Does the Bible teach that Christians are required to tithe to the Church?

By Brian Knowles

The practice of tithing is common in Christian Churches. It has been since the Roman Catholic Church first declared it compulsory for Catholics and Jews many centuries ago (though most do not practice it today). The issue here is not whether Christians may of their own free will tithe – of course they may. A Christian is free to give any amount he or she wishes to the Church, to the poor, or to anyone else for that matter. But voluntary tithing is not truly what many churches teach. Rather they teach that the Bible requires of Christians that they tithe. For them, failure to tithe is to sin – it is to "rob God." The issue for me is, could I conscientiously teach that such is the case? Could I teach that tithing is Scripturally required of Christians, and that failure to do so is sin? Could I, in all honesty, teach that failure to tithe to the Church is a violation of God’s law as it applies to Christians? The answer is no. In this article, I hope to explain why.

Exegetical Methodology
Assuming that certain people are utterly sincere, which I do, the issue becomes one of exegetical methodology and understanding. It’s a matter of how we use the Scriptures to form doctrine and to support dogma. If something is a commandment (a mitzvah), it’s a commandment. If it’s not, it’s not. If it is a commandment, we must then consider to whom it is directed, and under which circumstances it is to be appropriately applied. The fact that a commandment is included in Scripture does not necessarily prove that all Christians, throughout all time, are bound to keep it in all circumstances.

The great Medieval Jewish sage, Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), made a study of the 613 commandments (mitzva’ot) of Torah. He concluded that in his day observant Jews could keep only 271 of them. What happened to the other 342? They were "on the books" but did not apply to Jews in the Diasporic circumstances of Maimonides’ day.

Those who teach that tithing is an obligation for Christians often use Scripture selectively, even indiscriminately. As we have just noted, the five books of Moses contain some 613 mitzva’ot (commandments). Those who select, then adapt, the tithing commandments for obedience by Christians often ignore many of the other commandments of Torah. Or, if they accept them, they modify them to suit current ecclesiastical purposes. We could call this "the obedience of expedience." So let’s begin by establishing some working principles of exegesis.

The Issue of Audience
In the Public Relations profession, a specific audience is called a "public." The PR practitioner tailors his or her messages for specific publics. The Bible does the same thing. Solomon Schonfeld understands and explains this principle:

"…it was a mistake to offer the whole of the Five Books to mankind at large, as if all the happenings to Israel of old and the laws given to them and their descendants were ever intended by the Bible to have universal application! The text itself repeatedly stresses, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel.’ Yet Bible devotees and propagators have unwittingly disobeyed the Bible and have extended the application of purely Israelite observance to all the peoples of the earth, as if no nation would become godly unless it adhered also to obligations specifically Jewish."

Schonfeld continues, "The Bible itself is explicit as to which of its parts refer to mankind generally, and which sections apply exclusively to its immediate recipients, namely the children of Jacob."

This is a working principle of Biblical exegesis. Put another way, text without context is pretext. Every law of Torah has a specific context and an appropriate application. As we learned from Maimonides, the fact that it is a law that is "on the books" does not mean that it automatically applies to everyone in all times and circumstances. The Biblical laws concerning tithing are a case in point. There is a finite number of Scriptural passages that address the issue of tithing. The case for compulsory tithing, if indeed it can be made, must be based upon these passages. The issue is, are these Biblical texts being appropriately used by those who insist that tithing is obligatory for Christians? We shall see.

First, let’s establish one thing up front: Do some churches actually teach that tithing is required of Christians as a matter of obedience to God – or am I merely creating a straw man argument here? A few churches do appear to hedge on this issue. Tithing is both "voluntary" and a matter of "obedience to God." Here’s how one denomination answers the question, "Is tithing voluntary?" "Everyone who honors God by obeying his instructions does so on a voluntary basis. God never forces anyone to act against his or her will. At the same time, however, He expects us to tithe and equates failure to tithe with robbing Him (Malachi 3:8)." Those who teach obligatory tithing typically use this approach or a variation on it. Tithing is "voluntary" but if you don’t do it you’re robbing God – hence sinning.

Of course we all know that we are free moral agents. We have a choice as to whether we will or will not obey God, as did the ancient Israelites (Deuteronomy 30:19). But the way this answer is worded makes it appear that our only choice is between obeying or disobeying God by tithing or not tithing. The passage in Malachi 3 is applied to all people in all times. In this interpretation, failure of Christian to tithe to the Church becomes "robbing God."
This is clearly a bogus application of Scripture. It is ripping a text out of its historical context and reapplying it to a different time, circumstance and audience. With that in mind, lets go back and examine the text in its original setting.

Malachi’s True Message
The name "Malachi" means "my messenger." He was the last (12^th) of the so-called "minor" prophets. With Malachi, the "Old Testament" period came to a close. Malachi apparently wrote around 433 BCE, during the time of Artaxerxes I (464-423 BCE) and Darius II (423-404 BCE). He was also a contemporary of Nehemiah (445-415 BCE) who was heading a project to build the broken down walls of Jerusalem. Ezra and Zerubbabel had earlier rebuilt the Temple. Scholar J.M.P. Smith says of this book: "…the book of Malachi fits the situation amid which Nehemiah worked as snugly as a bone fits its socket." Nehemiah had returned to Israel in 444 BCE to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. The restoration period of Ezra-Nehemiah lasted about a century. During this time, representatives of Israel’s tribes were returning to their own land to reestablish themselves and the religion of Israel. To avoid repeating the sins of the past that led to their captivity, the leaders of the time – Ezra, Zerubbabel and Nehemiah – insisted on rebuilding the nation’s relationship to God through Torah and the Mosaic Covenant. The issues of Nehemiah and those of Malachi run parallel to each other. Both, for example, stressed the importance of reestablishing Israel’s tithing system in order to support the priests and the Levites who ministered at the newly rebuilt Temple (Nehemiah 10:37-39; Malachi 3:7-10).

The overall message of Malachi is addressed to "Israel" (1:1), not to the gentiles and certainly not to the Church that was yet to emerge some four centuries later. With all this in mind, lets examine the relevant passages in Nehemiah and Malachi.

Nehemiah and Tithing
When Nehemiah addresses the issue of tithing, he is referring to the same circumstances about which Malachi is concerned. Notice carefully the wording of Nehemiah’s declaration on the subject:

"Moreover, we [the Israelites] will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and our new wine and oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and oil to the storerooms where the articles for the sanctuary are kept and where the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the singers stay.

Nehemiah is plainly addressing the issue of the restoration of the Priestly and Levitical systems to the service of God and the Temple. In fulfilling the Law of Moses the people brought their tithes to the Levites in the cities where they lived, and the Levites in turn tithed to the priests on what they received. Only Levites and priests were ever commanded or empowered in Torah to receive tithes. No other class of people, whether they be prophets, rabbis, captains of synagogues, cantors or Christian ministers, has ever been authorized to receive the first tithe from the days of Moses to the end of the Apostolic Age. From its inception, it was strictly set aside for the priests and the Levites because they have no property inheritance in Eretz Yisrael. The wording of Numbers 18:21 is explicit: "I give to the Levites all the tithes (ma’aserot) in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the Tent of Meeting." Note "to the Levites," "in Israel," and "for the work they do." The Jewish people have always understood the specificity of this command. No where do we find Jesus or his apostles reinterpreting this command to apply to the Christian ministry. In his day, the apostles would have paid their tithes to the priests and Levites for the Temple service as did all Jews living in Palestine. Jesus himself, in "fulfilling all righteousness," would have done the same. How then did the Church end up appropriating the tithe? It certainly wasn’t an apostolic decision.

The Encyclopedia of Jewish Knowledge puts it succinctly: "The tithe was to be given to the Levites…The tithe was taken over by the church [Roman Catholic], and is still one of the main supports for an established ecclesiastical organization. In Jewish writings, however, the suggestion was made that the tithes which could no longer be given because of the destruction of the Temple should be devoted to charity; many individuals still assess themselves a tenth of their income for this purpose."

The Jewish people realized that the tithe was for the Levites and priests only, and that once the Temple was destroyed, the law – as it was drafted – could no longer be observed. The tradition of giving a tenth to the poor was not a divinely imposed, Biblical law, but rather something that became voluntary – "self-assessed" -- on the part of individual Jews.

The Jewish people understood that the "main purpose [of the tithe] was the maintenance of the Temple and its personnel." Once the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, the tithing law no longer applied. The priests and the Levites had to find new ways of earning a living. The Synagogue had never demanded the tithe for it would have been illegal for it to do so. Rabbis in Jesus’ day were never supported by the tithe, unless they happened also to be priests or Levites (which some were).

Originally, "As appears in the Bible, the law of tithing was to be applied in Palestine only…" For a period of time following the destruction of the Temple, tithes continued to be paid in Palestine, Syria and Babylonia. But, as the great medieval sage, Moses Maimonides, said of the first tithe, "…Torah does not make it obligatory except in the Land of Israel [and then of course only while the tabernacle or Temple systems were in operation.]" Maimonides’ teaching on this reflected the Talmud which explained that the duty of setting aside a tenth was based on the principle "Every precept dependent on the land [of Israel] is in force only in that land…" The tithing laws related specifically to the land of Israel, which was variously defined, and not to the Diaspora generally. In addition, it was intended only for the priests and the Levites, though some paid it directly to the Temple.

One thing is certain, "…very few people observed the laws of the tithe properly" Not only was the wording of the original Biblical legislation difficult to interpret, but the financial stresses on Israelites throughout history were enormous. The legal aspects of tithing were the cause of the creation of a special section of the Talmud called Demai.

The Order of Tithes in Ancient Israel
The theocracy of Israel has long passed into history. The Temple is no more and the priests and Levites have ceased to function in their ritual roles. Consequently, after 70 AD, Israel’s tithing system, such as it was ceased. Giving a tenth to the poor was not observing the law of tithing; it was substituting for it, or replacing it.

"The order of the tithes was as follows. First the heave-offering (terumah) was set aside for the priest. This usually amounted to a fiftieth of the produce. The first tithe from the remainder was then given to the Levite, who, when he received it, gave one tenth of it to the priest, thus rendering the remainder of the first tithe permitted food everywhere, even for those in a state of uncleanness. In the first, second, fourth and fifth years of the Sabbatical cycle, the layman then set aside a second tithe to be taken up to the city of Jerusalem and there eaten in a state of cleanness (or he might take up its redemption money, i.e. its value plus a fifth)…

"In the third and sixth years of the Sabbatical cycle the second tithe was not set aside; in its place the poor man’s tithe was given. This the poor could eat anywhere, even in a state of uncleanness."

Jewish authorities agree that this was the pattern of tithing during those periods of Israel’s history when it was rightly practiced. It was this system that Ezra, Nehemiah and Malachi sought to restore. For the Church to construe Malachi 3:8-11 to represent a commandment for the modern non-Jewish Christian to tithe to the Church is a gross exegetical distortion. Doing so rips these words right out of their original context and plants them where they do not belong.

Every Jew knows that no one other than the priest and the Levite has ever been entitled to claim the tithe on the basis of Biblical law.

"If it is a commandment, we must then consider to whom it is directed, and under which circumstances it is to be appropriately applied. The fact that a commandment is included in Scripture does not necessarily prove that all Christians, throughout all time, are bound to keep it in all circumstances."

I have a "small" problem with this! So, which of the Ten Commandments are we not "bound" to keep...and in what circumstances are we not "bound" to keep them?

We are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We are commanded to love each other as God has loved us. Is the author of this article saying I can just pick and choose which of these to keep based on my circumstances at the time?

I have really never considered tithing to be a requirement, although I do tithe because I love the Lord and I believe all that I have is His; I am merely a steward of that which He has given me.

I view the tithe as a 10th of the gross.

Additionally, xzins, your "gross" vs. "net" argument smacks of legalism. You either give from a grateful heart, being led by the Spirit of God to invest in the work of God, or you make up lots of little rules concerning what niggardly portion God is to receive. You can't have it both ways.

It is all God's. He has only asked for 10%. Check your heart if you are not being a little like Ananias and Sapphira on this matter. God loves a cheerful giver :)

The IRS uses your gross as a basis. How much more the God that gave you the health and ability to work in the first place? :)

"Offerings" are over and above the tithe. You can never out-give the Lord :)

Bottom line. God doesn't need your money. But, he wants us to rend our hearts. If your heart is right with God, this is just one more of His commands that you will be obedient to observe :)

CJ, you're right that we're not to pick and choose which commandments we keep. The new testament makes is very clear that the commandment we're to keep is "to love God with out whole heart, soul, mind, and strength." If we do that then all else will fall into place. It is truly as the Apostle Paul says, "we are dead to the law."

Jerry's point that God gives us everything we have is also true. And that we are to joyously give of that abundance is a well-established New Testament principle.

I, then, being free, am free to give any percentage I wish...or to not even give based on percentages. There is no "LAW" that requires me to do 1%, 7.5%, 10%, or 59.3%.

So, it isn't a matter of quibbling over "net" and "gross" in terms of MY GIVING. I interpreted it that way in terms of the OLD TESTAMENT. The OT rule was to give 10% of the "increase." If it takes me 5 seeds of corn to get 100 seeds of corn, then the increase is 95 seeds of corn. (You hold back the 5 for next year's planting.)

That's how I've always viewed the OT. Since I don't apply a legal "10th" as a requirement for Christians, then the issue of "net" versus "gross" is simply not an issue.

Didn't Jesus sum up the Commandments in those two statements? Actually the second one is to Love your neighbor as yourself.

Gentiles are not bound to keep the Talmudic Law, it was never given to them. But, there are certain principles and promises set forth that apply both within and without the Law. The law of sowing and reaping, for one. Several have said that they consider all that they have to be God's,and they are just the stewards of it. That is a correct statement, for "The Earth is the Lord's, and fullness thereof." If we are good stewards of God's property, He will increase it. Jesus said "Give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall MEN give into your bosom." Now, the question is, do we truly believe what Jesus said? It is God who gives the increase, but he does so through men. The Word says "the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just." He ain't talking about spiritual wealth, for a sinner has none. So, is it wrong to honor God with a portion of your substance, which He enabled you to have? And if you do, is it wrong to believe that He will honor that, and bless you back?

I don't believe that we can "command" a tithe, but it is clear to me that God will honor those who do. I don't know about you, but being honored by God is something I enjoy, not because I deserve it, but because it is better to honor God than to hoard that which is really not mine anyway. I have found that the more generous I am, the more generous God is to me. That's not selfishness, and it's not "giving to get", it's simple cause and effect. "The Lord loveth a cheeful giver".

"I have a "small" problem with this! So, which of the Ten Commandments are we not "bound" to keep...and in what circumstances are we not "bound" to keep them? "

I think you may have missed his point on this. There are 613 commandments,not 10.

Some were directed only to the Jews. Honoring the Sabbath (Saturday) comes to mind as one we don't honor as Christians along with the tithe and many others.

#10, #11: I had the sneaking hunch when I pointed out just those few sentences, I probably missed the overall point! But somehow those sentences just jumped out at me!

I do know that today, we are under grace, not law. But I also believe the "laws" or "commandments" God gave in the OT are very much morally relevant today.

I have this goofy little habit of typing out particular Bible verses that have special meaning for me any given day. I tape them to my bathroom mirror. One that I have taped there right now is Luke 12:48. "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

I know from personal experience, I absolutely CANNOT outgive the Lord! What a blessing it is to return to Him that which He has entrusted to me!

"I know from personal experience, I absolutely CANNOT outgive the Lord! What a blessing it is to return to Him that which He has entrusted to me! "

I totally agree.

Giving to the poor, funding organizations that distribute bibles around the world are excellent ways to give to the Lord what is rightfully his. Giving of your time is also a good way.

Giving to a church who's Pastor drives a Lexus, travels around the world,(all in the name Christ's work of course) is not being a good steward of what is entrusted to you. I've heard too many who give to these churches use the excuse that they are doing what God has commanded with a pure heart so God will deal with it. This is foolishness.

Our job is to expand the Kingdom with anything we have at our disposal, money or time. We are not to blindly give the money that God has put in our trust to fund charlatans who see religion as a lucrative career.

BTW, I believe that King Jesus is ruling now, and that the people of God are the people of God, and have always been the people of God. (The writer of this piece is looking for a dispensational "out".) Additionally, xzins, your "gross" vs. "net" argument smacks of legalism. You either give from a grateful heart, being led by the Spirit of God to invest in the work of God, or you make up lots of little rules concerning what niggardly portion God is to receive. You can't have it both ways.

I have tithed + for many years..I do not feel "bound" by an OT law..BUT I believe that the pattern is sound and that it pleases God

One of my favorite passages is 1Ch 29:9 Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

I believe I have christian liberty in this as Paul noted

2 Cor 8:3-5 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.

It is Gods will for us that we give..and as all born again believers know it is a joy to have the privilege to give

2 Cor 9:7-8 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

As you note Jerry everything I have is His..how little he asks back

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