Dear Benedict,

PERSONALLY, I think  you did a very poor job on the issue of tithing. I am writing in from London, England. I will take excerpts from your article and react to each of them.
A
First and foremost you set out with a wrong definition of tithe. You were referring to tithe in the old covenant because you said “under the law of God”, so I believe you were referring to the law God gave Moses on tithe. Tithe is not the tenth part of a person’s income in the law of Moses. You added the word “income” by yourself. The Law of Moses was very clear on what should be tithed. Leviticus 27:30 says: “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.”
Now what you are saying is that everyone in Israel was a farmer and had no other profession. That text said it was only tithe from the Land Produce. In another text it also included flocks. Fishermen were not permitted to pay tithe because they earned a living from the water. Unless the fisherman also had a farm or also was a herdsman then he could pay tithe from the crops or flock but not from fishes or crabs. You have to be careful when you are interpreting the scripture. There were several other trades in Israel then; there were merchants, who were into buying and selling, carpenters etc. The law disqualified them from paying a tithe from their earnings because it was not from the land nor from flocks. But if these same people had farms they were allowed to tithe from it. The bible was very clear under the law of Moses on what to tithe from. You were wrong intentionally or by ignorance to claim that tithes were paid from all INCOME. No,sir. That’s blasphemy.

B.
Now, I don’t know why you have to twist God’s word. I always advise people to read the Bible in its context and don’t just lift a verse and interpret it in isolation. Leviticus 27:30 is very clear on what should be paid as tithe. The next verse said, if in some case you are not able to bring your tithe for reasons not stated in that verse, it’s not an excuse not to pay tithe because the tithers were obliged to pay or else they would be disobeying God’s word. In such circumstances, the market value of what you ought to have paid as tithe plus a 20 per cent charge should be paid. But in your article you were arguing that everyone in Israel paid tithe since even if the person was not a farmer, he was allowed to redeem the tithe in money. No, sir. This is madness. How will you know the 20 per cent value of your tithe if you never had a farm produce in the first place? Tithe was never money, sir. That is why they were asked to pay a charge of 20 per cent for not paying it as farm produce or flock.
Do you know what the phrase “redeeming your tithe” is?

I advise you to read this text in other simpler translations since you do not understand the word redeemed. From the Contemporary English version, That same verse said thus: “If you want to buy back this part of your harvest, you may do so by paying what it is worth plus an additional 20 percent.”
Did you see that? If you want to buy back (redeem) that part of your harvest. You must first of all have a harvest that you wish to buy back in the first place. So you pay its monetary value plus a charge of 20 per cent. That’s the Bible sir. Again, here you misinterpreted God’s word. Study to show thyself approved, a workman that needs not to be ashamed. rightly dividing God’s Word. From this second point you raised, you could see you were wrong. Not everyone was allowed to pay tithe as money. There must be a farm produce that for some reasons you couldn’t pay it. So you pay the monetary value plus 20 per cent charge. Carpenters would have been excluded from this because they have no harvest in the first place. Now you dared to mention Deuteronomy 14:22-29.
I don’t understand why you quoted this text and you didnt even explain it. This is not the same as redeeming a tithe because there is no 20 per cent charge. There are four types of tithes in the law of Moses. This was one of the four. In this tithe, tithers eat the tithe together with other people. It was a feast. How many times do tithers in the church eat from their tithe? You wrongly claim it’s all for the pastors. This is wrong. Not all tithes went to the priest or Levite. This tithe was meant to be eaten as a feast by the whole family; if the chosen place where the tithe was meant to be eaten was far from you. When your tithe is heavy and the distance is far; convert it into its monetary equivalent, when you reach the place, buy food and drinks and celebrate in God’s presence. Why have people who insist on paying tithe turned a blind eye to the simple truth of tithe? Tithe was never money; and it was not only meant for the priests. The widows, poor people, foreigners and the tithers themselves could eat from the tithe itself. Next time, please do your research before you write on tithe. Like I said, this is not same as redeeming your tithe in money.

C
Melchidesek was Jesus in his pre-human days? I laugh. How can you say pre-human since Melchi-zedec was human too. The Bible never said Melchizedec was Jesus. He was the King of Salem. Salem later became Jerusalem after David conquered it. Sir, don’t say what the Bible never said. In Hebrew 7, the writer was writing to Hebrew Christians. The Jews for long have been fascinated about this man called Melchizedec. There was no record of his death or birth. He could have been taken into heaven by God. Since there was no record that he died. Elijah and Enoch didn’t die. They were taken into heaven alive by God. So, the writer of Hebrews was saying that Jesus Christ’s priesthood is LIKE that of Melchizedec’s. That was a comparison. The Jews believe he is still alive since there was no record that he died, just like Jesus lives forever. The Bible was clear that the personality of Jesus was different from Melchize-dec’s.
Now let me say something about Abraham’s encounter with Melchi-zedec. He never paid a tenth from his own possession. That was a war booty. Bible only said he paid a tenth of ALL. That ALL  we all know was a war booty; the properties, goods, livestocks, people of Sodom. It didn’t belong to Abraham. How do I know?
Reading from the text in Genesis 14:14-24, you find that he paid a tithe (tenth) to the king of Salem. This was voluntary. How do I know that? Because we never read that God commanded Abraham to pay him a tithe in the scriptures. He was thanking God for giving him victory. The people of those  days paid tithe (tenth) of war booties to their gods. It was a well known custom then. I can furnish you with details if you demand for them. I believe that Abraham was responding to that custom too and since he worshipped the True God it was becoming for him to pay his tenth to the priest of the true God. What happened to the 90? Did he take it home? Read verses 21-24. The King of Sodom, was trying to reward Abram for helping him recover his people and their goods from the invader. Remember Abram recovered not only material goods but people as well, including Lot and family. The King asked him to give him his people back and take the rest. What did Abram say? Abram said I am not taking anything belonging to YOU. How clearer can Abram say it again? He acknowledged that the goods belonged to the king of Sodom and not to him.
Let’s bring this home. Assume that someone invaded your family and took all my goods, including wife, children, servants. Everything. And my brother was in your household also. And he was taken too. Even though I have no business fighting for your cause nevertheless because my brother was also taken I will have enough motivation for the cause. Okay, if I decided to pursue the invaders with guns and knives and I was able to overpower them. I risked my life because I could have been killed. God has saved my life and also given me victory over the invaders. I am now in possesion of  your goods, servants, wives that the invaders took away. Would I claim those goods as mine? No! If I decide to take it by force, well my conscience would be pricking me because it belonged to someone else. I only recovered it from the invaders. That was why,Abram, being a just man, resisted the temptation of taking the goods to himself and in verse 22-24, he swore by the Living God that he would not take the goods belonging to the King of Sodom. The king of Sodom felt he deserved some reward and rightfully so. But Abram turned it down. And returned the rest to the king. Now, he was careful to say that the people who fought alongside with him deserved some reward. But personally he took nothing. Even though it was stated here, I know Abram as a just man, would have told the king of Sodom that he gave a tenth of the goods to the priest of God. I advise you  not to be misleading people on tithe. Abraham’s tithing is not what you Christians practise today. You people pay a tenth of your income and Abraham paid a tenth of a war booty and returned the 90 per cent (or less because the servants ate from it) to the rightful owner.

D
In your endeavour to justify tithing in Christian era you consistently added your bit to God’s word. You said Paul also instructed the church at Corinth to collect tithe. With all due respect, tithe was never mentioned in that text. That was a voluntary offering. Mark the word, “according as God has blessed you”. Tithe was not according to what God had blessed you since a fixed rate has been commanded which was 10 percent of farm produce and the tenth animal to be born. Tithe was never mentioned there. You inserted the word tithe by yourself. You wrongly claimed that tithe was not instructed in the New Testatment since it was not condemned. Did you not know that so many Gentiles embraced the gospel who knew very little or nothing about tithe? If it was needed, Paul would have instructed on tithe since it would be new to them being Gentiles. Your argument is based on the premise that it was not condemed, so it must be allowed. That’s falsehood. Jesus never condemned the Law of Moses. Rather, he condemned the traditions of men that were added by the religious leaders of those days. He condemned their attitude to the Law but not the law itself. Jesus was ministering under the era of the law, so he couldn’t have condemned it. Since you argued that non-condemnation was an approval for Christians, I will refer you to an account in the Luke 17:11-17.
Jesus never condemned Sabbath law,rather, he condemned their attitude to Sabbath. Like the man by the pool of Bethsaida that was healed on Sabbath day. The law never said one should not carry his mat on Sabbath day but the Pharisees added that burden to the Sabbath law. The law only said do not work on that day. But are we obliged to obey Sabbath law today because Jesus never condemned it? No sir. Sabbath is Saturday. You claimed that since tithe was paid before the law then, it must be valid today. God was the first person that practised Sabbath. Because he made the world in six days and rested on the Sabbath day and God blessed the day. So, why are Christians not commanded to obey Sabbath law?
Afterall, it predated the Law. Out of our greed for money we have hand-picked the part of the law to carry over, including first-fruits and put a burden on people to give what God has not commanded the Church.
Your arguments are so shallow and empty. Even the case of Jacob you quot-ed was a miscarriage of truth. That was a vow. His paying a tenth was conditional. He was giving God terms on which he would pay a tenth of his possess-ions. Vows are scriptural because they are conditions. Hannah made a vow to God, that if she has a male child, she would give the child to God. That was a vow and she kept it. But tithe in the law of Moses was not a vow, it was a commandment. Jacob’s instance was different from the standard tithe.

—CHARLES AJAH
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