Question:
Answer:
Tithing comes from a very long way back. In Genesis 14, Abraham paid tithe to the King of Salem, who was also a priest of God. A tithe is a tenth of any profit that a person makes, or a tenth of his income, which is paid to God via His church.
The Israelites were told to pay their tithe, which was the increase of their herds and flocks, or of their fruit and grain, to the priests. It was to be used as an income for the priesthood. The idea behind tithe, is that God is acknowledged as the Giver of everything we have, and that a tenth of our income belongs to Him. We therefore do not pay tithe, we return tithe to God, as He has given us everything we have, and a tenth is His.
Leviticus 27 30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s. It is holy to the LORD.
32 And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.
Numbers 18:21 “Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.”
Deuteronomy 14:22 “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year.”
Deuteronomy 8:18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
Malachi 3 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation.
10 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.”
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.”
In the Malachi passage above, God gives a promise of great blessings to those who faithfully return their tithes to Him. He also says that withholding tithes is the same as robbing God. Jesus, in the passage above, told the Pharisees and scribes that their paying of tithes was the right thing to do, but that they were neglecting other things, equally important.
People say that we need not return a tithe to God today, but the same principle of acknowledging God’s generosity in giving us all we need, is still very much applicable today. Take God at His word, and see how He blesses those who are faithful in tithing!
