Christians who pay tithe are sinners- Femi Aribisala

Femi Aribisala

As far as many pastors are concerned, the most important
scripture of all is not to be found in the word of Jesus. Neither
is it even in the New Testament.

That scripture says: “‘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.’” (Malachi 3:10).
This scripture is drummed repeatedly into Christians on
Sundays. However, the only time Jesus mentioned tithing in
scripture, he pointed out that it was not a weighty matter of the
law. (Matthew 23:23). Hebrews says people only receive tithes
“according to the law.” (Hebrews 7:5). It then insists tithing
(and everything else under the law) has been annulled: “The
former regulation is set aside because it was weak and
useless.” (Hebrews 7:18-19). Nevertheless, mercenary pastors
continue to insist on the payment of tithes.

LATTER-DAY PHARISEES

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for keeping part instead of the
whole law. (Matthew 23:23). That is what tithe-collecting
pastors do today. If we insist our congregants must pay tithes,
we must also insist that they keep the rest of the law. James
says: “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in
one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10). Therefore, if we
insist on tithing, we should also refrain from eating pork. We
should stone adulterers, execute homosexuals, kill Sabbath
violators and restore blood-sacrifices.

Tithe-collecting pastors counter this by maintaining the
payment of tithes pre-dated the law. Here Abraham is cited as
the cardinal example of someone who paid tithes before the
promulgation of the Law of Moses, as did Jacob, his grandson.
However, such arguments are disingenuous.

Before the law, tithing was at best an example but not a
commandment. Moreover, pastors fail to mention that Abraham
only tithed once in his lifetime. When he did, he did not even
tithe his own money: he tithed the spoils of war. He gave ten
percent of the plunder he took when he rescued Lot to
Melchisedec, king of Salem. But then he did not even keep the
rest but returned it (all ninety percent) to the king of Sodom.
For his part, Jacob also tithed only once. He did this in a “let’s
make a deal” arrangement he offered to God: “Jacob made a
vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and keep me in this way
that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put
on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the
LORD shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a
pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will
surely give a tenth to you.’” (Genesis 28:20-22). This kind of
deal about accepting God only under certain self-serving
conditions should certainly not be a term of reference for any
serious believer.

LIES UPON LIES

The first lie pastors tell Christians is what some have referred
to as “the eleventh commandment:” “Thou shalt pay thy tithes
to thy local church.” But the bible says no such thing. The
storehouse of Malachi was not a church. It was a place where
food was kept.

Pastors hide from church-members the fact that money was
not acceptable as tithe. The tithe was a tenth of the seed and
fruit of the land and of the animals which ate of the land.
(Leviticus 27:30-32). That is why God says: “Bring all the
tithes into the storehouse, that there may be FOOD in my
house.” (Malachi 3:10). He does not say “that there may be
MONEY in my house.” The food was used to feed the Levites,
the poor, widows, orphans and strangers.

Pastors also conveniently fail to teach the biblical tithe. The
principles of tithing were not laid down by Malachi. They were
laid down by Moses. The study of Moses’ guidelines quickly
reveals that the biblical tithe has no application whatsoever to
Christians and is mischievously violated by tithe-collecting
pastors today.

According to the Law of Moses, the tithe was divided into three
allocations. The first year, it was given to the Levite. The
second year, it was given to widows, orphans and the poor.

The third year, it was eaten in the company of the faithful
before the Lord as thanksgiving for his faithfulness.
(Deuteronomy 14:22-28). In the seventh year, there was no
planting and no reaping and therefore no tithing.
So the next time your pastor asks you to pay tithe, ask him
about the seventh-year reprieve. Also ask him if you can give
your tithe to the orphanage, or bring it as food items to be
eaten in church. Believe me; he will not agree with you
because it is your money he is after.

INAPPLICABILITY OF TITHE

Tithing was only applicable to Jews and to the land of Israel.
When large populations of Jews lived in Babylon, Ammon,
Moab, Egypt, and Syria, these lands became tithe-able lands.
However, tithes were not acceptable from strictly Gentile lands.
So you need to ask your pastor how come he is collecting
tithes in Nigeria.

Servants or slaves who worked on the land did not tithe
because the land did not belong to them. Since only
agricultural and animal resources were included, a fisherman
gave no tithe of his fisheries. Neither did a miner or a carpenter
pay tithes, nor anyone from the various professional
occupations. So if you are not a farmer or a keeper of livestock,
tell your 419 pastor tithing is biblically inapplicable to you.

Moreover, the only people authorised to receive tithes were the
Levites. (Hebrews 7:5). So if your Pastor is a “tithe-collector,”
ask him if he happens to be a Jew. Remind him that, even
though a Jew, Jesus could not receive the tithe because he
was not from the tribe of Levi but from that of Judah.

The trick, of course, is for pastors today to claim we are
“Levites.” If your pastor is one such dissembler, ask him if he
lives as a Levite. Remind him that Levites had no land and did
not have private property. Ask him also how he knows he is
from the tribe of Levi, which happens to be one of the lost tribes
of Israel. Point out to him that even Jewish rabbis don’t claim
to be Levites today because all Jewish genealogical records
were lost with the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, ensuring
that it is no longer possible to ascertain the true identity of
Levites.

Therefore, if Jews no longer tithe because the Levites are a lost
tribe, how can Christian pastors collect tithes when we are not
even Jewish, how much more Levites? If Jewish rabbis, whose
terms of reference remain the Old Testament no longer collect
tithes, then pastors who insist Christians are under a New
Testament have no business doing so.

The conclusion then is inescapable. Every pastor who collects
tithes is nothing but “a thief and a robber.” (John 10:1).

source: naijagospel