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Some scriptural references about tithing
from the Old Testament to the New...
Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey
I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my
father's house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar
will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” (Genesis 28: 20-22)
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. (Exodus
23: 19)
The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: `When you enter the land
to which I am taking you and you eat the food of the land, present a portion as an offering
to the LORD. Present a cake from the first of your ground meal and present it as an offering
from the threshing floor. Throughout the generations to come you are to give this offering
to the LORD from the first of your ground meal.'” (Numbers 15: 17-21)
You are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put
his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings
and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill
offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the LORD
your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your
hand to, because the LORD your God has blessed you. (Deuteronomy 12: 5-7)
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. (Leviticus 27: 30)
Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the
first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our
new wine and oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites
who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. (Nehemiah 10: 37)
Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing
me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. "Test me
in this," says the LORD Almighty, "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." (Malachi 3: 7-10)
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with
the firstfruits from all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your
vats will brim over with new wine. (Proverbs 3: 9-10)
You Pharisees are in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your gardens,
such as mint and rue. But you cheat people, and you don't love God. You should be fair and
kind to others and still give a tenth to God. (Luke 11: 42)
Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping
with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. (1
Corinthians 16: 1-2)
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously
will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give,
not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make
all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you
will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9: 6-8)
Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion
of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according
to what one has, not according to what he does not have. (2 Corinthians 8: 11-12)
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