JOB’S LIFE BECAME TIGHT BECAUSE HE DIDN’T TITHE

By Akin Ojumu

Not too long ago, Bishop David Oyedepo had an epiphany. The man of God intuitively grasped the reality of job’s adversity. All of a sudden, he came to an illuminating realization that Job’s predicament was a direct result of his poor tithing habit. In Bishop Oyedepo’s telling, the real cause of the calamity that befell Job was his failure to pay tithe. 

According to the white suit and white shoes man of God, God removed Job’s divine security and allowed Satan to buffet him with catastrophe because the man was a habitual tithe defaulter. Job’s life became pretty tight because he failed to pay tithe.

Here’s exactly how the Bishop puts it in his own words:

“You can’t see anywhere where Job tithed. So, his blessing was not secured. You can’t find anywhere where Job tithed. No! He was overly committed to giving liberally to the poor and God was committed to bless him. But there was no security.”

Just so it’s absolutely clear. Bishop Oyedepo’s assertion that Job didn’t have divine security because he didn’t tithe is categorically false. Job’s misfortune had nothing to do with his tithing habit. In fact, when the Bible introduced Job, it says:

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.” (Job 1:1).

In his day, there was no other man alive who was as righteous as Job. The man was the embodiment of holiness. Job walked blamelessly before God. He was a good man who faithfully worshiped and served YAHWEH, the true and living God. 

Job’s adversities were not of his own making. The reason for his troubles, the Bible tells us, was because Satan challenged God, and God took up the challenge to prove Lucifer wrong. In Job 1:6-12 we read the story of how Satan went before the presence of God and told God that the only reason Job worshiped Him was because of God’s goodness to him. According to the accuser of the brethren, Job’s faithfulness was a result of the numerous blessings he enjoyed from God. Should God withhold his blessings from Job, Satan dared, he would immediately curse God.

Confident of Job’s faithfulness and fully convinced his worship was not dependent on the blessings he enjoyed, God allowed Satan to afflict Job. To prove to Satan that Job would not curse Him, the Almighty God gave Satan the liberty to bring calamity upon Job. And Guess what? Satan lost the challenge. Job passed the test; he was faithful to God to the very end. 

Job lost everything he owned. All his cattle died. His crops perished. His entire family was wiped out. His wife told him to curse God and die. On top of that, his entire body became covered with painful ugly looking sores. A man who, hitherto, washed his patio with butter found himself on a garbage dump, scraping scabs off the boils all over his body.

Then in Jobs 13:15, in the middle of all his suffering, we read these profound words:

 

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” 

When he was going through his trials, Job didn’t know why his life took a turn for the worse. God never gave him an explanation and he received no revelation. Yet, his faithfulness endured. He would not curse God. Unlike many in the Church today, Job did not seek God for what God gives, rather, he worshiped God for whom God is. Job didn't follow God for miracles or blessings. The righteous man was not a name it-claim it-blab it-grab it God worshiper.

At the end of his ordeal, after losing everything and enduring so much affliction, and having remained faithful to the end, the Bible says:

“And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.” (Job 42:10, 12). 

Contrary to Bishop Oyedepo’s claims, just as Job’s afflictions had nothing to do with his tithing habit, Job’s restoration did not come about as a result of him paying tithe. God didn’t bless Job with 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys because he suddenly became a ten percenter. 

It wasn’t because Job turned into a repentant tithe defaulter that made God to bless him with seven sons and three daughters who were the most gorgeous looking women in all the land. And Job did not get to live another 140 glorious years because he started paying tithe.

Sadly, whenever Bishop Oyedepo is called out for his doctrinal errors, his die-hard followers often become adamant and they dig their heels in. They are quick to throw a fit, get furiously mad, succumb to histrionics, and are apt to curse out anyone who dares question or speak an ought against their daddy in the Lord.

Unbeknownst to these incorrigible adherents of Bishop Oyedepo – and of other gods of men – a spiritual blindfold has been tightly wrapped around the eyes of their understanding. This blindfold makes it impossible for such people to discern the errors of their spiritual heroes. 

Even when you show them the erroneous doctrines of their Fathers in the Lord, they rationalize and try to explain what the man of God might have meant to say. When rationalization fails, they flare up in unrighteous indignation, and they let fly the arrows of Psalm 105:15, in the process they compound doctrinal errors with yet another doctrinal error.

It’s kind of sad, really, when you think about the multitudes who have been, and are being, misled by the erroneous teachings of men of God like Bishop Oyedepo. The unhealthy man worship and deadly spiritual blindness break the heart.

Originally published on January 20, 2022.