Mar 19 2007
Has Malachi 3:10 Has Been Misinterpreted?
Dr. Kelly has some interesting insight in this article below. Let me know what you think and check out his website. He is a regular around here.
[From Dr. Kelly]
The âwholeâ tithe never was supposed to go to the Temple! According to Dr. Russell Earl Kelly in his book, Should the Church Teach Tithing?, the usual interpretation of Malachi 3:10âs âBring ye all the tithes into the storehouseâ is wrong for three reasons.
First, the Levitical cities must be included. God never told ordinary Israelites to bring the whole tithe to the Temple in Jerusalem. According to Nehemiah 10:38 that duty belonged to the Levites and priests. The Levites lived on borrowed land surrounding 48 cities. After the exile they lived in the 13 priestly cities in Judah such as Jericho and Hebron. Nehemiah 10:37b makes it clear that the people were to bring the tithes to those cities. Numb 18:21-24; 35 all; Josh 20, 21; 1st Chron 6:48-80; 2nd Chron 11:13, 14; 31:15-19; Neh 12:27-29; 13:10 and Mal 1:14.
Second, the correct interpretation of Malachi 3:10 must include the 24 courses of the Levites and priests. Only the older males ate tithes at the Temple and then normally only one week out of 24 weeks! Do the math! That is only 4% of the total work force! And with the wives and younger children staying at home it is only 2% of the total work force who needed to eat tithes in the Temple! 1 Chronicles, chapters 23-26; 28:13, 21; 2 Chron. 8:14; 23:8; 31:2, 15-19; 35:4, 5, 10; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 11:19, 30; 12:24; 13:9, 10; Luke 1:5.
Third, the word âyouâ of Malachi is referring to the dishonest priests and not the people: âEven this whole nation of you –priests.â In Nehemiah 13:5-10 the priests had clearly stolen the Levitesâ portion of the tithe. Also, in Malachi 1:14 the priests had stolen that portion of the tithed animals which they had vowed to God from their herds. Read all of Malachi. Godâs anger towards the priests and His curses on them are ignored by most interpreters (1:14; 2:2 and 3:2-4).
When the Levitical cities, the 24 courses and Godâs anger towards the priests for stealing are considered, then Malachi 3:10 only makes sense when it only refers to priests who had stolen from God. Proof-text hermeneutics cause error.
It makes no sense to tell the people to bring 100% of the tithe to the Temple when 98% of those who needed it for food were still in the Levitical cities.
russkellyphd@earthlink.net
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~russkellyphd/
SDA: http://www.homeearthlink.net/~russkellysdafile/
STUDY GROUP: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tithing-Study/
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14 responses so far
OH-OH… now u have done it!
Well this should drive up your hit count :>)
Churches are notoriously self-serving in their interpretation of the Bible. Storehouse titheing has long been the teaching of the church, because if they taught differently, they fear that there will not be enough money left over. What a shame it is that if we really love the Word of God and believe its true, we mis-interpret it in order to serve our own selfish desires. We selectively apply the Old Testament, when it serves our needs.
If we are New Testament believers, our giving should be based on generosity, a proportion of what we bring in, regularly supporting the work of the New Testament, and we give to those ministries that impact our lives the most, and give them double honor.
Great post, Kevin. If we practiced what the Bible really says, there would be plenty of money to go around for every ministry.
How would this relate to Abram giving his tithe to Melchizedek? Tithing predated the law of Moses and the tabernacle & temple.
I don’t know the answer, just asking!
Kevin,
Those are some interesting thoughts to consider. My Wed. night group just finished with Malachi last week. God really showed me something interesting in it.
Initially, the sign of their flippant attitudes toward God was shown by everyone who would bring diseased animals for sacrifice. Since everyone was required to do this in some fashion, I think limiting who ch. 3 is talking about is a possibility, but not a necessity.
Then Malachi talked about the marrying of people with foreign gods, highlighting their willingness to play all sides and worship multiple gods, committing spiritual adultery. Divorce was symptomatic of the overall spiritual unfaithfulness of the people, not just the Levites, who were leading by bad example. The people followed this leadership and adopted their practices, so it affected everyone.
All this described a people who were not willing to submit themselves or remain faithful to God. The tithe was only further evidence of a people who were not willing to give all of themselves over to God. Money and/or offerings (grains, wine) were often talked about by Jesus and others to highlight overall commitment to God. How we handle our finances–keep for ourselves v. willing to give or dedicate to God, is an important indicator of our overall spiritual health.
That isn’t particularly new, but God really hit me with this. In most places, Scripture talks about “Do not test the Lord, your God.” But here in Malachi, God says explicitly, “Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
God gives us permission to see how He will respond to a people who are fully submitted and devoted to Him. Now a problem that arises is when people interpret the return to be financial or material. The Health and Wealth people love it. However, God connected this passage in my head to one we had just looked at on Sunday night in James. “Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Perhaps one reason we are not experiencing great victory over Satan is that His people are not fully submitted to Him. We serve the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness cannot stand against it, in fact, Satan is afraid of God’s people being submitted to Him which is why he works so hard to cause division.
If however, God’s people were fully devoted to Christ, fully submitted to Him, even with their checkbook, and willing to test God on this–He promises to abundantly bless. Not bless materially, but with the advance of the Kingdom of Light–how that manifests itself is in changed lives. The abundance that we won’t have room for is people coming to have their lives submitted and devoted to God.
The goal of such testing, such submission, such blessing is evangelistic in nature. Malachi 3:12 says, “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.”
The intent of a fully devoted people, and a blessing from God is so “all nations will call you blessed”. They will see God at work. And when people see God’s blessing at work, they will want to get in on it. The Israelites were supposed to be a “light to the Gentiles” so all nations would come to the Temple to learn about, to know and worship God.
The tithe is supposed to be symbolic of a people fully devoted to God. Are the floodgates opened in God bringing people to your church? Do you have more room or not enough room for those God is reaching? Test Him, you have permission. Be a people fully devoted to God and see what He will do!
Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,
Kelly
According to this post, the church has been wrong for how long?
In answer to the question of your post, no.
Les
Why do we dwell on Abraham’s tithe? Read a few commentaries on 14:21 and you will discover that th e 90% was cntrolled by pagan Arab tradition. The early church grew by leaps and bounds and its motivators were women, sikduers and slaves who did not tithe. The secret? LIke early Baptists in the USA they were on fire for Jesus and wanted to see everybody saved.
For the following reasons, Genesis 14:20 cannot be used as an example for Christians to tithe. (1) The Bible does not say that Abraham “freely” gave this tithe. (2) Abrahamâs gift was NOT a holy tithe from Godâs holy land gathered by Godâs holy people under Godâs holy Old Covenant. (3) Abrahamâs tithe was only from pagan spoils of war and was required in many nations. (4) In Numbers 31, God only required 1% of spoils of war. (5) Abrahamâs tithe to Melchizedek was a one-time recorded event. (6) Abrahamâs tithe was not from his own personal property. (7) Abraham kept nothing for himself; he gave everything back. (8) Abrahamâs tithe is not quoted anywhere in the Bible to endorse tithing. (9) Genesis 14, verse 21, is the key text. Since most commentaries explain verse 21 as an example of pagan Arab tradition, it is contradictory to explain the 90% of verse 21 as pagan, while insisting that the 10% of verse 20 was Godâs will. (10) If Abraham is an example for Christians to give 10% to God, then he should also be an example for Christians to give the other 90% to Satan, or to the king of Sodom! (11) As priests themselves, neither Abraham nor Jacob had a Levitical priesthood to support; they probably left food for the poor at their altars.
I think it has. And many pastors will say behind closed doors that it has. This is another example of whom or what do you trust, as I have been posting, and perhaps this would be a good next installment.
But, truth be told, it all belongs to God and the real answer is that we should have our pocketbooks open and ready for God’s direction. Give to any who asks. Give to church. Give to missions. Give to the needy. Give to the widows. Give. Give. Give. Be like Jesus and give your life away.
Since the blog seems to have stopped, let me end it on a good note — the superior New Covenat method of giving. May God bless all of you.
Free-will giving existed before tithing. The following New Covenant free-will principles are found in Second Corinthians, chapters 8 and 9: (1) Giving is a “grace.â These chapters use the Greek word for “grace” eight times in reference to helping poor saints. (2) Give yourself to God first (8:5). (3) Give yourself to knowing Godâs will (8:5). (4) Give in response to Christâs gift (8:9; 9:15). (5) Give out of a sincere desire (8:8, 10, 12; 9:7). (6) Do not give because of any commandment (8:8, 10; 9:7). (7) Give beyond your ability (8:3, 11, 12). (8) Give to produce equality. This means that those who have more should give more in order to make up for the inability of those who cannot afford to give as much (8:12-14). (9) Give joyfully (8:2). (10) Give because you are growing spiritually (8:3, 4, 7). (11) Give because you want to continue growing spiritually (9:8, 10, 11). (12) Give because you are hearing the gospel preached (9:13).
I agree with Russ Kelly. He has some good insight for his book. It has taught me a lot. it is very deep in doctrine that cannot be refuted by any theologist. Most of the pro-tithing books out there are very shallow, and show no support for tithing. they throw out a few verses that convict us, but do not like to debate the topic openly because they have no where to run. http://churchtithesandofferings.com
In the New Testament our giving is tied in with God’s giving. God is not stingy. We shouldn’t be either. If the law required 10% what will grace do? Grace never does less than the law. I’ve often found that those who oppose tithing do so because they want to find the loophole that allows them to give less, not more. Grace, however, always goes above and beyond.
Sounds good, but what if you are disbled and/or are spending $6000 to $8000 a month to keep a mother or father alive in a nursing home or hospice?
The Law never required everybody to begin theri giving level at 10% That is a great fallacy being preached from our pulpits today and everybody repeats it as if it were written in stone. The poor were never required to tithe because they did not own property for farms and herds. the poor RECEIVED much of the second tithe and all of the third tithe. Within a few generations of giving the firstborn a double portion most of the landowners wwre pushed into working as day-laborers for their relatives or else moving to the cities and taking up trades which were not required to tithe. That is historical fact.
Even the great SBC hitorians, Robert Baker and H E Dana, along with every other church’s historians, very plainly say that the early church pastors were self-supporting for almost 300 years. They gloried in extreme asceticism where poverty was godliness.
I am all for giving more than 10% if you have it and don’t pay more for cell-phones and cable television than you give to church. However, I am just as strongly oppoosed to pushing people out of the church with guilt feelings and curses becasue they must take care of family necessities according to 1 Tim 5:8.
yes is old testament stuff
Churches like “Christian Tithing” because they can get a lot of money from people- up to 10% from each member’s income.
Rich Christians like it because giving 10% lets them spend the rest on selfishness.
The only people who don’t like “Christian Tithing” are poor Christians who can’t afford it, and those who get their doctrine from the Bible (since the “Christian Tithe” is unbiblical.)
I haven’t seen any serious debate regarding Dr. Kelly’s book against titing. The Christian Tithe teachers have no where to go but run, apparently, when confronted with Scripture in it’s context and hermeneutically discussed correctly.
…Bernie