Comments on: To Tithe or Not To Tithe? https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/ United For The Gospel Tue, 13 Dec 2022 15:11:19 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 By: Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/#comment-425 Mon, 21 Mar 2016 23:56:50 +0000 https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/#comment-425 Hey Tony / Elite in Christ (are you also Isaac? Do pardon me). I’ve read your articles you shared and others on your blog — very insightful, Thx! I learnt a lot reading your posts. As you noted the Levites (who were dedicated to service of God and worship in Israel as an occupation) were required to tithe on the tithe they received from their brethren the Israelites. You’ll also recall Jesus’ rebuke to the Pharisees (who were teachers of the law as an occupation) — they did tithe on spices and neglected the weightier matters of the law. Based on these, therefore, although I completely agree with you in principle on the place of the tithe in the New Testament, I only disagreed with the statement that only farmers were required to tithe in Israel. Of course this is a minor point on which we may differ — but I am glad that we are on the same side as far as the Biblical teaching on tithing as it relates to the NT believer is concerned. God Bless you my friend, and let’s keep being faithful to the Scriptures and to the cause of God and Truth.

]]> By: Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/#comment-424 Thu, 25 Feb 2016 14:26:09 +0000 https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/#comment-424 In reply to eliteinchrist.

Thx Isaac. You made me smile there — I know that feeling– Not to worry, as long as we stick to the Bible, nothing else matters. I’ll dig into your articles and revert pls. Thx again Brother. GodBless

]]> By: eliteinchrist https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/#comment-423 Thu, 25 Feb 2016 10:10:54 +0000 https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/#comment-423 In reply to Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko.

Hi Ebenezer,

I truly appreciate your gracious response, most usually attack me first. It will probably be easier to post articles I have written before:
https://eliteinchrist.wordpress.com/2014/06/24/alas-here-is-something-i-really-didnt-understand/
https://eliteinchrist.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/yet-another-tithe-entry/
https://eliteinchrist.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/what-is-the-biblical-tithe/

Please let me know your thoughts on what I have posted.

Thanks

Tony

]]> By: Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/#comment-422 Tue, 23 Feb 2016 10:02:48 +0000 https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/#comment-422 In reply to eliteinchrist.

Thanks for your comment, ‘EliteinChrist’ – I completely agree with you — giving in the NT is on an entirely new level, as we can see from the teachings of our Lord and the apostles. I’m however curious to know your scriptural support for the assertion that tithing in Israel was restricted to farmers?
Godbless

]]> By: eliteinchrist https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/#comment-421 Fri, 19 Feb 2016 14:05:59 +0000 https://tgnghana.org/to-tithe-or-not-to-tithe/#comment-421 I like what you’ve written to be honest but it appears we still want to define our giving in terms of the Old Testament tithe; this, methinks is rather impossible to do. And here is why.

The tithe was deeply entrenched in the Old Testament law and had the rest of the law as its dependents, it could not be isolated from the rest of the law. One could not give a tithe without being circumcised, one could not be circumcised without observing the Sabbath and so one. Hence Paul mentioned the breaking one of the laws was tantamount to breaking all of them.

The tithe in itself was not the standard of giving in the Old Testament as it wasn’t required from every Israelite, only the farmers were commanded to tithe their agricultural produce and livestock. And its sole purpose was not just to cater for the Levites but also to fund the tithe feasts and feed the poor, widows, foreigners etc. Also, there were 3 different kinds of tithe required at different times of a 6 year cycle. In the 7th year following, no tithes were given and no one was allowed to cultivate the land.
Thus from scripture, we see that the biblical tithe was the tenth part of agricultural produce and livestock alone from the land of Israel. This makes it completely impossible to try and define New Testament giving in terms of the Old Testament tithe. It can neither be the starting point nor the ceiling.

For us in the New Testament our giving is considered according to what we can afford and will be accepted as long as it has been given willingly and cheerfully. No absolute minimum is even remotely hinted.
God bless

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