Anti-tithing narratives absolutely demonic - Duncan-Williams

Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams has wondered why some people get so agitated by the principle of tithing in Christianity, agreeing that the narratives and reasons posited against tithing are “absolutely demonic”.

According to him, it is only tithing that gives God the “authorisation to rebuke the devourer” on behalf of the tither.

The Ghanaian preacher, who founded Action Chapel International (ACI), told Paul Adom-Otchere in an interview televised on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana programme that contrary to some arguments that tithing was Old Testament practice that has no expression in the New Testament, Jesus did not condemn it.

Paul Adom-Otchere: “So, you think that it’s a demonic narrative that has been built against the tithe?”

Archbishop Duncan-Williams responded: “Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Because of what it does if you’re a tither”.

“And in the New Testament; Mathew 23: 23, Jesus did not condemn tithing. He said: ‘You tithe on everything. It is great. But you have forgotten the weightier matters of the law – which is faith, judgement and mercy. Being merciful. You’re ignoring judgment. You’re not doing it in faith’, and the Bible says: ‘Anything that is done without faith is sin’. And without faith, it is impossible to please God”, he said.

“Now, take, for instance, under the Mosaic Covenant, they practised judgment, mercy and faith. [Under] the New Testament dispensation, we practise faith, we practise mercy, we practise judgment. Why is it not an issue? Why is faith not an issue? Why is mercy not an issue? Why is judgment not an issue? Why is tithe the only thing that everybody is talking about and fighting about?” he wondered.

The church, Archbishop Duncan-Williams noted, “doesn’t receive tithes only, we receive different kinds of offerings; faith seed, first fruit, different people make vows and things and some even give more than the 10 per cent, and all that is not an issue but the tithe is a serious issue. Why? Because it is the only thing that gives God the authorisation to rebuke the devourer”.

During the interview with Archbishop Duncan Williams he presented a spirited defence to the controversial issue.

Read below, the full commentary of Archbishop Duncan-Williams about tithing:

I think that there is a misunderstanding here. Let me bring some clarity to this. When you talk about the Old Testament, you’re talking about the Mosaic Covenant. Now, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel are not Old Testaments, those are major prophets. Malachi, Obadai; those scriptures are minor prophets. So, we need to be very careful how we interpret scripture. Old Testament is the Hebrew scriptures and basically, it’s the Law of Moses or what we call the Mosaic Covenant.

Now, the issue of tithing here was before the law but because in the time of Moses, it was a dispensation of the law, they admitted tithes into the law, they allowed tithes to operate. The origin of tithe was with Abraham, it came from Abraham, when Abraham tithed and gave one-tenth of all to Melchizedek. [Melchizedek didn’t demand it]. [Abraham came about the idea] by revelation. He gave tithe, he gave a tenth of all because the number 10 is the number of wholeness: wanting nothing and lacking nothing. … Seven is the number of an end of a cycle, eight is the number of new beginning, nine is the number of birthing, 10 is the number of wholeness; wanting nothing, lacking nothing. So, when you bring your tithes to God, it sanctifies the ninety, and that’s why it has to come first. And like I said before, if you tithe after you’ve spent or used the money, it’s not tithe.

Melchizedek was a high priest, he’s a type of Jesus; he’s somebody who didn’t have a beginning, who didn’t have an end. So, it is believed by Bible scholars that that was Jesus. And Abraham tithed to Jesus.

[Tithing] is not Old Testament. Like I said, it was adopted law in the Mosaic Covenant. Now, take, for instance, laying-on of hands, praise and worship, child dedication, things like offerings; all these things were under what you call the Old Testament and in this new dispensation of the New Testament, we practise circumcision of the flesh, which was before the law – it began with Abraham and even Moses, when he ignored it, God sought to kill him.

The Bible says he went to talk to God and God said: ‘I’ll make Aaron your mouthpiece, so, you go meet Aaron. Before you meet him, I’ll talk to him to confirm what I’ve told you. On his way to go and meet Aaron, his brother, the Bible said the Lord sought to kill Moses and it was the wife, who, being a daughter of a priest, understanding ordinances and covenants, said: ‘No, my husband may be in violation of the covenant and the ordinances of God’. So, immediately, she took a sharp stone and she circumcised the son and the Bible said: ‘And the Lord left Moses’. So, this was something that was a practised before the law that was adopted during the law. And, so, you see circumcision was before the law, and people still do circumcision after the law and we accept praise and worship; we accept giving, laying-on of hands, healing; all these things that were practised in what we call The Old Testament, during that dispensation, are still practised today, and nobody has a problem with offerings, or with giving or with praise, worship; things like fasting and prayer – they were all practised under what you call the Law of the Mosaic Covenant in that dispensation and we do the same today; we fast today, we pray today. Nobody complains about it. Why is it that the tithe alone is an issue?

And, it’s an issue because it is the tithe alone that gives God authorisation to rebuke the devourer. Offerings and giving don’t give God the authorisation to rebuke the devourer. So, the devourer reacts when it comes to the tithe because God said: ‘If you bring your tithe, I, the Lord – He said: ‘You can put me to a test’.

That is the only time in the Bible that God said: ‘You can put me to a test; I’ll rebuke the devourer for your sake, I’ll open the windows of heaven and He didn’t say the doors of heaven or the gates of heaven; he said windows. When you stand at a window, you see farther than when you stand at a door because windows here stand for insight. He gives you advanced knowledge, revelation; you see beyond where you are and God said: ‘I’ll give you advanced knowledge if you’re a tither, and I’ll also rebuke the devourer’.

So, one of the reasons the tithe is an issue: it’s two things, because one, Satan knows that a tither gives God authorisation to rebuke him, that is one. Two, the fallen nature of man is rebellion. The sin of this world is rebellion against God right from the garden of Eden, that man has always wanted to be independent of God, do his own thing, be a law unto himself, not be subject to the laws of God or to God’s authority. When it comes to tithe, He’s very specific. It’s not what you want to give. It’s not what you will or what you wish. It’s a specific command. It’s like forgiveness; forgiveness is not a feeling, a wish or a desire. Forgiveness is a command. God says: ‘If you do not forgive, neither will my heavenly father also forgive you’. When it comes to vengeance for instance, He said: ‘Vengeance is mine. I’ll repay. Vengeance belongs to me’. So, ‘If you take vengeance on anybody, I’ll take vengeance on you’. So, that is the area and the reason the tithe is a serious issue because it is the only thing that when we done fulfilling our covenant responsibility, it’s our covenant responsibility to God and God said: ‘If you’ll be a tither, I, the Lord, will rebuke the devourer’. That is the only time God promised to rebuke the devourer if we’ll tithe.

Paul Adom-Otchere: So, you think that it’s a demonic narrative that has been built against the tithe?

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Because of what it does if you’re a tither. And in the New Testament; Mathew 23: 23, Jesus did not condemn tithing. He said: ‘You tithe on everything. It is great. But you have forgotten the weightier matters of the law – which is faith, judgement and mercy’. Being merciful. You’re ignoring judgment. You’re not doing it in faith and the Bible says: ‘Anything that is done without faith is sin’. And without faith, it is impossible to please God. Now, take, for instance, under the Mosaic Covenant, they practised judgment, mercy and faith. [Under] the New Testament dispensation, we practise faith, we practise mercy, we practise judgment. Why is it not an issue? Why is faith not an issue? Why is mercy not an issue? Why is judgment not an issue? Why is tithe the only thing that everybody is talking about and fighting about? The church doesn’t receive tithes only, we receive different kinds of offerings; faith seed, first fruit, different people make vows and things and some even give more than the 10 per cent and all that is not an issue but the tithe is a serious issue. Why? Because it is the only thing that gives God the authorisation to rebuke the devourer.