TITHING 102: TITHING AS DOCTRINE OF MEN

TITHING AS DOCTRINE OF MEN

One of the biggest blessings to the church are men who are gifted with the ability to teach the Holy Scriptures in such a manner as to rightly divide the word of truth so that God’s people are properly fed the word of grace and are built up in Christ to bear fruits that glorify God. In the same manner one of the greatest disservices to God’s kingdom is Satan raising men who will teach the bible with private interpretation and in a way as to satisfy their lust. This great evil is not peculiar to our time. Our Lord and Savior encountered a similar challenge during his earthly ministry:

1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?  for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.   3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?  4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother:  and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.   5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;  6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free.   Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.   7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips;  but their heart is far from me.   9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men – Matthew 15.

From Jesus’ words above we can note what God’s word commanded: “Honor thy father and mother…”; when these men were going to interpret this scripture, they twisted it to mean that whatever a man was to give to his parent, if he had given it to God through some kinds of offering, he was not under any obligation to give to his parent anymore. He had fulfilled the law of honoring one’s parent. The same goes with the doctrine of washing of hands before eating; etc. Much of what the men of religion taught in Jesus’ time was converting and twisting sound biblical commands to suit the lust of the teachers of the law – these teachings had become tradition and law for them.

Paul the apostle tells us that as it was in the days of Jesus so was it in his days and so shall it be in the days to come – those days being the days that we live in now:

1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy;  having their conscience seared with a hot iron;  3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.   4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:  5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer – 1 Timothy 4.

Consider verse 3 and remember that there are sects in Christendom today that forbids men of the clergy to marry. Some times in the annals of church history, some people began to propose the idea that men of the clergy must be likened to Christ, Peter and Paul who in their own estimation were not married. And despite express scriptural evidences that permit any man who wishes to marry to do so, these sects insist that their clergy must not marry. This is just an example of men inaugurating a doctrinal position without any foundation in scripture or upon twisted portions of scripture. Paul the apostle shows us the characteristics of these doctrines that men raise to satisfy their religious and fleshly lust:

16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:  17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.   18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.   20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21 (Touch not;  taste not;  handle not;  22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?  23 Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body;  not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh – Colosians 2

From the scripture above we see some of the characteristics of doctrine that men make up: (1). These doctrines are rooted in the laws of Moses (New Moon, Sabbath, Firstfruits, Tithing, etc); (2). These teachings are legalistic. They carry the notion of being obligatory, denying the saints the freedom they are entitled to in their walk with God; (3). These doctrines are borne from visions: they come from some respected “man of God” speaking about what God told him and which then becomes law for all Christians; (4). These doctrines have a show of wisdom: they look very “spiritual” and enticing to the religious minded; (5). These doctrines do not curb the excesses of the flesh – it does not increase the quest for holiness or the commitment to love others.

Tithing as its practiced today can only be best described as the doctrine of man. Tithing is absolutely biblical. The first recorded command to tithe from God’s lips can be found in Leviticus 27:30-33:

30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S:  it is holy unto the LORD.   31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.   32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.   33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it:  and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy;  it shall not be redeemed.   34 These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

God commands that “all the tithes” shall be “seed of the ground”, “fruit of the tree” and “tenth of the herd or flock”. This being the first mention of tithes by God himself can safely be described at the true definition of the tithes under the law. God will proceed to show whom this tithe was to be given to in Numbers 18:

20 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them:  I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.   21 And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation

Other passages in Deuteronomy 14, 26 and Nehemiah 10 lends credence to the fact that the tithe as commanded by God were agricultural products that was to be food supply for the religious men of their day who were engaged in overseeing the religious and civil life of the people, so that they did not have the time to cultivate their fields. The tithe was to be a kind of taxation that would help “pay” the Levites for their service to God. In Malachi 3:10 God words shows that the tithe was “meat” or “food”. Therefore when you mention “tithes” to an average Jew, he thought of agric products or food that was to be given to the Levites and Priests. Jesus himself spoke of the tithes to include mint, anise and cumin which were spices for food (Matthew 23:23). The questions that remains unanswered by tithes advocates is when did tithes of food become tithes of money; and when did the tithes which originally was meant for the Levites become something to be given to church leaders and Pastors?

Doctrines of men are basically the teachings of men that come from their private interpretation of scripture. When care is not taken by teachers of the Word to abide faithful to the tenure of scripture, there is always the likelihood of some “additions” that looks good at first but if allowed to persist will become law. The tithes doctrine has experienced a similar “metamorphoses” over the centuries. As we have seen, God gave the command for tithes to be given to the Levites under the law. By the time of Jesus, this law still subsisted. Although with the advent of other menial jobs like carpentary, tax collectings, fisheries, etc, there was never a mention of anyone giving a tithe of whatever he made from these jobs. Jesus lived under the law and he did encourage tithing in Matthew 23:23 according to the law. By the time our Lord will rise from the dead and the law was considered abolished (Ephesians 2:15), tithing simply went with it. That is why there is not one account of anyone paying/giving a tithe in the New Testament church. There are numerous accounts of giving in the New Testament church and not one person is said to have tithed either of his income or even of any agricultural product. Hebrew 7 was not a passage that taught tithing; it simply mentioned tithes so as to give the spiritual implication of Abraham tithing to Melchizedek: a prophetic action that will someday prove Jesus to be greater than Aaron (Hebrew 7:4a). After this, the New Testament was concluded without any account of one person giving a tithe in the church.

After the apostles lived and died, there were still no accounts of Christians tithing their income. The church would undergo a great period of persecution and in spite of this the body of Christ grew. Christianity experienced a sudden reprieve when Emperor Constantine converted and became a Christian. Following a supposed vision (again?!), Constantine declared for Christ and made Christianity the official religion for Romans. Christians began to enjoy greater acceptability and the institutionalized church was created. That church is today known as the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Church would however propose the giving of tithes some time in the 4th century to fund the bludgeoning religious enterprise they had created. By the sixth century it had become some sort of law for Christian to pay tithes to the Roman Church. Even at that time the Roman Church remained faithful to the original content of the tithes; as the tithes given in those days were 10% of people’s harvest off their farms. However, we should not loose sight of how men introduced a slight change to a very scriptural practice – tithes remained agricultural products but rather than giving it to the Levites it was now given to church leaders. This sort of tithe remained until the Reformation of the 16th century. The reformers rejected the practice and doctrine of tithing along with a host of other Romish doctrines and practices – which they rightly called doctrines of men. The phrase “Sola Scriptura” was adopted by the Reformed Fathers to help the church return back to biblical doctrines and practices. Whatsoever was not found as a scriptural practice was thrown out of the window.

This was the position of most protestant churches in those days. And coupled with the fact that the church was “sponsored” by the city council or local government, most churches did not have to resort to people to get funding; thus there was no need for tithes. Sometimes in the 18th/19th century, local governments withdrew their sponsorship of churches and many churches were left to “fend” for themselves in Europe and America. About this time, some clergies began to teach a doctrine of “monetary” tithes. This doctrine said that you are obligated to give a tenth of your income to the church were you fellowship. It answered the question of the tithes being agric products by saying that the economy of the Israelites were mostly agrarian but things have changed in modern times and our economy is majorly monetary. Thus there is the need to give tithes of money and not of a harvest. They also said that the same way the Levites conducted the religious life of Israel, so are church leaders conducting the religious life of the church and thus the need for them to collect tithes. This doctrine and practice took root in many protestant denominations that include Baptist, Aglican, Jehovah Witnesses, etc. About the turn of the 20th century, the Roman Catholic Church stopped collecting tithes. It is said that the last four popes have never encouraged the giving of tithes in churches. Jehovah Witnesses also do not collect tithes anymore and a few other protestant denominations. But the vast majority of churches still collect tithes today. And the tithe they collect is the one that is called the “monetary” tithes in distinction from the agricultural tithes God commanded.

Anyone who can trace church history and the making of the monetary tithe, which today is considered a compulsory giving of a tenth of one’s weekly or monthly or annual income, can very well see a perfect example of how the doctrine and commandment of men is today regarded as the doctrine and commandment of God. It would have been good if this practice did not come with some sort of danger but Paul warns us about what becomes of doctrine of men in 1 Timothy 4:

1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy;  having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

When doctrine of men has fully matured, it becomes doctrine of devils and seducing spirits. Following the said tradition of tithing, today we have men who teach the practice of firstfruit also. Taking their position mostly from the laws of Moses, they command that people must give their whole January income to their pastors to enjoy the blessings of God for the New Year. I would not be surprised if such evil men begin to teach “apostles’ feet” offering, where individuals will be cajoled to give their whole income to the church for onward distribution to all in need. This is what becomes of the doctrine that men espouse without sound recourse to scriptures. How tithes of agricultural products converted to 10% of men’s income is simply the work of the doctrine of men. How firstfruit, which originally was first harvest from the land in Israel, has become 100% of January salary is the outworking of the doctrines of men. In the days to come, congregations shall be channeling their hard earned income into church account all in the name of Apostles' feet offering. In those days, like we have them now, seducing spirit inside of men shall be running helter-skelter in the church of Jesus, deceiving men and being deceived themselves. Their consciences shall be gone, having been seared with hot iron. These men for the love of money, will teach doctrines of devils. We are in those times and we should remember that no less a person than our Lord warned us of these days:

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be?  and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?  4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.   5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ;  and shall deceive many. – Matthew 24

1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.   2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways;  by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.   3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you:  whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. – 2 Peter 2.

See Other titles on this Tithing Course:

Tithing 101: http://yesufu.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-due-order-tithe-is-defined.html
Tithing 103: http://yesufu.blogspot.com/2014/03/tithing-103-tithing-as-abraham-did.html