Part 4(b): originally posted 7/18/2011.

 easy to understand

                easy to apply

 

Real Christian questions & answers; conundrums & solutions; notes & flotsam from Graham...

 

 

 

CAVEAT EMPTOR

 

• Tithe under the law was only for the purpose of giving the Levites an inheritance (though it was also used for general feasts); yet the Christian’s inheritance is Christ. Can/Should the case be made if you want the Levite’s inheritance, you exclude yourself from the Christian’s inheritance? Wanting folks to pay tithe to your religion corporation is covetousness. Also a sin in our current dispensation. An unabused conscience also teaches covetousness is bad. Even if unsaved. We are only referencing a damaged conscience is a key point.

• Jacob made a vow to (among other things) tithe from his increase. If tithe was the universal heathen norm (as proponents of Christian tithe aver), why the vow? Was he peacocking/cackling? But, how could Jacob tithe with no Levites and no national tabernacle/temple in place yet? Doesn't matter, the Bible doesn't say. One way's he could have given it to anyone in need (or he even broke his vow, as a peacocking cackler would).

• Jewish Rabbis today (those who should know the Mosaic Law better than Gentile Pastors), do not collect tithes because they know only Levites can receive tithe. Cuz the Bible tells them so. It's the Law. Since the genealogical records were destroyed in the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, Jews can no longer determine/verify true Levites. This's also Law.

• Cain and Abel gave offerings, not tithe. Firstfruits, not tithe. Also, Abel brought the firstborn of his flock, so this couldn’t have been tithe. Unless the firstborn of his flock was also 10% or more. Only the 1st baby of each ewe can be firstborn of a flock. Only one (1) sheep can be firstborn of each ewe. Cain’s could have been tithe, but tithe's not mentioned yet. Or maybe it was the firstborn of each ewe (I pick this one). In which case it would probably have been more than 10%. The Adam's Family boys were offering 'first fruits' not tithe.

• The only purpose for tithe, as stated in the entire Old Testament Law, was as an inheritance for the Levite, and for the sole purpose of their sustenance (since it was only agricultural products), and for open feasts (everyone is invited). This is why Old Testament tithe was always agricultural. Not for a house payment (they were provided cities, and farm land), car payment, college for the Pastor’s kid(s), hookers, church buildings, et cetera...food only. But hookers are allowed at feasts. Robes could be provided if they come right from work.

RULE 12: So provide (if you want to) the Pastor (and his family) with a parsonage, furniture, appliances, clothing, car, and gasoline, pay his utilities, pay his cable/internet/NyQuil-highball/phone bill, send his kid(s) to college, et cetera as an offering; then convert 10% of your income (your tithe) into groceries, and what they (the Pastor) don’t eat can be used to operate a soup kitchen and/or pantry to feed the poor, widows, and/or non-Christians, and for twice (or more) yearly church feasts. I guess you could even give your tithe in cash, but only if there is a stipulation tithe is to be put into a single purpose non-interest bearing checking account, only to be used to feed the Pastor and his family, the poor, widows, and/or non-Christians, and for twice (or more) yearly church feasts.

• RULE 12: Since the ‘tithe feasts’ for the entire nation of Israel were only located in one place, there should only be one huge Church/Tabernacle/Temple for the world-wide body of Christ to meet for mandatory feasts (like Mecca for the Muslims or a past Billy Graham venue); church denomination would not be allowed to be a consideration (sorry NTCC). So, no need for local church buildings (sorry NTCC), or all the costs associated with them (sorry NTCC). But, you can have ‘home church’ (sorry NTCC) after the pattern contained in the New Testament (sorry NTCC). Or, because NTCC is so aggressively insular (no synergy), they can only have theirs at their campground (no toilet paper, linens, towels, or maid service provided).

• Since all the word ‘sabbath’ means is rest (like the only thing tithe means is 10%), why do we have mandatory church? Could this ‘gathering of ourselves together’ we are not supposed to forsake actually be for a ‘feast?’ Very likely.

• I have yet to read an in-depth tithe book, or article, which doesn’t somewhere, at least intimate, there's little (no) support in the New Testament for tithe. This's why all in-depth arguments for tithe rely so heavily on curated portions (never from Leviticus) of the Old Testament, church history, secular customs and history, the Apocrypha, non-linear logic/reasoning (even the Talmud, of all things), et cetera. Therefore, if one’s conscience/interpretation will enable a person to promote/enforce Christian tithe because it's contained in the Old Testament (and it is clearly there, of this there's no argument), then they should also be willing to adhere as closely as one's able to at least the purpose for (unearned charity) its existence. Even its form—i.e. agricultural products only—if one was really as fanatical about tithe as its adherents would like us to believe they are. This's only if one wishes to be consistent/Biblical.

• RULE 12: The nation of Israel was Commanded to tithe to the Levites, and the Levites were Commanded to tithe to the High Priest (Numbers 18:24-28). Therefore, since all Christians are now spiritually Levites, if we have to tithe, we should only tithe 1% of our income (1/10 of 1/10 is 1%) to a Pastor (High Priest). A Pastor (loosely using the Old Testament as a pattern) doesn’t have to tithe anything. The tithe from $100 would/should be $1 for the born again congregant. We (as spiritual Levites, and non-Pastors) keep the 9% & the 90%. 

    So why don’t I count all Christians income as tithe-able, since it is taught all income is an increase? Well, I am trying to mimic Old Testament tithe for implementation-instructions in our dispensation. Therefore, since by and large our income doesn’t come from spiritual ministrations, but secular sources (our secular job), so logically our income could be counted as if it was coming from the non-Levite tribes of Israel. They gave 10%, and then the Levite priest gave 10% of the 10% to the High Priest. If 100% of our pay comes from secular pursuits/sources, 10% of this we pay to ourselves, and 10% of this 10% we pay to our Pastor. 

    The Pastor (High Priest) doesn’t pay tithe on any income (or benefit) he receives from the church. For a church with 20 tithe payers, each making $2,000/month, this is $400/month for food. Plenty for a Pastor (not divorced), his wife (not divorced), and a few children (unmolested). Not much left over to feed others, but as he is faithful, and works the NTCC Blitzkrieg program, attendance is guaranteed to increase, and before long there'll be free church feasts for all at every Conference...Glory! 

    If Pastor Davis [RIP 2014] now also wants to exclusively claim the title ‘High Priest’ (in addition to Apostle, Is NTCC, Business Man, Can’t Remember/Never Missed/All I Do, Senior Pastor, First Up, Doctor, PhD, Here First, et cetera), NTCC’s Pastors should pay only 1% to Pastor Davis.

• Why are NTCC’s ministers allowed to marry divorced women when this violates Leviticus 21:7? Remember, there is nothing in the New Testament cancelling this. Nor will following Leviticus 21:7 contradict anything written in the New. There's no loophole for being able to marry if your divorce was for one of the authorized causes (death, adultery, desertion) in the NT. The honest mandatory tithe adherent will choose the strictest when presented with choices. Just the fact of a divorce disqualifies from remarriage in the OT. But, our loophole's Christ.

• From the entrance of the people into Canaan to the reign of Solomon—a space of nearly five hundred years—there's nothing specifically mentioned about tithes. Lots about offerings though. It's inarguable there's not much on tithe in the New Testament, but it should possibly be noted there is not much more contained in the Old. Yes, there's enough Old Testament tithe verses to meet the ‘two or three witnesses’ requirement, but not much more.

BESIDES TITHING the Pentateuch commanded the non-Levite Jew to give offerings (and not just to the Tabernacle/Temple). This offering for the poor was not tithed on (as follows):

Leviticus 19:9-10 “When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the stranger, I am the Lord thy God.”

• This scripture commands an offering be given to the poor (with no stipulation they be Jewish—or in our case NTCC), and the non-Jew (stranger). Nothing in the New Testament has done away with this.

Again:

Deuteronomy 24:19-21 “When thou reapest thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. When though beatest thine olive tree, thou shall not go over the boughs again. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it after thee; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.”

• So why do I include the two directly above portions of scripture, which inarguably deal only with offerings? One reasons because no tithe was paid on offerings. OT tithe was only ever after expenses. But, using the mandatory tither’s logic the commandments to give offerings to the poor have not been done away with, because there's no portion of the New Testament which does away with them (one of the arguments to support using the Old Testament to validate Christian tithe).

• In spite of what the Bible clearly commands (as seen above), NTCC chose to include “…not to be given to charity…” in the tithing portion of their Doctrinal Statement. Maybe because, for NTCC, the Body of Christ and God’s work through his people on earth truly is a business—pity—and what is a business without profits? A synergy of grace & business. A deconstruction of God's methods becomes practical uselessness. So why settle for a little profit when you can have lots of profit. And why use the toilet at McDonald's & pay at Little Caesar's when you just ate at Taco Bell? 

And let’s not forget the Law concerning things Jews had to pay shekels for (only if they wanted to redeem them; See Leviticus 27). This is how cash was injected into the Temple program, and among the Priests. The tithe was not used to accomplish this. This has not been done away with in the New Testament either. Of course, we have been redeemed in Christ. Although, Christ is also our inheritance; yet NTCC also wants the Levite's inheritance (coveting their tithe). Modern synergy religion?

Deuteronomy 16:16-17 commands: “Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty: every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee.” This has not been done away with in the New Testament either.

QUESTIONS

&

MORE QUESTIONS

1. If tithe was intended to be perpetual, or carried over to Christians, why is it stressed in every Old Testament instance tithe is mentioned, it is for the Levite only? And why is tithe not mentioned in Acts 15? The Temple was even still standing at this point, with genealogical records intact. Mankind’s covenantal relationship with God is no longer through the Old Covenant. We're now in a covenantal relationship with God through a New Covenant ratified by Jesus Christ, not Moses (or Abram or Adam).

2. Why don’t mandatory tithe teaching churches ever teach against gluttony? Why is gluttony such a popular/acceptable sin among those in the Body of Christ? No drinking, no gambling, no lying, minimal fornication, no bowling, et cetera, but eat all you want at the buffet. Either there's an epidemic of glandular problems among those in the Body of Christ (God could heal them...right?) or some fat folks are gluttonous. You decide.

3. Since all of the fleshly Old Testament types (circumcision, sacrifices, the Tabernacle/Temple, the Levites, the alter, the High Priest, et cetera) have now become a reality through Christ, why does the requirement for tithe (the major purpose of which was to support the Old Testament temporary temporal types, which [again] have all been done away with) remain in some people’s mind (outside of covetousness)?

4. Of the 613 laws (Dake says) contained in the first five books of the Bible written by Moses, why is it, aside from the Ten Commandments, tithing is virtually the only other law (not contained in the New Testament) the modern Church retains? But, they retain it in name only, since there's no similarity between Moses’ law of tithing (or Abram’s) and modern Christian tithing, except the aspect of the ten percent Webster's definition of the word. Christian tithing is an extra-biblical concept and doctrine—aside from the ten percent it has nothing in common with the pattern and purpose for the tithing law of Moses (or even Abram’s or Cain's ‘example’). But still resembles covetousness.

5. Why does NTCC require all their Pastors to pay tithe? Is Pastor Davis the High Priest?

6. Why does the leadership of NTCC say, “We recognize the scriptural duty of all people, as well as ministers, to pay tithes unto the Lord. Tithes should be used for the support of the active ministry and for the propagation of the Gospel and work of the Lord, and are not to be given to charity or used for other purposes.” while simultaneously ignoring/not doing as much as they can concerning what the Old Testament commands concerning tithe?

7. Why tithe on ‘before taxes’ income? If we pay taxes (with sales tax, property tax, federal and state income tax, et cetera we only get about 50% of our pay), or give offerings from what we make, this part of our pay is not an increase. Did the Jews tithe on dead animals, failed crops, or the corners they didn’t harvest? Did those receiving charity tithe on what they received? NTCC teaches you must tithe on your welfare check and food stamps. If a cow's dead it can’t pass under the rod, and if a crop fails it cannot be harvested.

8. Why didn’t God include ‘tithe’ in the 10 Commandments?

9. Why are NTCC’s ministers allowed to marry divorced women when this violates Leviticus 21:7? Remember, there's nothing in the New Testament cancelling this. Nor will following Leviticus 21:7 contradict anything written in the New (see also PERSONAL NOTE above).

CONCLUSION:

Instead of benefiting the Ministry & the needy, modern tithing is the main source of funds for building religious real-estate empires. A synergy of sin & error.

Old Testament tithe was only ever used for Levite support, feasts (i.e. charity, even if it is not directly stated in the verse), and charity…without exception. This's why I didn’t have to expound on every Old Testament tithe verse (although, there aren’t many more of them)—they don’t contradict the premise. Yes, tithe does mean 10%, but this is all it means & all which's ever taught/stressed by the mandatory tithe enforcer/promoter. But, God’s word also defines the 1/10th’s form (agricultural), location (only at the Tabernacle/Temple) for paying, and purposes (the tribe of Levi’s inheritance, and substance for feasts and charity).

It is illogical/disingenuous to teach Hebrews 7:18 abolishes every ordinance pertaining to the Levitical priesthood except tithing. All of Hebrews is a witness against mandatory Christian tithe. Posting a link to it could replace this whole article if folks had stayed teachable. Dullards. But, many Hebrews were also not teachable. But they didn't have internet either. Furthermore, in all the 70 (160 in the OT) New Testament references to Abraham (not Abram @ 50 OT references & not mentioned in the NT), the only practice of his the New Testament tells us to follow is faith. 

It's inarguable Gentiles had no obligation to tithe in the Old Testament, but we do now? So stop arguing with the New Testament. Stop synergizing & start contextualizing. Stop generalizing & start differentiating. Stop deconstructing & start building. Focused, not myopic. Teachable, not intransigent. Heed, not ignore. Works, not workshops. Holiness, not hypocrisy. Love (charity) not loot (cash). Heaven, not Hell. Purity, not perversion.

Regarding NTCC: "A permissive society, also referred to as permissive culture, is used to describe a society in which social norms become increasingly liberal, especially with regard to sexual freedom and profanity. The term is often used pejoratively by cultural conservatives to criticize what is seen as a breakdown in traditional values, such as greater acceptance of premarital sex, an increase in divorce rates, and acceptance of non-traditional relationships such as cohabitation and homosexuality." — Wikipedia [retrieved summer 2025]

It's absurd (and disingenuous) to cite Old Testament scripture as proof of a Commandment for Christians to tithe—and in the absence of any New Testament directive how this nefarious/nebulous tithe is supposed to be exercised—then choose an application (to run a modern bloated non-charitable corporate church program) and form (cash only) for tithe, contrary to these same verses.

RULE 12: If you want to tithe, do it. But, consider doing-it in a manner as close as possible to what the Jews were commanded to do, and ensure you invite me to the feast. If you insist on receiving cash tithe (and don’t want to use it for food), ensure you give it away (include ‘sinners’ also), in accordance with the Old Testament command, and Christ’s teaching on feasts. Plus, as a tithe-getter, you'll be judged with unconverted Jews by God. Covetousness is also judged negative by God in any dispensation to date. Again, don't kill the messenger (me), you have enough troubles coming your way.

RULE 12: If you receive tithe, use it in a manner as close as possible to what the Jews were commanded to do, and ensure you invite me to the feast & know, be assured, you'll be judged with unconverted Jews by God. I assume, God's children paying tithe will get a STAY OUT OF HELL pass since we were deceived by NTCC.

Gregory the Unlearned