Tithing and Offerings
By James Herschel Lyda
Tithing:
to take one tenth of your income and give to the church.Offering:
a sacrifice; a contribution to the support of the church above and beyond tithing, it must be willingly given from the heart.Tithes and offerings are necessary for the upkeep of the church and for the needs of His servants.
Hebrews 7:1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
2 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;
3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
The giving of a tenth to God, or to His representatives, was practiced long before the law of Moses enforced it. Abraham gave tithes of the spoils to Melchizedek, and Jacob vowed that he would give to God the tenth of all that God might give to him.
Genesis 28:20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
The tithes under the law were; those given to the Levites: they embraced a tenth of all produced. Every tenth animal as it passed under the rod was to be given.
Leviticus 27:30 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.
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.
34 These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.
Numbers 18:21 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.
23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
24 But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
25 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
26 Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.
At the end of ‘the year of tithing,’ the offerer was to make a solemn declaration before the Lord that he had fully performed the commandment of the Lord, and had withheld for his own use nothing of the tithe. And on this ground he was to pray for the divine blessing on Israel. One of the charges brought against Israel at the end of the O. T. was that they had robbed God, because they had withholden the tithes and offerings; and therefore the whole nation was "cursed with a curse." But if they would bring the tithes into God’s storehouse, and prove Him, there would be a blessing beyond their capacity to receive it.
Malachi 3:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10 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.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
We wonder why our crops fail and the rain does not come when it is needed and when it does come, it comes with such a vengeance that it is a destroyer of crops and life. It seems that we can not escape the ravages of weather and other calamities that come upon us almost daily. The answer was in the verses that I just read. You have robbed God by with holding his tithes and offerings. If you bring all the tithes into the storehouse, saith the Lord of Hosts, I will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. It is our commanded duty to support our churches, our pastors, and their work for God with our tithes. If we think we do not have enough to tithe, then it is because we are not tithing properly. Remember he said to bring our tithes and He will bless us until there will not be room to receive it. Tithes are to be used to support the local church and minister also they are to be used to support the whole network of churches and workers. Christ commanded his disciples to not take any gold or silver with them because whatever they needed would be provided.
Matthew 10:9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
The workman of God is worthy of his meat. If he is a true workman of God he needs to be supported by your tithes. It is a commandment of God Himself that you tithe and provide offerings to support God's House and His workers.