Tithing - Part 1 (Malachi)
In days past, the strength of the Word of Faith preachers was the finished work of Christ. They demonstrated that Jesus wrought a perfect work of redemption and sat down on the right hand of God and, consequently, the New Testament believer was entitled to walk in an inheritance that included all that Jesus had accomplished. In recent years, however, the Word of Faith preachers, accompanied by a slew of Pentecostal and Charismatic preachers, have deviated the finished work of Christ in the area of finances and now teach that one must tithe (or give “first fruit” offerings) to “activate” the blessings of God. For instance, one popular Word minister writes:
Tithing activates the blessing of God in your finances. Read Malachi 3:10-12. There God promises that when you tithe, He’ll rebuke the devil and command him to keep his hands off your finances. And that promise is as good today as it ever was because when God rebukes the Devil, he stays rebuked!
In this series on tithing, I will demonstrate that mandatory or required tithing or even “first fruits” offerings as they are called, are not part of the New Testament believer’s inheritance in Christ and one need not tithe in order to “activate” the blessings of God for finances. While this series puts me at odds with practically every Word of Faith, Pentecostal, Charismatic, and even denominational preacher that I know, I would rather be sound in doctrine than popular with any of them.
The best place to start an examination on tithing is with Malachi. Malachi 3:8-12 reads as follows:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test 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 a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts. All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:8-12, NASB)
This passage is cited by pastors every Sunday just before the offering plates are passed for a number of things: the scriptural obligation for New Testament tithing, avoidance of God’s curse, and “activation” of God’s blessings. In today’s church culture, itinerant ministers carrying with them “miracle financial testimonies” are even brought in for further amplification of this theme, especially during building programs. This passage of Malachi, as doctrine for the New Testament believer, is misplaced (read: wrongheaded) on several fronts.
Tithes and “Offerings”
Countless times I have been in services where the preacher applies a 21st century lens to this 515 B.C. Old Testament scripture. The preacher states, “tithes are your ten percent that is God’s alone and offerings are anything that you want to give over and above the tithe.” This definitional premise, at least as to offerings, is not supported by Malachi.
In writing Malachi, the prophet dealt with, among other things, the corruption of the Levitical priesthood. Under the Old Covenant, the Levites, as a tribe, were appointed by God to fulfill the priesthood under the Law. The Law required them to offer up animal sacrifices for, among other things, the sins of Israel. Over time, the priests became corrupt (Malachi 2:1-9) and began presenting sick, blind, and lame animals upon the altar instead of the unblemished animals that God required. Malachi penned God’s rebuke over these types of practices:
You are presenting defiled food upon My altar But you say, ‘How have we defiled you?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be despised.’ But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?’ says the Lord of hosts … and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand?” says the Lord. But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations. (Malachi 1:7, 8, 13b-14, NASB)
As the sacrifices, especially for the healing of the leper and the Day of Atonement, prefigured Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, it was especially abominable that these corrupt priests were sacrificing blemished animals upon the altar. It was this practice that was condemned in Malachi 3, not the refusal of the Israelites to give “over and above their tithe.”
To be continued …
Hi Peter. No offense, but I think you may be over-analyzing this. Check out what Jesus says in Matthew:
Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
Notice He says, “these you ought to have done”. There, I believe, He’s referring to the “tithe” that’s mentioned. Obviously, the other things they are leaving undone are the weightier matters of the law - justice and mercy and faith. Christ seems to take the tithing for granted - His problem isn’t there - it’s with the hypocrisy. In fact, for Jesus to say you “ought to have done” says much to me. Giving just needs to be done with the right heart and attitude.
Anyway - you may disagree, but just wanted to throw my 2 cents out. David
David, thank you for the comment and no offense taken.
In Matthew 23:23, Jesus is speaking to Pharisees and scribes who lived under the Law. Consistent with the Law and with Malachi, they were supposed to tithe. Consequently, Jesus says about the tithe “these you ought to have done.”
In John 19:30, on the cross Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” While many preachers say that the statement refers to the plan of redemption, it actually refers to the Old Covenant. Jesus was required to fulfill the Law and His statement is one of fulfillment. You can see in Matthew that once the statement was made, the temple’s veil was ripped, meaning that the Levitical priesthood with the Law was over.
And that brings to bear my premise: tithing is not a mandatory obligation under the New Testament. It is, rather, to be done (if done at all) by the cheerful giver (a matter of the heart).
So far, so good. I have concluded pretty much the same thing.
…good start, but when might we expect to see more?
So far, I agree with you whole-heartedly… hopefully you will continue this message.
My wife and I went through this re-evaluation of the NT tithe back in the early 80’s. We allowed the Holy Spirit to lead us in our giving (2 COR 8:5) We went from broke and tithing to blessed and giving. But it was in steps of faith. And we now give more than the “required” ten percent because God is our Source and we are faithful stewards of what He has blessed us with.
I am still exploring your other posts. So far I like what I see. Keep up the good work, you are reaching around the world with your site.
Rich, thanks for stopping by.
While we’ve addressed tithing as a New Testament requirement, we’ve yet to get to just what New Testament giving is all about (the heart and the Gospel). Your comment and scripture reference have been a good reminder for us to take another look at our To Do List (there’s a lot on our plate).