The Malachi Prophecy
I marvel that more people are not totally embarrassed by the way the world of Christendom exacts money from the poor and peddles the Word of God like so much merchandise for sordid gain. It is an international disgrace. I will not mince words, so get ready for some startling revelations.
WHAT WE WILL LEARN
What is the real message of Malachi’s prophecy for believers today?
Did Paul finance his international ministry through the tithing system?
Is there even one example of Christians paying tithes in the Bible?
Why did Jesus not pay tithes or the Temple tax commanded by the Law of Moses?
Will you or anyone be "cursed with a curse" for not tithing?
THE SCRIPTURES KNOW NOTHING OF "CHRISTIAN TITHING"
Jesus Christ’s followers did not pay tithe to Him from farm products or herds; neither did His followers pay Him ten percent of their salaries from other sources of income. "Christian tithing" is an oxymoron—it is a contradiction of words. Nay, it is more: it is, in fact, a Christian hoax! "Christian tithing" is about as Scriptural as "Christian burnt offerings," "Christian stonings," or "Christian synagogues." The leaders of Christendom have bamboozled millions (billions) of unsuspecting laity into believing that "Christian tithing" is a Scriptural command from God Himself, and can easily be found and supported in the pages of Divine Scripture. Oh really?
Of the 613 laws contained in the first five books of the Bible written by Moses, why is it that aside from the ten commandments, "tithing" is virtually the only other law that the modern Church tries to retain? They retain it in name only, however, since there is nothing similar between Moses’ law of tithing" and "Christian tithing" except the aspect of ten percent. Christian tithing is an extra-biblical concept and doctrine—aside from the ten percent it has nothing in common with the tithing law of Moses, and was never practiced by the New Testament Church.
Not only is Christian tithing taught to be needful, it is taught as if it were a divine, binding LAW. But there is no such thing as a "Christian tithing law" in the New Testament Scriptures. It is a heresy, used by the Church, independent cults, and charlatans of every description, as a club to beat and threaten parishioners into surrendering ten percent of their salaries in obedience to this phantom law. All are forewarned that failure to pay this 10% Church tax will cause them to be "cursed with a CURSE!" There is indeed "a curse," but it is not God Who pronounces it.
NO TITHING IN THE CHURCH OF THE APOSTLES
We have Scriptural proof that no such law or custom as Christian tithing was taught or practiced in the Church by the early apostles. Their epistles are totally devoid of any such tithing custom or law. Gentile converts were never taught to tithe to anyone. Although the temple and priesthood in Jerusalem remained until 70 AD, not even Jewish converts were taught to give their tithes to the Apostles rather than to the temple priests.
In the Acts 15 Jerusalem Conference we find outlined what the apostles all agreed was necessary for the newly converted Gentiles to practice, and by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, tithing is conspicuously missing. Some believing Pharisees wanted the apostles to teach the Gentiles to keep the Law of Moses (which certainly contained the law of tithing, Acts 15:5), but the apostles headed by Peter, James, and Paul would not hear of it (Acts 15:28-29)! Yet, what is one of the very first legislated duties taught to Gentile converts by the Church today? It is that they must tithe their annual salaries to the Church. Where did this unscriptural law of Christian tithing come from?
Notice this telling bit of history from the my Encyclopedia Britannica, "Tithes in Christendom—The earliest authentic example of anything like a law of the State enforcing payment appears to occur in the capitularies [ecclesiasticals] of Charlemagne at the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century. Tithes were by that enactment to be applied to the maintenance of the bishop, clergy, the poor, and the fabric of the church. In the course of time the principle of payment of tithes was extended FAR BEYOND its original intention. Thus they became transferable to laymen and saleable like ordinary property, in spite of the injunctions of the third Lateran Council; and they became payable OUT OF SOURCES OF INCOME [not just farming and herding, but other trades and occupations and salaries paid in the form of money] NOT ORIGINALLY TITHABLE." (1963, volume 22, page 253, ‘TITHES’).
The Catholic Church knows its own history. Here is how tithing got back into the Church after being absent for nearly five centuries:
"As the Church expanded and various institutions arose, it became necessary to make laws which would insure the proper and permanent support of the clergy. The payment of tithes was adopted from the Old Law... The earliest positive legislation on the subject seems to be contained in the letter of the bishops assembled at Tours in 567 and the [canons] of the Council of Macon in 585."—The Catholic Encyclopedia.
They "extended" their base of tithe collecting to eventually include all forms of income. All Christian scholars know that although money was in wide use in ancient Israel, it was never a titheable commodity. But modern Christian pastors of God’s sheep don’t want tithes of goats or oil or corn—they want money—cold hard cash. God has a word to the "shepherds of the sheep," and it is the very same message that He had for the Levites in the book of Malachi. And it is this:
"My people have been lost sheep [Why? How did they get that way?] their SHEPHERDS have caused them to go astray" (Jer. 50:6).
Was Israel consciously aware of the fact that; they were being led astray by their spiritual leaders? Not most, and neither is the world of Christendom today aware that they are being lead astray by their spiritual leaders.
THE MYSTERY OF MALACHI REVEALED
It is the book of Malachi that today’s clergy uses as their main authority for promulgating the doctrine of "Christian tithing." Christian tithing means that everyone must give 10% of their gross income (which is in the form of MONEY, 99%+ of the time), or they will be "cursed with a curse." It will be well worth your time to read the real meaning of Malachi’s prophecy.
Mostly one will hear only three verses of Malachi quoted by those attempting to wrest a doctrine of Christian tithing from this prophecy.
Here are the "cursing" verses:
"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation" (Malachi 3:8-9).
Here is the "blessing" verse:
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat [bread] in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that thee shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10).
Their interpretation of these proof texts are as follows: Rob God of His ten percent of your salary and be CURSED, or pay God ten percent of your salary and be BLESSED.
Before we go any further, just who is cursing whom in this Malachi prophecy? Does God, indeed, say, "You are CURSED with a curse" (Mal. 3:9)? This definitely sounds as if it is GOD Who is doing the cursing, doesn’t it? But say, did you notice that the word "are" in your Bible is in italics? That means that the word was supplied by the translators and was not in the original manuscripts. Remove it, and the verse says: "You cursed…" rather than "You are cursed…"
Is it God, or Israel, who is doing the cursing in this verse?
The Sopherim (Jewish Scribes) understood this verse to say that it was Israel "cursing God" rather than "God cursing Israel." I have a few translations that make this correction:
"With the curse YOU are cursing [me], and me YOU are robbing—the nation in its entirety."
And:
"With a curse you curse Me, and Me you are defrauding—the nation, all of it" (Mal. 3:9, Concordant Version of The Old Testament).
We must always keep in mind that when the Bible says "tithes" it means products from the land—as grains and cattle. But when the Priests of Christendom say "tithes," it always means money. Because the clergy prefers to be paid in money, it therefore, became necessary to change the Biblical use of the word "tithes" to now include money. And if "money" can now be shown to be a tithable commodity, guess what? Abracadabra, hocus-pocus, open sesame—every believer, of every occupation in the whole world (not just the farmers as in the Law of Moses), now is required to pay ten percent of his income to the Church. They increased their base of productivity a hundred fold.
What then is the 21st Century application of this Malachi Prophecy? Are we now to tithe money? Let’s read Malachi 3:10 very carefully:
WHAT were they robbing God of? "tithes AND offerings." Tithes of what? Products from the land—grains and cattle.
WHERE were they to bring the tithes? To the "storehouse" [Hebrew: ‘garner’-- a granary for grain].
WHY did God want these tithes of the land brought to the "storehouse" (the granary)? "That there may be meat [bread] in Mine house [God’s house, Not the granary]."
If there is no spiritual application of these statements and we rather take them literally, there appears to be a contradiction here. Why should the people bring the tithes to the "storehouse" (a granary for storing grain) when what God wanted was "bread in His house," (the tabernacle/Temple, and not the "storehouse")? The only food in God’s house—the tabernacle, was a dozen loaves of bread. And that bread was for the Priests only, not for the tribe of Levi. Since there were only twelve loaves of bread in the Tabernacle/Temple of God, are we to believe that the whole nation of Israel did not bring enough grain to the storehouse to make even twelve loaves of bread?
God does not contradict Himself, there needs to be something other than a need for enough grain from the whole nation of Israel to make twelve loaves of bread! Just what does God mean, "that there may be meat [bread] in Mine house?" Is God really reprimanding Christians of the 21st Century through Malachi’s prophecy to bring our checkbooks to church, "that there may be money in Mine house?" Yet this is the teaching of the Church regarding Malachi’s message. What is the Truth?
Does God ask Israel to bring all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse, or treasury, or granary, so that there will be "tithes and offerings in Mine house?" No. God says so, "that there may be meat in Mine house?" We know that they did not bring the tithes and offerings into the holy place of the tabernacle. Only bread was kept in the holy place. The "bread" in the holy place was a type of something future, just as everything that happened to Israel and all of their offerings and ceremonies were a type of something future (I Cor. 10:11). He must indeed be spiritual blind who cannot see that the "bread" in the holy place foreshadows "The True Bread of Life—Jesus Christ."
If God wanted more money in His house, why did Jesus do what He did in the House of God?
"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the MONEY changers… and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves" (Matt. 21:12-13).
WHAT WE WILL LEARN
What is the real message of Malachi’s prophecy for believers today?
Did Paul finance his international ministry through the tithing system?
Is there even one example of Christians paying tithes in the Bible?
Why did Jesus not pay tithes or the Temple tax commanded by the Law of Moses?
Will you or anyone be "cursed with a curse" for not tithing?
THE SCRIPTURES KNOW NOTHING OF "CHRISTIAN TITHING"
Jesus Christ’s followers did not pay tithe to Him from farm products or herds; neither did His followers pay Him ten percent of their salaries from other sources of income. "Christian tithing" is an oxymoron—it is a contradiction of words. Nay, it is more: it is, in fact, a Christian hoax! "Christian tithing" is about as Scriptural as "Christian burnt offerings," "Christian stonings," or "Christian synagogues." The leaders of Christendom have bamboozled millions (billions) of unsuspecting laity into believing that "Christian tithing" is a Scriptural command from God Himself, and can easily be found and supported in the pages of Divine Scripture. Oh really?
Of the 613 laws contained in the first five books of the Bible written by Moses, why is it that aside from the ten commandments, "tithing" is virtually the only other law that the modern Church tries to retain? They retain it in name only, however, since there is nothing similar between Moses’ law of tithing" and "Christian tithing" except the aspect of ten percent. Christian tithing is an extra-biblical concept and doctrine—aside from the ten percent it has nothing in common with the tithing law of Moses, and was never practiced by the New Testament Church.
Not only is Christian tithing taught to be needful, it is taught as if it were a divine, binding LAW. But there is no such thing as a "Christian tithing law" in the New Testament Scriptures. It is a heresy, used by the Church, independent cults, and charlatans of every description, as a club to beat and threaten parishioners into surrendering ten percent of their salaries in obedience to this phantom law. All are forewarned that failure to pay this 10% Church tax will cause them to be "cursed with a CURSE!" There is indeed "a curse," but it is not God Who pronounces it.
NO TITHING IN THE CHURCH OF THE APOSTLES
We have Scriptural proof that no such law or custom as Christian tithing was taught or practiced in the Church by the early apostles. Their epistles are totally devoid of any such tithing custom or law. Gentile converts were never taught to tithe to anyone. Although the temple and priesthood in Jerusalem remained until 70 AD, not even Jewish converts were taught to give their tithes to the Apostles rather than to the temple priests.
In the Acts 15 Jerusalem Conference we find outlined what the apostles all agreed was necessary for the newly converted Gentiles to practice, and by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, tithing is conspicuously missing. Some believing Pharisees wanted the apostles to teach the Gentiles to keep the Law of Moses (which certainly contained the law of tithing, Acts 15:5), but the apostles headed by Peter, James, and Paul would not hear of it (Acts 15:28-29)! Yet, what is one of the very first legislated duties taught to Gentile converts by the Church today? It is that they must tithe their annual salaries to the Church. Where did this unscriptural law of Christian tithing come from?
Notice this telling bit of history from the my Encyclopedia Britannica, "Tithes in Christendom—The earliest authentic example of anything like a law of the State enforcing payment appears to occur in the capitularies [ecclesiasticals] of Charlemagne at the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century. Tithes were by that enactment to be applied to the maintenance of the bishop, clergy, the poor, and the fabric of the church. In the course of time the principle of payment of tithes was extended FAR BEYOND its original intention. Thus they became transferable to laymen and saleable like ordinary property, in spite of the injunctions of the third Lateran Council; and they became payable OUT OF SOURCES OF INCOME [not just farming and herding, but other trades and occupations and salaries paid in the form of money] NOT ORIGINALLY TITHABLE." (1963, volume 22, page 253, ‘TITHES’).
The Catholic Church knows its own history. Here is how tithing got back into the Church after being absent for nearly five centuries:
"As the Church expanded and various institutions arose, it became necessary to make laws which would insure the proper and permanent support of the clergy. The payment of tithes was adopted from the Old Law... The earliest positive legislation on the subject seems to be contained in the letter of the bishops assembled at Tours in 567 and the [canons] of the Council of Macon in 585."—The Catholic Encyclopedia.
They "extended" their base of tithe collecting to eventually include all forms of income. All Christian scholars know that although money was in wide use in ancient Israel, it was never a titheable commodity. But modern Christian pastors of God’s sheep don’t want tithes of goats or oil or corn—they want money—cold hard cash. God has a word to the "shepherds of the sheep," and it is the very same message that He had for the Levites in the book of Malachi. And it is this:
"My people have been lost sheep [Why? How did they get that way?] their SHEPHERDS have caused them to go astray" (Jer. 50:6).
Was Israel consciously aware of the fact that; they were being led astray by their spiritual leaders? Not most, and neither is the world of Christendom today aware that they are being lead astray by their spiritual leaders.
THE MYSTERY OF MALACHI REVEALED
It is the book of Malachi that today’s clergy uses as their main authority for promulgating the doctrine of "Christian tithing." Christian tithing means that everyone must give 10% of their gross income (which is in the form of MONEY, 99%+ of the time), or they will be "cursed with a curse." It will be well worth your time to read the real meaning of Malachi’s prophecy.
Mostly one will hear only three verses of Malachi quoted by those attempting to wrest a doctrine of Christian tithing from this prophecy.
Here are the "cursing" verses:
"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation" (Malachi 3:8-9).
Here is the "blessing" verse:
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat [bread] in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that thee shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10).
Their interpretation of these proof texts are as follows: Rob God of His ten percent of your salary and be CURSED, or pay God ten percent of your salary and be BLESSED.
Before we go any further, just who is cursing whom in this Malachi prophecy? Does God, indeed, say, "You are CURSED with a curse" (Mal. 3:9)? This definitely sounds as if it is GOD Who is doing the cursing, doesn’t it? But say, did you notice that the word "are" in your Bible is in italics? That means that the word was supplied by the translators and was not in the original manuscripts. Remove it, and the verse says: "You cursed…" rather than "You are cursed…"
Is it God, or Israel, who is doing the cursing in this verse?
The Sopherim (Jewish Scribes) understood this verse to say that it was Israel "cursing God" rather than "God cursing Israel." I have a few translations that make this correction:
"With the curse YOU are cursing [me], and me YOU are robbing—the nation in its entirety."
And:
"With a curse you curse Me, and Me you are defrauding—the nation, all of it" (Mal. 3:9, Concordant Version of The Old Testament).
We must always keep in mind that when the Bible says "tithes" it means products from the land—as grains and cattle. But when the Priests of Christendom say "tithes," it always means money. Because the clergy prefers to be paid in money, it therefore, became necessary to change the Biblical use of the word "tithes" to now include money. And if "money" can now be shown to be a tithable commodity, guess what? Abracadabra, hocus-pocus, open sesame—every believer, of every occupation in the whole world (not just the farmers as in the Law of Moses), now is required to pay ten percent of his income to the Church. They increased their base of productivity a hundred fold.
What then is the 21st Century application of this Malachi Prophecy? Are we now to tithe money? Let’s read Malachi 3:10 very carefully:
WHAT were they robbing God of? "tithes AND offerings." Tithes of what? Products from the land—grains and cattle.
WHERE were they to bring the tithes? To the "storehouse" [Hebrew: ‘garner’-- a granary for grain].
WHY did God want these tithes of the land brought to the "storehouse" (the granary)? "That there may be meat [bread] in Mine house [God’s house, Not the granary]."
If there is no spiritual application of these statements and we rather take them literally, there appears to be a contradiction here. Why should the people bring the tithes to the "storehouse" (a granary for storing grain) when what God wanted was "bread in His house," (the tabernacle/Temple, and not the "storehouse")? The only food in God’s house—the tabernacle, was a dozen loaves of bread. And that bread was for the Priests only, not for the tribe of Levi. Since there were only twelve loaves of bread in the Tabernacle/Temple of God, are we to believe that the whole nation of Israel did not bring enough grain to the storehouse to make even twelve loaves of bread?
God does not contradict Himself, there needs to be something other than a need for enough grain from the whole nation of Israel to make twelve loaves of bread! Just what does God mean, "that there may be meat [bread] in Mine house?" Is God really reprimanding Christians of the 21st Century through Malachi’s prophecy to bring our checkbooks to church, "that there may be money in Mine house?" Yet this is the teaching of the Church regarding Malachi’s message. What is the Truth?
Does God ask Israel to bring all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse, or treasury, or granary, so that there will be "tithes and offerings in Mine house?" No. God says so, "that there may be meat in Mine house?" We know that they did not bring the tithes and offerings into the holy place of the tabernacle. Only bread was kept in the holy place. The "bread" in the holy place was a type of something future, just as everything that happened to Israel and all of their offerings and ceremonies were a type of something future (I Cor. 10:11). He must indeed be spiritual blind who cannot see that the "bread" in the holy place foreshadows "The True Bread of Life—Jesus Christ."
If God wanted more money in His house, why did Jesus do what He did in the House of God?
"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the MONEY changers… and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves" (Matt. 21:12-13).
Comment
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Comment by Mark H. Stevens, Th.D on June 8, 2009 at 7:00pm
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We MUST preach the truth no matter what the cost, I am treated like dung but no one will openly challenge me because they know I am coming out of the Word
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Comment by Eric Hancock on June 8, 2009 at 6:54pm
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WOW
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Comment by Child of the Kingdom on June 8, 2009 at 4:33pm
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This message is so familiar as we have taught this for many years now. No one wants to hear it because it is the truth. We were actually openly rebuked by a pastor in an embarrassing way for not paying tithes. We chose to bring food in boxes to some of the struggling families and the pastor preached on Sunday morning that we are not to bring food to the church but bring the money so that the church can feed to families. Once we brought boxes of food and 10 bags of frozen chicken, needless to say this pastor even bamboozled the chicken away. He stated that the church would keep the chicken and the members could have the staple goods. He stated that when we got saved our pocket book didn't get saved.
Well after a couple more weeks of his weak pot shots, our family discontinued our fellowship with this assembly. They have a continued reading on Malachi 3rd chapter right before Sunday morning offering to the point where the children are mocking him on the side lines. Once they took 4 offerings in one day. The forth offering was stated to be for a few families that came to him in need. His words were, well we can't do this all the time because the church has bills. I thought it was funny how he saved the offering for the needy families as the last offering of the day after everyone was all wiped out of cash. Only two or three people gave in that last offering and they raised $20 to help those in need. How weak is that?
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Don't blame seminaries....this stuff is perfected in storefronts where uneducated pastors lead uneducated sheep
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You hear pastors proclaiming their church is the house of God, yet the Bible is very clear that God does not live in houses made by man's hands. Yet you choose to believe your pastor and call God a liar? Make your decision or have you already sided with your pastor? Most churchgoers are obeying their pastor, not Jesus!
The Bible reveals that the Early Church never demanded the giving of tithes. They made collections of money to share with the flock to help believers in need. Does your pastor return the money to you? No, he takes it all and gives himself 90% or more of every dime and a tiny portion goes to some worthy cause of some sort to make it look okay, but the Early Church never did this.
The collections of money the Early Church performed was never formulated on the 10% tithe Old Testament. The Apostle said to give from your heart a measure that you feel comfortable with, but pastors pound into your head to give 10% to him! This is not Biblical. In fact, the Early Church never gave money to pastors like Christians are doing today! They never built church buildings, schools, etc. Your pastor is not a priest and he has no temple so he has no Biblical (or moral) right to collect a tithe.
The apostate system is designed to confiscate money from believers so they can not operate their own individual outreach ministries to share the Gospel with the lost (The Great Commission ordered by Jesus). The pastors even destroy the desire to obey Jesus' command to go share the Gospel. That's why 99.999% of all Christians do not actively share the Gospel of Jesus on a daily basis. They won't even place a Gospel tract daily. They do nothing for the Lord, bear no good fruit and they don't care. The churchgoer thinks by giving money to their pastor's church they are serving God, but they are bearing unacceptable fruit that is a stench to the nostrils of the Lord. Yes, you can bear fruit, but it had better be "much good fruit pleasing to the Lord's will" or your fruit is vain in God's eyes only to be thrown away from His presence.
Every verse in the Bible telling people to tithe is "Old Testament" not New Testament and that means God was speaking to Jews, not Christians. If you properly divide the Word of God you will see this is true. When Jesus spoke of a tithe he was speaking to a Pharisee who was under law to tithe. He was not speaking to Christians who are not under this law, he was speaking to a Jew. We are being tricked and robbed by denominations crying for tithe money which they spend on themselves and do not give any of the money back to the church members in need. Pastors are actually earning lavish salaries on tithe money they are not supposed to be taking. The truth will set you free, if you dare to believe the truth. If tithing was important to God, he would have told Christians to tithe and he would have given pastors authority to take tithes. He did not do any of this. There is no tithe for Christians.
The Bible never, not once, ever authorizes a pastor to collect, keep or manage tithe money. He is not a Levite and he will never be a Levite. And, only a Levite is authorized to take tithe money. That is God's instructions in His Word the Bible. A pastor has no Biblical right or authority to ask or take any tithe money from any of God's children. The pastor who takes tithe money is robbing you and God. He is stealing God's money. He will even tell you that you are robbing God for not giving him your money, but it is he who is taking Old Testament and tricking you to believe it is Christian New Testament Biblical commands. Read the New Testament one more time. You will see the Apostles never took any tithes or told anyone to pay tithes. Many Christians are being duped by these lying pastors. I was duped and lost thousands of dollars before I came to the truth and was set free from the tithe lie.
Here's the Bible Verses churches and pastors use to entice you to give them 10% tithe payments they are not authorized to do! I challenge you to read these verses "one more time" and you will see the absolute truth. Remember, Old Testament is for the Jews, not Christians. You will see this truth as the tithe was given to the Levites who are Jews, not pastors! Read on.
Psalm 50: 9-12 (This is Old Testament and for the Jews, not New Testament Christians and there is no mention of tithes at all in this Psalm).
Hag. 2:8 (again, Old Testament and it does not apply to New Testament Christians). This is only two pages in the Bible and it speaks of building a Jewish temple, not a pastor controlled church building. Read the entire chapter of Haggai and you will see a pastor is not mentioned, a church is not mentioned and nowhere does it authorize a pastor to take any money from saints.
Deut. 8:18 (Old Testament). No mention of tithing at all.
Heb. 7:1,2 (New Testament but speaking of the Old Testament). Read it. It says Abraham gave a Jewish priest 10% tithe. This in no way says New Testament saints are to give pastors God's tithe money. Where does it say the word pastor or church? It does not exist. Stop believing your pastor and start believing the Word of God the Holy Bible. The Lord wants to set you free from the harsh yoke of bondage your pastor has placed upon you.
Genesis 28:20-22 (Old Testament). It said Jacob vowed to give God a tenth. Jacob is a Jew, not a Christian and nowhere does it say Christians are to vow to God to give him 10% and God does not ever command a Christian to give Him a 10% tithe. You won't find it in the Bible. You will only find your pastor yelling in your ear lies, twisting Holy Scriptures in the Bible to make you think what he says is true.
Numbers 18:20, 21 (Old Testament). Read this and you will see God is directing the people to give money to Aaron and the Levites, pastors are not Jews and they are not Levites! Also the word "blood" and "altar" is mentioned which pastors don't perform sacrifices or even have an altar in verse 17. Pastors don't give heave offerings in verse 19, right? They don't. And pastors are not the "seed" of Jewish Levite decent. Read verse 21 and you'll see that pastors are not the children of Levi. In verse 23 it says, "but the Levites all the tenth of Israel for an inheritance..." not pastors! In verse 24 pastors do not offer or perform a heave offerings so they don't get a tithe or inheritance from the people! Verse 26 God speaks to the Levites, not pastors. And pastors don't tithe on their heave offering do they? No, they don't! So they don't qualify to take tithe money. Verse 28 God lays the law down telling the Jews to give the tithe to the Levite, Aaron the priest. A pastor is not a priest and never will or can be a priest, so they do not qualify to take tithe money! You need to read the Bible. One more thing. There is curse upon pastors for robbing God and it is in verse 32. Read it. Pastors don't heave their tithe money they take so they sin and they will die for robbing God of His money. There is no possible way when you read the Bible modern day pastors can justify taking God's tithe money. You have been fooled because you don't read the Bible. You listen to pastors and believe what they say without question. That's how you get deceived!
Lev. 27:30-33 (Old Testament). Read this verse and you will see how your pastor has lied right in your face. God is speaking to the Jews, not Christians. And there is one little verse your pastor does not want you to read. It's verse 34 and it says, "These are the commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Si-nai." God was speaking to Moses and the Jews! He was not speaking to New Testament saints and you will notice the Lord is not saying to give money to pastors. So why is your pastor quoting this verse to convince you to give him money? He's an outlaw thief stealing God's tithe money and the saints money to boot.
Malachi 3:10 (Old Testament). This is the big verse pastors base their privilege to take God's tithe money, but the verse does not speak of pastors at all. Read Malachi 3:6 first and you will see God is talking to who? The sons of Jacob, the Jews not Christians! And now read verse 12 and God is speaking of the Jews again, "And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts." Read it. All nations will call Christians blessed? No, the Jews, Israel, not your church. And the land? It's Israel, not your church. Do you not see how pastors are lying to you? God is not even speaking to Christians whatsoever in Malachi. And don't forget. If God wanted you to tithe, then certainly He would have mentioned it at least once or twice in the New Testament and tell us who to give the tithe to. He doesn't. Why? Because there is no 10% tithe to give! But your pastor has his hand out and shamelessly takes your money telling you it is God's will and commandment, but he is a liar and a deceiver. Christian, you are being robbed by your sweet-talking pastor.
Matthew 23:23 But Jesus was talking to who? Jews! Not Christians! The Old Testament was still in effect. When Jesus rose from the dead the New Testament did away with the Old Testament. The rules changed. You need to read the Bible in proper context. Rightfully divide the Word of God. Note also, that Jesus never said for his disciples to take tithe money or to act as Levites. You won't find any command by the Lord for pastors to take tithe money or a command for saints to give pastors tithe money. It's not in the New Testament Bible. Tithing to pastors is a fabricated lie by pastors that rob God.
1 Cor. 9-13, 14 Pastors use this verse to justify they can take tithe money, wrong, dead wrong! Read the verses and right away you will see the word "temple" and again "altar" in verse 13 just like we read in Numbers 18 above. Do pastors have a temple and an altar? No! But don't stop here, read on and you will see an amazing thing. Paul was simply speaking as an example of how the Jews took money from the people and that he could have, but he chose not to do so. Read it again! He chose not to take money from the people! It's in verse 18. That is the example Paul is giving pastors too, but pastors twist this verse and they instead "take the money" and that is dead wrong! Remember, pastors are talking tithes here, but Paul is talking about offerings, not a 10% tithe.
There is some points you need to understand. Jesus and the Apostles were not tongue tied. If they wanted the saints to tithe they would have clearly said so, but they never did. Also, when Paul spoke about giving as you feel is right for you no 10% of your income was spoken of, so tithing was never a subject in the New Testament. Never! And, if a collection of money was taken (not a tithe) it was for two purposes 1) to send a minister to go preach the Gospel and 2) the money was to be returned to the saints as needed by them. The money was never used to build church buildings, feed the homeless, give aid and comfort to sinners or other charities. No! Read your Bible. In fact, the Bible never authorizes a pastor to take any money from the people, period! A pastor is not authorized to take money and he is not authorized to spend it as he feels fit. That money belongs to the saints to help them pay for their hardship bills, etc. So, the pastor not only steals tithe money from God, he steals it from the saints. Read your Bible and you will see the truth! The Bible does not lie and it does not try to mislead you. Now, ask yourself where's the money? What is your pastor doing with the money he is taking from the saints and where is your share? And who authorized the pastor to be the money handler? Show me, in the Bible where God gives a pastor such authority. It's not in the Bible. It's another fabricated lie pastors use to take your money.
Many people are being defrauded not just by pastors taking tithe money. Pastors are now advising, directing and convincing the saints to invest their money in "kingdom work" projects and investment companies and saints are going broke as these ponzi schemes are being unfolded. Billions of dollars have been lost. Christianity Today Magazine in the June 2009 issue says the average churchgoer lost $150,000 of their savings! No small change. And why is this happening? People are trusting their pastors and not doubting them. Jesus warned that it would be the "ministers" that will deceive you. Take heed of the Lord's warning or you will be next. If you are paying tithes? You are already being deceived.
I want you all to know. I too gave thousands of dollars in tithes to support many ministries and I was duped. But the Lord showed me something was wrong with the church system and He is still revealing to me horrific abominations taking place in the established churches run and controlled by pastors. He also wants us to come out from these church systems. Remember, the early church met in individual's homes, not church buildings and they were never "controlled" by pastors like what is happening today. They have become "masters" to be served. Wake up Christian and tell others about what is going on!
And don't fall for your pastor's lie when he say's his church is "the house of the Lord" because he is a liar. The Bible says God does not live in temples made by man. So who are you going to believe? God or your pastor? Who is lying to you? Hint: God does not lie. Your pastor is deceived and he is going about deceiving you and others. And these pastors get deceived by the seminary schools they attend and that is how the church system gets apostate.
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Comment by Dr. Brenice Aliyah Fireangel on June 7, 2009 at 6:43pm
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I do believe that the body should take care of the House of God through Gifts and Offerings. The men and woman servants of God should be compensated for their labor in God's House and ministries. It should be a corporate work which is planned and executed by the direction of the Holy Spirit and the Elders in the Body of Christ. It should not be controlled by one faction. It should be a corporate, ongoing pleasure to maintain the household of Yah.
Brenice
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Elder Mark,
Blessings to you, Man of God !
This has been an objection, of mine, for years, regarding the usage of Malachi for evoking tithing , in the church.
When Paul said ," one should give according to his substance," This was a statement he made , not a directive.
Since there are no more priests needed for sacrificial duties for forgiveness of sin, and there is no temple, what is the reason for extracting only one part of the law which Yah gave to Moses for Aaron , the priests and the Levites to maintain the House of Yah. Malachi was speaking to the Levites about their not giving "the tithe on the tithe." There are so many other doctrine which are man made and Christiandom has just overlooked and turned their head [ The leaders, the scholars, those who have had access to documents proving the error of the teachings of the Catholic Church, Early church after the 5th Century AD through the 21st Century..
Thank You for bringing this to the table for discussion
Brenice
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