The Covenantal Tithe
Overview
Are you cheating God? If you are a typical Christian, the answer is yes. Is God going to withhold blessings from you because of this? Probably. God requires his people to turn over ten percent of their income to their local congregation. The money is not to go from the donor to other charities—only to the local congregation. This is not taught by the church today. It has not been the official position of any denomination, and has not been adhered to in church history. Why not? Because churches do not want to conform to the explicit requirements of biblical law. Theologians and pastors would rather see the churches beg for money than honor the God who does not beg for anything.
Theologians and pastors say that (1) the Old Testament’s laws of the tithe no longer apply, and (2) nothing has replaced them. The first statement is true; the second is not. Christians are therefore said to be authorized by God to “give as the Holy Spirit leads.” There are two great evils that result from this view. First, church members give too little, thereby forcing the churches either to beg or cut programs. Second, this open-ended standard creates guilt in dedicated Christians, because they never know when they have given enough to meet their obligations.
The Covenantal Tithe presents the case for the Christian tithe in chapter ten. The previous nine chapters are detailed discussions of the pre-Christian doctrine of the tithe: who, what, when, and where.
Since The Covenantal Tithe is fully integrated with Logos, Scripture passages are linked to your favorite translation for quick reference and to your Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts for original-language study! You can also read this volume along with your Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, and the wealth of other Bible study tools in your digital library.
- Preface by the author
- Discussion of the pre-Christian doctrine of the tithe
- Introductory Scripture for each chapter
Top Highlights
“Every covenant has five points: (1) an announcement of original sovereignty; (2) a representative hierarchy; (3) a legal order (boundaries); (4) a system of sanctions, positive and negative; (5) a system of inheritance over time.7 If this sounds overly theological, I will translate it into common language. The covenant answers five questions.” (Page 21)
“Levi’s priesthood provided a glimpse back to Melchizedek’s priesthood in terms of the tithe and also the covenantal meal of bread and wine, and forward to Christ’s priesthood in terms of the tithe and the Lord’s Supper. Levi’s priesthood was covenantally subordinate to the first priesthood and therefore of necessity also subordinate to Jesus Christ’s priesthood. After A.D. 70, it disappeared.” (Page 32)
“Astoundingly, they find that they have allies in this covenantal act of rebellion: Christian theologians. These theologians assure them that in the New Covenant era, no such requirement to pay the tithe exists. It used to exist for Israelites under the Mosaic law, but it no longer is required by God. Men are free to give as much or as little to God as they see fit.” (Page 22)
“Until that day, covenant-keepers have a way to acknowledge God’s comprehensive legal claim on all things: the tithe. This is a legal claim by God, as surely as is His claim of universal ownership. The tithe is a judicially representative payment to God that symbolically announces two things: (1) God’s legal claim on all things; (2) man’s legal claim on everything besides the tithe as God’s delegated agent in history. God gets ten percent of all of man’s net increase as a token (i.e., representative) payment, while man keeps ninety percent as his legal commission from God. This is a very high commission.” (Page 20)
- Title: The Covenantal Tithe
- Author: Gary North
- Publisher: American Vision
- Publication Date: 2011
- Pages: 159
Reviews
1 rating
Tom
3/27/2014
JASON SEIFERT
8/16/2013
I would like to read this book to explore the author's, but the summary offered here exhibits a limited view of the argument. Christians are still called to give generously and sacrificially - all we have belongs to God, and not just 10% - but in an age of misuse and scandal, many believers feel like giving more to their local congregation seems to build more for 'us' and do less to impact our communities and our world for Christ. The argument against the mandate of a tithe is not to enable Christians to give less, but to surrender all that we have to the Lord for His direction ... to give sacrificially and generously, but not under compulsion, and to do so in such a way that it benefits those brothers and sisters who are suffering elsewhere (see Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians regarding their giving). For a respectful and scholarly exploration of the subject, see:Chris Rees
11/21/2012
It would be good to read the book "Beyond Tithing" or similar by Stuart Murray for a fuller perspective.
