So how do you apply your tithe Biblically?
We have two topics going on, the jewish Tithe, and the Christian one;
Biblically, the Jewish tithe is handled like this now:
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/isr...ible/Rights_and_Obligations/Tithing.shtml?p=2
The red-heffier remark in the article is a puzzle to me, but essentially -- the priesthood doesn't need upkeep; so the tithe is "token" (symbolic only.)
Because someone else in the Old Testament chose to give 10 %? If that's the case, then that's fine.
Before the time of Moses, some people voluntarily gave 10% of their "increase" (not of their whole substance) in acknowledgement of God.
Moses codified that into permanent practice; for the upkeep of the priests, and to provide for the poor.
But to impose it on the congregation as a requirement to receive Gods' blessings? You are robbing God? You are under a curse? example: Assembly of God churches; required to only receive donations and gifts. To get this, they may use the terms "tithes and offerings". And they are encouraged to use Malachi 3:10; This is wrong!
Ahhh.... I see.
Again, ten means divine; the purpose of the tithe is to do God's work; not to harm man; notice malachi is conditional, having an "If" in it.
Malachi 3:10 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.
The "windows of heaven" refers to the rain needed to raise crops. In Malachi 3:10, what God said is that if you bring me one tenth of the increase in your crops to my temple, I will pour out the rain you need in order to grow more than you need.
Therefore: God is expecting his people to thank him (Greek: eu-charis) for the crops they have, and in exchange he will bless them; But Malachi doesn't directly apply to non-agricultural communities.
Likewise, the tithe is not meant for the members of the church alone -- it is meant for the orphan, widow, and stranger.
Even on the Jewish site, they acknowledge that roughly half the tithe is intended for the poor based on years collected.
Although churches do have the right to ask for recompense for doing the work of God; eg: we have an obligation to support those who do God's work; none the less -- If a christian denomination is collecting from those unable to feed themselves, they have violated the purpose of the tithe -- which is as a thank you for an increase of some kind.
Even in the case of Melchizadeck, it was as a "thank you." to God for delivering the spoils of war, and the return of Lot.
(Don't overlook that this is where God saved Sodom, before he destroyed them for being thankless later.)
The connection between the sabbath years (years of gleaning for the poor and stranger) and that of the tithe, are not things which belong to the law of Moses alone; their purpose remains even in the church today:
James 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
And the remaining verses James 2:1-4 directly apply as well.
The sabbath and the tithe were created for man; that is, for his good not his suffering.
