Facts About Tithe and Offering You Should Know

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Anchor Scripture: Mal 3:6-12

The practice of tithe paying is as old as the scriptures themselves. In Genesis 14:20, Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, king of Salem at his return from his defeat of Chedorlaomer, and the four kings in confederation with him. Abraham gave him tithes of all. Jacob also paid tithes (Gen 28:22). Lev.27:30-32 ordained tithing whether of the fruit of the tree, etc is the Lord’s. The tithe is holy unto the Lord. Touching it is touching a holy thing. The doctrine of tithes and its principles is timeless. Tithing is not just an Old Testament doctrine or practice. It is for every child of God in every age and dispensation. It was neither instituted for the dispensation of the law nor terminated under the dispensation of grace. It was neither given by Moses nor abolished by Jesus Christ (Matt 23:23). Do you want to know whether it is biblical for a Christian to pay tithe or not? This post will provide Facts About Tithe and Offering you should know from biblical perspective.

WHAT IS TITHE?

A tithe is one-tenth of your income or production. 10% of your income or produce belongs to God. If you are a civil servant, business owner, or self-employed person who earns a definite amount of money as salary or wages, that’s your income and 10% of that your income is your tithe. There are people whose income comes daily, weekly, monthly, or annually, whatever time it comes it doesn’t matter. Every income God gives to you, He requires 10% of it from your hands as tithe. If you are a farmer, manufacturer, or producer, whatever you are producing, 10% of it is your tithe. Of all that God gives to you, He reserves a tithe of it as His portion. God is not greedy. He gave you ten portions and reserved just one portion for Himself as tithe. Unfortunately, many people take their nine portions and still steal that only one portion God reserved for Himself. God sees any covenant child of God who doesn’t pay his tithe as a thief or a robber.

TO WHOM DO WE PAY OUR TITHE?

To the Levites or Pastors or other true Servants of God who feed and nurture you spiritually- Num 18:20-21, Deut 14:27-29.

To the temple or church where you are being fed spiritually- 2 Chron 31:5-12, Neh 10:37-40.

To the poor every third year- Deut 14:28

NOTE: Though we pay our tithes to the servants of God here on earth, it is Jesus Christ Himself who receives our tithe in Heaven. We are not paying tithe to man but God (Heb 7:8).

THE PURPOSE OF TITHE

There are many good reasons why God instituted the covenant of tithing. Some of them are:

To make God first in your life- Deut 14:23.

So that Servants of God can be provided for Deut 14:29

So that the work of God can progress.

So you can receive God’s blessings- Mal 3:10-12.

EFFECTS OF NOT PAYING TITHE

No one can outsmart God. You cannot steal from God whose eyes scan to and fro the whole earth and won’t get caught. The all-seeing eyes of God are seeing you. Some of the effects of not paying tithe are:

A. You rob God when you don’t pay tithe- Mal 3:8.

B. You receive curses from God- Mal 3:9

The windows of heaven are closed against you- Mal 3:10

C. Things can become tight for you when you don’t pay tithe to God.

D. The tithe you refuse to pay can also affect the success and resources of your children- Heb 7:4-10

The tithe is your civil and spiritual obligation to the kingdom of God. It should be your covenant practice if you want to enjoy divine prosperity as a child of God. Failure to pay your tithe for whatever reason makes you a robber or thief before God. Please understand that when you pay your tithe, you didn't give your money to your pastor to cook a new pot of soup. Pastors receive the tithe here on the earth on behalf of God, but up there in heaven, Jesus Christ is the person who eats the tithe of the Saints (Heb 7:8). Receive grace to become a faithful tither in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Offering, Vows and Pledge

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There are different types of giving in the kingdom of God and each one has its covenant blessings. When you give your tithe and don’t give an offering, you will only get the blessing of tithing but that of the offering will go to those who participated in it. Your tithe cannot take the place of the offering; neither will your offering take the place of the tithe. That’s why the Bible gave a prominent place for each of them. As you can see from the bible, tithe and offering are not written in the same book, chapter, or verse of the bible. They are two different things. Someone who doesn’t understand giving will just give his tithe and think he has given everything. In this post, we shall briefly consider two types of giving namely offering and vows.

WHAT IS AN OFFERING?

An offering is anything given to God as a present or gift to appreciate His goodness and mercy upon your life and family. It can be money, house, land, car, fruits, animal or your life, time, talent or energy. Since people are willing to give to God, it is important to note that God does not accept an offering from everybody. Cain and Abel gave an offering to God, He accepted Abel’s offering and rejected the offering of Cain. God does not accept the offering from a reprobate sinner who has a wicked heart. God values the heart more than what the hand is giving to Him. If there is any evil in your heart, God won’t accept the offering in your hand. He prefers obedience to His word more than your offering of sacrifice. Secondly, if your offering will please God, it must be good, presentable, and honorable before God and man. You can’t give God spoilt and useless gifts and expect Him to accept them. The offering that God will accept is your best. Is it right to give offerings in church or other Christian meetings? The answer is YES. God demands offerings (Read Prov 3:9-10, Malachi 1:13-14, Mal 3:8).

3 Kinds of Offerings

FREE-WILL OFFERING

This type of offering requires that you choose by yourself the quality and quantity of what you want to give. You are not under compulsion to give what you cannot afford. Your free-will offering must be given with a cheerful heart. If you give grudgingly God will never accept it. (See Exodus 25:1-2, 2 Cor 9:6-8).

SACRIFICIAL OFFERING

This is the type of offering you give to avert danger or stop an evil that is already in progress in your life, family, community, or nation. When you have prayed, fasted, confessed the word and nothing happened; the only thing to do to open the doors of heaven in times of trouble is to give a sacrificial offering to God. A sacrificial offering is not your normal church offering. It is that kind of offering that costs you something. The value of the offering is what makes it sacrificial. Until your offering is sacrificial, it cannot be beneficial (See Prov 13:8, 2 Samuel 24:24).

PROPHET’S OFFERING

Prophet's offering is the kind of offering you give to the servant of God to enable him to take care of certain needs in his life, ministry, and family. It may be in cash or other material things. You don’t need to publicize it everywhere you go that you gave this and that to your man of God. You should never expect your Prophet to worship you or ignore to discipline you when you derail from the right path simply because you gave him an offering. Always know that whatever you give to a servant of God, it is the Lord you gave it to (Matt 10:41-42, 1 kings 17:8-16).

WHAT IS A VOW OR PLEDGE?

A vow or a pledge is a solemn religious promise or agreement made either secretly or publicly to do or give something to God or the church.

Facts to know about vows are:

A. Vows are made when someone is in trouble or has a serious problem and wants to invite God to solve the problem. He vows to do something in return if God helps him. (Read Gen 28:20-22, Judges 11:29-40, I Samuel 1:9-11, 19-28, Psalm 66:13)

B. Vows cannot be changed- Lev 27:9-10, Psalm 15:14b.

C. Vows can be made either by giving of the individual or property- Numbers 6:1-4, Lev 27:1-10.

D. Vows must be paid promptly- Deut 23:21-23, Psalm 76:11-12, Eccl 5:4-7.

CONCLUSION

We must make effort to be part of the church by participating in paying tithes, offerings, and vows or pledges because the blessings and favor of God follow those who do so. Do you know any other facts about tithe and offering in the Scriptures that ought to be here which I omitted? Kindly use the comment section and let us know your opinion or suggestions.

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