Tithe and Tithing – Is there an eternal side to them?

Intro

In 2012, the Lord shifted the church from the Apostolic Order, which comprised of the fivefold ministry, gifts of the Spirit and everything else around that order and moved her to the ministry of one-fold (i.e. love) and One Shepherd, which is the Order of Melchizedek. But the church somehow did not pay attention to what had happened, nor did she make the change required. So, instead of preparing God’s people for the priesthood and rulership of the world that is to come, according to the Order of Melchizedek, the church became obsessed with things that have no eternal value and started living off the egos of men. The church was caught up in the fame, riches and paparazzi that followed the corruption of the fivefold ministry and could not change when it was time to change the order. Many have been fooled by their church leaders; for these church leaders love being called “daddies” and “mummies” and their titles have become their obsession, leading to their disconnect from what God was doing. But God cannot be mocked. For even before 2012, God had started taking a remnant out of the church system, one by one, and began to create a new pathway to the manifestation of the Order of Melchizedek, which is the foundation of the priesthood and the kingship that will rule the world that is coming. He started teaching these people Himself, even in their hidden places, just like He said He would. But the time has come for all that has been promised and God must have His way, irrespective of what the church and the world think or agree with.

For those who may be wondering how it is possible for God to put an end to the five-fold ministry and even the gifts of the Spirit, it is written that they will come to an end. We just were not paying attention to the timing. Let me share some scriptures to back these claims up.

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the^] best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. I Corinthians 12:28-31. (bold emphasis mine) Meaning that there is that which is considered more excellent and perfect than the previous.

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now, we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. I Corinthians 13:8-12 Clearly, prophecies, tongues, knowledge etc. are all part of the gifts of the Spirit and clearly are part of the things that fail and cease to be and which also depict the days of seeing in a mirror.

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; Ephesians 4:11-13. (Bold emphasis mine)

Now, have you ever considered what the word “till” or “until” means? It is an indication of a threshold or how far or to what extent a thing can go. Meaning that the fivefold ministry was put in place by God as a tool to raise a people for Him until those people come to perfection and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Meaning that the five-fold ministry is limited in time, and must be done away with at some point. But someone might say, how do we know we have attained this status to warrant the removal of the five-fold ministry? Well, for those who have been paying attention, they know when God began moving the cloud, so they packed their tabernacles, and followed Him. By the Spirit, those who have entered into that reality of a post-five-fold ministry were made aware by the workings of God within them. God was not waiting for the church to have a conference one weekend to determine that it was time to change the order.

Here is something I want each one to understand, that the Lord has shifted from the Apostolic Order to the Order of Melchizedek does not mean that the gifts of the Spirit will no longer work, nor does it mean that one can no longer be a prophet or an Apostle. Gifts will simply stop being what we chase after for use, but we will be wrapped up in love, so that attention will no longer be on gifts like many in the church are focusing on right now, but that the love of the Father in us will compel us to use whatever tool (gifts of the Spirit) that He is giving at a moment in time for His glory. Meaning that instead of someone calling himself a healing minister, he will simply just be a son of God who, because of the love for God that is in him, will speak healing to situations and healing will take place. He will speak words from the heart of God and those words will stand as prophecy, not because he has a tag of “prophet” on his forehead, but because the perfection of love in him gives him access to the mind of God which he speaks. “How will this be?”, you may ask. There is the power of the age to come which God Himself will release on the earth for the culmination of all that has been spoken about the new man in God. And because we are already entering the days of the ten toes of Daniel 2, in which the rock that was cut without hands will smash into dust the image of Babylon and that stone will become a mountain which is the kingdom of God on earth, it makes sense that God must bring all things to their culmination, even as we see those days manifest on the earth. I hope this makes sense.

Someone may be wondering and asking in their minds “if the days of the Apostolic order are over and the five-fold ministries have been taken over by the Order of Melchizedek, who then will be teaching God’s people?” Well, I think we have somehow undermined God for too long, which is also one of the reasons he had to uproot the old in order to introduce the new, for God is well able to make men know Him. Have you considered the fact that the very finger of God that wrote on the palace wall of king Nebuchadnezzar’s son, that is, king Belshazzar, can also write in the sky for all on earth to see what He is teaching or saying at a moment in time? Or have you considered that when we gather in our conferences, the voice of the Father can speak audibly from heaven among us and teach us what is in His heart? He did it before on mount Sinai with the children of Israel, why do we think He has suddenly become dull about how to reach us without humans in between? He can do beyond what we can imagine, but unlike the Israelites who ran away at the thundering of the voice of God, we won’t run away. Why? We would have been conformed to Him, so His endless life flows in us and thus we are one with Him in all things without fear. Another thing is, that everyone wants to be referred to as the sons of God because they attend church services and pay tithe, but according to scripture, it’s only those who are led by the Spirit of God that are the sons of God. Meaning that the Order of Melchizedek is the order of those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes, according to the leading of the Spirit of the Lamb. And this order is for priesthood and rulership in the world that is coming soon. Where all things are completely put under the rulership of man, including the angels. See Hebrews 2.

Tithe and tithing

Right now, one of the doctrines in the church that has caused more controversies among church leaders and among believers, in general, are the issues of tithe and tithing. The most recent controversy could be said to be that of the American preacher, Pastor Creflo Dollar who made an announcement recently saying that he realized that the teaching on tithing that he has been doing for decades was faulty and that anyone that had bought his books and tapes on the particular teaching on tithe should dump them. That they are all faulty, except if what he wrote in any of those books or said in those tapes points the buyers towards the new conviction he has about tithing.

I really do not know much about him and his teaching on tithe and I am not really here to talk about what is wrong with tithing or what is right about it. But one thing that I know is that, at some point, we will have to have the conversation about how it seems ok to call some activities in the Bible old covenant and then do away with them, but when it comes to tithe and tithing, which are also part of the Old Testament, we argue about doing away with it. Or how it’s possible that circumcision, which God Himself introduced and also tied to the covenant he had with Abraham, was done away with, making it not compulsory, but the issue of tithe which was started by the same Abraham when he was still called Abram, is still standing and causing a lot of controversies. It’s really a huge topic and quite a sensitive one. In fact, some people will tear you into pieces when you speak against tithe and then go ahead to give you lists of scriptures on why not paying tithe will bring a curse on you. That in itself, for me, is nothing but an insult to the sanctity of what Jesus did on the cross. First of all, if Jesus is the end of all sacrifices and tithe is a form of sacrifice, and also, if Jesus was made a curse so that we are set free from curses, then why is the church so obsessed with talking about tithe with all strength and then also telling people they are cursed if they don’t give their tithes? Is tithe bigger than the blood of Jesus that was shed for all curses or is it that we have been unable to understand the mystery around tithing because we have made it about money? Or could it be that there is a side to this whole tithe issue that we have not been allowed or have refused to see because it is for an appointed time? Maybe or maybe not. But let’s take a look at some perspectives.

Abraham gave a tithe of all

When you read the Genesis 14:18-20 version of Abram giving king Melchizedek “the tithe of all”, you will see a very straightforward act of “exchange” between Abram and king/priest Melchizedek. I called it exchange because king Melchizedek also brought bread and wine to Abram. Remember bread and wine is symbolic of the body and blood of the Christ, but we will talk about this shortly. On the surface, it looked just like some act of friendship but when you look at this same story in Hebrews 7, then you begin to see something unfold and which I think the mystery of tithing really is. So, Abram gave a tithe of all he brought back from the killing of the kings. But what really did Abram gave as tithe? I think this question will answer itself when we understand what Melchizedek received from Abram.

Food for the belly, wine for merriment

There are quite a number of places where tithe and tithing are mentioned in the Bible, but let me just share a few of them. Numbers 18:24, 18:26, 18:28, Deuteronomy 14, 26, Malachi 3. There are other scriptural passages that show where tithe and tithing were commanded, including how the tithe was to be used by the Levites etc. But this article, like I have already mentioned, is not really about whether tithe and tithing are a New Testament requirement or not, but about if we really know what the context of tithing is, especially as used by Abram the first man who started it and who only gave tithe once in his entire life. Well, it’s not on record in the Bible that he gave tithe more than once.

If you look at the various places where tithe was given to the Levites, it was always the tithe of food and drinks and the Levites were also instructed to give a tenth of the tithe they received to the high priest. In some other places, the bringer of the tithes was told to eat the very content of their tithe before God and also share with the Levites, homeless, widows and the poor. See Deuteronomy 14:22-29. This principle of tithing instantly rubbishes the issue of money as what is required for tithing. Take a look at this: “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. Deuteronomy 14:22-27 (Bold emphasis mine)

From the above scriptures, it is clear that tithe is both food (plants and animals) from the farmlands and wine from the winepress. But did scripture not say that the kingdom of God (which really is the gospel of the New Testament) is not food and drink (which includes the food and drink in tithe) but love, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit? Yes, it did.

The Order of Melchizedek

According to Genesis 14, tithe and tithing were started by Abram the patriarch of the Israelites. As the story went, from the day that Abram gave that first tithe to king Melchizedek, I can assume it was no less than six or seven hundred years before God spoke to the children of Israel about tithe and tithing in the wilderness. I may not get this timing accurately, so forgive me. But my point is this, did you know that, according to the words of Hebrews 7:4-10, while Abram was giving the tithe of the goods that he brought from the slaughter of the kings to king Melchizedek and by that was instituting the very law of tithing which God would later command the Levites to collect from the people in the wilderness, he, Abram, was also annulling the very Aaronic Order which included tithing? How? Abram gave a tithe to Melchizedek whose order would later annul the order of Aaron through Christ who came according to the order of Melchizedek. For just as Moses covered his face in the wilderness over a covenant that was already been replaced even before it was established fully, so it was with Abram. He gave a tithe to Melchizedek, which principle became what his offspring (both the people who will give tithe and the Levites who will receive the tithes) would do hundreds of years later. But the tithe Abram gave was the introduction to the annulment of the Aaronic Order in which tithes are given. Meaning that Abram started the pattern of tithe and tithing and, while doing that, he was also setting up another order which is beyond the order of Aaron. For mortal men received tithes in the Aaronic Order, but on the day that Abram met with Melchizedek, he, Melchizedek, received both Abram and his offspring, not as a mortal man like the Levites, but as one of whom it is witnessed that he lives forever, for he carries in him the power of an endless life. For even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. See Hebrews 7:7-10.

Know this, the age of the Order of Melchizedek is the same as the age of the third world, which is the age of the reign of the kingdom of Christ on the earth. And concerning that age, it is written that it will not be under the control of angels or spirits as we know them today, but under the rulership of the sons of God. The power of God’s Christ which is the power of the age to come will be revealed in the sons of God to manifest God in ways they have never seen before.

Where are the Patriarchs?

There is something worth pointing out in the story of Abram and Melchizedek. I noticed that Melchizedek referred to God as the Most High and afterwards, Abram also did the same. Now, the use of the name God Most High by both Melchizedek and Abram was the very first time it was used in the story of Abram in reference to God. Judging from the man Melchizedek who first mentioned it, and how he is the face of a new order that Jesus Himself had to follow, according to Hebrews 7, then I think Melchizedek came to show us the face of the highest form of God that can be seen. And thus, a tithe to him by Abram was not a tithe to a man like the Levites collected from their brothers, but a tithe to God for mortal men to secure a place in the ultimate thing that God was putting in place. Another Melchizedek moment has come again for mortal men to come into the things that only the highest form of God can give, but the question is, where are the patriarchs who will bring their tithes before the king on behalf of their descendants? Is this one of the things it means when God said he will send the spirit of Elijah close to the end of time, to bring sons back to their fathers and fathers to their sons? I believe it is.

Abram gave a tithe of all and by that, established the Aaronic priesthood of Moses and right there where it was established, it was also annulled in Melchizedek by the fact that it all pointed to Jesus whose Priesthood was according to the Order of Melchizedek and not according to the Aaronic priesthood. Meaning that in as much as tithe and tithing were given to the Levites and were started by their father, Abram, the Levitical priesthood was an order which was already done away with more than six hundred years before it even started.

As the writing of this article was going on, on one of the days, I was in the bathroom taking a shower when the words of the Lord came to me about the Order of Melchizedek. I was asking God for proof that the order has shifted from the Apostolic Order to the Order of Melchizedek. I was foolishly smart to point out to the Lord that even Moses was given a sign to show to the people of Israel in Egypt and also to Pharaoh about what God was saying in the moment. Here is the response I got right in the bathroom. “Concerning the Order of Melchizedek, do not go the pathway of Moses who needed a sign (rod and a hand) in order to go to the children of Israel and the Pharaoh. He didn’t need it. The word spoken to him was enough. Moses did not ask for a sign to help the people believe, he asked for a sign to help himself believe that he was sent by God. Melchizedek did not have to present any sign to Abram. All he brought was the name of God (God the Most High) and then bread and wine, which is the communion of life (the power of an endless life found in the body and blood of the Lamb of God). In other words, Melchizedek brought the reality of God the Father and God the Son as proof that he was sent to Abram.” Now, that made a whole lot of sense to me, and also gave me peace.

There is a call for “patriarchs” to step out and give their eternal tithes in order to secure eternal things in God for the world that is to come. For those who, in their days, God allowed to enter into new realities before others did, gave tithes of all to God. Noah did it when he took clean animals and made a sacrifice unto God and by his faith, he put an end to the old world. Abraham did it when he met Melchizedek and also when he “gave” Isaac on Mount Moriah. His tithe to Melchizedek took him and his descendants beyond the Levitical Order, to the Davidic Order, to the Apostolic Order, straight into the Order of Melchizedek and which time has now come to fully manifest on the earth. His “tithe” of Isaac brought him face to face with the reality of the dispensation of the Christ. For Jesus said to the people, “your father Abraham saw my day and he was glad”. You can even go further to say that God Himself gave a “tithe” in the person of His Son in order to “have access” into the realm of the earth and to humanity. Meaning that “tithe” is what is given by “patriarchs” to God when the dawn of a new dispensation is about to manifest on the earth. The question now is this, what is your eternal tithe unto the treasury of God, for the world that is to come?

In as much as I stopped giving the usual money tithe more than a decade ago, I never really understood up until now why the Lord had never asked it of me or even rebuked me for not giving tithe or even allowing any so-called “devourer” to come my way. Now, the truth is that the tithe that the church has been compelling their people through fear of the devourer, to give either every Sunday or every month ending is practically useless. They have no eternal value, for they are just food and drinks or money to buy the same and I will show you a few scriptures. According to the principle of tithing which God mentioned to the Levites as recorded in Deuteronomy 14:22-29, tithe is basically one-tenth of the food crops from the farmlands and of the wine of the winepress and they are practically for merry-making and nothing more. In fact, the tithe is even much more for the bringer than it is for the Levites who received them. In case you doubt it, see what God said to them in verses 24 and 25 “And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. Did you see that? I will advise that you read the entire Deuteronomy 14: 22-29 for context.

Now, what did scripture say about the kingdom of God in relation to food and drink? Romans 14:17 says “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” But tithe is eating and drinking right? Yes, it is. The second scripture that nullifies the tithe that the church has been collecting says, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house,” Malachi 3:10. Two things are prominent in this scripture, that is “food” and “house”. Remember, the kingdom of God is not in food, so you can throw the case of food right out of the window. But what about “house”? What did Paul say? Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 1Corinthians 6:19. Meaning that if God said bring ye the tithe to my house and His house is not made with human hands, because we have become His temple (house), why then are we taking tithe to the church? Let me leave you to think about that. I think Paul also mentioned the issue of food and how it has no eternal value when he said “Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them…” 1Corinthians 6:13.

The tithe that Abram gave

Here is something I want you to see about the tithe that Abram gave to Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18-20. The last part of verse 20 said “And he gave him a tithe of all.” So, it’s clear that Abram gave a tithe of all the stuff he brought back from the slaughter of the kings. Things which will include foodstuffs, household items, jewelry, gold, silver and any other things raiders can confiscate from their victims. But my question now is this, when Abram gave the tithe of all to Melchizedek, what did king Melchizedek receive from Abram? The answer is in Hebrews 7:8. It says “Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.”. “Here mortal me receive tithes” simply points to what the Levites were doing in receiving tithe from their brethren and which is also what the church has been doing. “but there he receives them” points to the fact that what king Melchizedek received from Abram was not the “tithe of all” which is made of materials things, that one is for mortal men. What he received from Abram was the “Levites” themselves. But who are the Levites? They are the ones whose inheritance is not found among men but in God. They are the ones separated unto God from the world and have become His as He is theirs. They are the ones whom creation is waiting for in order to be set free from futility. They are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. See Revelation 14. They are the tithe of the patriarch to God and not the food and drink we have been fighting over in church. They are the ones God has been seeking, as seen when Jesus said, “the Father seeketh those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth”. You may ask, “Why has God the Father been seeking even up till now, especially with all the “worshippers” (gospel singers and musicians) all over the world?” God is still seeking because the patriarchs do not understand that their tithes are not food and drinks, but souls of the separated ones unto God. For they are the ones on whose backs He, God, wants to manifest the power of an endless life right here on earth, which is the power of the Order of Melchizedek. God is definitely not looking for everyone to manifest this day of the Order of Melchizedek. For just like there were three sets of worshippers that Jesus pointed out in John 4, so there are levels of sons of God right now on the earth. Jesus said to the woman “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (bold emphasis mine) Meaning that there are those who worship lifeless things which Jesus called “what”, there are those who claim they are the owners of salvation because they have confessed the name of Jesus but they are still in the “what” category because material things are still their pursuit and not the kingdom, and then there are those who worship in spirit and in truth. Spirit and truth worship is the level a person gets to where what they are before God, which is their spirit, is in alignment with who they are on the earth. They no longer live life for just the sake of living life, they live as they see themselves manifest in heaven. Such have obeyed the call to come out from among the world and therefore, are separate.

The crown of life in Christ

I have often wondered why king Melchizedek gave Abram (Abraham) bread and wine which is symbolic of the body and blood of the Christ. I do not think there is a one-size-fits-all answer to this question, but here is what came to my spirit. In Abram giving himself and his descendants to the one who carries the power of an endless life, he opened the portal for receiving to himself and his descendants the pathway to the crown of life found in the Christ which he later saw on Mount Moriah. This crown of life is not necessarily a crown made of gold and precious stones, but can also be, but the highest form of life, which is God Himself, that a man comes into alignment with. A crown or peak is the highest form of anything, and this is what Melchizedek gave to Abram. But this crown or peak of life cannot be received without an exchange with the valley of death. Life is not possible without death and death is useless with life. Meaning that when Abram gave the tithe of all which is not just the goods from war, but himself and his descendants, and Melchizedek gave him bread and wine, which is the symbolism of the death of the Christ, he, Abram, was absorbed into the highest form of life found in God and for which reason Melchizedek greeted him saying “Blessed be Abram of God Most High…” Genesis 14:19. For if you look at the story of Abram, you will see that God actually appeared to Abram to make a covenant with him and his descendants in the very next chapter after he, Abram, met with Melchizedek. Is that a coincidence? Not at all. A portal was opened by his “tithe of all” and a covenant backing that portal had to be put in place. But it’s shameful that all that the church seems to know in this age about tithe is material blessing and safety from the devourer.

There is an exchange required for those who seek the crown of life and that is, death to self and this world. Jesus did not just come to give us life, he came to show us the pathway of death that leads to the crown of life in God. If He Himself had to go through death in order to conquer death and come into life, why do we think we will not go through the same, especially when He Himself said “take up your cross and follow Me”.

Give your eternal tithe for eternal things

Men have been dancing and making merriment with tithe and offerings in church while telling themselves that it’s God’s blessing. That’s the best such “blessings” can give anyway, for their values end here. Remember, this article was not written to tell you not to give tithe in church, but to tell you to check again, just maybe tithe and tithing have not been seen from their complete perspectives.

We are in another Melchizedek moment and patriarchs are being called to raise their “tithes” before God. They are being called upon to raise “separated and dedicated” sons and daughters unto the God that is to come. The kingdom of heaven is about to manifest as the kingdom of God on the earth, even as all the kingdoms of this earth will become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ. I do not know what form each one’s “tithe of all” will be, going forward, but that’s why the Holy Spirit is always available to show us that which is in the Father’s heart concerning our lives. I am not here to tell anyone what to do. In fact, I am not even here to tell anyone to believe the words of this article. But let everyone be led by the mind of the Spirit of God unto all good things and obedience. For I do believe that we have misused the concepts of tithe and tithing and this has caused so much reproach for the church. But the time has come for God the Father to turn the hearts of the fathers to their sons and the hearts of the sons to their fathers.

From your brother. Shalom.