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What have we, sons of God to
do with law? John Milton.
If any earthly institution or custom conflicts with God's
will, it is your Christian duty to oppose it … challenge
unjust mores to champion unpopular causes, and to back the
status quo. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
The laws that Christ amended and or abrogated were those
repugnant to equity, Justice and Easy compliance Samuel
Joshua.
You are welcome to the hard communication series of “The
early church” which is based on the principles of careful
research; journalistic ethnics of boldness and scriptural
commands of honesty and fearlessness, as our beloved Apostle
Paul, a legal luminary said, “pray also for me; that … words
maybe given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the
mystery of the gospel … pray that I may declare it
fearlessly as I should (Eph. 6:19-20 NIV).
Tithe: Collins shorter Dictionary and thesaurus defines it
as “tenth part of agricultural produce paid for the upkeep
of the clergy or as tax. Encyclopedia Britannica describes
tithe payment as being often under Ecclesiastical or legal
obligation.
Tithe's opposition brought about its obligation in France,
during the revolution in (1789); in Italy (1887). It was
abolished in Ireland at the disestablishment of the Anglican
Church in 1871. The Eastern orthodox churches never accepted
the idea of tithes and her members have never paid them.
Most German Christians withdrew from churches when the
government imposed church tax (tithe) on Christians only. In
Nigeria my country, church of Christ, Jehovah's witnesses,
never collected tithe; Qua Iboe church introduced it in late
90s amidst their factional fracas; and some members who
believed in the set doctrines of Rev. Samuel Bill vehemently
rejected tithing, describing it as an alien dogma, the
Catholic Church has tactically reintroduced tithing, though
being faced with few compliance.
Scripturally, Tithe means a tenth of field (Agricultural)
produce each year, e.g. grain olive oil, wine and strong
Drinks, first born of cattle, sheep or goat (Deu. 14:23,26;
Lev. 27:30; 2Chron. 31:5).
Is Tithe a law? The origin of tithing which is derived from
the word “tenth” meaning one tenth or ten percent (10%) was
first given by Abraham to the High Priest called
Melchizedek. This happened when Abraham returned from
victorious war, defeating kedorlaomer and the kings allies,
then, Melchizedek, king of Salem, welcomed Abraham with
bread and wine, and blessed him, Abraham in return gave him
a tenth of everything (the spoilage from war). Since then,
there has not been any recorded incidence of tithing. Tithe
was legalized by Moses on Gods command and was to be paid by
the Jews and not the gentiles. “A tenth of the produce of
the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the Lord and
must be set apart to him as holy … the Lord also owns every
tenth animal counted off from your herds and flocks … These
are the commands that the Lord gave to the Israelites
through Moses on mount Sanai (Leviticus 27:30-34 NLT). Other
readings are Deut. 12:6; Malachi 4:4 and Hebrews 7:5.
Why Malachi? It is a truism that laws of tithing was given
to Moses not Malachi. But after the rebuilding of the temple
of God and times of prosperity had not come, the Israelites
were suffering drought and famine while the pagan nations
prospered, and they responded with indifference and
spiritual lethargy. They had forgotten God and treated Him
with dishonour. Against such background Malachi, meaning “my
messenger” was written. From these analytical compendium
therefore, we can deduce the fact that people were paying
deceitful (false) tithe but not a tenth (10%) of their
agricultural produce. The interviews that I have conducted
among Christians of some money tithing denominations
unraveled a rather shocking truth that 90% of the supposedly
tithers are not paying the 10% of their income. It was based
on these difficulties in compliance that Christ died to
redeem us from the laws of tithe and animal offerings.
Tithe monetized? No! There is no account in the Bible that
suggests that tithe could be paid in cash as 10% of the
field produce equivalence.
In the case of redemption of tithe of fruits and grains, a
20% additional amount was to be paid, but tithe of animal
and heard cannot be redeemed (Lev. 27:30-34). Similarly, the
scripture states, “You must set aside a tithe of your crops
one tenth of all the crops you harvest each year … Now the
place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honoured
might be a long way from your home. If so, you may sell the
tithe portion of your crops and herds and take the money to
the place the Lord your God chooses. When you arrive, use
the money to buy anything you want an ox, a sheep some wine
or beer then feast there in the presence of the Lord your
God … And do not forget the Levites in your community”.
(Deut. 14:22-26 NLT). Why are Christians demanded to pay
tithe in cash? Is what you will ask church authority? Look
out for our next edition for continuation.  |
