Chapter 17: Myth—Giving 10% Is A Tithe

Page 53

Myth—Giving 10% Is A Tithe

Malachi Only Teaches Tithing Food!

What is wrong with the apostles of tithing is their misrepresentation of Malachi 3. It is rather obvious that God’s Word concerning the tithe in Malachi only revolves around the issue of food. Where is the slightest hint about giving money to the minister in these tithe instructions? The only

place money is talked about is where Moses teaches you to temporarily convert the tithe into money when you have a long journey. Then you are to immediately convert it back into [your heart’s desire of] food and drink and to consume it. Just an amusing aside note: Do you think the old adage that

“Charity begins at home” might have something to do with consuming the tithe with family, friends and ministers for two of three years? Interesting.

These five aspects of food only are present in Malachi 3:8-12.

1. Food to feed people out of the temple food shelf (storehouse). 2. A full tithe of the yield produced from the land, herds & flocks. 3. A full tithe of the yield produced from the trees of the land.

4. Rebuking the devouring meant keeping insects from eating crops. 5. A land of delight meant a land that produced abundant crops.

The curse that God talked about was the curse of “crop failure.” Is the

United States, which now feeds most of the world under a crop failure curse by not tithing? No, it’s because the tithe does not apply today and this place is not the land of Israel. The tithe only pertained to the land within Israel. Without question all of Malachi’s teachings were about obtaining the tithe

food to continue to feed God’s people. More specifically, the temple food shelf was seriously depleted and the Levites and those in need were not being properly taken care of [fed]. Therefore, the tithe storehouse was only about storing “food” for the people. It was never about fulfilling the worldly

desires of the minister and his family nor was it about any “world outreach.”

“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 to the Lord.” Leviticus 27:30 NKJV