Tithes?: The Truth About Tithes, Offerings, And Freewill Giving

By Chosen Bayo

There is a lot of misunderstanding about tithes, offerings, and giving in the church; this book takes a scriptural look at these topics to share the truth from God's Word. Please note that this book is not written to promote giving less, but to reveal the truth, based on the Word of God, concerning these topics. In Chapter 4, the key to blessings is shared; unlike what is preached from most pulpits, the key to blessings is not monetary tithe! I encourage you to read this book in its entirety, including the bible passages; this is very important to fully understand the true and full message of the book. I pray you are blessed as you read in Jesus name. Amen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483578057

Book preview

BLESSED

PREFACE

There is a lot of misunderstanding about tithes, offerings, and giving in the church; this book takes a scriptural look at these topics to share the truth from God’s Word. Please note that this book is not written to promote giving less, but to reveal the truth, based on the Word of God, concerning these topics. In Chapter 4, the key to blessings is shared; unlike what is preached from most pulpits, the key to blessings is not monetary tithe! I strongly encourage you to read this book in its entirety, including the bible passages; this is very important to fully understand the true and full message of the book. I pray you are blessed as you read in Jesus name. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

God is very specific in His instructions, ways, commands, and decrees; we see this all over the Scriptures - God says what He means and He means what He says. The specificity in the nature of God is seen from the very beginning in Genesis; God did not only specify exactly what He wanted to see, He also had a purpose in mind and a progression in how He created everything. Before God made man, He created a place that would be suitable for man to dwell. Everything God created before man was for a reason and He was purposeful, precise and specific about what He said, did, and created.

We see how specific The Lord is when He speaks to Noah about building an ark: "Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits" (Genesis 6:14-15). God was not only specific about the upcoming flood, He was very precise about the dimensions of the ark – 450 feet length, 75 feet breath, and 45 feet height; The Lord did not stop there, He also gave Noah instructions on the type of wood to use, and the number of animals to bring into the ark by their types and kind. Genesis 7:5 tells us that Noah did exactly what God asked of him; Noah, his household, and every animal in the ark were preserved. Why? He did exactly what God told him to do.

Exodus 25:10-22 records the instructions of God on building the ark of covenant; again, as with Noah, God specifies exactly what He wanted the ark to look like. He did not just say, go and make Me an ark, Moses! No, God specified the materials to use, the dimensions, and the design. The Scriptures tell us that Moses did exactly what The Lord asked of him. Moses did not make it bigger to impress God, neither did he make it smaller to make it lighter to carry; he did exactly what The Lord asked him to do. If Moses made any adjustments, he would have been in disobedience and the ark would not have been acceptable to God. God is NOT grey when He gives instructions about various things; He is clear, but man is famous for complicating His instructions. In Exodus 26, God, again, describes in detail the tabernacle of meeting; He gives the length of the curtains, when and where to use wood, gold, and or silver. God even specifies the number of loops - very specific instructions on how He wanted it done. God is specific!

In Numbers 20, we see an example of what happens when we make adjustments to God’s instructions. "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals" (Numbers 20:8). God told Moses to get water out of the rock by speaking to the rock, but Moses was angry, so he struck the rock with the rod. Now, the result was the same - the provision of water, but God tells Moses and Aaron in verse 12 of Numbers 20 that because of their disobedience, they will not be entering into the Promised Land. In Numbers 20:12, The Lord also shows us that He sees disobedience as unbelief; faith is absent in the presence of unbelief – without faith it is impossible to please God.

Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank (Numbers 20:11). As in the case of Moses, people are carried away with results; it must be God if it gets results. We see from the example of Moses that the fact that something produces results does not mean it is the way or the will of God. With The Lord, the end does not justify the means; the ends and the means both mean a lot to Him – He expects us to follow His Word all the way through. Some might say God overreacted to Moses’ action; after all, he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt! He only just struck the rock rather than speak to it! Right? The point we see here is that God is very specific; He sees adjustments to His instruction as disobedience, unbelief, and dishonoring Him.

These examples show us that God is specific when He gives commands, ordinances, and instructions. If God is specific about these things, why would He change when it comes to talking about tithes, offerings, and giving? He does not change. Though some may think there is a need to adapt/modernize God’s command on tithes and offerings to our generation, God meant exactly what He said when He said it; He does not need an extrapolation of His Word to a generation. When God wants silver, He asks for silver, not animals; when He asks for animals, He is not asking for silver. God does not need us to extrapolate His Word to say what He has not said. God’s Word is living and active. He meant exactly what he said when he said it; it was relevant then and it is relevant now, but in the same context, not in a manmade ideology of context or extrapolation.

CHAPTER 1

TITHES

Tithes before the law

Abraham’s Tithe

The tithe of