithe: Farm produce given to the Levite, who would, in turn, pay a tithe (tithe of tithe) to the high priest (Numbers 18:27-28).

The priestly/Levitical tithe was given to priests because the Levites had no land inheritance among the children of Israel and could not feed themselves (Numbers 18:23-24).

2. Money Existed but was NEVER Tithed!

None of the three types of tithes was ever paid with money. It is alleged that this was because money as a medium of exchange was not widely used at the time of the Israelites. This is simply not the case:

• Money was established for centuries before the nation of Israel was formed. Joseph, an ancestor of the Israelites, was sold by his brothers for 20 pieces of silver (Genesis 37:28).
• Sometimes, the feast tithe, which was to be eaten by the owner, could be converted to money if the journey was too far and they couldn’t carry all the farm produce to the place of feasting. Upon arriving, however, they were to buy food with the money and eat it as their tithe (Deuteronomy 14:24-26).

If we are going to obey God’s command, we might as well obey it just as He commanded. If we wish to pay tithes, we must pay the poor, feast, and priestly tithes with produce, just as God commanded. We must not modify God’s laws like the Pharisees did (Mark 7:10-12).

What about Malachi 3:10?

Malachi 3:10 is usually quoted to show that tithing must be practiced by Christians. According to this reasoning:

• God promised to bless Israelites who paid tithes (Malachi 3:10), and so we must also pay tithes to obtain that blessing.
• By this reasoning, God promised to bless Israelites who obey the Sabbath (Isaiah 58:13-14), so we must rest on the Sabbath to be blessed by God.
• Better still, God promised to bless Israelites for keeping ALL THE LAWS in the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). So, we must KEEP THE ENTIRE OLD COVENANT to obtain these blessings.

These include a woman not wearing a man’s clothing (and vice versa, Deuteronomy 22:5), not eating pork (Leviticus 11:7-8), plus over 500 other laws. If we want to obey the Old Covenant, we might as well obey it in totality because whoever obeys all the law and breaks one is guilty of all (James 2:10).

Tithing is Not of the New Covenant

In none of the epistles do we see any of the Apostles—Paul, Peter, John, Jude, James, etc.—commanding or teaching regarding the payment of tithes. The following are two scriptures usually quoted in a bid to prove that tithing is in the New Covenant:

Luke 11:42: “But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye TITHE mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

Does Jesus’s mention of tithing in the above passage make tithing a New Covenant practice? No. The New Covenant does not start from Matthew 1; it came into effect after the death of Jesus.

• He was circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 2:21), was dedicated to God according to the law of Moses (Luke 2:22-24), observed Passover (Matthew 26), and observed the Sabbath (Luke 4:16). Jesus kept the old law and taught men to because he had not yet fulfilled it.
• It was upon his death that his blood ushered in the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15, Luke 22:20).
• Jesus was born under the law, and as a rabbi, he had to teach people to obey it properly. If tithing is a New Testament practice, then we should expect to see it in the Acts of the early church and the epistles of the apostles. There is NO single mention, not even when Paul was requesting help for the church in Jerusalem.How about Hebrews 7:4?: “Now consider how great this man was to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.”

Far from teaching the tithing command of the Levitical priesthood, the aim of Hebrews 7 was to portray Christ as the High Priest of a new priesthood. The reasoning of chapter 7 can be summarized as follows:

• Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:4).
• Since the Levite priests were inside Abraham when he paid tithe to Melchizedek, it means they ALL paid tithe to Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:9-10).
• But wait, priests only pay tithes to the high priest (Numbers 18:27-28).
• Then this Melchizedek must be a special high priest because Abraham and all the Levite priests (inside Abraham) paid tithes to him.
• Moreover, the greater blesses the lesser (Hebrews 7:7). So if Melchizedek blessed the great Abraham, then he must be great indeed!
• So if Jesus is a priest like Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:17), then we have in Jesus a very great high priest! (Hebrews 4:14).

Clearly, the mention of tithing in this chapter was descriptive (telling us that it happened) and not prescriptive (telling us what we must do). It is a historical occurrence that the author draws upon to illustrate the greatness of Christ as our high priest. To miss this beautiful point about the NEW PRIESTHOOD and misunderstand it as an injunction to pay tithes of the old priesthood is unfortunate.

Moreover,

• The Melchizedek tithe was paid to Melchizedek. Since this priest is a priest forever and is not dead, whoever thinks the Melchizedek tithe is binding must necessarily pay it to Melchizedek. It’s his tithe.
• To pay the Melchizedek tithe to a pastor who is not Melchizedek is tantamount to blasphemy because that would be likening the pastor to Melchizedek and, by extension, Jesus Christ, the Son of God (who is the only person likened to Melchizedek).
• Abraham’s tithe was a one-time event and was limited to the spoils he took from war, not the possessions in his house (Genesis 14). So, should we pay the Melchizedek tithe on things we possess or those things we take in war? How does it work?
• If the Melchizedek tithe were obligatory, we would expect the descendants of Abraham to pay this tithe until the institution of the Levitical tithe, or even together with the Levitical tithe. We do not see Isaac, Jacob, or any descendant of Abraham paying the Melchizedek tithe in their lives.

In fact, the book of Hebrews suggests that they paid it metaphorically while inside Abraham (Hebrews 7:9-10)! So, if the physical descendants of Abraham did not owe the Melchizedek tithe in their lives because Abraham paid on their behalf (while they were yet in his loins), how much more should Christians, who are Abraham’s descendants spiritually, owe Melchizedek any tithes?

We cannot enjoin people to pay the Melchizedek tithe to a pastor who is obviously not the high priest Melchizedek (even if he’s called Melchizedek), while quoting Malachi 3:10, which is about the Levitical tithe.

3. Levitical Priesthood (Old Covenant) versus the Royal Priesthood (New Covenant)

The idea of paying ‘priestly tithes’ to a “priest” today clearly runs contrary to New Testament theology.

In the Old Testament:

• The Levites were the priests.
• They performed sacrifices on behalf of the people.
• The sacrifice was made in the temple.
• Aaron was the high priest.

In the New Testament:

• All Christians are priests! (1 Peter 2:9: “For you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood…”; Revelation 1:6: “And has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father…”)
• As priests, all Christians offer sacrifices. (1 Peter 2:5: “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”; Romans 12:1: “…that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God…”)
• Christians are the temple (not a church building). (1 Corinthians 3:16: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”)
• Jesus is our high priest. (Hebrews 3:1: “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus.”)

Tithing was designed for the Levitical priesthood. This priesthood does not exist in Christianity, so tithing cannot exist either. A change in the priesthood means a change of the law (Hebrews 7:11-12).

Conclusion

• Christianity does not teach giving a certain percentage in a certain way, in fulfillment of an Old Testament obligation. We are under grace, not the law (Romans 6:14).
• Instead, we are taught to give cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:6-7), according to our ability (1 Corinthians 16:1-2), out of gratitude (2 Corinthians 9:7), to the poor (Acts 20:35), both to the believers (Acts 2:44-45, which obviously includes those who are ministers in the church) and even to unbelievers (Galatians 6:10).
• This is exactly what the early church practiced for about 500 years before tithing was introduced in the 6th century (see Irenaeus, quoted above).
• In the early church, people understood the Gospel, that God gave us what was MOST PRECIOUS to Him. In response to this love, they were able to sell what was MOST PRECIOUS to them: houses and lands, and give all the money to the service of the poor in the church (Acts 2:45). If today, Christians cannot give cheerfully and we have to put them back under the yoke of the Old Covenant, then perhaps we are not teaching the Gospel the same way the early church taught.