MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT WHAT TITHING REALLY IS

Here are just a few things you will learn about tithing directly from the Scriptures:

1. It was the ministers (Levitic Priests) in the book of Malachi that God blamed for defrauding Him, not the tithe payers themselves! And, as there is no Levitic Priesthood today, no one can tithe under the New Covenant.

2. Contrary to popular misconceptions, the Scriptures do not show that Abraham tithed on a regular basis from his personal property or livestock. Abraham gave one tithe only from the booty of war to Melchizedek the priest of God! There is no evidence that he ever tithes again.

3. God did not tell Jacob that if he tithed He would bless Jacob, but rather Jacob told God that if God blessed him first, then Jacob would give God a tithe! (You know, I have never, ever, even heard tell of, a sermon given by self-appointed tithe-collectors, on the tithing habits of Jacob).

4. Jesus Christ did not support His ministry through tithes. Furthermore, He told His apostles NOT to take money from ANY source when He sent them out to preach the gospel. After Christ’s resurrection, the apostles did not collect tithes or "tithe money" from the people either.

5. Only Levites could collect tithes. Christian televangelists are not "Priests of Levi!" They can accept freewill offerings; they dare not collect "tithes!" There are NO priests of Levi anywhere on earth today. It is a SIN for anyone to exact "tithe money" from anyone! And the wages of sin is DEATH! (Rom. 6:23).

6. If one was a poor farmer in ancient Israel and didn’t have an increase in his harvest, then such were NOT REQUIRED TO TITHE AT ALL!

7. Our apostle, Paul, often went without and labored with his own hands for sustenance. Yet, he never taught tithing. Paul knew full well that "tithing" is not for believers and the true Israel of God today. Paul absolutely never took one penny of "tithe money" to support his lifelong ministry! If Paul had taken just one hundredth of the salaries and wages of the converts under his care, he would have never gone hungry, but would have been a super wealthy man..

8. The priests (Levites) were not to live a life of worldly splendor above even that of the king, but rather were given portions of the tithe of the increase of the land that was also given to the strangers, the widows, and the fatherless. This tithe consisted of things like wheat, corn, and oil, not huge amounts of MONEY.

9. Not all of the tithes were given to the Levites, fatherless, widows, and strangers. Some tithes were eaten by the tithe payer and his family, in communion with the Lord.

10. "The first tenth belongs to God" is not a Scriptural statement or principle. God did not require the first tenth, but the tenth tenth!

11. In ancient Israel, under the Levitical priesthood, money was not a tithable commodity. No one was required to tithe on money! All ministers know that tithing money is unscriptural! If they don’t, they haven’t even read these scriptures on tithing.

12. All ministers who teach that the Bible gives them authority to exact the collecting of money as a tithe to God are doing so without God’s instructions. In the History of the world, God Almighty has NEVER authorized any man or organization, for any religious purpose, to exact ten percent of another man’s wages!

• No More Tithing
http://www.bible-truths.com/tithing.html