This Is Why The Levites And ONLY The Levites Were To Receive Tithes: The greatest attraction of people into Evangelical and Pentecostal ministry is tithe. Remove tithes, and more than half of these so-called ministers will remove themselves from ministry.
Tithes have attracted so many ‘If you don’t pay your tithes, things will be tight for you’ people into ministry because they see it as a means of financial gain. If you try to teach Evangelicals and Pentecostals the truth of what Scripture says, they will cite Malachi 3:10:
“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.”
But notice that that verse says, “That there may be food in My house.” It does not say that there may be money.
Tithes are a strictly agricultural tax. And the only time Yeshua Hamasiach (Jesus Christ) mentions tithes, He mentioned them strictly in agrarian terms and only to the Pharisees who were under the law. We see this in Matthew 23:23:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
There is no single instance of paying monetary tithes in Scripture.
The only alternative to agricultural produce was alcoholic beverages. We see this in Deuteronomy 14:24-26:
“But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.”
Why did God require the ancient Israelites to pay tithes of their farm produce?
Joshua 13:14 gives the answer.
“But to the tribe of Levi, he gave no inheritance, since the food offerings presented to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he promised them.”
When the Israelites got to the Promised Land, God instructed Joshua not to apportion any land to the Levites. And because they had no land by which they could farm, God asked all the other tribes to bring a tithe of their agricultural harvest to the House of God so that the Levites could eat food and also perform the grain, meat, oil and wine sacrifices.
That is why Malachi 3:10 uses the term “That there may be food in My house”.
But you may ask, what about Abraham? Abraham did not tithe his income or his farm harvest. Abraham tithed ONCE. And he only tithed from military plunder, also called spoils of war, and we see this in Hebrews 7:4:
“Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!”
The disciples and the early Christians never collected tithes. They took free will offerings-Acts 2:44-45. Not one person in the New Testament is recorded as paying tithes.
If a pastor justifies tithing using the Old Testament, ask them why they do not also justify polygamy since the Old Testament allows it-2 Samuel 12:8, or slavery-Deuteronomy 20:11, or other extreme forms of punishment for sexual offences-Leviticus 20:13.
Stop saying, ‘Christianity is confusing’ or ‘I am just confused’. You are not confused. You are lazy. It is because you listen to different pastors and prophets and men of God, but you do not read Scripture.
.
