Furthermore, another lie being propagated or circulated by some church leaders who are pleaders and advocates for monetary tithes in this era of grace, to fleece unsuspecting believers of their hard earned resources is that Jacob, like his grandfather, Abram, followed an eternal tithing law by vowing to give a tenth of all that God would give him. On the contrary, it is this passage that gives rise to more proof that tithing was not God’s law to His people prior to the emergence of the law of Moses. The key word in the passage is, “vow. If one may ask; what is a vow? A vow may be described as a solemn promise or pledge that binds a person to perform a specific act or to behave in a certain manner. People make vows to God as a promise to do a certain thing in anticipation of or thanksgivings for His favour or blessings. Vowing is voluntary, and it is not a sin if a person chooses to abstain from vowing. But, when a vow is made, one must be sure that it is kept or performed. See (Deuteronomy 23: 21- 23 and Ecclesiastes 5: 4 – 5). A vow is not a response to a commandment, but a voluntary promise or pledge of one’s freewill. In the same manner as Abram, the tenth that Jacob vowed to give (not pay) was a voluntary gratuity. However, it is pertinent to draw your attention to the fact that if God is not rejected; and if He is allowed to reign over the people as a King, He would not demand a tenth or tithe of any kind from them. See (I Sam. 8 10 – 18). Interestingly, it is this scriptural context that exposed all the lies being peddled that God is a tithe taker. In that passage, the children of Israel were forewarned that the king they sought to have would make many tall and harsh demands, including tithes, from them. Dear brethren, read the above context again and again and again and you will understand that our Heavenly Father, the Almighty God does not want his children to pay tithes to Him. Irrespective of that, besides Jacob, the following amongst others made vows in the Scripture: Israel (Numbers 21: 2), Jephthah (Judges 11: 30 – 32), Hannah (I Samuel 1: 11), Absalom (II Samuel 15: 7 – 8), David (Psalms 132: 2 – 5) and none of the vows made by these persons is found worthy to be recommended for practice by Christians today because they are definitely not a cash cow to fatten the bank accounts of the Pharisaical church leaders. The two examples above (Abram’s and Jacob’s) are the only passages in the Scripture where tithes are mentioned before the promulgation of the Mosaic law and both of them are examples of freewill giving as neither was commanded by God. And most importantly, there is no scriptural evidence (however diminutive it may be), that suggests that Christians are obligated – as an eternal tradition – to pay monetary or any form of tithes to anybody or church…
To be continued!
