This paper is written to that group of people who claim the name of Jesus Christ. It is written for the edification of the churches and not to evangelize the lost. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ, the LORD God Almighty, to be your Lord, and want to be forgiven for the life that you have lead, then believe on the Lord Jesus with all of your heart, soul, and strength. Ask Him to lead you into the knowledge of the truth. Pick up the King James Bible (God’s perfect word!), read it and believe it! (begin in the gospel of Matthew to find what you must do next. Serve Jesus Christ, the Lord, in truth and in spirit, continue reading the new testament and then the old. Serve him with your whole life, and endure unto death) "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Matthew 24:13) and again "9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:9-13)

The doctrine of tithes or "tithing" is first found in Genesis 14:18-20.

"18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all." Here is the very first reference in the bible about anyone giving a tenth to any priest. In this case it is Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God! Here there is no explanation or purpose given as to why Abram gave a tenth, or "tithes of all", just that he did. In Numbers 18:20-32, tithing by the priests is first given as a commandment and a statute by God unto the children of Israel (They had a legitimate priesthood):

"20 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. 21 And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. 22 Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die. 23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. 24 But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 25 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 26 Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe. 27 And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress. 28 Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD'S heave offering to Aaron the priest. 29 Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it. 30 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress. 31 And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households: for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation. 32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die."

Note: Did everyone catch that? It was the priesthood that was "commanded" to take "tithes" of their brethren! The Levites were not given any "…inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them…" This was because the priests were to wait continually on the Lord! [Read verses 22 - 24 again!] This meant that they were NOT going to be keeping flocks, plowing fields, or gathering food from the threshingfloor. Their sole reason for living was to be the mediators between men and God. Men were not to come before the alter of the Lord unless they were a priest of the tribe of Levi! This is VERY important to understand, because Hebrews gives the when & why the priesthood and the commandment to take tithes were disannulled!

"11 Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there [Jerusalem]; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: 12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: 14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes,[the tribe of Judah in Jerusalem] there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee."

Here in Deuteronomy, the LORD tells Israel that he will choose a place (referring to Jerusalem) where he will cause His name to dwell there. Jerusalem became the capital of Judah. Judah is also one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The one tribe of Judah became the southern kingdom of the Jews when it was divided and taken from Solomon because of his sins. (1^st Kings 11:29-36 and 1^st Kings 11:1-8) The Levites were told that they were to take the tithes of the other eleven tribes, because they were to have no inheritance among the Jews. The tithes were what the Levites lived off of.

"37 And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. 38 And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house."

Here in the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah exhorts the children of Israel to resume tithing as they had been originally commanded. The Jews had not been keeping the commandment to receive and take tithes, because they had just returned from 70 years of captivity in Babylon. (Jeremiah 25:9-12)

"8 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 ."

Well folks, there it is. We have arrived at the proof text for the doctrine of "Gentile Tithing". That’s it, their trump card, their ace up the sleeve, the big guns, the Bomb! Why do I say that? Well I’ve heard more than just a few covetous preachers in my day use this same sure fire verse, ripped out of its context, and tell "their" people that this Old Testament verse really applies to them. These guys are so predictable, that you can bank on it, or perhaps we should say they can bank on it? They like to go strait to the part where they say, "If you’re not tithing you’re Rrrrroooooobbing God!!!!" Well folks, I’ve got news for you. These so called preachers who insist that this statute still applies to all the gentiles, (non-Jews who are having a money plate passed in front of them at the time) are the same knowledge rejecting fools who say that the 4^th commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) was done away with! Well, when you ask them, Why? They will probably give you some canned speech like, "Well, we arrive at this conclusion based on several texts…" And if that doesn’t seem to work on you, they add, "…along with extensive research of the original inspired plenary autographs (i.e. original Greek, see Proverbs 26:12)." In other words, trust me and give me your money, because I know what the verse really should say. If you’re speaking to the latter, there’s probably no point wasting your time arguing with him! These are the guys who love to call themselves Dr. So n so, Ph.D. (Doctorate of Philosophy a.k.a. Proud, haughty Dog) Th.D. (Doctorate of Theology a.k.a. Totally heretical Dog) D.D. (Doctorate of Divinity a.k.a. Dumb Dog… Isaiah 56:10,11) [Hopefully, you’ll see right through them when we are finished.]

"23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

"42 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."

"9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are , extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

These three passages were addressed to the hypocrites that were tithing, and thought that this was a sign of their righteousness or did it to make themselves righteous! Their problem is that they do this "…before men, to be seen of them:..." (Matthew 6:1-6) Jesus makes it plain that tithing just like keeping any other commandment (still in force) does not cause or produce righteousness! It is written, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18) Did you get that? Jesus said that one jot or one tittle, (which is the tiniest part of a sentence or paragraph) will in no wise pass from the law until heaven and earth pass!!!!! So this means that as long as heaven and earth are here, the law has NOT passed!

The only exceptions to this are the parts of the law that the KJB specifically says are "disannulled" or nailed "to His cross" in the New Testament. It is true that these no longer apply!!!! The first one that comes to mind is "…the law of commandments contained in ordinances…" (Ephesians 2:13-15) These ordinances were taken out of the way and nailed to Jesus’ cross! Plainly speaking, the ordinances in the law, NOT the commandments as some people would like you to believe. To do this, they use scriptures that they have to "wrest unto their own destruction" (2^nd Peter 3:16)!!! Jesus said that nothing was going to pass from the law until heaven and earth pass! These are BOTH true! In other words, everything is still in place, except what God Himself has changed! It makes sense then, that only God the Son could and would say Matthew 5:18! By the same token, it also makes sense that only God, the Holy Ghost, would and could say Ephesians 2:15 and Colossians 2:14! Only God who authored and perfectly preserved the King James Bible can add or disannul anything from the Old to the New Testament! That’s because He gave the law to begin with, so only He could change any of it!!! In Matthew 5:21-47, we see Jesus adding to the detail of the law that He himself had given. Why am I making such a big deal about this? Well, because it is a big deal! There are several wolves in sheep’s clothing today teaching that, "The 4^th commandment is done away with, because Jesus never reestablished it in the New Testament!" Bull!!! These are the exact "fools" (Proverbs 17:12) that I’m warning about! I mean no UNnecessary offense, but surprisingly there are actually real Christians still teaching this as a doctrine that applies to the New Testament churches! My prayer for them is that they receive the "love of the truth"! (2^nd Thessalonians 2:10,11) If the bible rejecters/correctors would only believe Jesus in Matthew 5:18, they could actually screw their head on strait and focus their eyes (Matthew 23:24)! Sadly, most of these men love being in bed with mama Rome! They would rather keep Sunday, like their father, so they tell "their" flock that the 4^th commandment was done away with, BUT the statute to take tithes still applies!?!?….Hmmmmm, I smell a rat! These rats… men will fight you tooth and tail if you bring this doctrine to their attention. If you don’t believe me, try it! If you believe that tithing has been disannulled when you ask them, you’ll get to see their true colors (white and furry with beady red eyes!). Read the passage below out of Hebrews 7 (in the New Testament!) and hopefully you’ll understand. This passage is a plea with the Jews about why Jesus became the only high priest and only mediator between God and men (John 14:6; 1^st Timothy 2:5; Isaiah 53:12; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). Jesus took the place of the Levitical priesthood again. This He signified by the rending of the veil from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). Since there is no more need for a priesthood, there is no need to take a tenth of everyone’s money to support them! Do you get it? Do you see the light? If you want to see this in simple terms, please read on!

"1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. 4 Now consider how great this man was , unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. 5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: 6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. 7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. 8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them , of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. 9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. 10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him. 11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. 13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. 17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. 19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did ; by the which we draw nigh unto God. 20 And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest : 21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:) 22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. 23 And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: 24 But this man , because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 28 For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore."

There are several things to be said about this passage in Hebrews. The book of Hebrews was written to the Hebrews to testify of Jesus Christ to the Jews. All throughout Hebrews, God is giving the doctrine of the priesthood as it was given in the old Testament by Jesus Himself. In the new testament, the priesthood was replaced by Jesus Christ Himself! In chapter seven, God testifies of the old Testament "…commandment to take tithes of the people…"and here it is "disannulled" by God Himself!

When Jesus was dying on the cross, he shed His precious blood for our sins! He is our Creator, the High Priest, and He became the sacrifice for our sins! First He created us, then He died for us. We had no part in this wonderful gift of salvation! This passage in Hebrews speaks about Melchisedec, who is known later as the Lord Jesus Christ. You can tell by the way He is described: without father; without mother; without descent; having neither beginning of days nor end of life; abideth a priest continually! Did you get that? Jesus was already priest of the Most High God long before any imperfect man was told to act as a priest! The Levitical priesthood was like the rest of the law, a schoolmaster (Galatians 3:24) to point out sin, so that sin would become exceeding sinful (Romans 7:7-15) and we would see our need for a saviour. After a man sees that he is a sinner, sold under sin (Romans 7:14), and that he needs to be saved from everlasting death, the man will begin to seek for The Saviour. That is also why the law was added! (Galatians 3:19)

These lazy, egg sucking, dogs stand up there pleading and begging for money, and if that doesn’t work on you, they accuse you of robbing God! That is sick! These "men" claim that they are "ordained" by God to "…feed the flock of God…" (John 21:15-17; 1^st Peter 5:1-4) while they are taking from them. But like the watch dog that is supposed to be guarding his master’s hen house from the weasels and other thieves, and when the farmer returns, he catches the "watch dog" devouring his chickens and sucking down their eggs! (John 10:10-17; Matthew 7:17-20) If they want money, let them go out and work like the apostle, Paul (Acts 18:1-3) Paul was a tentmaker by occupation, and he wrought with his hands, "… the thing which is good…" (Ephesians 4:28) The Spirit of God said through Paul, "…if any would not work, neither should he eat." (2^nd Thessalonians 3:6-15) Perfect context!!! This does NOT mean that a full time preacher shouldn't get help (he definitely should) for his necessities that come with the full time service of preaching and teaching Jesus' sheep. Paul and they that were with him ministered to his necessities, while he did the true work of the Lord. (Acts 13:5; Acts 19:22; Acts 20:34) That was NOT how Paul made his living! He was a tentmaker! (Acts 18:1-3) Then that means that the man behind the pulpit is not to make his living from just from the disciples. By the same token, if the pastor is to receive something from the sheep, he owes the Lord and the Lord's sheep to get his doctrine right!!!!! (Romans 3:4)

The man of God is not to be "greedy of filthy lucre" (1^st Timothy 3:3,8; Titus 1:7) "10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake." (Titus 1:10,11) also 1^st Peter 5:2-4.

NOTE: It is EQUALLY important that you understand what I am NOT saying as well as what I am saying! I am NOT saying that ALL giving has been done away with. The free will offering, giving to the poor saints, and other worthy causes are still 100% scriptural! I am only dealing with one doctrine, TITHING! As you have clearly seen, this was a statute and a commandment that was given to Israel regarding the Levites of Israel. They were the priesthood and the mediators of the Old Testament. No one could offer a sacrifice to God without them! The Levites were a type that was given to Israel until their Messiah came! The 10%, "tenth", or "tithe" was given to them so that they could live! In the New Testament, true Christian leaders were to make their living with their own hands. When men were sent by God, the Holy Ghost, to some place for His purpose, a freewill gift was sometimes taken to "supply" their "wants" (2^nd Corinthians 8:14; Philippians 4:10-19). Other times, one of the brethren, like Epaphroditus, would go with them and work to supply them (Philippians 2:25-30). This involves the doctrine of GIVING, not tithing! These are two separate doctrines, and they are not to be confused! There are so many "wolves in sheep’s clothing" (Matthew 7:15-23) out there who have rejected the words of Jesus who plainly said, "…freely ye have received, freely give." This is the doctrine of GIVING, not tithing! These verses should be more than enough to exhort and convince the gainsayers. (Titus 1:9).

If that isn’t enough to clarify this simple doctrine, and you would rather go play church rather than be edified by the truth, the only thing left to say is, "But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant." (1^st Corinthians 14:38)