Since I published my article called What Does Malachi Really Say About Tithing, it has come to my attention that some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have been conflicted or dismissive of this information because the The Book of Mormon quotes parts of Malachi, causing a difference in interpretation. If you haven't read that first article, please do so then come back to this one, as it is crucial for understanding the ideas presented here.
Here I will analyze the context of the book of Malachi in tandem with the quoted chapters of MaIachi in the Book of Mormon found in 3 Nephi chapters 24 and 25. In the chapters leading up to these passages, the signs of Jesus' death have been seen across the land resulting in widespread destruction, then Jesus descends onto the temple ruins and speaks to the people (3 Nephi 11). After delivering similar messages to the Sermon on the Mount and other New Testament teachings, in 3 Nephi chapter 23 Jesus asks the people about a certain prophet they had among them previously whose teachings about the resurrection had not been recorded. He declares how his prophecy of people being resurrected at Christ's coming was fulfilled and should be recorded.
9 Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so?
10 And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.
11 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?
12 And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.
13 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.
Chapter 23 ends and it continues to chapter 24 were it begins to quote Malachi starting in chapter 3 verse 1 and continues until the end of the book.
1 And it came to pass that he commanded them that they should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written he expounded them. And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying: Thus said the Father unto Malachi — Behold I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come saith the Lord of Hosts.
Because this excerpt of Malachi in the Book of Mormon does not include the context of the first two chapters of Malachi, it is easier to be interpreted as a commandment and future prophecy rather than a call to repentance and a prophecy of Christ's earthly ministry. But consider that in 3 Nephi 23, Christ tells the people to record the prophecy of Samuel the Lamanite that had just been fulfilled, and now in chapter 24 he is telling the people to record another prophecy that had also just been fulfilled. Just as Malachi said, Jesus did come to the temple in Jerusalem and he did refine and purge the Levitical priests. He rebuked the sorcerers, false swearers and those that oppressed the widows and fatherless. He flipped over the tables of the money changers in the temple, and he relentlessly chastised the Chief Priests and Pharisees for teaching false traditions which caused the people to stumble. Just as Malachi had prophesied, Jesus fulfilled all these things as we read in the New Testament — but none of this was known to the Nephites on the other side of the world. Perhaps the first two chapters of Malachi were not quoted because the Nephites knew their history and still remembered the abominations of Jerusalem (1 Nephi 1:13). Of course Malachi was written 200 after Lehi left Jerusalem, but let's go back to 600 BC in the Bible to see what prophecies Lehi would have been aware of before his journey to the Americas.
First, it's important to understand that several books of the bible were written contemporaneously, or during the same time period. To get the full picture of Jerusalem before Lehi's departure, well be looking at the book of Jeremiah and chapters 21-25 of 2 Kings, both written about 690-560 BC (this covers the wickedness of several kings leading to the destruction of Jerusalem). Jeremiah was the most prominent prophet during Lehi's lifetime; in Jeremiah 2 he said this about the priests,
8 The priests said not, where is the Lord? And they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
This is a serious accusation to say that the priests, pastors and prophets did not know God but worshiped Baal. In 2 Kings 22 we see what was going on to cause Jeremiah to accuse the priests of such evil. In this chapter we see that something very significant happened that I believe confirms that Lehi did understand the corruption of the priests just years before his departure
. 2 Kings 22 begins with the reign of King Josiah which lasted from about 640 to 609. In 2 Kings 23:25 it states that Josiah was unequivocally the most righteous king of Jerusalem, and tells us why. During his reign, the Book of the Law was found after being hidden in the treasury of the temple. The Book of the Law was the Mosaic law outlined in what we now know as Deuteronomy. When the high priests read the newly discovered Book of the Law with King Josiah, he "rent his clothes" and knew the wrath of God would be upon them because their "fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book" (2 Kings 22:8-13). Here are some of the laws the Book of the Law established and places we can see the kings and people disobeyed them:
Mosaic Law | Abominations of the Kings |
Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the Lord thy God hateth. (Deuteronomy 16:21-22) | For [Manasseh] built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. (2 Kings 21:3) |
If there be found among you... [that] hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven... he is worthy of death. (Deuteronomy 17:2-6) | Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. (1 Kings 11:7-8) |
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) | And [Manasseh] made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven image of [Asherah] that he had made in the house of [the Lord]. (2 Kings 21: 6-7) |
Neither shall [the king] multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. (Deuteronomy 17:17) | But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Aidonians, and Hittites; and he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. (1 Kings 11:1, 3) |
As we read in these passages, the previous kings of Jerusalem had been incredibly evil, practicing witchcraft, building high places and groves for abominations and sexual immorality, and sacrificing children to Baal —
all of the things the Book of the Law had prohibited. King Josiah put an end to all of this, destroying the groves, altars and high places. He also demoted the idolatrous priests and ordered them all to come down from the high places, however some did not come down so Josiah had them killed (2 Kings 23:4-5, 8-9, 20). Now get this, not only did King Josiah rid Jerusalem of all this evil and make a public display of the wicked priests, he did it in the presence of "all of the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem," as he read them all the Book of the Law and set things in order (2 Kings 23:2).
Have you made the connection? King Josiah found the Book of the Law in about 622 BC, Lehi and his family would have been living in Jerusalem at this exact time and would have witnessed all of this. As BYU scholars estimate Lehi was likely born between 650-640 BC and he “dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days” (1 Nephi 1:4). Lehi would have been between the ages of 18-28 when the Book of the Law was found and would have been an active participant over the next 13 years in King Josiah's initiative to join all the men together to destroy the idolatrous, evil traditions practiced by the kings and priests. As soon as righteous King Josiah died in 609 BC, Jerusalem fell right back into these abominations. Just 14 years after Josiah's death, Zedekiah took the throne as the last king of Jerusalem, "and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord," (2 Kings 24:19). It was during the reign of Zedekiah that Lehi and his family left Jerusalem (1 Nephi 1:4). Lehi was now between the ages of 45-55 and aware of Jerusalem's imminent destruction due to the wickedness of the kings and priests and he was committed to living righteously as King Josiah had established, which is evident by his departure from Jerusalem.
Now imagine these are the last memories the Nephites' ancestors had as they traveled to the Americas. Their story began with walking away from the evil traditions of the kings and priests at Jerusalem, and that legacy had been passed down for 400 years through the generations of the Nephites. Now all of a sudden Jesus is standing before them recounting what had just happened on the other side of the world: Elias came and prepared the way before him, Jesus purged the temple of the moneychangers, and he condemned the sorcerers, deceivers and those oppressing the poor. We know that not all the words which he spoke were recorded (3 Nephi 26:6), not even "a hundreth part," but the chapter heading does encourage us to compare 3 Nephi 24 and 25 with Malachi for more context. Without going to the Bible and reading these chapters, with the full context of the first two chapters of Malachi, we are only reading half of Malachi's revelation, skipping the introduction about who the chiasm was written to, and completely missing the reason the Sons of Levi needed to be purified and return to Christ. But when we understand all of this, it makes sense that Jesus was telling them about a monumental prophecy that only the Messiah could have fulfilled, and just did.
God is the same yesterday, today and forever, so he can't teach contradictory messages. If he was rebuking the Levites' corruption of the law of tithing in Malachi, he is also rebuking the corruption of the law of tithing in 3 Nephi. In fact, this condemnation of financial oppression would resonate with the Nephites, as just 100 years earlier King Benjamin had established a righteous system which did not burden the people with taxes. If the most righteous king in the Book of Mormon labored with his own hands and did not ask for any gold or silver from the people, why would Jesus? Many Christian theologians assert that the Old Testament law of tithing was fulfilled in Christ and is no longer part of the law. Jesus did not teach a strict practice of giving 10% of our income to a theocracy or organization, rather he taught free will offerings and giving to the poor.
LDS Teachings on Tithing
Since this article is specifically for an LDS audience, I think it's worthwhile to analyze the LDS interpretation on Malachi and tithing. From a video on the church website, we're taught:
"Malachi, a prophet, told the Jews they were robbing the Lord when they were not honest in paying tithing. Malachi told them to repent. The Lord gave the Jews a promise. If they gave an honest tithing, the Lord would pour out great blessings from heaven"
The first problem here is that, just as many other churches, they make the misleading claim that Malachi was speaking to the Jews in general, when it is evident from the first half of the book that the revelation was given directly to the Levite priests, the religious authorities. They also state that the general population of the Jews had not been giving an honest tithe, however there is no scriptural evidence to support this claim, as the Bible mentions many times that the people brought their tithes to the priests' treasury or storehouse. In fact, historians and scholars indicate that the Jewish tradition of tithing was actually akin to an obligatory tax. Jesus' word supports this in Matthew 23:23 when he calls tithing part of the law, it was a compulsory tax in Israel's theocracy. On the contrary, there is scriptural evidence showing that the Levites corrupted the law of tithing and changed their inheritance constituted in the Book of the Law, and robbed the nation by taking 90% of the tithing for themselves.
Moses’ Law | Levite’s Corruption of the Law |
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. - Deuteronomy 14:28-29 | And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe. - Numbers 18:21, 26 |
The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his inheritance. Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance. - Deuteronomy 18:1-2 | The Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God. - Nehemiah 10:38 |
Notice how the Mosaic law and King Benjamin's law both teach that the religious leaders should not take any part of the nation's riches. The Levites had no inheritance, only the Lord was their inheritance, and King Benjamin labored with his own hands to not burden the people with taxes. But this is not the type of system we see in most religions, anciently or today. On the contrary, we see religious leaders living off of six figure stipend allowances from the proceeds of their congregations, just like the Levites. To accomplish this, the scriptures must be twisted in a way that ignores the historical accuracy of the Levites' corruption and pushes the narrative that God needs to accumulate wealth in order to build his kingdom.
If we look at how tithing was taught in the early years of the LDS church, many members would consider it a foreign concept. When Joseph Smith taught the law of tithing in D&C 119, it was established that the people should give their surplus property and a tenth of their annual interest to the church, "and this shall be a standing law unto them forever," (v 4). The importance of the words surplus and interest indicate that these were extra resources, not one's salary or income. In 1847, Orson Hyde said, "If it requires all [a] man can earn to support himself and his family, he is not tithed at all. The celestial law does not take the mother’s and children’s bread."
With these past LDS prophets' quotes in mind, let's read how the current LDS Church teaches the principle of tithing and compare it to God's word. Also think about if the teachings on tithing are in line with King Benjamin's righteous system or the Levite's corrupted system.
LDS Teachings on Tithing and Money | Scriptural Teachings on Tithing and Money |
The Lord doesn’t need our money… The law of tithing is given not so much to benefit the Church financially as to bless individual tithe payers spiritually. Tithing is about faith, not just money. Viewpoint: Make a Payment of Faith | The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. - Exodus 36:3-6 |
If paying tithing means that you can't pay for water or electricity, pay tithing. If paying tithing means you can't pay your rent, pay tithing. If paying tithing means that you don't have enough money to feed your family, pay tithing. Personal Finances for Self-Reliance | Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. - Matthew 23:14 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. - Proverbs 22:16 |
There is not enough money to pay all of the bills and still pay a full tithing. What should he do? Point out that you pay tithing first, and then you pay a portion of what you owe on each other bill. Family Home Evening Lesson | If anything is borrowed, it should be paid back. If what is borrowed is lost or injured, full restitution must be made. - Exodus 22:14 The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives. - Psalms 37:21 |
The Lord has established the law of tithing, and because it is his law, it becomes our obligation to observe it if we love him and have a desire to keep his commandments and receive his blessings. In this way it becomes a debt. The man who doesn’t pay his tithing because he is in debt should ask himself if he is not also in debt to the Lord. Our Law of Tithing | Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. - 2 Corinthians 9:7
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General Authorities leave their careers when they are called into full time Church service. When they do so, they are given a living allowance which enables them to focus all of their time on serving in the Church. Do General Authorities get paid? | I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service, even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches of you; and even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne. - Mosiah 2:12, 14 |
"We expect to see the day when we will not have to ask you for one dollar of donation for any purpose, except that which you volunteer to give of your own accord, because we will have tithes sufficient in the storehouse of the Lord to pay everything that is needful for the advancement of the kingdom of God."
For several decades the church as been managing their own for-profit businesses such as Ensign Peak Advisors (the church's $54 billion investment portfolio), City Creek Mall, hotels, and others. According to the Widow's Mite Report for 2023, the church collected over $7 billion in tithing and other donations, enough to cover all it’s expenses with $550 million left over to invest into stocks. This same report shows that in 2023 the church's stock portfolio profited $24.5 billion. These reports don't even account for the church's other for-profit businesses. Now consider if even 25% of the church's membership were in financial hardship and were given permission to stop paying tithing, these reports indicate that the church would still be fully capable of operating off of self-generated funds or voluntary donations, just as Joseph F Smith foretold. So why then does the church continue to require a strict 10% tithing from its members? And not only require it, but teach the principle in a way contrary to the scriptures? The God of Miracles Needs No Money
In Matthew 6:19-24 Jesus spoke against storing up treasures of the earth, in fact he declared, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (The King James Version says mammon, but the Greek translation of this word indeed means money). Immediately after this he tells his disciples to take no thought for their lives, not what they will eat or what they will wear, but God would clothe them as he clothes the lilies and grass of the field. 25 Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? Or, wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
This is the framework for how the kingdom of God operates on earth. Jesus took no thought of the physical world or it's obsession with monetization. He taught his disciples to not worry about money so they could exercise their faith and witness the miracle of God's provision. This is a pattern God has always used to accomplish his work just as he had done hundreds of years earlier with the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17). During a 3.5 year drought God told Elijah to go to a brook in the wilderness where he had commanded ravens to feed him; they brought him bread and meat each morning and night. When the brook dried up, God sent him to a city where he prepared a widow to feed him. When Elijah met the widow she was hesitant to give him bread because it was the last portion of grain she had left before she and her son would starve. Elijah made the bold promise that God would not let her barrel of grain go empty until the drought ended. The widow mustered her faith and made bread for Elijah to eat, and the words of Elijah were fulfilled, they all ate for many days and the barrel never ran out. These are good fruits of a true prophet, that he walks in full confidence of God's miraculous provision and his prophecies come true (Deuteronomy 18:21-22).
When Jesus called his disciples he taught them to rely solely on faith for all their needs. By putting full trust in God for their provision on their spiritual missions he would take care of every physical need. He led by example by demonstrating the miracles of the loaves of the fishes to feed thousands (Matthew 15:32-29), and telling his disciples exactly where to find the donkey he rode on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:2-7). When it was time to pay tax, instead of asking one of his followers for money, he made money miraculously appear by telling Peter to cast his hook into the sea and the first fish he caught would have a coin in its mouth (Matthew 17:24-27). These are just small examples of the miracles Jesus said his disciples would replicate, as he said "he that believes in me, the works that I do shall he do also." In Luke 10:3-8, Jesus sent his disciples out to preach two by two, among the instructions he gave them, he told them to carry neither purse nor scrip. They would take no money with them meaning they would have no means to buy food, this was an exercise of faith meant to sharpen their attunement to the spirit to be guided, just like Elijah, to fellow believers or those ready to accept them. Jesus told them when they enter into a city to find a house where the people accept their peace and there they would be fed.
3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.
5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, peace be to this house.
6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.
7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.
This is an important characteristic of the kingdom of heaven on earth, followers of Christ inviting each other into their homes and ministering to them. Christians take care of each other with community and relationships, not with corporate bank accounts. At times we may be compelled by the spirit to donate money or other goods to an individual or organization. Today there are many churches and charities that do great things for their communities with proceeds collected from their congregations. This is an important part of our society today, so long as the fiduciaries are honest with the money and use the funds for the benefit of the community as intended.
Like Malachi 3:18 councils, we need to discern between those that truly serve God and those that don't. We have the opportunity, or expectation, to be spiritually minded with our money and resources and make sure it goes to good causes. We must be in the habit of seeking God's inspiration to know who we can bless, and also maintain full trust in God's provision when we don't have enough. Miracles will be seen in both the giving and the receiving.
On a personal note, while writing this section I have been holding back tears as I have been so overcome with gratitude and awe at God's miraculous provision he has granted my family just this year. When all our efforts were not enough, we knew God had wrought miracles before and he would do it again. We could not have imagined the blessings God gifted us, they were so much more than we felt worthy to receive. We had friends send us money out of the blue, we had unexpected checks show up at the perfect time, we had a landlord accept our application over 17 more-qualified applicants when we were on the verge of homelessness. We have also been blessed to witness miracles in other's lives as we felt inspired to offer our time and resources. A beautiful community of believers has been built by walking in faith in God's provision and being generous with free will offerings — this is exactly how Jesus established his kingdom, by teaching us to love one another and bear each other's burdens.
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." - Galatian 6:2
beautiful!
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