A few years ago I wrote an article entitled, The Spirit of the Tithe: It Was Never About Money. Today we’ll further discuss the real meaning behind the Old Testament Tithe. I would recommend you read the article above first if you still believe that tithing had anything to do with money. In that article I give good reasons as to why it could not. I have learned a few things since that last article years ago, so naturally I couldn’t give all the answers to tithing back then. But the original article still contains some good information and serves the purpose of freeing those who might feel guilty for not giving ten percent of their income to a pastor at a church. This article, however, will get to the real meaning of the tithe, from an esoteric viewpoint, which is the most important one. 🙂
In order to get to the bottom of the tithe, let’s go to the most famous scripture used to justify us giving ten percent of our money to a pastor. (By the way, I’m not saying that giving money to the church is always a bad thing. If you feel like doing it, fine. But never feel coerced by a pastor justified by a scripture). That being said, let’s look at our scripture:
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith of the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven and poor out a blessing, that there should not be room to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).
I have bolded important terms in the scripture above, all of them which we will discuss. There is great symbolic significance to all of them except the last phrase (I’ll explain later), and taken together, we can easily crack the true meaning of the tithe.
I am going to start with the words storehouse and mine house. Traditionally, the storehouse or the Lord’s house is taken to mean the physical temple in Jerusalem, and that the church is the modern equivalent of this temple. Not so. The New Testament clearly identifies the church and temple as us.
“What? Know ye not the your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you….” (1 Cor. 6:19).
But the real kicker is that the Old Testament does too, proving that the building that we are reading about in scriptures was never literal. Consider 1 Kings 6:7 if you’ve never done so critically before:
“And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while in building” (1 Kings 6:7).
No, this does not mean that they prepared all the stones before bringing them to the temple site. It’s a symbolic way of explaining that the temple (us) was built in silence, while in meditation and prayer before the Lord. Psalms 46:10 explains it like this:
“Be still, and know that I am God…”
In other words, it is through the stillness and silence of inner reflection, time in our prayer closet, and meditation that we come to know God, the higher nature within us. It is through these times of inner reflection that we receive from the spirit as opposed to the senses which interpret the outside world.
So now we’ve laid the groundwork. The only building that is not built with tools is the building of our own body and spirit, that which is us. We are the temple. We are also the storehouse. We are also the Lord’s house. Therefore when Malachi discusses bringing the tithe to the storehouse, he is referring to something that we bring internally to the Lord, the only place that the Lord can be found (Remember the scripture says that the Lord was found to Elijah not in the wind or rendering of the mountain, but the still small voice within).
Now let’s look at the tithe from Malachi 3:10. The root word signifies the number ten. In esoteric terms, ten symbolizes completion of a process, and in this instance, a process whereby one sets to elevate the lower nature to the higher. St. Gregory once said, “By the number ten, the sum of perfection is set forth.”
In other words, the Old Testament Tithe must not be regarded as bringing a tenth of anything physical, but it is a spiritual process whereby we attain perfection of the higher nature. The process of tithing is still a sacrifice on our part, but that sacrifice involves our lower natures (more on this in a moment).
So far we have come to understand that tithing is the act of bringing a sacrifice to the Lord, internally. Now let’s look that the word meat in the same scripture. Malachi states that we tithe so that there can be meat in the Lord’s house (which remember is us). If these scriptures were literal, none of this would make sense. Why would god wish to keep dead meat in the temple? Ridiculous. Meat, according to Gaskell, is a symbol of “…knowledge and higher emotion which conduce to the growth of the soul.”
This makes perfect sense when we consider another scripture from the Psalms:
“The eyes of all wait upon thee [the Lord]; and thou givest them their meat in due season” (Psalm 145:15).
In other words, when we wait upon the Lord, or go within meditation or prayer, the Lord provides us with meat in due season. That meat is knowledge and the ability to exhibit the higher emotions of the higher self. This comes in due season because practicing meditation and going within doesn’t yield immediate results. It takes time, and in due season, the true self, the Christ, begins to be discovered.
The picture should be coming together pretty clearly now, but Lets continue with the word blessing also within the same scripture. The blessing of God in Malachi is none other than the Divine Will of God flowing in you, operating through you. How do we access this blessing? This Divine Will of God? By giving tithes, which is sacrificing the lower nature for His higher nature.
So when we tithe, we are going within in order to receive meat (knowledge, higher emotions), and the blessing of God (The Divine Will of the Higher Self active in our lives). Another way of putting it is that we faithfully give our tithes, or sacrifice the lower nature by going within to our prayer closets to meditate, so that we can be still and KNOW God. It’s that simple!
As promised, let’s look at the last phrase in Malachi 3:10. Again, it states in the King James Version, “…that there should not be room enough to receive it.”
I almost laughed when I went back to the original. Almost the entire phrase is missing from the original manuscript except the Hebrew words for that, not, and enough, and even those words could be used as prepositions and conjugations that could alluding to multiple things. Perhaps the text originally does denote something of what King Jimmy added, and perhaps not. There doesn’t seem to be enough information there to make anything of it, although some linguistic scholars might prove me wrong.
I remember when the pastor of a church I used to attend equated that phrase to mean we were all going to attain physical abundance of such magnitude that we wouldn’t be able to receive it if we were faithful in tithing ten percent of our gross income in monetary terms. “The scriptures promise it!” he would argue, “so try God and see.” What a petty God he would be if he focused on material possessions when we all know that they don’t really bring us happiness very long. I don’t mean anything bad to this pastor. In many ways he was a good man and I appreciate the many good things he did for other people, but I also know that many members of the church sometimes stressed over this giving tithes thing because it was emphasized so much. And it was a deep held conviction of so many!
Let us remember the true meaning of the tithe going forth. It is our faithfulness to lay down sacrifices (of the lower nature) on the altar of our own hearts, within ourselves. It is the process of attaining perfection, which is a spiritual process that must continually seek. In due season you will reap a reward. That is true wealth.
Anyway, I hope these two posts on the tithe helped you clear some things up.
Blessings.
Joshua,
Thank you for your boldness regarding the tithe. We have been so brainwashed into believing that term means ten percent of our income that even those that don’t tithe, still believe that’s what it is. It’s funny how every single church in America practically, preaches Malachi 3:10 every single Sunday incorrectly, and would call it heresy to preach the correct meaning.
I love your site.
Kym
Thanks, Kym. The way it was used in the Old Testament, even from the literal viewpoint, should give pastors today pause enough to question its purpose, even if they refuse to believe the esoteric concepts. For example, Malachi was clearly addressing priest only, not “all people” when talking about bring the tithe to the storehouse. We are to be priest and kings, so the esoteric concept fits perfectly. The traditional view makes no sense.
Even though you just gave every Evangelical pastor a heart attack, thanks for sharing this article. I always wondered about how tithing relates to those on the mystical/esoteric side of the fence. We’ve become so focused on the base we’ve forgotten about the weightier issues as Jesus spoke on.
Peace!
You’re quite welcome. I understand that every Evangelical pastor needs to make a living, and the tithe supports that. And in so many ways they do a lot of good, but the higher purpose of the scriptures are missed by them. Seems sad, but everybody must progress as they are ready. It certainly took me a while to learn to let go of tradition.
Blessings.
I agree with you and this is good reading. However speaking as one that would give often much-sometimes appreciated, sometimes abused, one day it occurred to me that it’s nice but God’s Word is not spread through just my giving. When someone supports a church or people/groups that are doing good works in the name of God, they are also sharing God’s love more powerfully. If those people abuse that money, I believe they will answer to God, but the givers are doing a good thing. Not to say we shouldn’t also financially (or with our efforts) support those in need/good works, and I usually don’t enough money to tithe 10% anyway. But to financially support efforts for God’s leaders or church programs to give “meat” to the people, is a great thing. Some of these church support groups have helped me tremendously, through donations/tithes that people contributed too and I thank these anonymous donors with gratefulness.
I just found your site and am looking forward to digging in and reading more. I did a search on the 7 sacraments and 7 chakras and you came up first. I’m readying Myss’s book now. I was once a Christian and am now just very lost trying to find my way back feeling very alone in the process.
Barbara,
I understand the feeling. Went through that as well. You may even feel if the Bible doesn’t mean literally what it says, then all is lost. But it shouldn’t be that way because the alternatives are much better. God is within you and you’re never alone.
Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhm!
I need God’s intervention to be objective in this subject of discussion. Before now I believed the doctrine of tithe, but never practiced it bcos the churches or the pastors never used it for religious or humanity course; but have always been engulfed in guilt of not tighting especially whenever I experience any form of financial misfortune. This article really brought out some food for thought, but did the muslims also got it wrong by way of their Zakat?
Uchenna, not familiar with Zakat, so I cannot comment. But I understand your objections to tithing before. Sometimes the funds are spend in ridiculous ways.
Your interpretations are always interesting Joshua, thank you for your work.
Another way I look at tithing comes from the perspective of an abundance mindset. When you freely give some of your resources away (food, money, etc) it reinforces the fact that there’s always more than enough.
Centuries ago the American Indians in the region where I live had a ritual of throwing some of their meat from the hunt into the fire. This was long before they were exposed to Christianity and can be seen as a form of tithing.
Perhaps there’s something intrinsic in human understanding about ‘tithing’ in that one of the best feelings we can have is freely giving something of value away without any expectation of return.
Thanks for the comment, Sam. I think there is much truth in it.
Excellent! Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2, KJV).
Malkuth, the 10th Sefirot, represents the material world, the physical body, and the senses. We are to present all of our physical essence (Malkuth) to God in an act of worship, or yielding, to attain our “crown”, or Kether, the 1st Sefirot.
When we sacrifice our “tenth” (10th Sefirot, Malkuth) to the storehouse we will, through daily meditation and prayer, become more like Christ, and thus “prove what is good, acceptable, and perfect” (1st Sefirot, Kether). Our conscious and subconscious will become unified.
This “blessing”, or consecration, is something that cannot be comprehended by our mind in its current state, “… that there shall not be room enough to receive it”.
Great post, sir!
I have been looking for this meaning of Mal 3:10 since about 2008. I knew there was a different meaning. I did the literal & all fell apart wow. I know the Kingdom is within will now always look there first ty.
Great article brother,
Romans 12 :1-2 just came to mind reading this article. Jesus really said a body you have prepared for me, lo l come to do your will. To go up, you have to give up. Any altar without sacrifice is powerless.
Hello Joshua, I am new to this Blog. I came across your Blog two days ago and I have been reading and sharing this knowledge with everyone who cares to listen since then. Thank you for sharing.
Love, Peace, and Blessings
Melanie
Melanie,
It’s a pleasure to have you here. Thanks for sharing!
The tithe substance to be sown is FAITH (NOT Money!)
This is absolutely amazing. This is my first time to get hold of your blog but am really blessed. Most pastors nowadays are on the mission of self enriching forgetting to tell the church the true meaning of tithing
If you really care about the family/community God placed you in, you give, no question especially if it’s for the works of God in helping the needy/missions. There are lot’s of reason not to give and even use the scriptures to justify. As the saying goes “If there’s a will there’s a way”. There’s no excuse, the poor widow gave all she had. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said “You should have practiced tithing”, or “yes you should tithe”. I really don’t believe the practice of tithing (not necessarily money) are only for one’s who have plenty. If we study kingdoms, tithing is a spiritual practice of acknowledging the Lordship/Kingship of Christ in our lives.
God bless everyone.
Regarding the Temple, Tony Badillo’s ‘TEMPLE MAN’ is fascinating. I think you will find it quite amazing as well!
Thank you so much for your obedience in ‘studying to show yourself approved..’ And allowing Him to use you as a vessel to the body!
Well, I’ve spent hours on this website now, after this one. I’m afraid at this point of my journey I am not going to be able to agree with your teachings suggesting that the Word of God is a myth. Me thinks too much eating of the Tree of Knowledge is brining about a negative result and one, in which, can poison the body, symbolic of the body of Messiah, which, my friend, is a very dangerous place to be.
We are alike in many ways in that we do desire Truth. I live in the country of Jordan, not for any other reason but because my husband and I are ‘following Jesus’ and this is where He has led us to at thiis stage of our journey, NOT unlike that of those who lived in the Bible times. I see daily, physical evidences that I know without a doubt that the Bible is not a myth and, indeed, a true story of history. Among many other evidences, I look out daily at the Red Sea crossing where our ancestors crossed over when Moses held the rod out in faith and saw the waters divide miraculously.
What led me to your sight was a desire to know the symbolism of Jonah. You gave, in my opinion, an excellent treasure of knowledge and understandings to that.
To all of this I say, the Bible IS literal in every way, but there IS a symbolic meaning in EVERY word of it.
That’s where I am today anyway…I am, however, one of those kings who searches out and will forever be digging, as I pray that you will also do!
HI Diane…
Thanks for spending some time on the site and sharing your thoughts. I appreciate your honesty.
At one point in my walk, I was very much in the same place. It was inconceivable to me that the scriptures, the writings that I had always appreciated and knew was a road map to the soul (even though I didn’t comprehend all of it) had to be both literal and spiritual. But overtime I began to see that this was simply me ego trying to justify something out of fear. If the scriptures weren’t literal, then a part of my heritage was invalid. They had to be real in order for a bigger message to come forth. Over time I found the opposite to be true. The harmony and beauty of the scripture is so much more profound than wrestling over the idea of whether it was literal or not, and in reality, becomes a moot point. All that matters is an experiential knowledge of God. We can spend our lives learning about God, or we can begin to experience God. All knowledge of God is simply ideas of the head. It really doesn’t matter to me whether a snake and a donkey really talked, or that the sun stood still for a day, or that God would really order the killing of innocent children and animals to eradicate sin. No, of course he wouldn’t. So what is the Biblical writer really saying? It speaks to us on an emotional, spiritual level. The scriptures are teaching us about ourselves, our thoughts, emotions, and how to elevate them, and how to transform and renew ourselves as we get in touch with what God is. When we take the Bible literally, we begin to form doctrines and religion, which is what Jesus taught us not to do. All that being said, I have no judgement against anyone who wishes to believe it is all literal. I’ve been there, and understand. But for me, the truth is, if it were all literal, we have some major problems and contradictions to work through that cannot mesh or be reconciled. So I learned to look beyond it, and simply accept the spiritual revelations that can be gleaned from the scriptures. And then this opened up a new world for me, and I began to see how all great scriptures of every religion actually teach the same thing, but are always perverted through religion.
I am glad that you will keep searching. That is my life’s journey also, Dianne 🙂 And I’m always willing to learn something new. Take care.
Thank you for the reply. I do appreciate the ability to dialogue on this issue. I was one who spent forty years in a denomination. And then…Iknew there had to be more. I prayed a prayer telling God that I knew there had to be more and I told Him that I wanted everything He had for me. Literally within two weeks of praying that prayer my life would be radically changed, and since that time, 17 years, I have been on the most amazing journey that I could never have imagined. There has been much pain and many challenges, hard choices, along the way, but there is a driving force inside of me that says I will never go back.
We all have testimonies, right?
While on this journey, I have met many people also searching for Truth, as I am sure you have. One in particular that I am reminded of at this time was a young man, a husband and father of 3 young boys. He had had no religious upbringing but decided that he must ‘get his life right’ for his boys. His wife had been raised a Catholic so he decided he would join her. He began catechism classes, and decided he wanted to study the Bible on his own. He was reading about Jesus having brothers and sisters. Immediately he went to the priest and asked how in the world could the Virgin Mary have other children?! The response: Nothing about the Bible is literal. This young many was blown away and decided he would not be led down a path that would be determined by someone else’ beliefs.
Of course, I couldn’t help think about him after reading your answer here. Whether it is literal or not, this is not the problem and the cause of denominations and religions. Your belief, in itself, is its own ‘religion’.
All men grope for TRUTH. I had a Muslim woman sitting in my home two days ago crying to know Truth and the purpose of life. I told her I believe to know Isa/Jesus is the Truth and to know Him one will know their purpose. She believes Mohammad is like Jesus. I do not know how this LITERAL story will end up, but I do know that the God of this Universe who created her, knows her and knows her desire to know Truth. He literally sent her to me to speak to that yearning. There is no myth. This is real. Buddah is dead; Mohammad is dead. but Jesus Christ, Isa, Yahshua He literally came to this earth, He die and was buried and was raised from the dead.
How does what you offer give her purpose or hope? I am a walking living breathing spirit/physical being who has a daily relationship talking and hearing from the Spirit of the Almighty. I cannot understand anything that would be greater than this.
Hi again,
I was excited to see this video the other day that just came out by some very good friends of mine who work in the heartland of Israel. I thought of you while watching it. Indeed if you, Joshuah, I thought, were to meet my friend, Joshua, who lives in Israel, you, too, would have no doubt that everything in the Bible IS very real and very literal, and is, in fact, coming up out of the dust!
I hope you can take the time to watch the short video…http://www.hayovel.com/rising-from-her-dust-joshua-and-caleb-report/
This is in response to Dianne’s message.
The question has to be whether everything in the bible is literal or symbolic. If it is literal, then it opens a flood of questions that cannot be realistically answered. For example, John baptizes with water but when Jesus comes he baptizes with spirit and fire. Is Jesus really going to come down and burn everyone with fire. If some of it is literal and some symbolic, what qualifies us to know which is which. But if it is symbolic then one has to look deeper into the symbolism of water and fire, cleansing and purification of the soul through the spiritual teaching of scripture. Three measures of knowledge, through Moses, the Prophets (the old testament), two measures and Christ the third measure (new testament) Beginning from the garden of Eden and ending in the garden of Eden, a full circle in three stages.
The physical world is used as a reference to allow us to draw out a spiritual conception.
I have gone on a little. Joshua is much more eloquent than myself and does a far better job.
Joshua I know how much study and hard work you have put into this website and I am glad you are reaching out to people who are searching to come out of the religious prison.
To follow the bible as literal stories, it is like reading it with a veil over the mind which doesn’t allow the mind to see it true significance. The unveiling of the mind which is a long process, a lifetime ambition, which leads one to see the reality of things within themselves, the true riches, “the treasures in heaven”.
As Joshua says, the bible is the roap map for the soul to transcend from a world below (death, crucifying the ego) to the world above (resurrection) for each individual (disciple) to embark on a journey with God (plato’s cave). The word disciple is more appropriate because a disciple refers to a person disciplined in the teaching of God.
I wasn’t pleased when I read the section of this article that says “giving ten percent of their income to a pastor at a church” and “used to justify us giving ten percent of our money to a pastor.” With due respect to the author, it conveys to me an impression of a writing from an offended mind. I don’t think the point or intent of tithing is to give it to the pastor. It is not targeted at the pastor. Let’s approach the subject matter with objectivity. There are other things in the article that appear to be author’s personal interpretations of scriptures and seem off the track. I would like the author to expand the bible reference used. Instead of the single verse (Malachi 3:10), please use Malachi 3:7-10. There is a chance the line of argument in the article may weaken. For example, I am sincerely interested to know what God means by saying He has been robbed in tithes and offerings. What is the remedy to this charge, in the context of the article’s position that the individual is the particular house that God refers to in verse 10.