Why do believers give their tithes?

Why do believers give their tithes?

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—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 there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 3: 8-12)

Two men have ended up marooned on an island in the South Pacific. You can fill in the blanks as to how they got there. So they are on the clichéic deserted island, one palm tree, nothing to see but the ocean. One guy is in a complete panic, pacing back and forth, ranting about how they are going to die, hungry and alone, that nobody will stumble on them until they are nothing but bones. The other guy is sitting under the tree snoozing. Finally the first man can't stand it anymore and he demands "What's wrong with you, don't you understand the situation?" To which the reply came "Sure I do, we are stranded on this island hundreds of miles from anywhere" "Well aren't you worried?" "Nope" came the reply "I make $10,000.00 a week." The first guy was at a complete loss, "What does that have to do with anything, you have no access to the money and no place to spend it if you did."  To which the second guy replied "No you don't understand, I make $10,000.00 a week and I give my tithe every Sunday. Surely,  my pastor will find me."

What is tithe? Is there a difference between a tithe and an offering? Why should I tithe? How much should I tithe? What if I do not tithe?

Let us first take a look at the Genesis account of tithing in the Old Testament.

Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:1-7)

Here in the account of the beginning of humankind, the offering of one’s best produce or flock unto the Lord has long been established. There was no Law to govern this offering, wasn’t there?

After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.” (Genesis 14: 17-24)

Verse 20 of this Scripture particularly described what Abram did for Mechizedek, both king of Salem and a priest.Abram gave the priest a tenth of everything he has. Tithe is a giving that represents a tenth of Abram’s asset, not his income. He offered to Melchizedek, the priest, a tenth of everything he has, not just what he had for the moment.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” Genesis 28: 20-22:

Jacob, after his visionary dream, promised God to give his tithe. Notice that it was not commanded of him to do so. So the giving of tithe was not a commandment in the days of Adam, and Cain and Abel, and Noah and Abraham and Jacob. So why did they tithe?

They tithed because they knew the Lord.

Some people argue that tithing was practiced in the Old Testament, but not required in the New Testament Church, and even the Bible is mostly silent about it.

But the Bible is not silent about tithe or tithing.

Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away), then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own. At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners,the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. (Deuteronomy 14:22-29)

Tithing is a part of the Mosaic Law that the chosen people of God should follow. Therefore, it is Biblical, it is scriptural and it is imperative in the eyes of God that His people give Him tithe.

“‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution.If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’”These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites. (Leviticus 27:30-34)

Tithe is a commandment of the Lord for His people. That is why God took it against His people for not giving their tithe. God has a biting accusation against His people for robbing Him through their tithes and offering (Malachi 3:8).

Even Jesus Christ Himself emphasized tithing as our obligation (Mark 12: 13-17; Matthew 22:15-22). Jesus Christ agrees that the believers should pay their imperial taxes to the government, but they should also pay their tithes to God. This is very interesting but we are excited about the tax season, simply because we can anticipate for our tax refund. There is a portion from the money that we paid the state and the country as our tax that goes back to us. If we give our tithe to God, faithfully, do we also expect something from God as well? The reason that we receive our tax refund is that we faithfully declare our taxable income. But do we receive God’s refund because we faithfully declare our tithe to Him?

Tithe is not merely money or collection (Leviticus 27:30). A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. God looks at our tithe as holy. It is consecrated unto Himself. It is never a trivial or a trifle thing to Him. That is why, this commandment brings along with it abundance as a promise.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones told a story about a farmer who went into the house one day to tell his wife and family some good news. "The cow just gave birth to twin calves, one red and one white," he said. He continued, "We must dedicate one of these calves to the Lord. We will bring them up together, and when the time comes, we will sell one and keep the proceeds and we will sell the other and give the proceeds to the Lord’s work." His wife asked him which calf would he dedicate to the Lord. "There's no need to bother about that now," he replied, "we'll treat them both in the same way and when the time comes, we'll do as I say." A few days later, he entered the kitchen looking unhappy. "What happened?" his wife asked. "I have bad news," he replied, "The Lord’s calf is dead." "Wait," said his wife, " you didn't decide which calf was the Lord’s, did you." "Yes" he said," I decided it was the white one, and the white one died. Then he sobbed like a child, and one more time informed his wife that the Lord’s calf is dead."

Do we treat our tithe as holy unto the Lord? Do we give our tithe in full reverence and obedience unto the Lord?

Tithes and offerings

A tithe is a specific tenth of one’s assets while an offering is any amount that one wants to share with the Lord’s work. Tithe can be your weekly income, your your yearly accumulated treasures or assets. It can be paid weekly, monthly, or yearly. Tithe is a representative amount.

Offering, on the other hand, is not a representative amount. And while tithe is the result of one’s obedience to God, offering is a result of one’s love to God. If the money belongs to you, then you can give a part of it as your offering. If the money does not belong to you, then you can give it as a tithe.

Do we ever try to look at our bank account? our paycheck? Have we ever considered looking at our income and ask ourselves which is ours and which is not ours (Leviticus 27:30)?  If we keep what is ours, then we deserve it. If we keep what is not ours, then we are robbers, we are thieves (Malachi 3:8).

Giving our tithes

We give our tithe because we trust in God. Trusting God means surrendering our live to Him, and that includes surrendering our treasures to Him. Do we surrender our treasures to God?

It was pentecost Sunday. As the congregation filed into church, the ushers handed each person a bright red carnation to symbolize the festive spirit of the day. The people listened attentively to the reading of the Pentecost story from the Book of Acts about how the disciples had heard “what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven”; about how the Holy Spirit had appeared “like tongues of fire.” Then came the sermon: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon us,” the preacher began. A woman sitting in the first per, shouted “Like the powerful wind from heaven!” Then she threw one of the red carnations toward the altar. It appears that this woman was indeed consumed by the powerful Spirit of God in her worship. The preacher began again: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon us.” The same woman’s voice rang out again, “Like the tongues of fire, the tongues of fire!” Again, she threw a red carnation toward the altar. The second time, she showed that the consuming fire of the Spirit of God had enveloped her worshiping being. Then preacher looked straight at her and said, “Now Sister, throw your pocketbook to the altar.” To which the woman replied, “Preacher, you have just calmed the wind and put out the fire.”

We may be like this woman who is on fire with our service and worship and adoration and praise to our God. But when it comes to tithing as obedience to God, we are cold, our spirit to worship is suddenly splashed with the cold water of despair, and our enthusiasm and our fervor to follow Him to the very end, suddenly dies down, like a limping kite that dives straight down to the ground. How are we in our tithes to the Lord? Do we obey God in our tithing?

Obeying God means that we follow what He wants us to do with our lives, including our treasures (Malachi 3:10). God requires us to give Him our tithe because He wants to bless us. But instead of being hopeful to the promise, we are in fact threatened.

How much to tithe?

W.A. Criswell tells of an ambitious young man who told his pastor he’d promised God a tithe of his income. They prayed for God to bless his career. At that time he was making $40.00 per week and tithing $4.00. In a few years his income increased and he was tithing $500.00 per week. He called on the pastor to see if he could be released from his tithing promise, it was too costly now. The pastor replied, "I don’t see how you can be released from your promise, but we can ask God to reduce your income back to $40.00 a week, then you’d have no problem tithing $4.00 at all."

Tithe is merely a tenth of your treasures. Once can do some simple Math here. If you earned $100 this week, then your tithe this Sunday is $10. If you earned $200 this week, then your tithe this Sunday is $20. If you earned $500 this week, then your tithe this Sunday is $50. If you earned $1000 this week, then your tithe this Sunday is $100. If you earned $2000 this week, then your tithe this Sunday is $200.

You can give your tithe either weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Some people give their tithe yearly. It depends on the nature of your job or your practice. What is important is that you give to the Lord what belongs to Him. It is important that give your tithe according to your conviction.

What if the Lord tells me to give 11% or 15% or 50%? Tithing is obedience. It is never a compromise. The church is an organization, and a lot of people believe that they should not give their tithe because it will go to the Pastor anyway! The tithe belongs to the Lord and to His work. It does not belong to the Pastor.

What if I do not tithe?

The apostle Paul teaches that God ordained the tithe system as the method of supporting the ministry (1 Corinthians 9:7-12). That is why it takes love, and obedience to give to the Lord. Unless we love the Lord we can never give to the Lord. Unless we obey the Lord, we can never give to the Lord. So if we do not tithe, then we do not love the Lord. So if we do not tithe, then we do not obey the Lord. This is plain and simple religion.

Richard Wurmbrand of Tortured for Christ said that when in prison they tithed! “When we were given one slice of bread a week and dirty soup every day, we decided we would faithfully “tithe” even that. Every tenth week we took the slice of bread and gave it to the weaker brethren as our “tithe” to the Master.”

Regardless of where we are, and where we can offer our tithe, we can faithfully give the portion that belongs to the Lord.

Tithing is a command with a promise (Malachi 3:10). What is the promise? It is a promise of God meeting all your needs. It is not a promise of prosperity. It is a challenge of trust in our God. For if we do not give our tithe, then we do not trust God. If we do not give our tithe, then we rob God of what belongs to Him.

The Lord loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). Tithing or offering is never a burden to the believers who love the Lord.

In Bits & Pieces, February 4, 1993, a mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson. She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church. "Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself," she told the girl. When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. "Well," said the little girl, "I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I'd be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did."

Let us not be like the little girl whose joys was about keeping a bigger amount of money. Let us be cheerful givers of what really belongs to the Lord.

Are we ready to give our full tithe to Him today in full obedience to His command. Do we find His promise in Malachi 3:10? Or are we still Malachi threatened?