Are Christians required to tithe?: Difference between revisions

William Branham taught that the Old Testament tithe was ten percent. '''But that is simply not the truth.''' The Old Testament was at least double that, if not more.

The Levitical tithe was based '''ONLY on the income coming from the land''' and '''not on salaries or wages:'''

The tithe was not the giving of money.  It was likely only done on an annual basis.  A weekly or monthly giving of tithes of wages to the church is not what this passage is suggesting.

The tithe funded the Levites (Num. 18:20–32).  The Levites were scattered all over the country and were not just in Jerusalem at the temple.  The Levites also included everyone in the tribe of Levi that worked in the temple - the priest, the song leaders and musicians, even the doormen and the janitors. In Nu 13:21–32 it is laid down that the tithe must be paid to the Levites, not just to the priests.

According to Numbers 18:26-28, the Levites paid '''ten percent of the first tithe''' to the priests (who were also part of the tribe of Levi).  It should be noted that according to Heb 7:5, ‘they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood.… take tithes of the people.’  The explanation for this is that the priests, who received from the Levites a tithe of the tithe, thus symbolically received the whole tithe.<ref>Paul Levertoff, “Tithe,” ed. James Orr et al., The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Volumes 1–5 (Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), 2987.</ref>

A distinct second tithe is found in Deuteronomy 14:22-27, and happened every first, second, fourth and fifth year of a seven-year cycle. This tithe is different because the person tithing gets to eat it, and not just the Levites or the Priests. The point was to bring the resources to the temple for a party (the festivals). Just in case you couldn't make it to the temple with your harvest, you were supposed to redeem the tithes for money and then go.

So why do Christian ministers teach about the first tithe only, and forget about the party tithe? You could say it is because Jesus cast out the money-changers, and those that sold animals in the temple. But what Jesus was doing was cleansing the temple from those who were in it for the money.

'''Ten percent every third year''' went to help the poor (Deut. 14:28, 26:12-15). That’s 3.33 percent. In addition, there were gleanings for the poor and the alien.  

What James experienced in the New Testament is believers who gave everything, and shared it with those in need. It was a religion of love for others from the heart. The law, after all, was just a schoolmaster leading to true faith.

In addition, there were occasional tithes and offerings as a specific need would come up, i.e., the rebuilding of the wall in Ezra, Nehemiah, or with the creation of the tabernacle in Exodus. If you add that up, the total mandatory tithe was about twenty-five percent of your gross income.

What is also clear is that the priests only got a small portion of the total tithe (ten percent of ten percent = one percent of income).

Every seventh or sabbatical year the land lay fallow, and was then tithe-free (Leviticus 25:4-5 and Deuteronomy 15:1).  But since you didn't have any income from the land, you couldn't really pay a tithe in any event.

The "multiple tithe" position is held by Adam Clarke, Albert Barnes, Matthew Henry, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Bruce Metzger, Charles Ryrie, the Jewish Talmud and most Jewish writers, like Josephus.  Total tithing was either 20% (twelve tithes over seven years) or 23.33% (fourteen tithes over seven years).

However, it is also clear that non-farmers were not required to pay any of the three separate tithes.

==If you want to follow the Old Testament tithing rules==