The Tithe vs. The Offereing
A good place to start is to explain what the difference is between a tithe and an offering. An offering is when you give something for no other reason than you just simply want to. You don't expect anything back or any kind of favor or blessing, you just feel like you want to give it. The offereing does not have to always be money, it can be free labor, your time, advise or anything you may have to offer.
Many people refer to the time when Abram rescued Lot in Genisis 14 and gave a tenth of the spoils of war to the priest Melchizedek as the first tithe. This was not a tithe, it was an offerring. This happened a long time before the law and the command to tithe came about. There was no obligation for Abram to give anything, let alone 10%. If you are not familiar with the story you can click here to listen to it.
When you give an offering to God, it is offered for no other reason other than you want to help with God's work going forward. There is no limit or what you can offer or how much you can offer. There is absolutely nothing worg with offering 10% or more of your income, but this is not a tithe, it is an offering and you are not commanded to do so.
A tithe is something totally different. The command to tithe in the bible is very specific. there are 2 different types of tithe in the bible and both times God tells us what to tithe, who to tithe it to, what the responcibilities are of the ones who collect the tithe and what they are supposed to do with the tithe.
These different types of tithes are found in different places in the bible. The tithe in Leviticus 27 is the tithe mostly preached by pastors and for some reason instead of teaching this tithe from Leviticus 27 thay will pull one verse out of Malachi 3. They won't even teach the whole chapter of Malachi 3 but instead just read verse 10. Doing this is actaully taking verse 10 out of context since Malachi 3 is not a chapter about tithing. It is a chapter about the need for a new covenant between man and God. Malachi 3 does not tell us anything about how God defines a tithe, it just tells us that back in the old testament not all the Israelites were not doing it.
Many people refer to the time when Abram rescued Lot in Genisis 14 and gave a tenth of the spoils of war to the priest Melchizedek as the first tithe. This was not a tithe, it was an offerring. This happened a long time before the law and the command to tithe came about. There was no obligation for Abram to give anything, let alone 10%. If you are not familiar with the story you can click here to listen to it.
When you give an offering to God, it is offered for no other reason other than you want to help with God's work going forward. There is no limit or what you can offer or how much you can offer. There is absolutely nothing worg with offering 10% or more of your income, but this is not a tithe, it is an offering and you are not commanded to do so.
A tithe is something totally different. The command to tithe in the bible is very specific. there are 2 different types of tithe in the bible and both times God tells us what to tithe, who to tithe it to, what the responcibilities are of the ones who collect the tithe and what they are supposed to do with the tithe.
These different types of tithes are found in different places in the bible. The tithe in Leviticus 27 is the tithe mostly preached by pastors and for some reason instead of teaching this tithe from Leviticus 27 thay will pull one verse out of Malachi 3. They won't even teach the whole chapter of Malachi 3 but instead just read verse 10. Doing this is actaully taking verse 10 out of context since Malachi 3 is not a chapter about tithing. It is a chapter about the need for a new covenant between man and God. Malachi 3 does not tell us anything about how God defines a tithe, it just tells us that back in the old testament not all the Israelites were not doing it.
The second of the 2 types of tithe can be found in Deuteronomy 14 and is completely different from the tithe in Leviticus. In Deuteronomy the tithe is acually a feast with God as the guest of honor. This tithe is not given to the pastors or anyone in the church leadership but instead it is given to your family and shared with others including the fatherless, homeless, widows, etc. Money is specifically mention in this command and it is only used as a way to get the food for the feast to the place that the feast is to take place. Money is not given to any one unless you are buying food from them.