Although tithing is often encouraged by most of the clergy, we've never heard that preached before, and most likely never will; but I guess it could happen; that is, if someone really wanted to be scriptural about the tithe. Even though many say they only preach what is in the Bible, and if it is in the Bible they will preach it, it is strange that this passage has been conveniently missed in the millions of sermons preached on tithing.

So many know virtually nothing about the tithe, and what they do know is from what they've been lambasted with about robbing God. But we should know that since it was only the farmers and ranchers that were responsible for paying the tithe, a large portion of the people in Israel did not tithe! Therefore, if you want to abide by Moses' law of tithing—if you don't have a garden or don't own at least 10 goats, you don't have to tithe. The owner of a farm had to tithe on his barley, or on his livestock if he had 10 animals or more, but his hired hands were exempt. The workers were not required to pay a tithe on their salaries. There was no law that required a tenth of one's salary to be tithed. They kept all they earned from working on the farms or ranches or anywhere else. The tithe was for the Levitical priesthood. It was for food for their livelihood.

Since it was only the owners of farms and flocks that were required to tithe, the Israelite that had fewer than ten cattle did not have to tithe on nine of them because the requirement stated that only the tenth animal that passed under the rod was to be tithed as noted in Leviticus 27:32. Looking at this from our present monetary point of view, a rancher could have many thousands of dollars invested in nine animals, but unless he had ten he was not required to tithe. But if he had that tenth on, he would give that animal to the priesthood. Now, go and tell that to your preacher, and see how well it sets.

Quite a number of ministers teach that the tithe is God's and that He must get His money first. However, the Bible says nothing about God getting the tithe which was designated for the priests, and they were to get the last, not the first, or the firstfruits. They got the tenth animal, the last one that passes under the rod, and then the last of the next ten animals.

It is true that "Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock....And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering." But, you see, this was not a tithe. Able was not tithing to priests. For that matter, there were no priests at that time. His was a blood offering to the LORD God Himself. It was a firstling. The Hebrew word means firstborn in the way Jesus was a Firstborn. We can see the parallel between Abel's lamb offering and Jesus being a Lamb offering. Abel's lamb was a type and Jesus was the fulfillment, the antitype. You see, Jesus was an offering, the first, who gave 100%, not a tithe of 10%. We can now see why Able's offering was accepted as being a type of Jesus, while Cain's fruit of his labor out of the ground was not, which represented the religious works and sweat of man. And it is strange that according to Moses' law of tithing, it was the fruit of man's labor from the ground that was received as well as animals. Of course, the animals were not sacrifices but intended for food.

Even so, it should be clear now that God never got nor required the firstfruits of the tithe. He received the Firstfruit of the His Sons, while the priests got the last of the tithe.

These biblical teachings are clear and should pose some real problems for a lot of ministers today, especially for those who want to use the tithe for their church activities. Think about it: If a minister wants the members of his church to abide by the tithing laws—why doesn't he or she teach them to do it the way the Bible has it? For example, if the members who live in a city want to tithe according to biblical law, they would pay a tenth of their garden produce; that is, if they have gardens, or a tenth of their chickens if they have chickens. But most city ordinances do not allow any livestock, including chickens, to be raised inside the city limits. So, with no chickens, no tithes on their part.

Even if they earned $5,000 a month in other income, all they would be required to tithe would be a tenth of their carrots and every tenth chicken (don't know about the eggs). This, of course, would hardly be enough to support the average church today. Yet, this is the law of tithing which Moses instituted for Israel; but there are no ministers today that we know of who encourage tithing according to the scriptures. They want money, money, and more money. They will not settle for a mere tenth of what comes from gardens and chicken coops!

Therefore,, being a cheerful giver holds us to a much higher standard of giving than the Moses' law of tithing. God wants us to give by the spirit, from our hearts, as sons of God whose nature and desire is to bless others.

It is good, of course, for servants to give according to the law. It can help those who might be in dire need, but it also helps the obedient servant in learning good principles. It also blesses the giver in return from what he has sown. But with the New Ordinance in Jesus Christ, it is giving from that which we are, by His name, His nature of love, and no percentage of the giving is ever mentioned.

Sometimes the overwhelming love in our hearts compels us to give it all, and we do it with no thought of loss. When we see their need is greater than ours, we want to cover that need. We want them to live in great abundance and the joy of life. That is when we give it all, or whatever meets the need. That is what giving is as cheerful sons of God. It is giving by love and the Spirit of Jesus, not by the law as a reluctant servant. The most important point in giving is not how much is given, but that we give according to our hearts. In this giving, we will never give begrudgingly, but always as cheerful givers knowing the receiver is lifted to a higher place of joy in life.

I remember a time when I was less than a year old in Christ and attending a small Baptist church in La Luz, NM. A prayer request was submitted by a concerned parishioner about a family in need after the husband had lost his job. They were in dire need of money for rent and groceries. I prayed and asked the Lord to send someone to help that poor family. I'll never forget the words I heard Him say, "What are you waiting for?" With His Spirit having not been worked and grown in me, I was very careful for a long time in how I prayed. By the way, to my youthful shame, without real compassion, I didn't help the family. I left it in the hand of the Lord, while knowing I was His hand in this. Fortunately we learn as we mature, and in this new day, a day in Christ Jesus we have grown out of youthful immaturity; but especially out of the legalistic mind-set of the Moses' law of the tithe.

So what should we do about Malachi 3:8? "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings." First, we do not do as it is commonly done. We do not pressure people to give. We will not make them feel guilty or threatened for not giving. Such threats put the spirit of fear in their hearts, which is so contrary to the Spirit and scriptures. For we know that God does not give us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, as Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:7.

It may not be the case with most, or at least some; but we can conclude that many ministers that subject people to this sort of fear and intimidation are not true shepherds, hirelings as Jesus said in John 10:12. They have been hired to do a job, and although some may be ignorant of the truth and think they are truly serving the Lord in collecting people's tithes, for others, not so. It appears that their heart is set more on payday—how much money in tithes and offering they can collect—rather the Lord's Day.

Regardless of the motive, in the strictest sense of the law, the passage of scripture in Malachi has to do with God's dealings with His people under the Old Covenant. It was about a tithe to the Levitical priesthood who had no other means of support. But that priesthood was nullified with the sacrifice of Jesus, and forever ended in A.D. 70 with the destruction of the Temple by Titus. Surely, it is time to stop taking portions of the Old Testament and incorporating them into the New to suit their own doctrine and/or personal gain. Don't you think?

Let us ask, who of the ministers today feel that they are of the Levitical priesthood? If they truly believe they are priests of that order, they can be justified in their own right to receive tithes. However, to be scriptural, they can only receive from people's vegetable gardens and every tenth animal.

To quote again from our longtime friend, J. Preston Eby, concerning the tithe:

''From the vast storehouse of truth contained within the holy scriptures there shines forth with dazzling brilliance two wonderful revelatory actions. In the brief passage 'For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and BLESSED HIM; to whom also Abraham GAVE A TENTH PART OF ALL; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is King of peace' (Heb. 7:1-2).

''There is the blessing first, and second, the tithe. How these two have been reversed in our thinking! It has been inscribed in endless volumes, preached on innumerable radio and television programs, and shouted from the pulpits everywhere that the tithing comes first and the blessing comes second. Of course, the scripture quoted most often in support of that teaching is Malachi 3:8-10 wherein God said to Old Testament Israel, '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. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.'

''Bible does indeed teach that God blesses us as we give to Him. There are laws at work that God has built into the universe: that God will not be placed into the debt of any man; that no one can out-give God; that he that sows, reaps. Those laws in the spiritual world, as in the physical world, are based upon faith. It is an act of faith in the law of the harvest which a farmer exercises every spring when he takes perfectly good corn that could be made into perfectly good bread to feed his family, and throws it away into the dirt. He does that because he knows that he is not throwing it away; he is sowing it and he will reap a harvest. The Bible repeatedly makes reference to these laws, that in obedience to God we will be blessed.

''Our dear friend and precious brother, Elwin Roach, publisher of THE PATHFINDER paper, penned the following words of practical and godly admonition:

'''I have heard people say that since tithing is of the law, and they don't want to be bound by the law, they only give when the Lord tells them to give, and the spirit of love is not the root of it, not realizing that to give only because they are TOLD to do so is evidence that they are STILL UNDER THE LAW. It matters not who is telling us to give: the written word, pastors of the churches, or the Holy Spirit Himself, if we are compelled to give in any way other than LOVE, we are giving according to the law. Is there any difference between the Spirit that told Moses to have Israel to tithe unto the Levites, and the Holy Spirit that will tell us to give to a certain man or ministry? I can see no difference between them—it is the SAME SPIRIT; therefore, if it was a law to Israel of old to give, then it is also a law to those today if they have to be TOLD TO GIVE, even if it is by THE HOLY SPIRIT. We can be told, of course, to give where there is a need, and where love has been grounded in our hearts, we can certainly be an obedient son, and this is not of the law, but of love.

'''When we are truly BORN OF GOD, most unusually, no one has to prompt us, not even the Spirit, to minister to the saints in the area of finances or anything else, for IN LOVE we give according to the need. This is FULFILLING THE LAW, for in this it is our very NATURE TO SO DO. In my estimation, it is far better to do things because of our intense love for God, the saints, and His creation, than because we are TOLD TO DO SO. Sure, it is wonderful to hear our Lord and then obey Him, for we are called to be faithful servants; but without being truly BORN of His Spirit, growing up into Him, and being enraptured in the marital union of Christ, we soon fail at what we are told to do. Without KNOWING GOD personally, it is impossible to love Him, and when love is lacking we will do exactly what Israel did when the laws were imposed upon them - they rebelled when the laws offended the desires of the flesh. This is what we have when people today are not supplying the needs of the people and ministries by the Spirit of Christ and use the excuse that "tithing is of the law." In reality they have more love for themselves than for God or His creation, for when they tithe it is very often still for themselves. You see, they expect to please God, and in doing so, He will reward them with more than what they give.' —End quote.

''Another has written: 'If we compare the ministry of Jesus with that of modern preachers, we will see that the preacher of today is truly of another spirit and not of the Spirit of Christ. Jesus told His disciples, 'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head' (Mat. 8:20). Having made this statement, Jesus did not follow it with an appeal for the people's money. He simply trusted that all His material needs would be met. Basically, God's people are givers. Those who believe the Gospel and are in harmony with all its precepts, are givers. The Lord's precious people will give out of an overflowing heart, and the Lord knew this. Therefore, He did not need to ask for anything. All He needed in this life was supplied Him by those who believed His message. It is always encouraging to see the Lord's people give as unto the Lord, even if they do give to a man who is mix-using the funds. He will be severely judged of the Lord, while those who give out of an overflowing heart of love will be blessed abundantly' - Paul Mueller in THE LIVING WORD. —End quote."

Some have taught that you can't out-give God, and the more you give the more you will reap. They have said: "Give $10.00 to God (that is, to me) and you will get back $100.00 or more."

Frankly, this is not being a cheerful giver, but one that gives from what they hope to get out of it in return. It is more like giving money to a banker, for him to deposit into a savings account, and then expecting to draw, not one or two percent, but ten times or more than what they deposited. It's a business deal to make more money rather than giving out of love to those in need, and with no strings attached.

The message that we hear from pulpits around the world goes something like this: "Come, ye dear lost people, and hear me; for I can show you the way to eternal life. I have the keys to the Kingdom of God. I can unlock and open the doors through which you can escape the fiery wrath of an angry God. Hear and heed my words, and you will escape everlasting damnation in the lake of fire. But to make sure you will get this pass to Paradise, give to me your tithes and offerings, let me put them into the storehouse (of my holy coffers, my bank account). So come unto me, you who are burdened and heavy laden, and I will help you enter into God's eternal rest. Cheerfully give to me $20, $100, or more, and I will give you the words of eternal life."

Some things are common between Christian and pagan offerings and sacrifices. John Alexander Dowie wrote this about it:

"'The religions of the world are worldly, are sensual, and are devilish for the most part. No one will doubt that is true in China. No one will doubt the clever philosophies and moral axioms of the Chinese, or the works of Mencius or Confucius or the commentators. And no one will doubt that the worship of the Chinese is essentially a Devil Worship. I remember once going into a very fine Chinese joss-house (temple), in Australia, where offerings of the costliest kind hung upon the walls, where many interesting things were to be found. I was talking with the chief priest, and said to him: 'Tell me how you worship' and he told me.

"'Why,' I said, after I had listened attentively, 'My dear fellow, it seems to me that you are worshiping bad divinities.' 'Oh,' he said, 'Of course we do. The good ones we do not need to worship. They will do us no harm. To protect ourselves we have to get right with the bad ones, so we make it right with the devils.' I thought to myself that there were some other people like that in America and Europe, who are not Chinese' " —End quote.

Sadly, the unauthorized tithe to the church has been much the same for so many. So much like the pagans, it has been as an appeasement to their god. They see him as a god that demands his share first, right off the top. Their idea of God is so much like the mafia: "Give to us the first of your earnings, and you will be sparred. We will let you live. Refuse, and we will burn you out." In other words, "Give to the church and you will be blessed a hundred fold. If you don't, you might lose your home and wind up on welfare. So to be blessed by the god of love, be sure to always be a cheerful giver."

Come on folks! Step up to the plate, take a swing and connect with the Spirit of truth. Don't you think it's time? We do...

Elwin R. Roach