tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049231102140407325.post8732850490260423158..comments2021-07-05T11:19:35.748-04:00Comments on Revive!: JOURNEY 201¦1 PLANNING pt. 2Zenobia Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06969149632994864571noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049231102140407325.post-46354846773482883992011-02-16T16:26:20.717-05:002011-02-16T16:26:20.717-05:00Gary, Thank you so much for your feedback! You rai...Gary, Thank you so much for your feedback! You raise some interesting points regarding tithing. The subject of material tithing is a discussion that can be very detailed. The intent of this particular post, however, was to emphasize the importance of our putting God first in our day and in our lives. If you would like to discuss material/financial tithing in more detail, please post a comment with your email address and I would be happy to contact you directly. All comments are moderated by me prior to them being posted to the page – therefore your email address will not be made public. Thanks again and God bless you!Zenobia Wisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06969149632994864571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049231102140407325.post-33281644872544608492011-02-16T12:48:22.483-05:002011-02-16T12:48:22.483-05:00Let’s look at Malachi 3. First, who is God speakin...Let’s look at Malachi 3. First, who is God speaking to – the priests or the people?<br />We need to study the entire Book of Malachi rather than take a few verses out of context.<br /><br />By the time we get to verse 6 in chapter 1, we see it is the priests that are being addressed at that point.<br /><br />In both chapters 1 and 2 of Malachi there is a conversation going on between God and the priests. Every time the word "you" is used, it is referring to the priests. Chapter 3 continues with this conversation. In verse 5 God says "And I will come near to you to judgment….." In the Old Testament, during this period of time and generally speaking, only the priests could get near to God. It is only in the New Testament that born again believers, you and I, can get close to God. So up to chapter 3 verse 5, God is speaking to the priests. The word "you" is still referring to the priests. There is nothing in the scripture to indicate this changes when you get to verse 8. But that's not all.<br /><br />Read Numbers 18:29-30 and then read Malachi 1:14. Those verses explain robbing God of the offerings. The PRIESTS, not the people, robbed God of the offering by giving to God the worst instead of the best.<br /><br />In Nehemiah 13 we are told that the priests stole the Levites portion of the tithe; therefore, they had no food to eat at the temple, and they went back to their own fields.<br /><br />Therefore, taking the Levites portion of the tithe is the robbing God of the tithe. Or to put it another way, THE LEVITES WERE ROBBED. God said He was robbed because the tithe was not taken where God directed.<br /><br />Next, in Malachi 3:10 God says to bring all the tithes to the storehouse. The people took the tithes to the Levites who lived in the Levitical cities, not to the temple. The Levites took the required tithe of the tithe to the temple. (See Nehemiah 10:37-38) Only those tithes ever made it to the temple. The priests then took those tithes to the storehouse. It only makes sense if God is speaking to the priests in this verse.<br /><br />Since in Numbers 18 God makes it perfectly clear that the tithe belongs to Him, and He gave it to the Levites, anyone who takes God’s tithe to their local church must also be robbing God since the Levites are not the ones getting it.<br /><br />I see no way around this. Either the tithe ended per Hebrews 7:18, OR those who take God’s tithe to their local church must be robbing God since God gave clear instructions where to take His tithe. There is nothing in God’s Word to show that God ever changed those instructions. Therefore, the only conclusion I can reach is that taking a tithe to your local church is NOT paying the tithe to God. It is giving it to man. Nowhere in God’s Word does He give permission for the Christian Church to receive His tithe.<br /><br />Therefore, IT IS A SIN AGAINST GOD to take God’s tithe to your local church. IT IS A SIN for any pastor to accept God’s tithe.Gary Arnoldhttp://www.TithingToday.comnoreply@blogger.com