The Tithe is not a requirement of the law?
“Now the Law of Moses requires the Levites who become priests to collect tithes from their brothers, fellow Israelites…” Hebrews 7:5
“If Moses had not given the command to tithe, not even a single Israelite would have insisted on tithing, because of what Abram did before Moses had given the Law!”
After carefully going through the whole Bible and all the texts on tithing, I did not come across a single verse that stated that the tithe is not Law or a requirement of the Law of Moses. I also did not come across a verse that says that if something was mentioned, practiced or rather instituted as most would prefer, in Genesis it means, it’s not Law or a requirement of the Law! I did come across this text instead;
“Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? John 7:21-23
This is what our Lord and Saviour said about circumcision, he said that it was Moses who gave the Israelites the Law of circumcision. Even though it was instituted in Genesis through Abram, Jesus still recognized circumcision as coming from Moses! We see here that even if something was instituted by Abram before the Law was given by Moses, it still remains a requirement of the Law. We don’t have any biblical precedence of where a command that was given by Moses wasn’t referred to as a requirement of the Law simply because it was first mentioned or instituted in Genesis. This text from the Gospel of John refutes such a teaching or understanding.
I am pointing out all this because those who teach on Christian Tithing, assert that tithing was first instituted by Abram before the Law was given by Moses some 300 years later. They then overlook the fact that it was Moses who wrote all about Abram and the Tithe he gave to Melchisedech! So, the same person who wrote about Abram and the tithe, is the same person who gave the Law? This just shows how clandestine it is, to try and separate the tithe from Moses. The other fascinating aspect about the book of Genesis is that, it was written in retrospect by Moses, after he had already given the Law! He wrote everything through God’s revelation. The Covenant between God and Israel had already been established.
The intended audience for the book of Genesis already knew about the Sabbath, offering burnt sacrifices, dietary laws, tithes, circumcision etc. That is why some of the things were just mentioned in passing and there isn’t any explanation whatsoever. That was because the Law had already explained everything. Take for example Genesis 7 and 8 mentions clean and unclean animals, yet no mention of the distinction between them. The intended audience already knew this distinction because the Law had been given. Genesis is littered with imprints of the Law of Moses. Clear evidence that shows that, if something was first mentioned in Genesis does not imply that it ceases to be a requirement of the Law. Most of the things mentioned in Genesis were incorporated under the Law of Moses!
As one can see, there is no single biblical verse that says that the tithe isn't a part of the Law of Moses, because it was first mentioned in Genesis! The bible doesn’t say this. I have already mentioned that the primary reason why people come up with all these theories, is because of what the Apostles taught the Gentile Christians about the Law of Moses. They know that Gentile Christians cannot be subjected to the Law of Moses. They are also aware that, not even a single Christian was ever instructed by the Apostles or voluntarily gave their tithe to the Church in the New Testament writings. There is nothing to work with from there in as far as tithing is concerned.
The amount of effort that people invest in trying to convince believers that tithing is not a requirement of the Law using Father Abram, leaves a lot to be desired. One cannot help but wonder, is this a deliberate effort to mislead, or do they sincerely believe that tithing is not a requirement of the Law? I say this because after spending time explaining that the tithe is not Law, they then go to Leviticus and teach that we must tithe because God commands it, the tithe is Holy and belongs to the Lord! How does one open the Bible, reads a text from Leviticus and then still believe that the command they are reading or teaching is not a requirement of the Law?
Why is that so, isn’t it that tithing is not Law or the Law of Moses? So why use Leviticus? This assertion is a bit preposterous because, a requirement of the Law is any commandment, statute, ordinance or regulation that God gave to the Israelites through Moses. This is what Leviticus 27:34 says; “These are the commands the LORD gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.” The Command to tithe was given on verse 30 and is very much among the commands that God gave to the Israelites through Moses. Then we believe somebody who just says tithing is not Law! This then, begs the question, do we even know what a requirement of the Law is? Because honestly we can’t be this naive!
Furthermore, they also assert that the tithe is not a requirement of the Law because It was merely incorporated under the Law of Moses but it was never a part of the Law of Moses! Does this even make sense to anyone?
“When it comes to the Mosaic Law, we find that the tithe was definitely and clearly incorporated into it…” A.W Pink¹
It appears most Christians have widely accepted this view! Everyone is of the strongest belief that the tithe was never a part of the law but was merely incorporated into the Law. Yet there is not even a single scripture that says this, but still people believe all this. They then go on to say that when the Law of Moses was abolished the tithe remained intact because it was never from the Law of Moses! It’s first mentioned in Genesis they say! The word incorporated is flaunted repeatedly as if to confuse if not confound the naïve.
I believe in putting things into proper perspective. For starters the word “incorporated” simply means to take in, to contain (something) as part of a whole. It also means to combine ingredients into one substance. Hence the notion that the tithe was merely incorporated into the Law of Moses is both self-contradictory and self-defeating. This just indicates that the tithe together with all the other elements of the law that were mentioned in Genesis such as the Sabbath, circumcision, sacrificial worship, unclean animals among many others were all combined into one comprehensive substance which is the Law of Moses!
Even the synonyms for incorporated illustrate this point. These are; absorb, include, assimilate, integrate, consolidate, contain, comprise, embody, compound, blend, merge, amalgamate, unify, join… I can go on and on, the list is infinite but I'm hoping one can see, where I'm going with this. It is, therefore, improvident for one to claim that the tithe was never a part of the law of Moses because it was merely incorporated into it! When one thing is incorporated into something that thing loses its individual properties, identity, or characteristics and is completely assimilated or absorbed and takes on the new identity of the compound substance!
This means that whatever principle, value, moral or spiritual significance the tithe embodied in Genesis was lost completely when it was incorporated into the Law of Moses. It was merged, integrated or consolidated into one unified Law that we now refer to as the Law of Moses. This is why in the above reference text from the Gospel of John, the Law of circumcision is attributed to Moses, even though it was instituted in Abram. Moses is the person who gave us both the Law and the revelation in Genesis.
Almost everything mentioned in Genesis was incorporated into the Law, not just the tithe. For example, Abram gave a tithe of everything from the plunder but the Israelites could not give a tithe of the plunder to the Lord under the Law! Hence the presupposition that tithing is not Law because it was instituted in Genesis before the Law, is a bit farfetched. Here is what most preachers teach regarding this matter (pay particular attention to the wording they use);
“The reference to tithing in the word of God is in Genesis 14:14-20. First of all, let’s understand that these scriptures are about events that took place at least 500-700yrs before the institution of the Mosaic Law. This is important because some people will say that the tithe is under the Law. And done away with now because Christ has redeemed us from the Law. Therefore we don’t have to tithe anymore. The truth, however, is that we will find that the tithe existed before the Law, during the Law and long after the Law. Giving the tithe is a kingdom principle.”³ Barnaby P. Baker
“the obligation of the tithe reaches across the pre-law dispensation, the dispensation of the Law and into the post-law dispensation of Grace” John Avanzini “Keys to proper Giving"⁴
“It will be noted that the giving of tithes for religious purposes is at least four hundred years older than the Jewish Law”5…“many times we are told that the New Testament does not teach tithing, but that’s not true. In Hebrews 7v1-10 the author points out to us that tithing is not from the Law. There was no Law that commanded Abraham to give a tenth to Melchisedech” Dr. Edward L. Haygood5.
I find it a bit ironic that Dr. Haygood asserted that the author of Hebrews pointed out that tithing wasn’t from the Law when the same author is the one who made it a biblical certainly that tithing is a requirement of the Law, when he pointed this out in Hebrews 7v5 ”The law of Moses required Levi to collected a tithe from his brethren”.
I'm guessing people choose what they want to see from the scriptures! The most glaring thing from all the quotes is that, they are all just saying what they think or believe. None of them used any scripture to buttress their claims that tithing is not a requirement of the Law, therefore it still applies to Christians. Can Christians practice anything mentioned in Genesis because the Law was not yet given? Can we also burn animal sacrifices, marry our sisters, or take two or more wives for example? Since Abram also did all these things before the Law was given. This statement from Barnaby P Baker needs to be addressed;
“This is important because some people will say that the tithe is under the Law. And done away with now because Christ has redeemed us from the Law. Therefore we don’t have to tithe anymore. The truth, however, is that we will find that the tithe existed before the Law, during the Law and long after the Law. Giving the tithe is a kingdom principle.”
He asserted that it’s very important for Christians to understand that tithing was first mentioned before the Law was given, so according to him this implies that it’s not a requirement of the Law! I have already explained this part. He goes on to then say that “because some people say that Tithing is under the Law” So here we need to establish the truthfulness of this statement, from the scriptures and by figuring out who is saying what here. Is it some people who are saying this or is it the Bible that actually says this? You see one cannot just make an assertion and then claim to be telling the truth, without any supporting scriptures to back this perceived truth.
According to Barnaby, the mere fact that tithing is mentioned in Genesis before the Law was given to the Israelites by God through Moses, implies that the tithe or tithing is not under the Law! Does the Bible say this? Who is fighting with the scriptures here? We know that any commandment that was given by God to the Israelites through Moses is a requirement of the Law. Whether or not it was first mentioned in Genesis did not change this fact. Our Lord Jesus referred to tithing as being “a matter of the Law." In Hebrews 7:5 the scriptures also make it certain and beyond doubt that tithing is a requirement of the Law. It is the Bible that says tithing is Law, under the Law or a requirement of the Law of Moses and not people who are saying this. People like Barnaby try to make it appear as though the Bible doesn’t say that Tithing is under the Law, it is people who say this! However, the opposite is the truth, the Bible doesn’t say that Tithing is not under the Law, it is people who do so. If they are telling the truth, they should just produce one verse that says tithing is not Law or under the Law!
‘Abraham tithing before the Law does not negate that tithing was confirmed forward as the Law of Moses and not a single church or saint was given an express doctrine to tithe as Abraham.'²
One then wonders where the belief that tithing applies to Christians came from, because Christian tithing is not in the bible! There isn’t a single Christian who was instructed to tithe or who tithed voluntarily. Barnaby went on to stress that The truth, however, is that we will find that the tithe existed before the Law, during the Law and long after the Law. We then have to ask ourselves, do we have anywhere in the scriptures where Christians were instructed to tithe or where they voluntarily chose to tithe? Where exactly do we find this truth of Christians tithing long after the Law in the scriptures?
Furthermore, though this was a widely accepted position that circumcision came from the Patriarchs, it remained a requirement of the Law of Moses. The Jews did not try to separate circumcision from the Law of Moses on this basis. Jews circumcised their children even on the Sabbath so that “the Law of Moses wouldn’t be broken.” Circumcision even took precedence over Sabbath observance. Charles Freeman in his book 'A New History of the New Testament Church' portrayed the volatile atmosphere that engulfed the early New Testament times;
“The Greeks and Romans could never understand the ritual of circumcision, the ancient and obligatory requirement for all male Jewish children. Circumcision was the entry rite to membership of the people of God, one reason why its rejection by the apostle Paul as a requirement for Christians caused such outrage.”7
According to Charles Freeman, circumcision was a prerequisite for membership of the people of God. This is why most Jews were outraged by Paul’s teaching and rejection of circumcision as a requirement for Christians. I contend that those who argued for circumcision had a far better standing than those who are teaching tithing today. With all this weight that circumcision wielded nonetheless, according to the teachings of the Apostle Paul and the council of Jerusalem, all gentile Christians are not required to circumcise or observe the Law of Moses. Yet, somehow, some people managed to convince us that we must pay tithes instead!
According to Apostle Paul, “Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.” Galatians. 5:3. Keeping an Abrahamic covenant or practice that was incorporated into the Law automatically obligates one to observe the whole Law. The mere fact that such a practice or covenant came from Abraham the father of faith is not a ground for justification! ‘Keeping of an Abrahamic Covenant rolled forward and confirmed into the Law obligated us to do the whole Law’2
Nonetheless, If we reason that Abraham tithed before the Law, thus making it part of what we need to do in the New Testament, we will have to conclude that everything Abraham did before the Law, is something that should be done in church today. The principle must be absolute and true for all things that happened before the giving of the Law or it can’t be true for anything.15 If we are not obligated to circumcise or offer burnt offerings because of what Abram did, or observe the dietary laws because of what Noah did, or even observe the Sabbath because it’s mentioned in Genesis. It also then follows that we can’t tithe because of what Abram did or because it was mentioned in Genesis before the law was given.
“Those who argue about Abraham or Melchisedech are missing the real issue of the New Covenant. We are not Abraham and are not living before the Law. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the focal point of history. It changed the entire nature of man's relationship to God. No matter who Melchisedech was or why Abram gave him a tithe, it doesn’t change the truth of the spirit of the New Covenant" Matthew Narramore10
To conclude, those who teach Tithing to Christians use texts from the Law of Moses to enforce the tithe because they don’t have any New Testament teachings to rely on. As mentioned before, on Matthew 23:23 and Hebrews 7:5 our Lord Jesus and the writer of Hebrews respectively confirmed that tithing is Law. Now uncircumcised Gentiles are claiming that tithing is not a requirement of the Law? It is an indisputable historical fact that those who first introduced Christian tithing over 500 years later, adopted the concept from the Law. They saw the tithes of the Old Testament Law as a model to be followed by Christians!
“They[Church Bishops] saw The Tithing of the Old Law as an obvious model to be followed by believers and began to be taught- more commonly in the West than in the East, that the faithful should give the tithe of their income. When this view began to get sufficient support[amongst the Bishops], it found legislative expression at The Council of Macon in 585” Catholic encyclopedia Volume XIV: Tithing
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1 Arthur W. Pink: Tithing. pp.6
2 Rory Moore: The Tithe that Binds. pp.44
3 Barnaby P. Baker: The Tithe, A Kingdom Principle pp.5
4 John Avanzini: Keys to proper Giving. pp.12
5 Catholic encyclopedia New Edition Volume XIV: Tithing pp.
5 Dr. Edward L. Haygood: Why the Tithe pp.6;15
6 Dr. Russell Earl Kelly: Should the Church Teach Tithing pp.10
7 Charles A. Freeman: A New History of the New Testament Church pp.11
8 Bertie Brits: Jesus is the tithe pp.197;198;200
10 Matthew E. Narramore: Tithing: Low-realm, obsolete defunct. pp.17
11 Kenneth Hagin: The Biblical Keys to Financial Prosperity pp.10