The Catholic Church does not officially teach tithign today although many of its organizations and priests do teach tithing. During the Middle Ages when the Church owned a lot of land in Europe it required a tithe of frood from those who lived on and worked its land. That was proper. Later there seferal popes who required that churches titeh the value of church property to higher echelons.
Malachi 3:10 has been abused mostly by Protestants but is beginnig to be abused by a lot of priests also. If the specific response to Malachi 3:10 below does not answer your question. please go to my web site for a greatly expanded commentary on Malachi at
www.tithing-russkelly.com.
Malachi 3:10 Has Been Misinterpreted
The “whole” tithe never was supposed to go to the Temple! According to Dr. Russell Earl Kelly in his book, Should the Church Teach Tithing?, the usual interpretation of Malachi 3:10’s “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse” is wrong for four reasons.
First, the Levitical cities must be included. God never told ordinary Israelites to bring the whole tithe to the Temple in Jerusalem. According to Nehemiah 10:38, that duty belonged to the Levites and priests. The Levites lived on borrowed land surrounding 48 cities. After the exile they lived in the 13 priestly cities in Judah such as Jericho and Hebron. Nehemiah 10:37b makes it clear that the people were to bring the tithes to those cities. Numb 18:21-24; 35 all; Josh 20, 21; 1st Chron 6:48-80; 2nd Chron 11:13, 14; 31:15-19; Neh 12:27-29; 13:10 and Mal 1:14.
Second, the correct interpretation of Malachi 3:10 must include the 24 courses of the Levites and priests. Only the older males ate tithes at the Temple and then normally only one week out of 24 weeks! Do the math! That is only 4% of the total work force! And with the wives and younger children staying at home it is only 2% of the total work force who needed to eat tithes in the Temple! 1 Chronicles, chapters 23-26; 28:13, 21; 2 Chron. 8:14; 23:8; 31:2, 15-19; 35:4, 5, 10; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 11:19, 30; 12:24; 13:9, 10; Luke 1:5.
Third, the word “you” of Malachi is referring to the dishonest priests and not the people: “Even this whole nation of you --priests.” In Nehemiah 13:5-10 the priests had clearly stolen the Levites’ portion of the tithe. Also, in Malachi 1:14 the priests had stolen that portion of the tithed animals which they had vowed to God from their herds. Read all of Malachi. God’s anger towards the priests and His curses on them are ignored by most interpreters (1:14; 2:2 and 3:2-4).
Fourth, the blessings and curses of tithing are identical to those of the entire Mosaic Law and cannot legitimately be separated from them. Read all of Deuteronomy 27 and 28, especially 28:12 “The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of your hand” and 28:23-24 “And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.” Compare this with Galatians 3:10 quoting 28:26 “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Trying to earn God’s blessings through tithing only brings curses for failure to keep all of the law. These were agreed to by Malachi’s audience in Nehemiah 10:29.
When the Levitical cities, the 24 courses, the nature of the blessings and curses and God’s anger towards the priests for stealing are considered, then Malachi 3:10 only makes sense when it only refers to priests who had stolen from God.
It makes no sense to tell the people to bring 100% of the tithe to the Temple when 98% of those who needed it for food were still in the Levitical cities.
It is strange that the 3:10 of Malachi is so important It is while the 3:10 of Galatians and 2nd Corinthians are ignored. Perhaps those wanting to enforce the 3:10 of Malachi should also enforce the 3:10 of Numbers. Wow! Now that would lose members.
2 Cor 3:10 For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. NASU [Old vs. New Covenant glory]
Since every believer is a NT priest and since the NT Temple is the body of every believer, the purpose of OT tithing has disappeared. The Christian is never told to tithe. Many should give more than 10% but many of the poor cannot and God still accepts their freewill gift from the heart.
