TITHES
Leviticus 27.30-34
30.Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's, it is holy to the Lord.
31.If therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it.
32.And for every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.
33.he is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it, or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed."
Deuteronomy 12.6.11.28
6.And there you shall bring burn offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the first-born of your herd and of your flock.
11.then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your GOD shall choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord.
Deuteronomy 14.22-24.28
22.You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow which comes out of the field every year.
23.And you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your GOD, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the first-born of your herd and your flock, in order that you may learn to fear the Lord your GOD always.
24.And if the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your GOD chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your GOD blesses you,
28.At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town.
Deuteronomy 26.12
12.When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
2Chronicles 31.5-6.12
5.And as soon as the order spread, the sons of Israel provided in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field, and they brought in abundantly the tithe of all.
6.And the sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah, also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of sacred gifts which were consecrated to the Lord their GOD, and placed them in heaps.
12.And they faithfully brought in the contributions, and the tithes, and the consecrated things, and Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge of them, and his brother Shimei was second.
Nehemiah 10.37-38
37.We will also bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine, and the oil, to the priests at the chambers of the House of our GOD, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites, the Levites are they who receive the tithes in all the rural towns.
38.And the priest the sons of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to the House of our GOD, to the chambers of the storehouse.
Nehemiah 12.44
44.On that day men were also appointed over the chambers for the stores, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them from the fields of the cities the portions required by the Law, for the priests and Levites, Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who served.
Nehemiah 13.4-5
4.No prior to this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the House of our GOD, being related to Tobiah,
5.had prepared a large room for him, where formerly they put the grain offerings, the frankincense, the utensils, and the tithes of grain, wine and oil, prescribed for Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.
Amoc 4.4
4.”Enter Bethel (Ephraim) and transgress, in Gilgal (Ephraim) multiply transgression, bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every *three days.”
*(it may have been made mistake in translation, tithes have been collected, presented, and given to Levites every three years. Deuteronomy 14.28, 26.12. A.G)
Malachi 3.8-10
8.Will a man rob the GOD? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings.
9.You are cursed with a curse, you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!
10.Bring the whole tithes into the storehouse so that there may be food in My House, and test Me now in this' says the Lord of hosts, 'If I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.
Matthew 23.23
23.”Woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you tithe, mint, and dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: Justice, and Mercy, and Faithfulness, these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”
(1Samuel 15.22) (Psalm 51.16-17) (Proverbs 21.3.27) (Ecclesiastes 5.1) (Hosea 6.6) (Isaiah 1.11-20) (Jeremiah 6.20) (Amos 5.21-24) (Micah 6.6-8) (Zechariah 7.2-4.9-10) (Matthew 9.13, 12.7, 23.23) (Mark 12.32-33)
Luke 11.42
42.”But woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithe of mint and rue ("rue - from its thick and fleshly leaves". KSB, Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, page 57), and every kind garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of GOD, but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Luke 18.10-14
10."Two men went up into the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer.
11.The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself, 'GOD, I thank You that I am not like other people swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer.
12.I fast twice a week, I pay tithes of all that I get.'
13.But the tax-gatherer standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast saying, 'GOD, be merciful to me, the sinner!'
14.I tell you, this man (tax-gatherer) went down to his house justified rather than the other (Pharisee), everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted."
(Job 22.29) (Proverbs 29.23) (Matthew 20.25-28, 23.11-12) (Mark 9.35, 10.43-45) (Luke 9.48, 14.11, 18.14, 22.24-27) (1Peter 5.5-6)
Hebrews 7.8-12
8.And in this case mortal men (Levites, descendants of Abraham) receive tithes, but in that case (with Abraham) one receives them of whom it is witnessed that he (Melchizedek) lives on.
9.And so to speak, through Abraham, even Levi who receives tithes, paid tithes (in the past to Melchizedek),
10.for, he (Levi) was still in the loins of his father (Abraham) when Melchizedek met him.
11.Now, if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, on the basis of it the people received the Law, what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?
12.For, when the priesthood is changed of necessity, there takes place a change of Law also.
The Physical tithes collected for physical mortal men, for Levites and for the needy and poor.
The Spiritual tithes such as: Justice, Mercy, Faithfulness (Matthew 23.23), and the love for GOD (Luke 11.42), collected in the hearts of men and presented before GOD in the deeds of Compassion, Mercy, Justice, and Faithfulness, all deriving from the love for GOD. A.G.
2Corinthains 9.6-7
6.Now this I say, he who sows sparingly (carefully, in moderation) shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.
7.Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, GOD loves a cheerful giver.
*("GOD loves a cheerful giver" (2Corinthains 9.6-7), according to the theme of entire chapter, it definitely relates to the contributions of food and other material things needed for the saints, for Apostles of Christ in Jerusalem, who were persecuted for the name of Christ and become in need, mostly of food, which the verses 9-12 in 2Corinthians giving some clues about it, but definitely not the money.
On the other hand, money can be accepted too, but it was not the major driving force of the donations, but mostly food, clothes, and shelter for those who persecuted and in need.
If money ever was donated, money never been donated as a payment for anything, or as a payroll and wages for saints, priests, missionaries, people of GOD, or to any other men who preached and served the Lord, but exclusively in emergency to prevent starvation and poverty, mostly of the missionary like Paul and others, but never as a payment for service or a salary.
So the saying, "GOD loves a cheerful giver", has been taken out of its context by hierarchy of the church, it clergy, by pastors, and by all sorts of preachers, in order to justify their parasitic life style and greed for money, paid to them as their salary from the church business and donations of the parishioners.)
Such practice to collect money for doing the work of GOD already has been condemned in the Old Testament: (Micah 3.11).
Jesus Christ also condemned such practice: (John 10.11-13).
And Apostle Peter specified that money has no part in the work and in the service of the Gospel as a payroll: (1Peter 5.1-4).
Apostle Paul also clarified this subject and presented himself as an example of unconditional and honest worker of Christ in his missionary ministry, who would not accept money for his services for GOD, but the opposite, work with his own hands to support not only himself but even those who were companions with him on his missionary journeys: (Acts 20.33-36).
2Chronicles 24.8-10
8.So the king (Jehoash-Joash, 8th king of Judah) commanded and they made a chest, and set it outside by the gate of the House of the Lord.
9.And they made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the levy fixed by Moses, the servant of GOD, on Israel in the wilderness.
10.And all the officers and all the people rejoiced, and brought in their levies and dropped them into the chest, until they had finished.
Proverbs 22.9
9.He who is generous will be blessed, he gives some of his food to the poor. (KSB)
As clearly evident from all the verses above, collecting Tithes in form of money is the invention of the greedy church and has nothing to do with GOD.
