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Where Should You Tithe?
askrevbutler.com — Are looks at the biblical basis for tithing to your local church. Article cites Old and New Testament scriptures to support the teaching.
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- russkellyphd, on 05/12/2008, -0/+0This text (1 Cor 9:13-14) puts a context around tithing and giving.
Comment: No, it does not. The context begins at 9:7 and is a list of principles. Each vocation has it own principles. The soldiers received spoils of war; the farmer ate grapes; the herdsman drank milk; the Temple worker had tithes, offerings, vows, sacrifices and many other forms of support. The gospel worker has principles of grace and faith and not law.
Verse 13 says too much for tithe-teachers because it includes much more than tithing. If verse 14 only refers to verse 13 and not 7-13 then the NT gospel worker is required to be supported by ALL forms of OT Temple worker support.
Misusing 9:13-14 also makes Paul a violator of his own principles because of what he said in 9:12, 15-19. Paul was not defiantly opposing a decree of Jesus.
The writer of this article assumes falsely that all gospel workers must be full time. In Acts 20:29-35 Paul boasted about being self supported. Before the 1870s most Protestants in the USA opposed tithing. An unpaid clergy was the norm in most of the mid-western and western country.
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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.”
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Comment: Out of context. Num 18:21-24 refers to the Levites. 18:25-29 refers to the priests.
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First of all, the Lord says that He has given the children of Levi all the tithes. The children of Levi where the priests. Today it would be the pastor and the leaders of the church.
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Comment: Read Numbers 3, all of Numbers 18 and all of 1 Chronicles 23 to 26. The Levites were NOT the priests and do NOT correspond to the NT pastors. The Levites were the builders, janitors, guards, bakers, ushers, choir, musicians, treasurers and politicians (1 Chron 26:20-31).
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The Levites were part of the governing body of the Israelites.
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Comment: Yes, they worked for the king.
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The parallel today is the pastor of the local church and the leaders that work for God to take care of the local assembly or local church.
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Comment: No. The parallel today is the priesthood of every believer and the Temple is within every believer. The NT pastor is more comparable to the OT prophet who was sustained by freewill gifts of the people or by his own occupation.
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You might be saying, “Where does it say local church?”
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Comment: The early church met at night in catacombs and grave yards because it was illegal until AD313. The first church buildings did not exist for over 200 years after Calvary.
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Here the Levites served the High Priest and the congregation of Israelites.
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Comment: God forbade the Levites and priests from owning or inheriting land in Numbers 18 several times. Why is this part of tithing not taught today?
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Numbers 3:6-, “Bring the tribe of Levi near and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. And they shall perform the duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle.”
So who attends to your needs today? Who attends to the needs of your local church building and facilities? Your pastor and the ministerial staff. So you are to give your tithe to your local church in which you are a member so that your local church can minister to you.
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Comment: I am not opposed to supporting gospel workers, churches and missionaries. I am opposed to using “cancelled, blotted out, nailed to the cross, annulled, vanished, ended” OT statutes and ordinances to do so.
The whole OT tithe went to the non-priestly workers in the Temple—the Levites. And the Levites were NOT the ministering priests. They, in turn, only gave one tenth of their tenth to the priests. No NT pastor can live on 1% of the church’s income. Stop this goofy madness.
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
www.tithing-russkelly.com
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