Weightier Matters of the Law –

Weightier Matters of the Law –

After sitting through many teachings about “giving” and “tithing” I began to question the validity of this doctrine. I was always bothered by the way it was taught, the tactics used and the fact that scriptures supporting tithing were always found in the Old Testament. The text usually used before “tithes and offerings” are taken up is Malachi 3 where God asked through the prophet Malachi :

‘Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. 
 "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' 
 "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 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 you will not have room enough for it. ‘

So what is usually taught, is that God wants 10% of your personal income, and that 10% is his and he lets you keep the other 90% and if you don’t give it, you will be under a curse and God will allow things to happen to you that eat away your income. But conversely, if you do tithe your bank account will be full.

Before you read any further, do not for a second think I am making a case against GIVING. I am not. The New Covenant is full of examples of giving and of ministers of the gospel living off the gospel. There are examples of acts of radical giving. So, give as the Spirit leads, but you are not commanded in Scripture to give 10% of your personal income to anyone.

But there are some major scriptural problems with how the current Western church teaches tithing. The modern teaching of God commanding that you give10% of your personal income is purely fictional and completely made up. Not one example can be found of this in scripture anywhere! The roots of this incorrect doctrine probably began in the late nineteenth century when a Wesleyan Church in Cincinnati hosted multiple fund-raising events to erase its enormous debt. Teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and devoid of options, a layman came up with the idea of, “storehouse tithing.” It was an instant success and soon the news spread like wildfire throughout Christendom and the practice of storehouse tithing caught on. At the time, it seemed the answer to the debts and financial woes of churches whose church members gave indiscriminately.

The problem is, those who teach this must not know what Old Testament tithing was. It can be explained quickly. Tithing, under the law of Moses, was 10% of your yearly increase of seed. In Deut. 14:22-29 “Thou shall truly TITHE all the INCREASE of thy SEED, that the field brings forth year by year." Key words here are “increase” and “seed.” The idea here is that if you had 200 bushels of seed the first year and the next year your had 220, you would tithe 2 bushels and this would be given once a year. Seed is not money. Yes, they had a money system in ancient times and can easily be proven by reading Genesis 37:28 where Joseph was sold into slavery for 30 shekels. In addition, you can see Numbers 18:24 “Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the LORD. That is why I said concerning them: 'They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.' So, clearly we see here that tithes were not for every New Testament pastor but were for the Levitical priesthood and more specifically, the sons of Aaron. There were also many offerings given for sin for example and these were not considered the “tithe.” Thus the term tithes and offerings. So we see tithing commanded as 10% of an increase of seed and that it could ONLY be given to Levites. This is not what you hear in the modern western church.

But is tithing found in the New Testament? Yes, it is mentioned, but not commanded. And how could it be commanded to Gentiles and how are we held liable for our tithe if we cannot find a Levite to tithe to? A common “New Testament” tithing argument comes from Luke 11:42 which reads “"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone” This is used as an argument that Jesus commanded us to tithe in the New Covenant. If you read carefully this does not fit the “New Testament” tithing teaching. Jesus affirms that money was not tithed, but in this case it is mint, rue and all other garden herbs. Could it be anymore plain? What we should gather from this passage is that we should not neglect justice or the love of God; not that tithing is re-established in the New Testament.

“Tithing is God’s provisioning plan for New Testament believers.”

This is taken out of Malachi 3 “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 you will not have room enough for it. “

So the idea is that you must tithe for God to meet your physical and financial needs. The irony of this scripture being used as evidence that God commands the New Covenant church to “tithe” is even more egregious when you look at who the book was written to! Was the audience Israel? Gentiles? No. It was written to the priests! Malachi 1:6 –

It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.

"But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'

And 2:1

And now this admonition is for you, O priests.

Also in 3:10 you see the passage “-the whole nation of you.” “You” what? You PRIESTS. This part is referring to the nations priests. If not why not just say “all the nation of Israel? However since Malachi is addressing the Levitical priests, “the whole nation of you (priests)” now fits.

I encourage you to read Malachi for yourself. It’s only 4 chapters. What is obvious is that whom Malachi is addressing does not change from chapter 1. Remember, chapters and verses where put in later! Malachi didn’t denote his writing in chapter and verse, and this is one continuous thought through chapter 3.

Now when you look at the 3:10 you see this “storehouse” mentioned. The “storehouse” was actually a physical room in the temple. (See 1 Kings 6:6 and Nehemiah 13:5) and was used to store the meat remaining from the sacrifices. Thus the “that there might be food (also translated “meat”) in my house.” Now to balance this, there was obviously more than one physical room in which these were stored as it would be obviously impractical for one room to hold all the tithe of Israel. (See Nehemiah 13:37. This verse also reinforces that money was not tithed.) The rebuke of Malachi 3:10 stems from the priests misusing the tithed meats and food that was given to THEM, not because Israel didn’t give it! That is why God called them robbers as he would if you went into your local church and stole the organ. It’s not that the organ wasn’t there, it was that someone stole it. The priests that are dressed down in this prophetic misused what was given to God. We see this misinterpreted as the New Covenant church being robbers because they didn’t give their income. It was because they took it for their own unlawful use and not as the Torah commanded.

When we see Malachi 3:10 applied to New Covenant believers, it is now out of harmony with Matthew 6 (condensed – but feel free to look it up!)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. … 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them…”

Does this mention anything that this promise was contingent on your “tithes” being paid up? No, it does not. This is simply a promise in which the only stipulation is faith.

In all my discussions, debates and deliberations about tithing, I kept running up against a very important scripture. The scripture in question is Matthew 5:17 - Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. If the meaning of this verse can be revealed, whether we tithe or not will not be in question.

The common interpretation is that Jesus does not annul the Mosaic Law, but he affirms that it is still in force. However, the Greek word here “Kataluo” is translated “destroy” (and in other versions “abolish”) This should read “tear down.” So Jesus says “I did not come to "Kataluo" or tear down the the Law and the Prophets. The word translated “fulfill “ comes from the Greek word Plerosai. However, if this were his meaning he would have used a different word – the word Histemi meaning to fulfill a prophecy. But he does not, he uses Plerosai and this word is more accurately translated "fill up" or in other words, bring to a completion. Better translation - I did not come to tear down the Law and the Prophets but to bring them to an end." Romans 10:4 supports this proper translation and reads:

Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

The next verse, vs 18 of Matthew reads:

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one stroke or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. “

I would argue that a better translation, and more literal would be "For truly I say to you, until the heaven and earth pass away, one jot or hook shall not pass away from the Law, until all (of it) happens"

Again, the common conclusion that so many come to is that Jesus did not come to do away with Mosaic law and that Mosaic law will not pass away until the end of time. However, when we apply the correct meaning to the Greek words, we see this passage come back into harmony with the rest of the New Testament.

Think of the ramifications and lack of harmony in the rest of the New Testament if Jesus was re-affirming the Torah in Matthew 5:17-18. Apply this incorrect interpretation to Galations chapter 3 starting in verse 10:

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

So if Jesus re-establishes the Torah in Matthew 5:17, then he came to put us under a curse. Did Paul not say “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse?” But Paul says “Christ redeemed us from the curse” If the re-establishment of Torah is in affect, then Paul is making foolish arguments in this and most of his letters. I make this assertion: We can either be under the Law of Moses and the Prophets or be under the New Covenant of grace through Jesus. But we cannot be both.

Another point, If Jesus was coming to re-establish the Torah, then why does he go on to establish an even higher standard?

Matthew 5:28 - But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

This is BEYOND the Law of Moses. By giving us this additional dimension into the existing Law of Moses "Thou shalt not commit adultery" he is proving that is not here to re-establish Mosaic Law but to bring it to an end. Under the New Covenant we have the Holy Spirit in which his laws are now not written in stone, but on our hearts. It is because the Holy Spirit is on the inside that lust can be attributed to adultery. The fact that we can even have the Holy Spirit inside of us is part of the New Covenant, not the Old.

Everything in the Torah is a shadow of what was to come. Even the sin offering of a perfect, flawless lamb points to Jesus.

Hebrews 10:12 “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; “

Again, we see the theme of finality to the decrees of the Old Covenant. We see the final sacrifce made, thus ending the need for an Isrealite to give a perfect calf, goat or lamb as we see in Leviticus 4,5 and 6. Since we have Jesus, there is no longer any need for animal sacrifice to cover a man’s sin, nor is the governance for the Levitical priesthood in affect. Does this mean we should toss out the Old Testament? No! It has many passages that have not come to pass yet. It gives perspective, relevance and context to the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus. It reveals much about God’s wisdom, character, the consequence for sin, reveals God’s judgement and much more. It is the framework in which God chose to bring the Messiah and is the prophetic utterance of Jesus before he came.

Consider what Paul says in Romans 8 –

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.

In reading the New Testament, I see Paul over and over making the argument for faith under the New Covenant makes the Law of Moses to no affect. (Even the 10 Commandments!) That is not to tear it down, but an acknowledgement that it is fulfilled. It is like Paul knew we would still be having these questions many years later. Think of Jesus saying this “I did not come to empty the glass but to fill it to the top.”

So, if we are under the “Old Covenant” think of how absurd and contradictory the following passages would be –

Galtions 2:15-21 "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

Galations 5:18 - But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Colossians 2:16 - Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ

Even as I write this, I see now how clear it is in Scripture, but it is the traditions of men that have made it appear cloudy. I notice that tithe teachers will use Matthew 5:17 as their excuse for extracting just this one Mosaic Law to teach and put their people under. However I am reminded of Jesus talking to the Pharisees in Matthew23:4-6 where he is admonishing the Pharisee’s and says

They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

If you are reading this please note that I am not “against” pastors or teachers who teach otherwise because I realize that many have never considered anything other than the traditions that were taught to them. So if you are reading this, consider the case I have laid out. I have attempted to be concise, to the point and lay out as much scripture as seemed to fit. It never seems a good use of time to make a scriptural argument without actually using scripture.

Another scripture to consider – Galations 1:8

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned

What is the “New Covenant?”

To preach that we are under any part of the law, and co-mingling the two covenants is to preach a different gospel. Over and over Paul argues that we are NOT under Mosaic Law, but under the law of the Spirit. This IS the new Covenant, that because of the final sacrifice for all, the veil between man and God is torn down and the Holy Spirit comes to live in side of us. If you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, you are NOT under the law as we see in Galatians 5:18. I know that many teach tithing and law keeping out of tradition. Many pastors fear that their budgets will not be met and their ministry will crumble. I know many well meaning Pastors who do not teach this out of malice or to gain “filthy lucre” but simply because that is how tradition has taught them to operate. Let God judge men’s intentions and I pray that God be merciful because I know many have lived under this teaching and have not considered any other way.

Friends, continue to GIVE as the Spirit leads you. We do this to further the Kingdom! Be wise in whom you give to and don’t forget the widows and orphans. Find a ministry that is advancing the Kingdom of God and give to them that the gospel might be furthered!