God’s house is NOT the storehouse, and the storehouse is NOT God’s house. First, God mentions a “storehouse” then, God mentions a separate place and calls it “my house”. Most people don’t pick up on the fact that Malachi 3:10 mentions two different places. Quite simple to understand, don’t you think? The Church building, is not used as storage to preserve or distribute anything. Duh! Right! If you had a storehouse for your farm, that means you are safekeeping your grain to be used later for feed or for seed. Did Your Church Build a Storehouse?Ī storehouse actually STORES something. If you wish to read more about the Levitical cities, they are first outlined in Numbers 35:2-3, while other references can be found throughout scripture in regards to the storage of tithes and offerings within these cities as well. Considering 85% is spent on internal operations, I don’t think we’re any better off than those in Malachi were. As a word of wisdom to leaders in our Churches who may be reading this – In Malachi 3, it was those who received the tithe that was neglecting their duties to give. It was only addressing the Levitical tribe since they were the only ones responsible for the 1% that was supposed to bring food to God’s StoreHouse. The irony of all this is that the decree in Malachi 3:10 was not addressing the whole Israelite nation. The Priests only absorbed 10% of what was given to the Levites (or 1% of Israel’s increase) The latest giving statistics state that 85% of the offerings received by Churches are used for internal operations. I’m sure the percentages today do not come anywhere close tho this figure. 1% of Israel’s increase was used for the support of those ministering and serving in the House of God. The Israelites were responsible for giving their tithe to the Levites and in turn, the Levites were then responsible for giving a tenth of the tenth towards the temple storehouse. Nehemiah 10:37-38 to bring the firstfruits of our dough, our offerings, the fruit from all kinds of trees, the new wine and oil, to the priests, to the storerooms of the house of our God and to bring the tithes of our land to the Levites, for the Levites should receive the tithes in all our farming communities. And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes and the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms of the storehouse. The temple storehouse only received 1% of Israel’s increase, the other 9% was stored in Levitical cities – not at a place of worship. Here are 3 areas to review on why the Church is not a storehouse for tithing. We should supply ministers and the Church body with food and provisions for their needs, but the principle in Malachi 3:10 is about supplying for the needs of others it is not about giving 10% to a Church. There are good principles we can draw from Malachi 3, but using the storehouse as an argument to bring tithing to Church is not accurate. Malachi 3:10 – “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” Argument: Israel Gave their Tithes to the Storehouse, So We Should Give our Tithes to the Church. So let’s evaluate another argument used to promote tithing. As we continue our ‘Tithing on Trial’ series, we will evaluate the most common tithing arguments used to defend its practice.
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