Tithing as many Christians know it today is in part or in whole based around a few scriptures in the book of Malachi.

Let’s look first at the context by reading the first verse of Malachi.

This was the word of the Lord to Israel, not to you.

Let’s narrow down the context even more with

In Malachi 2:1, the context of what comes after it is directly addressed to the priests, not even the common people of Israel. (You are neither.)

Chapter 3 is a continuation of the grievances that are addressed to the priests in Chapter 2.

Let me take a moment to review. Malachi wasn’t directed to you because you are not part of post-exile Israel, and second, you also aren’t part of the Levitical priesthood.

This word of the Lord in Malachi was meant to show God’s disapproval of the religious and social behavior of Israel and the priesthood at the time. It has also been interpreted that Malachi prophecy’s the coming of Christ.

Prophecies that were fulfilled in both John the Baptist and Christ. If then they are fulfilled, why are believers today trying to apply these scriptures as a requirement to live by?

I want to note here that several scriptures of Malachi are referenced in New Testament books of the Bible, and yet none of these references are pertaining to “tithing”.

Malachi 3:7-12 was written concerning the lack of “tithing” support for the priests who worked in the temple.

With that in mind, what does Malachi say about the “tithe”?

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be MEAT in mine house…”

The Levite priests were supported by “tithes” consisting of FOOD. They could not work a full-time job, because their full-time job was to work in the temple.

Pastors and church planters that teach tithing will have you to believe that they are the modern-day priests working full-time in the temple, and therefore deserving of your tithing to support them.

Malachi goes on to say that if the people will tithe this MEAT; this FOOD that they are commanded to give, God will rebuke the “devourer”.

The tithe was corn, wine, oil and livestock.

“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.”

Christians call the “devourer”, Satan.

Scripturally, the “devourer” is not Satan.

The “devourer” is locusts, or fire or disease.

Notice that God is not rebuking the devourer from finances.

He is rebuking the devourer from “fruits of the ground and vines that are ripening before their time”

Did you know that fruit which ripens too early may not survive to make it to market before spoiling?

Those living in the time of Malachi didn’t have the convenience of modern refrigeration or high-speed transport. Early ripening of fruit could spell life or death disaster for those depending on their crops for both food and trade.

I’ll bet you thought that if you tithed that God would rebuke Satan off your finances.

After all, Satan must be singlehandedly responsible for your bad spending habits, right?

What if you are your own enemy?

What if you have a shopping addiction?

What if you just can’t stop spending?

Do you believe your money troubles are going to miraculously disappear if you don’t change your own bad spending habits?

Could God ever change the flow of enough money in your direction to fix your own self-destructive financial issues?

I’m going to let you in a truth that could change your life.

You are blessed whether you tithe or not.

God honors your faith, not your checkbook.

God honors your faith, not your dollars.

God honors your faith, not your credit cards.

Let’s get back to Malachi, and what happens if you don’t tithe MEAT into the storehouse.

It says that by not tithing, you are “cursed with a curse.”

You don’t need to worry about being cursed with ANY curses.

It is not possible for us to rob God of anything today.

The curse Malachi is talking about is not a particular curse, but the curse that was upon anyone that did not follow the ordinances of the law that God has commanded.

We are not under the law and are not bound to the law because the grace of God through Christ has freed us from having to meet the requirements of the law.

I didn’t hang on a tree. Did you?

Christ hung on a tree and became sin for us.

It may seem that your finances improve when you tithe. That can be attributed to your faith in God to bless and provide for your needs, but not because of the tithe itself.

It is your faith that God honors.

It may seem that your money vanishes when you don’t tithe, but that is called “LIFE” and sometimes it’s because of our own choices.

You are not under a curse for failing to tithe.

Christ redeemed us from THE curse, EVERY curse.

Let us not go around saying that His work was incomplete, unfinished and simply not good enough to cover our lack of tithing to our local church.

Another reason that Christians believe in tithing is because Abraham tithed to Melchisedec.

Hebrews 7:1-10 indicates that not only did Abraham tithe to Melchisedec, but that in doing so, it was as if Levi had also tithed to Melchisedec.

Supporters of tithing theology under Malachi will claim that because of what the book of Hebrews says about tithing, that we should also tithe. They claim that if the Levitical priesthood tithed to Melchisedec through Abraham, then we also should tithe to Christ.

I don’t know about you, but the people of Israel tithing to Levi who tithed to Melchisedec through Abraham who was really tithing to Jesus makes my head and my pocketbook hurt.

However, these scriptures in Hebrews are not really about tithing. They are about the priesthood changing and explaining how Jesus is the greatest high priest after the order of Melchisedec

I should also mention that Abraham tithed to Melchisedec before the commandment to tithe was given to Israel. This was before Moses and before the Ten Commandments were given.

Yet tithing because Abraham tithed does not make for a sound theological foundation.

Abraham only tithed once as far as we know.

ONCE. One time. Uno.

He didn’t tithe from his personal finances, nor from his own possessions.

Abraham tithed of the spoils of war.

While some may consider their jobs to be a daily battlefield, I don’t think they can call their paycheck “the spoils of war”.

Abraham gave 10% of the spoils of war to Melchisedec. Then he gave the other 90% to the king of Sodom, keeping an unspecified amount of the plunder for his men.

Abraham didn’t want anyone to say that he had been made rich by the spoils of war or the kings he took it from, so he gave it all away.

This is contrary to what the church teaches: If you tithe, God will indeed bless your finances more.

If you are going to follow in Abaham’s footsteps on this one, you’d have to go kill you some kings, steal their stuff and then give ALL of it away.

Let us not forget to mention that while we are taught to tithe so that we will be blessed and not under a curse, Abraham wasn’t justified by his works. He was justified by believing God.

If we cannot be justified by the works of the law, then following the methods of Abraham and of the Levitical priesthood in tithing does not profit us through Abraham.

We are sons of Abraham by faith, not by works.

If you tithe because you believe God will bless your finances, you are boasting in your ability to keep one commandment of the law, while ignoring the rest if the law.

If you tithe because you believe God commands you to tithe, you are putting yourself under Old Covenant Law and are actually placing yourself under a curse.

You can’t perfectly fulfill all the requirements of the law, so trying to keep Levitical tithing isn’t going to earn you any blessing from it.

The tithe was always FOOD.

When you try and tithe money, you aren’t tithing the way that God commanded Israel to tithe.

It is often taught that the tithe should be based on the Gross Income that is pre-tax and not the Net Income.

Did you know that this is manipulatively designed to increase the amount of money received by the church and keep less money in your pockets?

If you receive $1200 Gross Income, the church will have you tithe $120. But after taxes and benefits, you might only have a Net Income of $700. Instead of asking you to tithe $70, the church asks you to tithe $120, effectively doubling the tax rate on your income and leaving you in the poorhouse.

In fact, the word “tithe” is defined as “a tax collected by the church or a religious sect”.

Pastors will argue that if no one tithed, the church doors could not stay open. The tithes pay for the utilities, fund the church’s operations, pay the property taxes and the salaries of those who work in the church both full and part-time.

Without tithing, the church would cease to operate.

That is a valid argument coming from a business.

Indeed, people do need to give in order for a church to operate.

Yet the church does not present tithing in this way.

Tithing is presented as a requirement of both God and scripture and one that brings along blessings to those that obey and curses to those who do not.

Some say that Jesus supported tithing.

Jesus recognized that the coinage of the time belonged to Caesar, not to God.

The only time Jesus mentions tithing, He also refers to it is FOOD and not Finances.

There is a part of tithing that mentions money in the Bible, but church pastors will rarely mention it to you.

This is saying that if you couldn’t travel to the place where tithes of food are to be offered, you can sell the livestock or the food and turn it into money. Then you can use that money to buy whatever you want and rejoice in the Lord, including alcohol.

Even if mentioned by a pastor, he would argue that your place of giving tithes (the church you frequent), is not too far to travel to.

Pastors that want to manipulate you into tithing will find many unsupportable reasonings to excuse their fleecing of the flock.

Tithes do support the work of churches, but they don’t always support the work of the Gospel.

Many churches are content to keep their paying members close and spend little or no effort training then up as disciples of Christ to go out and share the Gospel.

People are content to pay tithes for years in a church organization that feeds them spiritual baby food, while the church is taking their hard-earned grocery money.

How then are pastors and churches to survive without tithes?

If pastors and churches would just teach their people to give according to New Covenant giving, they wouldn’t have to lie and manipulate.

We should give out of the abundance of our love, but not out of manipulation or compulsion.

You can’t be a “cheerful giver” when you give out of fear and manipulation.

When you tithe money that you can’t afford to tithe and then your bills don’t get paid, it will actually lead you into anger against your pastor, your church and ultimately God.

I would present to you that tithing, just like Old Covenant Law, leads to sin.

I hope this teaching has blessed you, and I hope it has convinced you that God doesn’t want you to tithe, He wants you to give.

God doesn’t need you to give your money in order to bless you.

God honors your faith, not merely your finances.