First, it is to grant all human beings a minimum measure of righteousness. Through offerings and tithes, He intended for us to learn and practice mercy and compassion—to feed, share, and care for others—so that we may come to know the love of the cross. Thus, they are tithes and offerings. (Genesis 14:18–20; Deuteronomy 14:22–23; Nehemiah 10:36–39).
Second, it is to provide for the servants and shepherds so that they may devote their full strength to carrying out only the will and truth of God. Therefore, tithes and offerings are given, and one-tenth (10%) of all tithes and offerings must go to them (Numbers 18:25–30; Nehemiah 10:36–39; Deuteronomy 14:22–29).
Third, the greatest reason is to feed, care for, and share with the poor and needy sheep, using the tithes and offerings as food for them—God’s holy provisions. Nine-tenths (90%) of all tithes and offerings are meant for this purpose (Genesis 14:17–24; Deuteronomy 26:12–14; Deuteronomy 14:22–29; Acts 2:44–47).
Fourth, it is to cultivate the divine character of God in us—through charity and service to the poor and needy—by feeding, sharing, and caring for one another. In doing so, we learn to honor, love, and serve each other. This leads to the love of the cross that is worthy of salvation. Through this, God wants to spread His great grace and holy love throughout the whole world and bring about the spiritual temple (divine character) that God’s children should possess. That is why He gave us tithes and offerings.
Tithes and offerings are God’s means to teach all people, believers and unbelievers alike, to put into practice the will of God and the love of Christ—through service and charity, through feeding, sharing, and caring for one another in the love of the cross. It is also to set an example for how the shepherd must feed the poor sheep. This is God’s will for the tithes and offerings.
Through the sacrificial love of the cross—feeding, sharing, and caring—God desires to make us children of salvation and glory, possessing the divine nature that resembles God. And He desires to show sharing love through the shepherd by tithes and offerings. (Acts 2:44–47; 2 Corinthians 9:8–9; Psalm 112:6–9; Proverbs 14:31–32; Jeremiah 22:16; 1 John 4:1–13; Deuteronomy 15:10–11).
Fifth, every three years, even the leftover tithes and offerings of the shepherds and servants were to be used for a feast to which the poor and needy were invited, so that the love of sharing might be known throughout the land. (And the shepherds themselves were not permitted to use these leftovers.)
“At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest” (Deuteronomy 14:22–29).
“When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled. Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.” (Deuteronomy 26:12–14).
The Word, the truth, the tithes, the offerings, faith, hope, love, the cross, Christ, the shepherd, the Sabbath, and all memorials, and even the very purpose of creating mankind—all exist because God loves us immeasurably and desires to form in us a divine nature, a spiritual temple, that is worthy of becoming children of salvation.
God did not create man like the evil devils to dominate and be served through worship and sacrifice, but because He loved us deeply from the beginning and wanted to raise us as beautiful divine children (children of God), worthy of eternal life, He created all values, ideals, and all things.
By making us children of God—who are perfected in the source of love—He intended for us to become rightful heirs and rulers of His kingdom. Thus, all ideals and values exist for this purpose. Anyone who treats God as someone who demands service and dominance through worship misunderstands Him entirely. Those who teach this do so only to justify their own hidden greed and gain. In truth, God is so full of love that He gave even His only begotten Son’s life for us—a love too vast to measure (John 3:16–18).
God sent His only Son to the earth to show the love of the cross, for the beautiful heart that follows the love of the cross is the true way to the eternal kingdom. All truth and value exist so that we may be conformed to that divine nature and be included in the perfect glory of God. This is why the love and sacrifice of the cross are necessary (1 John 4:7–21).
Even God’s command to practice righteousness and goodness exists so that we might resemble the divine nature of God. Only then can we be called children of God—when, by the grace of God’s holy and merciful glory, we cast away the seven wicked hearts of the devil born in human flesh. : envy, jealousy, strife, hatred, lust, lies, and pride.
Therefore, the love of the cross is the divine nature fit for salvation and the spiritual temple fit for being children of God. It is the love of the cross that gives us the right to be called God’s children and Christ’s people. Hence, the love of the cross is the covenant of perfection, the sign of salvation and resurrection. That is why Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Yet today, the shepherds God set up to share this love have become blind to the obtaining tithes and offerings. Having betrayed God’s holy will and grace, they have upheld detestable traditions and the inherited practices of worship theft passed down from their ancestors. That is why today’s churches are devoid of even mustard-seed faith, power, wisdom, or authority.
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20).
There are countless who claim to be God’s shepherds and apostles today—millions, not thousands. So where is even one mustard-seed faith that moves mountains, parts seas, raises the dead, or opens the eyes of the blind? Is the Word false? Or are the countless shepherds false? Are the countless people today who call themselves pastors—teaching that nothing shall be impossible for those who believe—false? Or is the Word itself a fabrication and lie? One of the two is clearly false.
Can those who do not even have faith the size of a mustard seed be considered born again? Can those who do not even have mustard-seed faith be said to have received the Holy Spirit? Can those without even that much faith be anointed shepherds? Can those without even mustard-seed faith be said to have received forgiveness of sins? Can those without even mustard-seed faith be the ones teaching that nothing shall be impossible for those who believe?
Most churches today are governed by shamelessness, pride, and stubbornness—where people who themselves lack the faith to do anything teach that nothing shall be impossible. Is the Word that says, “Not one stone shall be left upon another” regarding the church built with offerings and bricks a lie? Or is Christ’s word—that He would destroy the church—a lie? Is it not the present-day churches, overflowing with corruption, depravity, falsehood, and lawlessness, that prove His Word to be true?
“As he spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, He said, ‘As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down’” (Luke 21:5–6; Matthew 24:1–2; Mark 13:1–2)
“I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.” (Zechariah 5:4)
“The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly” (Job 12:6)
“Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” (Malachi 3:7–9)
“The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the LORD GOD of hosts.” (Isaiah 3:14–15)
Tithes and offerings were meant for the love of the cross—feeding, sharing, and caring for the poor. But today, they have become worship of theft. Can such churches and shepherds truly bear the holy glory and power of God? Is it not only natural that God’s authority and power do not appear within the detestable religion, churches, shepherds, and worship that exist for the sake of theft?
The love of the cross was given to reveal that love throughout the whole earth—through the example and model of feeding, sharing with, and caring for the poor and needy sheep—so that the divine nature (the temple of the heart) that children of God must possess to be worthy of salvation may be formed in them.
If a church or shepherd does not practice the sacrificial love of the cross, it is false. The love of the cross is the sign of salvation and resurrection. No matter how eloquent the sermons or doctrines, if they lack example and sacrifice, they are unrelated to salvation. True churches and shepherds are those who set examples of giving even their own belongings to feed and care for others.
Today’s many churches and pastors are mere talkers headed to destruction and judgment—those who preach theories and words while denying the practice of love. It is no wonder there is no power of mustard-seed faith in them. How could God’s glory be present in worship that steals?
How could anyone attain the spiritual temple—the divine nature of the Holy Spirit, which is fitting for salvation and resembles the God of love revealed through the cross—through mere words and theories? We now live in an age and in churches overflowing with falsehoods: false Holy Spirit, false rebirth, false repentance, false anointing, false gifts, and false tongues—all fabricated by force and deception. These words testify that today’s churches and shepherds are steeped in corruption, lawlessness, falsehood, pride, and selfish gain, and therefore cannot manifest the authority and glory of God.
The clearer and more explicit teachings on tithes and offerings recorded by the apostles in the New Testament were eliminated by Emperor Constantine and the Roman Church at the time, as they were incompatible with efforts to justify worship built on theft. Only the New Testament writings that he commissioned and dictated have been passed down to this day. There is clear evidence of this: even in the biography of Saint Augustine, one of Christianity’s three greatest saints, it is recorded that Emperor Constantine ruthlessly removed large portions of Scripture.
Constantine erased or destroyed records concerning the Moses’ Burning Bush (the mystery of rebirth), tithes and offerings, the temple and church of God, worship through theft, the suffering and image of Christ, and the persecution and execution of Peter and Paul—through the power of the Roman Church and Roman authority. Supporting evidence includes testimonies from some prominent Catholic priests who noted that portions of Scripture were arbitrarily deleted and altered under Constantine’s rule.
(It is said that all earlier manuscripts were destroyed, and Eusebius, under Constantine’s order, produced 50 copies of the New Testament. These became the foundation for the New Testament manuscripts we have today.)
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