By: Pst Daniel Phaladi. Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 1

Transcription

1 By: Pst Daniel Phaladi Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 1

2 TITHING I wrote on this subject 2 years ago, and when I re-visited my sermon notes today, I realize I had done great injustice to this VERY important topic that has caused so much confusion, division, pain and agony in the body of Christ. Now I would like to tackle it head on..once AND FOR ALL Fasten your seat belts. Almost everyday I get a private message in my inbox, different brothers and sisters asking me to address the issue of Tithing. Many will say, is there Tithing in the new testament, are we supposed to tithe are we not supposed to Tithe. Some will ask, Pastor can someone get saved and go to heaven if they don t tithe? I do not like jumping and talking about things until I have thoroughly searched the scriptures and the heart of the Holy Spirit to find out how to tackle a certain issue. Tithing is about money.., so I know even people that normally complain about my articles being long, they will read this article to the very end! Now, let me say this outright before we even start unpacking things. Many churches have sought to make tithing a salvation issue., lets make this clear..,tithing is NOT a salvation issue, it never was and never will be. Ephesians 2:8-9 8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house, Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 2

3 John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. Now, it is very clear from the above few scriptures as well as many other scriptures too numerous to mention that salvation is not linked to tithing or any part of the law. Salvation is attained by BELIEVING ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. The Lord Jesus Christ died next to a criminal who was sentenced to death. Just before the thief died he said to Jesus, Lord remember me in Paradise. The reason the thief called Jesus Lord, was because he had a revelation of the deity of Christ right there on the cross. While the Pharisees, the scribes and the saduceees were arguing in the their theology schools where to place Christ the Messiah, there was a thief Lord, Remember me..,the things of God truly are amazing, and Jesus replied.., Today you will be with me in paradise. Jesus never said, yes, I know you call me Lord, but you have never paid your tithes, sorry, you can t be saved....the minute this thief believed on the Lord, he was completely saved. There is no one in the Bible that got born again or saved because they paid their tithes and no one lost their salvation because they didn t pay their tithes. That is why I will never believe these fear-based hell testimonies from Sierra Leone, given by women wearing head scarf saying, Jesus told them if they don t wear head scarfs and if they don t pay tithes they go to hell, they can go deceive someone else with their gospel of fear. Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 3

4 Now, that we have the SALVATION part of tithing is out of the way, let us move on to something deeper. THE BEGINNING OF TITHING The first time we hear of anyone paying a tenth in the Bible was Abraham. When Abraham came from war with the spoils he had taken from war, he met the King of Salem, Melchizedek, and Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils of war to Melchizedek. Why did Abraham give 10% not 12% or 20%. That is because, Abraham DID NOT INVENT tithing. Abraham did what was the practice at the time. In ancient Mesopotamia, they had a practice of Tithing that precedes Abraham, they had a practice of giving the 10% of their agriculture produce not just to their temples, it was also given to Kings as TAX. So when Abraham met Melchizedek who was a King, it was definitely customary for Abraham to give Him 10% of the spoils of war. Abraham never paid to Melchizedek 10% out of his personal belongings, this was not an annual practice Abraham did, it was a once of, he had gone to war, got the spoils, and gave a tithe of which he had took from war. We do not hear of any law of tithing from God before this time, telling Abraham to tithe. The Lord had appeared to Abraham before this, God never told Abraham of Tithing, he told him to leave the Land of his fathers and God promised to make him a great nation. God gave Abraham a covenant of circumcision, promised him a Son, etc, but never told him to Tithe, so when Abraham gave Melchizedek tithing, it was because of the prevailing practice at that time, The Mesopotamian Tithe of giving 10% to kings. We see Jacob also promising God of his tenth, if the Lord will give him food and clothes bring him back safely to his fathers house. Genesis 28:20. Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 4

5 Why did Jacob say 10%. why not 24%, it was customary and an established practice at that time. So now that the hype and the twisting of truth about the Abrahamic tithe is out of the way we continue!! When God instituted tithing, it came as a LAW! The Law of tithing appears in the following books. Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Tithing in the LAW is a bit complex and it was divided into different types of Tithes. The first tithe was giving of one tenth of agricultural produce after giving what in Hebrew is referred to as the Terumah to the Levite or Aaronic priests. On years one, two, four and five of the 7 year cycle, God commanded the children to take a second tithe that was to be brought to the place of the temple (Deuteronomy 14:23). The owner of the produce was to separate and bring 10% of his finished produce to Jerusalem after separating the Terumah and the first tithe. In years three and six of the 7 year-cycle the Israelites set aside the (second) tithe instead as the tithe of the poor, and it was given to the strangers, orphans, and widows. The Levites were descendants of Levi. They were assistants to the Aaronic priests and did not own or inherit a territorial land (Numbers 18:21-28). Their function in Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 5

6 society was that of temple functionaries, teachers and trusted civil servants who supervised the weights and scales and witnessed agreements. The goods donated from the other Israeli tribes were their source of sustenance. They received from "all Israel" a tithe of food or livestock for support, and in turn would set aside a tenth portion of that tithe known as the tithe of tithes for the Aaronic priests. (In Hebrew its called Terumat Hamaaser). Now let me make it CLEAR right now before we even continue. There is no Church in the world that practices tithes as per the Levitical Law. Nada. Zilch. Zero. First of all, the minute you bring money into the picture it is no longer a tithe as stipulated in the Mosaic Law. God never asked for money in the Levitical Law of tithing, it was agricultural produce. I don t even think that churches would like to implement the levitical law. Or If you are brave, just try to bring to your church a 10% of Tomatoes you grew in your garden, lets see what papa does..hehehe!!! WHAT IS DEUTERONOMY??? The WORD Deu, means TWO. Deuteronomy is the book of 2 LAWS. What does this mean. You see, before the Lord Jesus Christ came, We had the Law of Blessings and the Law of Curses. Let me give you example, let us go to Deuteronomy 28:9The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 6

7 15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. You see, its very simple in the book of Deuteronomy, If you do this, you are blessed, if you don t, you are CURSED!! CURSED going in, and CURSED going out. We know that Christ came and became a curse for us. We can no longer speak of curses in the new covenant because of breaking the Law. Galatians 3:10-13 says.. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them. [e] 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith. [f] 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. [g] 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree [h]), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. So now it is absolute heresy for anyone to pronounce curses upon you because you did not fulfill any part of the Law. If any one tells you that you are cursed because Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 7

8 you did not fulfill anything in the Law, tell them, The Bible says for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, but I am not under the works of the Law, because I am a new creation in the finished works of Christ! MALACHI 3 TITHING Now comes the most famous verse in the Bible. Malachi 3. Let us put all of it here, because the chances are, you might hear it in church this Sunday. Malachi 3: Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith 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. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. We can see that this MALACHI Tithing starts with the pronunciation of a Curse. The minute you see Curses you know we are back in the Book of Deuteronomy, we are back in the book of the two laws, we are back in the Old Testament LAW!! Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 8

9 Why pastors, why? Why prophets why? Why Evangelists, Teachers, Apostles are we reading God s people Malachi 3 which has no way of applying to them even remotely? First of all, even if they wanted to keep the tithe according to Levitical Law, they are GOING to fail. First of all, you are not even of the Tribe of Levi. Your surname is Obasanjo, you are live in Imo States, Nigeria, your surname is Dlamini, you living in Kwazulu Natal, your surname is Moilakgaka, you live in Gaborone Botswana, yet, you have somehow found yourself to be a Levite..hehe, you have found yourself in the old testament, you even have the courage to pronounce BLESSINGS AND CURSES (Two Laws) upon your congregants. You pronounce blessings to the ones that pay tithes and curses to the ones that don t. I remember in my previous church, one day when I was attending the Pretoria branch, I heard the pastor said.., God bless those who pay tithes and curse those who don t. I nearly choked. What type of a gospel is this. You cannot have a Hybrid gospel. A mixture of Grace and Law. You cant pick and choose which laws you like and carry them over from the old testament, and then say you are saved by grace!! Paul says you shall be called an adulterer, because you are married to Grace but you are busy flirting with the Law. Sending the Law a please call me each time you need to syphon money out of people!! THE NEW COVENANT Luke 11:42, Jesus says, But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 9

10 Jesus tells the Pharisees that they have paid tithes of mint and rue. But listen, Jesus says THESE OUGHT THEY TO HAVE DONE, but they should have also not forgotten love, judgment, ect. Why does Jesus say, they OUGHT to have done the tithing? We have to ask ourselves, who was Jesus talking to? He was talking to the Pharisees. Were the Pharisees under the new covenant or the old covenant? They were under the Law of Moses therefore under a curse. That is why Jesus tells them that there is no way for them to escape hell. Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? After they had paid tithe of mint and rue, there they find themselves in hell. If tithe did not get Pharisees to heaven what makes you think it can get you to heaven?? Let us find the following verses Mark 12:41-44 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. So, Jesus Christ saw a widow putting a farthing in the offering, many people don t know how much a farthing is so I will tell you.., You have one cent right, long ago Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 10

11 we used to have half a cent. Before my time there was a quarter cent. Now a farting is half of a quarter cent. In Mathematics we would say a fathing is 1\8 of one cent. 8 farthings make up one cent. Ok, now at least we get to understand how much this widow offered. But her offering touched the heart of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!! You see, Jesus stood up and praised that woman, for tithing 1\8 cent. How DIFFERENT from our modern churches. Where only people who give the most money are made to stand in the front. Only people that give the pastor/prophet/bishop/apostle cars, houses, boats are made to stand in the front, to sit with him in the front isles.., and are the ones receiving the most blessings. It was not so in the times of Jesus. Jesus said this woman gave ALL her LIVING!! She did not give because she had, she gave ALL SHE HAD. What the above verses tells us is that, in the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit dispensation, giving is no longer a matter of LAW, but it is a matter of a RELATIONSHIP with God. Giving is no longer based on a law but it is based on our LOVE for God. That is why I really do not like it when we modern preachers change the intention of Giving because of our own selfish motives. I have heard behind many pulpits preachers saying that "you will get an accident if you dont pay", pay money and God will protect your house..what? Who do you think God is? A local security guard? Pay me R1000 I will make sure your house is save this month!! Pay tithes and no witches will come to your house.., really?? Sometimes I get so personally upset with the way preachers have misrepresented the Gospel to the gullible masses. Now people are giving out of guilt, out of fear! Even worse, people Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 11

12 are made to feel so worthless when they have not paid, some have even stopped going to churches. Which has really destroyed the very intention of why God desired people to give. The Lord wants everything done for LOVE by LOVE! This is a LOVE Gospel, the minute you take LOVE out of it, please don t give it to me..you have changed its fabric. Why should I make you give out of fear and guilt so that I can drive a Porsche?? No wonder these days, I walk around, and people are angry with God. You ask, why are you so upset with God, they will tell you.. I paid tithes every month, but now I am retrenched. I paid tithe every month, now my business has gone down.! They talking as if God owes them, because some man behind the pulpit has TWISTED the word to the masses who do not even know that Jesus himself could not take tithes because he was NOT a LEVITE!! The masses are angry at God because we have misrepresented Grace, we have misrepresented the heart of the father. We have created this money loving God who blesses the heavy tithers and curses the rest of the people. No wonder because of this fallacy and heresy that has been taught in the church, we then have given room to false prophets to COMPLETELY exploit the situation and steal the money from the most gullible, because the one who pays more will get more blessings. Now people have stopped praying, many have lost faith in the church system, not because of God, because of us, greedy so called men of God, Let me tell you right here right now..god doesn t owe NOBODY NOTHING!! God can save the worst Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 12

13 sinner that never set a foot in church and died in the street of Hillbrow, and God can take the most religious payer to hell. PRACTICES IN THE EARLY CHURCH In the book of Acts, we read that the early believers were not paying tithes, but what they did is, they sold everything they had and gave to feet of the Apostles. We read of an unfortunate instance of Annanias and his wife Sapphira who sold their land and lied that they will only give a portion of their money to the feet of the Apostles. We know what happened to both of them. Truth is, they had no obligation to pay anything. They could have simply told the Apostles, we sold the land for so much and we are keeping a portion of the money for future uses, but the problem was that they LIED. Or they could have simply kept their land, and continue with their lives, they were under no obligation to sell their land and give to the apostles. Hebrews 7:11-18 says.. listen very carefully 4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5 Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people that is, from their fellow Israelites even though they also are descended from Abraham.6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor. Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 13

14 11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah,and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.17 For it is declared: You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. [a] 18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. Listen to what Paul says, when the Priesthood is changed, THE LAW MUST BE CHANGED ALSO. Wow!! There really is no confusion in the Bible. And lastly verse 18, the former regulation (tithe) is set aside because it was WEAK AND USELESS!! So, in the new covenant we are not talking about paying anything to attain blessings or lack of payment to be cursed, we are now introduced to a higher dimension, GIVING BASED ON THE RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 14

15 When we are not giving under compulsion, in other words, when we are not PAYING, then God becomes very happy, and the word still stands.. blessed is the hand that giveth. Why, because we are not giving under any obligation. I have always said that, in all my life, there was never a time I gave to the work of the Lord 10%, in most cases, I would spend more than half of my salary of the work of the Lord. It was even worse when I started this campaign, at some point I would spend 90% of all my income on the work of the Lord and the rest of the finances just enough to cover our living expenses. Everything I have done for the kingdom of God has been out of Love, love, nothing co-erced, nothing forced, nothing to impress anyone. Let your love for the Lord be the one that will make give. Giving from a thankful heart, giving from a place of love. Your giving is not limited to money, give your time to the Lord, when you know your neighbor is sick, go and help them with washing, take their children to school. Live a life that will reflect Christ living in you, not a religious self-righteous attitude, I pay 10% every month so I deserve more blessings than you Is there a child that you have seen go to school without shoes in winter and you are moved to buy them shoes? Would you let the woman that lives opposite your house that gossips a lot about you go to bed without food? This is not about paying anymore, forget the book of two Laws, its about a relationship giving. Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 15

16 Obligation paying its like you are in debts, however we know that Christ settled the sin debt, so we are not paying anymore, we are giving. Giving to the orphas, giving to the needy, giving to the work of the Lord. The early Christians died for this blessed gospel I am preaching today because of the Law, no, because they were threatened with losing their salvation..no, because they were told if they don t give they would be cursed..no, because they wanted the Papa Bishop to parade them in front of the church as the ones that gave a lot..no..they did it all because of LOVE. For God so loved the World that he GAVE his ONLY begotten son. God did not love us and give us 10%. He LOVED US and gave us HIS ONLY son, why, because God LOVES us. So we preachers of the word, let us stop twisting the WORD, threatening people, cursing people, just to Syphon money out of people. There are bills that need to be paid, I know that. I know that more than anyone else. Over the past couple of months I have had to do some renovations to our church building, and running on a very tight budget, I skipped some payments of my missionary car..hahaha, the one that has carried this Campaign into far away places, yes My Land Rover. So yesterday, I got summons from Absa, giving me 10 days to either pay arrears or hand over my favourite horse to be repossesed that has stood by me for many years. Do I have money for arrears? No, I don t..hehe, so does it mean I must twist the scripture to co-erce people to Pay, and promise them Deuteronomy "curses"if they don t, listen, even though I had to sleep under the bridge, I would like to sleep under the bridge having preached the LIBERATING GOSPEL, than preaching a Gospel that will make people have a different view of who God is!! When God met me in Sudan the day I received my commission, He said to me, false doctrines have imprisoned millions of His children under fear. Therefore I will challenge any doctrine that is un-scriptural no matter how widely it is accepted, how long it has Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 16

17 been preached, I don t mind the cost to myself, the souls of people cost a trillion times more than my beloved car, they don t even compare. Paul used to make tents, he made his own living. He never asked for tithes nor took any. I took sabbatical from work last year in order to launch the BacktoGod campaign. I would not have otherwise left work for any other reason, but I had to give 100% to this campaign. Everyone can agree that what God has done in only a space of a year is far greater than anyone could have anticipated, so what do I do, the Lord willing I am planning to go back to Corporate very soon. I believe in working with my hands. I believe in economically active. If we preachers had our own income streams apart from the church contributions, I believe there would be less manipulation in the pulpits in the name of God. If Paul, who wrote more than 70% of our new testament had a job, what more us. We start to twist the word and make people feel guilty, and some feel pompous because their 10% pay our bills. This is sooo unscriptural. Even the Mosaic tithe never paid anybody s bills. So, God will do it himself. If the Old Timers in the faith are stuck with the Law, traditions of men and manipulating people, God will raise himself a new breed of preachers, Fearless!, Intelligent!, well studied! Full of the Holy Spirit! Blameless! Who will preach the REAL heart of the father to the people. While you are manipulating people to feel guilty for not paying, they will preach this Gospel of Grace, so pure, so radical, as TRUE COMPETENT AND ABLE MINISTERS of the new covenant. I am glad I have now covered the Topic of Tithing from the Beginning to the very End. We are not in the book of TWO LAWS, we are in the book of the ONE LAW, the Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 17

18 Law of Eternal life, the Law of Grace, the Law of Love, predestinated unto good works. I was not sent by man, I was not sent by a theology school, I never received any impartation from no papa, The ONE that met me in Sudan, and told me, Go tell old Pharaoh to release my people, is the very one that told me to author this article to set HIS CHILDREN free and to encourage those that have lost faith the church system believing that God only wants their money to return to His Love. God wants your heart, He wants you to experience the warm of his Love, dont worry about curses, those He nailed on the cross!! I love you Pst Daniel The PDF of this book is found in the link below. You are free to share to as many as you would like see being set free from the traditions of men. Tithing: Daniel Phaladi Page 18