Tithing is mentioned only 4 times in the New Testament, three times in the gospels and once in the letter to the Hebrews. In the gospels, Jesus acknowledged that the Pharisees were very careful about tithing (Matt.23:23; Lk.11:42; 18:12) to the point of over-emphasizing it. They were so focused on tithing that they lost sight of the great goal of the Law, i.e. love and justice to our fellow-man. Also, they trusted in their tithing to give them merit before God.
Now remember that the Pharisees were under the Law, and by law had to tithe. All people in Israel were under the Law. When Jesus was crucified He ushered in the New Covenant, and the Old was finished. Tithing was established under the Law and has no place in the Church. It is no light thing to choose to adhere to the Law, even with a seemingly small issue as tithing. Every person who chooses to keep any part of the Law of Moses is obligated to keep the whole Law and is therefore exposed to its curse.
This point is made in the solitary reference to tithing in the New Testament epistles, i.e. in Hebrews 7. Heb.7:5 reads “And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren [Israel]. Note three things from this verse: 1) There was a commandment concerning tithes in the Old Testament; 2) They were to be given to OT priests (not the Church); 3) They were required by the Jews, not Christians.
Hebrews 7:12 notes that when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. In other words, that commandment that did exist under the Old Covenant has been changed, because the priesthood to which it related has now also been changed under the New Covenant.
