Background of Study It is difficult to give a definite answer as to the number of tithes in ancient Israel.

While some scholars argued that there were two tithes or even three, others hold that all the references are to one and the same tithe, and indicate different practices in various places at different times. There is considerable contemporary debate and disagreement among some Christians groups about Tithing in the Old Testament. Many Evangelical, Pentecostal, Charismatic churches hold tithing as a tenet of faith and their members are often subjected to unfair persuasion. Therefore to question their understanding of tithing involves not just a major doctrine, but it could become a serious blow to their main source of funding for their churches. Hence, they do all things to enforce its payment; Other churches however understand giving in terms of Romans chapter 14, where the individual believer should be guided by conscience, and by the New Testament principles of grace outlined by Paul in chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians, and in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, and in other New Testament passages. The ominous question, Will a man rob God has been pasted on bulletins, offering envelops, and sermon titles have been preached upon it enough to make its interpretation seem fairly straightforward. It is true that it is sin to rob God of what is His, and of course we should give our Tithe, and offerings. However, the issues involved are considerably more complex than many sermons on the subject may suggest. The question of whether or not believers today are to give at least ten percent of their income involved issues such as the continuity between the Testaments; the extent to which Mosaic law is still applicable to believers in the New covenant period; the relationship between the old, and New Testament at large; and the nature of progressive revelation and salvation history. While it is commonly agree that some of the Old Testament laws and practices such as circumcision do not spill over into the New Testament era, there is less agreement on other Old Testament practice. In an attempt to adjudicate the question of whether or not all New Testament believers are require to give ten percent or more of their income today, we will study all the relevant references to the Tithing in the Old Testament and assess the applicability of this practice to the New Testament believers in the light of some the larger issue mentioned such as: Is the church Building equivalent to the Temple? Because we were told in Malachi that the Tithe were to be brought to the Temple, Stephen sees it as not the same, when he wrote: After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, no other temple was or should be built. It was integral to the old covenant but had to be destroyed when the new covenant was established. In the New Testament, where is the instruction to build a building for the church body, much less fellowship halls and kitchens...Believers are the living temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are" (I Cor. 3:16). To rebuild the Jerusalem temple or to claim that the church building is the new temple of God is to dishonour God and what Jesus did.[1] Again, the researcher will investigate whether New Testament Pastors have the same office with the Priest in the Old Testament. Evangelist Walter sees them as separate offices, when he wrote: Nowhere in the New Testament are pastors equated with Levitical priests. Unlike priests, pastors were not forbidden to have land, businesses, or to labour in the marketplace. Paul the evangelist worked as a tent-maker where he could as he travelled spreading the gospel. The pastor in the New Testament is just like everybody else except for his calling as shepherd.[2] Are New Testament Christians who withhold their tithe cursed the same as the Old Testament Jews? Murah wrote:

Nothing that God say here can be applied to New Testament Christians. God rebuked the Jews under the Law, and obligated to Tithe. New Testament Christians are not under the Law, because it has been fulfilled in Christ, and they have redeemed from it in cause (Rom 10:4; Gal 3:13-14)[3] The researcher will also discuss New Testament principles for giving that are in effect whether or not they involve giving ten percent of ones income.

[1] Stephen Mizell, The Standard of Giving Faith and Mission, vol. 8 No. 3 (2001): 21.

[2] Walter C. Kaiser, The Law as Gods Gracious Guidance for Promoting Holiness, ed. Wayne Strickland (Grand Rapids: Zondervan), 196.

[3] Jacob Murah, Beyond Tithing: Its Life and Institutions, trans. John McHugh (New York: McGraw Hill Company), 76.