God would have punished you IF you were living under Israel's Law covenant. The Law had conditions. If you do this, God says I will bless you. If you don’t do this, God says I will curse/punish you. This conditional living with related blessing and cursing is predominantly seen in Israel’s history during the Old Testament and Gospels.
But today, you and I are under the dispensation of God’s grace. The Law conditions are not in effect today. God is not punishing us because we do not hold to the Old Testament Law. We have grace through the gospel and by sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Please understand that the tithe is an instruction exclusively to Israel (to the Jews). It formed part of their law and the offering of a 10th of their harvest and other things was to honour God and thank Him for His providence, (Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:26; Deuteronomy 14:24; 2 Chronicles 31:5). This program of Law has been put on hold in our age. Paul says that we are no longer under the law, but under grace (Rom.6:14).
Malachi 3:9-10 is often used to teach the need for Christians to tithe to local churches today. The context of this passage concerns the Israelites not bringing their offerings to the temple. Because of their disobedience, God had judged them with a small harvest. The Lord challenged them to bring the "full tithe" of grain sacrifices (Leviticus 6:14-23) and see that He would bless them with an abundance of future crops. The passage also teaches that the Jews were to give a tithe as part of the temple worship, but it does not teach that Christians are to give to churches. Malachi was written more than 400 years before the start of the first church in Jerusalem. Applying its command of temple giving to the local church takes these verses out of their original context.
So, today we do not tithe to please God. Paul also provides advice on how we are to give,
2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
The way to give today is by giving according to the working in your heart. You give freely by a choice, by that which is according to your heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion. God recognizes your giving if you are doing it cheerfully and because you want to, not because you have to or are commanded to do so.
If your priest or pastor is teaching you that tithing is required in order to please God and get blessing from Him, or that it is a law for church members to give a 10th or more, then your priest or pastor is either deceived and does not know the truth, or he is extorting you.
Conclusion: The tithe is obsolete in this grace age. It is not a command to the Body of Christ. The way we give is cheerfully and without grudge, and certainly not under compulsion. We give because we want to. And if we don’t give, we do not come under condemnation by God and should not condemn ourselves either. Let your giving be from a heart of love or desire to want to, else don’t give and have peace with that.
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