What is funny while people are going around checking spelling I have the gift of study and understanding... You give all your money to a person believing that God said do it... You know what Im speaking of... tithing. You see its a lack of understanding on your part... Lets find out... In Malachi 3:9-10. Malachi 3:9.... You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, said the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Many preachers have used those verses for making people believe that if they give money to the preacher, they will be “blessed”, and that if they do not, they will be “cursed”. When one makes a closer analysis of this matter, one will notice that those preachers fail to mention certain things, such as these: The word “you” in Malachi 3:9-10 refers to ancient Israelites who lived in the Promised Land. The tithe (which those verses refer to) was not on wages or money. It was only on the agricultural produce of the Promised Land (Canaan). The tithe-system was a part of the Old Covenant. Even though the book of Malachi contains certain prophecies regarding future times and events, the facts remain that the message recorded in Malachi 3:9-10 was written to and regarding the ancient Israelites, in the days of the Old Covenant, and, the whole matter was connected to the agricultural produce of the Promised Land (Canaan). In short: Malachi 3:9-10 has nothing to do with things or people of our day. You see how just one word YOU eluded YOU... What about Matthew 23:23? Did Jesus teach tithing? In Matthew 23:23 sometimes claiming (or causing people to believe) that Jesus “commended the Pharisees for their tithing”. Instead of staring at some translation of that single verse, one must read all of that chapter, in order to get an overview. Those who carefully study all of Matthew 23 as well as related passages, will see that Jesus castigated the Pharisees, and said that their teachings were deadly, and that they caused their own disciples to be bound for gehenna. He said that the Pharisees closed people out from the Reign of Heaven. Several times, he condemned the Pharisees and warned people about their poisonous teachings. Verse 23, where the tithe is mentioned, is not different from the context. We read: Matthew 23:23 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you make men give a tenth of all sorts of sweet-smelling plants... Before studying verse 23 and its translation in more detail, let us first make a small side-tour, for the purpose of considering the “seat of Moses” matter in that same chapter. For, some have claimed that Jesus supposedly upheld the Pharisees or their “authority”. Matthew 23:2 saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses Some bible-versions have, “the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat”, but that is misleading. The Greek text states that the Pharisees had “seated themselves” that is, they acted as if they had some “seat of Moses”. They did not have any such “seat”, of course. There was only the first Moses, and then Jesus the “second Moses”. There was no “chain” of Moses-figures between them. That verse begins with the words “a curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees”. Lets look at the Greek verb apodekatoô, “to tenth”. The translation has, “you make men give a tenth”. The verb apodekatoô was used of the act of setting aside a tithe (the farmer did that), and it was also used of the act of receiving support through the tithe system. How was that word meant and used, in the case of Matthew 23:23? In other words, did the Pharisees set aside a tithe, or were they merely controlling that other people did that? Again, the tithe was only on agricultural products, and it was the farmer who was to set aside the tithe, not the consumer. Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, actors! For, you exact a tithe of mint and dill and cummin but leave aside the weightier things of the Law: Justice, mercy and faith. It is those things you should have done, instead of leaving them aside.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 07:19:35 +0000
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